Questions about alienware desktops

[asim1999]

dont worry. i have built my own ( the Red Rampage: read my signature). i want to know more about the components inside the computers and why people hate the components (regardless of the price: even though it is way overpriced). i am neutral so i want to know some of the negatives and why people hate the desktops so much and maybe some positives about them ( if any)

so here are my questions ( sorry there is so many):

Alienware Aurora:

How many Graphics cards can it fit?

how much RAM can it have?

How easy is it to upgrade the components?

What is the PSU like, and does it have good quality and is it 80+ certified and what is the total wattage output?

What is the motherboard and cooler like? how good is the overclocking potential?

What is the bios like? is is a high-quality UEFI ( like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI boards)?

How many RGB colours are available on the case lights?

How noisy is it?

Alienware X51:

all the questions above apply as well as these new ones:

what is the max graphics card length supported?

How did they get it so small?

and why are the components inside so underpowered ( GTX 645, for example)

 

and my friend thinks that his 2 year old samsung series gamer 7 laptop destroys my desktop and he thinks alienware PCs are better than the one that i built myself and others people have built? how do i prove him wrong?

 

thanks  for so much time and effort in the answers  guys, much appreciated

[TheGamingBarrel]

He is an idiot, dont even bother.

[asim1999]

my friend? but how to stop him boasting about some useless laptop?

[Trik'Stari]

He is an idiot, dont even bother.

For a second I thought you meant the OP.

 

Tell your friend he's an idiot, his laptop can't be upgraded, it will eventually overheat and die, the battery will die and when it does that laptop will be obsolete and no one will be making batteries for it.

[TheGamingBarrel]

my friend? but how to stop him boasting about some useless laptop?

Show him how terrible it is.

[Tycho]

Just go to the alienware site and make your own opinion.

[Guest]

Honestly, I don't know the exact specs of any of them, but I did try to build my rig on their website just to see how much it would cost. My rig was $2400 to build without peripherals but was $3800 from Alienware (again, without peripherals) and still isn't quite as good as my custom build. It had a way worse sound card, a smaller HDD, and lack luster cooling. People don't hate Alienware because they are under powered, they hate them because they are under powered for the price.

[asim1999]

just went on the website and my rig is £1200. and the equivalent Alienware is around £2000

[TheRetiredSlave]

Just as a side note, these answers are completely off the top of my head, so they may be inaccurate.
 
Alienware Aurora:
How many Graphics cards can it fit? It's an mATX Chassis, so it can technically fit two though they will be extremely close.
how much RAM can it have? 32 GB (4 slots).
How easy is it to upgrade the components? Cable management room is very limited, but it is a standard mATX chassis.
What is the PSU like, and does it have good quality and is it 80+ certified and what is the total wattage output? I believe that they use an 850 W PSU manufactured by Dell.. I'm not sure about 80+ certification, but presumably Dell would have their own internal QA.
What is the motherboard and cooler like? how good is the overclocking potential? The motherboard is a fairly generic mATX X79/X99 board, not a high-end aftermarket OC'ing board, so it will lack some features. The cooler is a 120mm AIO watercooler.
What is the bios like? is is a high-quality UEFI ( like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI boards)? No.
How many RGB colours are available on the case lights? Plenty.
How noisy is it? No idea.

 

Alienware X51:
How many Graphics cards can it fit? One.
how much RAM can it have? 16 GB (two slots).
How easy is it to upgrade the components? Not very. Very cramped inside with very little workspace.
What is the PSU like, and does it have good quality and is it 80+ certified and what is the total wattage output? It's the same 330W laptop PSU that's used by the M18x. 
What is the motherboard and cooler like? how good is the overclocking potential? Generic mITX board with the stock Intel cooler. No heavy OC'ing here.
What is the bios like? is is a high-quality UEFI ( like ASUS, Gigabyte and MSI boards)? No.

How many RGB colours are available on the case lights? Gallons of colors
How noisy is it? Not sure. Airflow will be very restricted in the small chassis.
what is the max graphics card length supported? ~10"?? (I forget the exact number)
How did they get it so small? The PSU is external, and the inside is very very cramped. (just look at teardown pics on google) 
and why are the components inside so underpowered ( GTX 645, for example) The external PSU is very limited with its power output, so it simply can't power a super high-end system. Last I heard, the strongest card it could run was a GTX 760, but the new Maxwell GPUs should change this.

 

 

and my friend thinks that his 2 year old samsung series gamer 7 laptop destroys my desktop and he thinks alienware PCs are better than the one that i built myself and others people have built? how do i prove him wrong?

 

Calmly explain to him that performance is bound by the processing power of the components, and that the manufacturer of the system is irrelevant to its performance. 

