small gaming pc suggestions?

Solution
This will quickly become a multi-reply thread of "Don't buy alienware", so- allow me to begin: "Don't buy alienware!"

Are you dead-set on buying a pre-built PC, or are you entertaining the option of building your own PC?

What if I told you that you could build a better PC than that Alienware x51- for the same price? That alienware doesn't have a graphics card (which kinda defeats the purpose of alienware doesn't it?), so it won't be a steady performer on newer games- if you are looking to play games... which I believe is still alienware's target market?

Also, need your definition of small- if size is a big factor, I want you to have a case of around this size if you built your own...

katiklysm

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Aug 11, 2010
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This will quickly become a multi-reply thread of "Don't buy alienware", so- allow me to begin: "Don't buy alienware!"

Are you dead-set on buying a pre-built PC, or are you entertaining the option of building your own PC?

What if I told you that you could build a better PC than that Alienware x51- for the same price? That alienware doesn't have a graphics card (which kinda defeats the purpose of alienware doesn't it?), so it won't be a steady performer on newer games- if you are looking to play games... which I believe is still alienware's target market?

Also, need your definition of small- if size is a big factor, I want you to have a case of around this size if you built your own:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

If that's too big- then you prolly should just go with the alienware- as there is no way to get a legitimate graphics card into a case as slim as that alienware.
 
Solution

Mahisse

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As far as I can read the x51 comes with a GTX 645. It's really not a great card but it is a compromise for such a case since it is a slim version. It will be a hard to upgrade in the future because of this and is the biggest reason why you shold not buy this machine.
For other machines on that size there are alot of possibilities if you should choose to build one yourself but always keep in mind that if you buy an odd-sized case it will be much more difficult to upgrade the hardware in it. Especially when it comes to the GPU.