Rise of the Triad.

[ALXAndy]

OK guys, the hype train has been stuffed with coal and they're just firing up the engines...

 

Yesterday was yearly update day. I thought long and hard about what I wanted and after rebuilding my Area 51 ALX (2009) for my wife I really missed my Alienwares. Specifically my original green bogey, but that's irreplaceable now really. So what to do? go with two new GPUs? or get something else? I decided on this.

 

 

For me it's got it all. I was a huge fan of the HP Blackbird (Voodoo DNA, they designed it) but that is not available here in the UK at all so that was out of the question. I already have a pretty brutal 3970x rig but I just really wanted to change case and there's nothing I really like.

 

So I ordered the Alienware. Here is my order.

 

 

It will probably be about as quick as what I have now. The main difference will be that when I overclock the Alienware it should edge ahead. But that's not the main reason I did this. Basically I spent £3500 on a PC last year, only to find that when you need warranty these companies you buy from are real pissers. I sent my board back to MSI five weeks ago and they told me last week that they did not have the board to replace mine with. What shittery is this?!?!?! in the end I settled with them on a GTX 970 4G gaming that I will sell on.

 

So what's the idea? well, I intend to take the best parts of my old rig from last year and add them to the Alienware to make one kick ass rig. The nice part is that the Alienware is under Dell's next business day guarantee, so if it goes wrong it's fixed in hours not months.

 

So. I won't be modding this as such. It's just far too expensive an item for me to cut up. However I will be adding -

 

Two of these.

 

 

As I have decided to drop my games to 1440p instead of chasing the 4k dragon. I also have one of these and tbh? it's marvellous.

 

 

And a 600gb one of these to store games.

 

 

Other things. It'll all be small stuff tbh. I've ordered two of these for the naked DDR4

 

 

And I will probably make a custom name plate or something for the case

 

Updates to follow..

[ALXAndy]

Update 1. I am watching the machine being built. Here is update 1, the rig is being picked for building.

 

[ADZ_123_!"£]

Update 1. I am watching the machine being built. Here is update 1, the rig is being picked for building.

 

Why didn't you build your own pc?

[projectmayhem]

Nice. Enjoy your machine.

[ALXAndy]

Why didn't you build your own pc?

 

Because I'm fucking sick of the way the part manufacturers handle their warranties. Last year I spent £3500 on a PC. That's three thousand, five hundred pounds on a computer. 11 months in the motherboard failed. I have a specific set of parts obviously (like X79 CPU for example). I sent the board back to MSI who just so happen to be in fucking Holland so it cost me £23 on top of the £250 I paid for the motherboard. They got it back and then went silent. I hounded them for five weeks and eventually they admitted that they did not have any X79 boards. Why? because they can't be bothered to carry them. So that crippled my £3500 PC and I had to go off and find a Asus RIVE second hand just to revive it.

 

In the end after nearly seven weeks MSI offered me. No wait for it dude, you're gonna fucking love this ! a GTX 960.

 

Wow. I'm impressed. Offer me a GPU worth about ten pence.

 

So after more arguing, stress and waiting they are offering me a 970. So then I gotta sell it.

 

That's why I didn't build my own PC dude. You go off and spend thousands of pounds/dollars and when something goes wrong you have to fuck around sending parts all over the bloody EU to get them replaced only to find the part manufacturers can't be assed holding older parts because it's a waste of their money.

 

That was about as high end as you can get that rig. Do you think the customer service was high end?

 

On the flip side of that about three years ago my wife bought me an M11X. After about a year the keyboard died. So they replaced it the very next morning after I phoned. Then a few days later it went again so back they came and replaced it again. Then a few months after that the GPU fan died so I got an entire new motherboard.

 

Dell's warranty is actually worth the paper it's written on basically.

 

I'm no noob dude. 42 years old built my first computer when I was 7. But sometimes, especially when you're dumping a grand or three it's worth going with a proper company who look after their customers after the initial purchase.

 

So there you have it. Think that's unreasonable?

 

Also as I said, I can afford the warranty and service. If you can't I'm not going to diss you about it

[atrash]

I would do the same thing if I was in the your position too tbf. Some people just have an irrational hate towards Dell and other major brands just because they think everything must have the best price to performance ratio when the majority own rgb stuffs and stupid gaming hardwares and overkill gpu/cpu

 

I'm really looking forward to this build.

 

Edit:don't forget to follow your own thread.