 

Also: real world demonstrations of power. (benchmarks, framerates in games).

[NeatSquidYT]

Tell him to never buy from Alienware or your friendship is doomed.

[asim1999]

thanks guys. Has anyone had problems with alienware desktops or know anyone with problems

[kayodoc]

So much hate for Alienware. I bet most of the people hating are the ones that have never had one. Yes, they may be a bit overpriced; but from my experiences they are quality products. My 2010 Alienware M15x is built like a tank and I've never had any problems with it. I see at least another 4 years of use from it. My friends got both the new 14 inch laptop and the aurora and can only say good things about them.

Form your own opinion. Every product has it's haters and fanboys; you choose what you like. I personally love my Alienware and so do my friends that have them.

[TheSLSAMG]

So much hate for Alienware. I bet most of the people hating are the ones that have never had one. Yes, they may be a bit overpriced; but from my experiences they are quality products. My 2010 Alienware M15x is built like a tank and I've never had any problems with it. I see at least another 4 years of use from it. My friends got both the new 14 inch laptop and the aurora and can only say good things about them.

Form your own opinion. Every product has it's haters and fanboys; you choose what you like. I personally love my Alienware and so do my friends that have them.

I don't waste my time hating on Alienware, because there is little to hate. They make decent gaming computers with excellent customer support. And the laptops are fucking rock solid. But nah, people would prefer to waste their lives fighting with people about how their computer is inadequate because it's Alienware. They're a little expensive, but then again, so is a Digital Storm PC, or a CyberPowerPC. Or Origin, ASUS, Puget Systems, the list goes on and on.

 

At least we get it.

[Syntaxvgm]

thanks guys. Has anyone had problems with alienware desktops or know anyone with problems

Generally, they are as likely as any desktop to fail, with the exception of the motherboards- they are the main part of the hardware that is dell made, and are usually cheap and poorly designed. Typically the parts I replace on an alienware system. 

However, when stuff does break, and you have a warranty, despite paying hundred or thousands more than you should pay for a system, and possibly an extra/extended warranty, dell customer support will treat you like shit. 

There are a lot of pre-built options. Don't go with alienware for desktops. 

 

I own an alienware laptop- I bought it used for a great price. It broke on me, though it was one of the mxm AMD gpus, not really dell's fault, and I fixed it. It's an m18x. From owning this, and fixing a few, I have gotten a mixed impression of alienware laptops.

Dell's business laptops have a good history of strong keyboards. Hell I get 70-80 wpm on my little 14" Latitude. But that does not translate to dell's gaming keyboards. They flex a lot, and are generally bad for typing despite looking cool. Though the size of my m18x is conformable and is almost the ideal workstation for me, even though  I'm 100% used to the keyboard, I made mistake after mistake on it, and type much slower than almost any other laptop. To game on, it's ok. 

The drivers are a mess as well. 

 

Some positives- the speakers are really good. But that's to be expected on a huge laptop...unless it's clevo.

The screen looks good, though it is a reflective glass panel. 

The trackpad is nice. 

It has a feature no other laptop manufacturer has included, and I wish they had-HDMI input. 

You can plug any hdmi device in and use you laptop as a screen as well as speakers. 

So you can play ps4 or something on it if you wish for example. It has HDCP support. 

 

The price is outrageous. This laptop was 5000$ for whoever bought it new. They opted for near top of the line AMD GPUs and an overclockable 2920xm. 

If you buy an alienware laptop, you'll pay thousands more than you need to, or get weak hardware. Plus, dell support is shit. Many people I know sent theirs in multiple times for the same problem, or got new problems as a result of the "repair". Hell one had a dead GPU, told them that, and they replaced the screen 3 times, and billed him for the last time. 

They are many other brands to check out. 

For best price, check out "clevo" or a clevo rebrand like sager. They are always first to the newest dual gpu configs, and are available with desktop processors. 

check out other brands if you want a reputable large brand behind it. 

[Syntaxvgm]

So much hate for Alienware. I bet most of the people hating are the ones that have never had one. Yes, they may be a bit overpriced; but from my experiences they are quality products. My 2010 Alienware M15x is built like a tank and I've never had any problems with it. I see at least another 4 years of use from it. My friends got both the new 14 inch laptop and the aurora and can only say good things about them.

Form your own opinion. Every product has it's haters and fanboys; you choose what you like. I personally love my Alienware and so do my friends that have them.

I own one and have fixed several. I am a laptop expert, and I'd say the hate is justified. 

[Bensemus]

Well they have overkill cpus for the gpu on the Aurora. It seems like most pre-built systems do that, matching a i7-4820K with a 270.