Is my Gaming PC any good?

FelixFarrow · Sep 30, 2014

Hey all,
I'm thinking of buying a fairly cheap Alienware X51 4th Gen (purely because I'm very new to the whole "Gaming PC" scene and I can't make my own) with these specs, and I was wondering if they were any good - can you give me some advice please? Bear in mind I'm trying to stay below the £800 mark.

4th Generation Intel® Core™ i3-4150 processor (2-cores,3MB Cache, up to 3.5GHz)
Windows 8.1
No monitor (buying one from LG)
NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) GTX 745 with 4GB DDR3
6GB (1X2GB/1X4GB) 1600 MHz DDR3 Non-ECC
1TB (64MB Cache) 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s
Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (9.5mm)
Dell Wireless 1550 (2x2 11ac combo with Bluetooth)

Thanks in Advance

jbrown156 · Sep 30, 2014

well the specs are fairly low butr it should be fine for games at medium to high but not ultra settings.. you should really think about an upgrade if you can that is.. the system can play games to as late as 2011 with no problem but i doubt it will dominate games like bf3 or far cry 3 and so on .

pacdrum_88 · Sep 30, 2014

That's an okay machine, but not much bang for the buck. That DDR3 RAM for the GPU is pretty weak. 4GB is worthless with that slow of speed. That processor really isn't that great either. You're probably looking at playing older games on high with decent settings, new games on medium to low, and later games probably low. For that price, you could build an absolutely screaming machine.

pacdrum_88 · Sep 30, 2014

http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/JW32FT/1000-gaming-build

Check this out if you want something that will dominate everything today and for the next couple of years.

g-unit1111 · Sep 30, 2014

For that budget you can get a much better rig than anything Alienware (Dell) makes. Alienware is ridiculously overrated and lack upgrade possibilities, and a lot of people who buy these systems get buyer's remorse. If you're buying a laptop keep in mind that you trade power for portability, but if you're buying a desktop, that rig would be on the very low end spectrum and you can definitely get much better for your budget. If you don't know how, there's tons of tutorials out there, and there's also the chance you know someone in IT who could build it for you, or you could take the parts to a local IT shop and have them build it for you.

This would be a better use of your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£171.54 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.18 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£84.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£286.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£11.16 @ Aria PC)
Total: £944.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-30 18:32 BST+0100

sora · Sep 30, 2014

OP, most Alienware makes are overpriced. Build your own computer and you will find that you should be able to save tons of money. If it is a laptop I understand though.

FelixFarrow · Oct 10, 2014

Hey guys, I've been looking around for a decent pc and I think I've found one. It's a prebuilt one from an Amazon company called ADMI. It's around £400 + the extra goodies like a mouse, keyboard etc and it comes with a free game. Too good to be true?
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00AU4LP0U/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_ttl?_encoding=UTF8&colid=YCHJ6H5HJFCW&coliid=IKJMVU0DVC9LT

pacdrum_88 · Oct 10, 2014

FelixFarrow :

It's not too good to be true because it is not too good. Pretty weak on all fronts. That DDR3 RAM in the GPU is a killer. the 250x with GDDR5 would be a much better investment. The processor is pretty weak as well, but useable with a decent GPU. I would really look into building one yourself unless you are just set on getting a prebuilt machine. Even for 400 you can something a lot better than that.

FelixFarrow · Oct 10, 2014

pacdrum_88 :

Ok I've got yet another plan

The YouTuber jackfrags posted a video in July about building your own budget gaming pc that still performs relatively well. As I'm not a very techy guy this is my last option:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7WQxr59KRto

sora · Oct 10, 2014

FelixFarrow :

YouTube is also your friend when it comes to learning how to build a PC!

FelixFarrow · Oct 11, 2014

sora :

FelixFarrow :

YouTube is also your friend when it comes to learning how to build a PC!

So you think It's fairly good?

FelixFarrow · Oct 11, 2014

g-unit1111 :

For that budget you can get a much better rig than anything Alienware (Dell) makes. Alienware is ridiculously overrated and lack upgrade possibilities, and a lot of people who buy these systems get buyer's remorse. If you're buying a laptop keep in mind that you trade power for portability, but if you're buying a desktop, that rig would be on the very low end spectrum and you can definitely get much better for your budget. If you don't know how, there's tons of tutorials out there, and there's also the chance you know someone in IT who could build it for you, or you could take the parts to a local IT shop and have them build it for you.

This would be a better use of your budget:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£171.54 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£24.98 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£105.18 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£84.00 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 840 EVO 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£55.00 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£35.94 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Superclocked ACX Video Card (£286.76 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 w/Window (Titanium Grey) ATX Mid Tower Case (£84.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£84.90 @ Scan.co.uk)
Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£11.16 @ Aria PC)
Total: £944.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-30 18:32 BST+0100

Tempting but I'd rather buy everything from the same price to cut down on the prices - but thanks anyway

sora · Oct 12, 2014

FelixFarrow :

sora :

FelixFarrow :

YouTube is also your friend when it comes to learning how to build a PC!

So you think It's fairly good?

Of course it is!

FelixFarrow · Oct 12, 2014

sora :

FelixFarrow :

sora :

FelixFarrow :

YouTube is also your friend when it comes to learning how to build a PC!

So you think It's fairly good?

Of course it is!

Ok, awesome! Thanks for the response!

sora · Oct 12, 2014

FelixFarrow :

sora :

FelixFarrow :

sora :

So you think It's fairly good?

Of course it is!

Ok, awesome! Thanks for the response!

No worries!

Search

Is my Gaming PC any good?

FelixFarrow

Reputable

sora

jbrown156

Reputable

pacdrum_88

Distinguished

pacdrum_88

Distinguished

g-unit1111

Titan

sora

Splendid

FelixFarrow

Reputable

pacdrum_88

Distinguished

FelixFarrow

Reputable

sora

Splendid

FelixFarrow

Reputable

FelixFarrow

Reputable

sora

Splendid

FelixFarrow

Reputable

sora

Splendid

TRENDING THREADS

Latest posts

Moderators online

Share this page