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Alienware x51 better or building your own?\

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  • Gaming
  • Alienware
  • CPUs
  • Build Your Own
Last response: in CPUs
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January 28, 2014 11:21:43 PM

So i was in need of a good gaming pc that can runs reasonably and i found that alienware had a 1300 dollar pc with these specs:

http://www.dell.com/au/p/alienware-x51-r2/pd

of course i dont want to put too much money into a gaming pc but will this be worth the buy or building your own?

if it is more wise to build your own gaming pc, can i have a help with which parts im gonna have to get(btw you can give it to a pc parts guy to ask them to build it for you right because im not too comfortable with this job and im really clumsy). i want a pc which runs the new games on the market right now smoothly and playable

*i dont want to put over 1600 dollars for a gaming pc*

thanks guys
p.s i live in Australia

*EDIT i live in Australia soo my budjet would be about 1400 US currency (over here it would be 1600 AU dollars*

More about : alienware x51 building

a b 4 Gaming
a b à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:28:28 PM

1300 US(?) dollars for an i3 machine!!! Don't even consider that, unless you really like the alienware pagliaccio show...

edit: Dell managed to make iMac 21.5" look like a bargain at this price point and I can't believe that I am saying that...
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a b à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:29:56 PM

Most definitely building your own. With building your own, you get to make the "dream PC" without things that you dont need for ALOT cheaper, unlike pre-built PCs.

But with building your own computer, it takes knowledge and research, alot of it. You gotta know your shiznit, else you might flop on something that might destroy your build (not literally, more like you might get a beast GPU and get a slow CPU and end up getting low fps cause of bottlenecking for a gaming rig).

With pre-built PCs, all you have to do is unbox and play, but you dont know what's in your system or if what's in there is actually what you need / want.

With building PCs, it's also alot of work piecing the thing together, OH, dont even make me go there with plugging in those dag nabbit front panel connectors onto the motherboard, it's hell on earth i tell ya, but the more that you interact with it, the better you will get with it til you'll know the front panel connectors and their sockets like your family's names (I hope you know them). You also have to take cable management into mind, cause having all of those cables around your components, and those ejecting heat, will drastically shorten the lifespan of your PC.

And last but not least, PC building can expand your knowledge of PCs (kind of obvious).

TL;DR it depends if you're up for making a good PC for a lot lower price in exchange for alot of research, hardwork, and effort as opposed to just buying some overpriced pre built that you know nothing about. I tried to make this as unbiased as possible but I couldn't help myself.
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a b à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:30:26 PM

No, that is an awful build for the money. You could just about build option 3 for the price of option one if you did it yourself.
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a b 4 Gaming
a c 93 à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:36:54 PM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($396.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z87X-UD3H ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($229.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston Blu 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($105.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ CPL Online)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 290 4GB Video Card ($519.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($85.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 600W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $1590.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-29 18:36 EST+1100)
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a b 4 Gaming
a b à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:38:37 PM

for $1.3K, you could build something far better, the only con being that it's not going to look as sleek as the X51. add an extra AU$40-50 to charge someone to build it for you;

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($212.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: ASRock B85M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($87.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: GeIL EVO POTENZA 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($99.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($309.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Case: Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case ($85.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($115.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8 (OEM) (64-bit) ($108.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Keyboard: SteelSeries 6Gv2 Wired Standard Keyboard ($89.00 @ PLE Computers)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder 2013 Wired Optical Mouse ($52.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $1247.00
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-29 18:35 EST+1100)

if you're looking for a monitor as well, we're going to have to make a few compromises if we're going to keep it under 1.3K, and even then, it'll outperform that $1300 X51.
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a b à CPUs
January 28, 2014 11:47:10 PM

Assuming you are gaming at 1080p, this is a bit more bang for your buck.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($275.00 @ PCCaseGear)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($45.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Motherboard: Asus Z87M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($108.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Intel 530 Series 180GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($272.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($128.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($145.44 @ Mwave Australia)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $1385.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-29 18:47 EST+1100)
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January 29, 2014 1:53:47 PM

Build your own. All the information you need to build one step by step is online and so easy. Plus you get to customize it to your needs, Picking out parts,Brands and Making it all Match is to me the funnest part of building your own. Pick a Cpu i5/i7 (I like intel) socket 1155,1150,2011 go from there if you have any questions about which parts to buy ask on here and people will give you all the advice you need for YOUR budget. Dont buy PreBuilt=bad on your wallet.
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January 29, 2014 10:01:42 PM

so will i be able to ask a guy out to make my pc build ?, or will i have to do the pc build myself?
pcgaming98 said:
Most definitely building your own. With building your own, you get to make the "dream PC" without things that you dont need for ALOT cheaper, unlike pre-built PCs.

But with building your own computer, it takes knowledge and research, alot of it. You gotta know your shiznit, else you might flop on something that might destroy your build (not literally, more like you might get a beast GPU and get a slow CPU and end up getting low fps cause of bottlenecking for a gaming rig).

With pre-built PCs, all you have to do is unbox and play, but you dont know what's in your system or if what's in there is actually what you need / want.

With building PCs, it's also alot of work piecing the thing together, OH, dont even make me go there with plugging in those dag nabbit front panel connectors onto the motherboard, it's hell on earth i tell ya, but the more that you interact with it, the better you will get with it til you'll know the front panel connectors and their sockets like your family's names (I hope you know them). You also have to take cable management into mind, cause having all of those cables around your components, and those ejecting heat, will drastically shorten the lifespan of your PC.

And last but not least, PC building can expand your knowledge of PCs (kind of obvious).

TL;DR it depends if you're up for making a good PC for a lot lower price in exchange for alot of research, hardwork, and effort as opposed to just buying some overpriced pre built that you know nothing about. I tried to make this as unbiased as possible but I couldn't help myself.


iknowhowtofixit said:
Assuming you are gaming at 1080p, this is a bit more bang for your buck.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4670K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($275.00 @ PCCaseGear)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212X 82.9 CFM CPU Cooler ($45.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Motherboard: Asus Z87M-PLUS Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($132.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($108.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Intel 530 Series 180GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($189.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Video Card: Asus Radeon R9 270X 2GB Video Card ($272.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: Fractal Design Define Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($128.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($145.44 @ Mwave Australia)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($22.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Total: $1385.44
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-01-29 18:47 EST+1100)


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Best solution

a b à CPUs
January 29, 2014 10:15:26 PM

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/2K45P
@ OP grab something like this if you want to stay within a budget...that 270X really isn't going to get you far.
You want to spend mor vnM's builds good even less Hazles build will work.
you do need a copy of windows as well...but it's easier then a kids lego set to put these together. Toughest part is the heat-sink but wiht taking it slow and following directions you should be fine.
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February 10, 2014 7:59:46 PM

Hi all, I am new here and was looking for some answers on this particular question. I am from Singapore and truth be told, you guys have it better here cos the individual components are cheaper to buy and your RMA process much easier and smoother than we're used to here in SG.

The machine that I finally bought was about 1,500 USD and it comes with the exact specs (i7-4770 with a 2GB Nvidia GTX760Ti) as in this link http://wp.me/p4kB0n-1j. So I guess it's fair price to pay for me since the link puts a DIY build at clost to 1,500 USD anyway.
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June 17, 2014 12:38:59 AM

Might as well get 1.3k cause your build sucks
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