[Bananasplit_00]

well then.. why not 4K with dual titans, also dont go with titans, go with G1 980TI's because they preform beter if your going to game and they CRUSH the titan in games whilst overclocking

[ALXAndy]

I would do the same thing if I was in the your position too tbf. Some people just have an irrational hate towards Dell and other major brands just because they think everything must have the best price to performance ratio when the majority own rgb stuffs and stupid gaming hardwares and overkill gpu/cpu

 

I'm really looking forward to this build.

 

Their warranty is stellar and they keep spare parts in the warehouse for years dude. They do it properly, basically. I have bought a Dell for the warranty, instead of upgrading my other rig.

 

Banana - because those are the parts I will be taking from that £3500 that thankfully still work. I cry at the thought of one of my Palit Titan Black dying. Their warranty is non existent apparently

 

Instead of buying Titan X or 980 TI I am just going to drop the res to 1440p maxed out with MSAA. In games that do run well I will run 4k, obviously.

[ALXAndy]

LOL I've been buying computer parts for thirty years and it's always the same. They're built like poop because they want you to replace it all a year later. Most companies don't even have a UK base to help their customers from.

 

-snip-

Edited July 8, 2015 by colonel_mortis

[SayberSky]

To be honest , if I could , I'd cough up that money , if only for the kickass case and service.

[Gilbert]

That new Alienware case is sexy, But i would still go with the older Area 51s if i was made to purchase things from Alienware. 

[ALXAndy]

That new Alienware case is sexy, But i would still go with the older Area 51s if i was made to purchase things from Alienware. 

 

I've got the 2009 A51 ALX dude well, my wife has but I sit about 3 feet from it

 

 

So my machine is being built

 

God bless the Irish.

[ALXAndy]

Update. So after looking at the DDR4 that comes with the Alienware it's naked. Not sure why I really care as you can't see inside but I bought these for the ram any way.

 

[Gilbert]

-snip-

Yea i'm following that other thread where you made it for your wife. I still think it looks better without a side panel window. It just makes it flow better without the window.

[ALXAndy]

I totally agree. That's why I bought one from the U.S.A and am shipping it over

[Gilbert]

I totally agree. That's why I bought one from the U.S.A and am shipping it over

Good to hear that

[alby800]

I am following this, even though I don't like Alienware, I can understand and if I were in your position, I would have done the same, except with a different company based in Australia

[ALXAndy]

I am following this, even though I don't like Alienware, I can understand and if I were in your position, I would have done the same, except with a different company based in Australia

 

People say they don't like Alienware all the time dude, nothing new there

 

Yesterday I had a guy over my house and showed him what my ALX could do. He now understands why they cost what they do.

 

There's actually a fantastic video of an Australian guy unboxing and setting up his Area 51 on Youtube

[ALXAndy]

Update. It's due to be delivered on Friday. I spent a good chunk of Monday benchmarking my 3970x rig so that I can compare them properly.

[ALXAndy]

OK so the rig came yesterday. Been pretty busy since.

 

 

Huge box OK so get it out and take off the side panel.

 

 

Remove the 960 (and sold already)

 

 

And sorted.

 

 

And add a few hard drives.

 

 

And done.

 

 

There is some coil whine from the PSU so I will probably call out a tech and get that replaced if it bothers me. It seems to be getting less, so it may resolve itself

[ace_finland]

Really like the alignment of all of the parts Not a big fan of the case but i do like the engineering of it How is warranty with them when you replace components? Had a Dell laptop once, best laptop i have owned and the best customer service i have ever experienced

[ALXAndy]

Really like the alignment of all of the parts Not a big fan of the case but i do like the engineering of it How is warranty with them when you replace components? Had a Dell laptop once, best laptop i have owned and the best customer service i have ever experienced

 

The warranty is next business day on site. I had a Alienware laptop and the service was excellent If something goes they just replace it.

[EvilWiffles]

Blue PCB. 

[Norman_the_Owl]

Blue PCB. 

No windowed side panel (yet)

[ALXAndy]

Blue PCB. 

 

Yeah good old MSI. Doesn't matter, would look bostin with blue braided cables going to it. I may send them away soon to Shakmods.

 

Well since posting this I have done a few mods. First I removed the PCI cage thing at the end. I also got another 8gb of ram and two more of those lovely XSPC memory coolers, as well as this.

 

​

 

One of about 40 in the entire of Europe. Big thanks to my pal Greg for letting this go At 4k it's just trashing my old SLI set up and I fully intend to add another once the dust settles and they are more readily available

 

Quick light change to red.

 

​

 

4k gaming ahoy