Is the Alienware Alpha good?

N00b_of_PCs · May 4, 2015

Hello! I am a console gamer (and proud of it) and am selling my ps4. Should I purchase the alienware alpha core i3? I love older games like skyrim (MODS!!!!), but also plan on playing the witcher 3, MGS 5, and of course Battlefront 3 and BO3. Will this little machine compete with the console graphics in these games? Thanks!

James Mason · May 4, 2015

Not exactly good. It's basically a laptop, without the benefit of a built in screen and keyboard.
Considering that consoles will run those games at very... specifically slow and wonky settings, it probably will "compete" with consoles, but not necessarily surpass them.

Vlad Rose · May 4, 2015

It will compete with consoles, but not with higher end PCs; and will more than likely start to struggle as newer games come out. The Alpha is pretty much a laptop in console form. Here is a fairly decent review of it:

http://www.maximumpc.com/alienware_alpha_review2015

N00b_of_PCs · May 4, 2015

Vlad Rose :

I really dont have the time to build another gaming pc, so can you suggest one for like $700? Like is digital storm or ironside any good? thanks.

James Mason · May 4, 2015

It only takes about 2-3 hours to build a pc.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zAdwedmj1M

And prebuilts are always gonna be kind of a ripoff:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4590 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor ($178.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E34 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($53.15 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($184.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cougar Spike MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($29.99 @ Mwave)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer ($14.98 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($91.69 @ NCIX US)
Total: $710.26
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-05-04 11:52 EDT-0400

Vlad Rose · May 4, 2015

N00b_of_PCs :

Digital Storm has good reviews, but their mini pc (the Bolt) starts at around $2000. Unfortunately companies charge a premium for smaller size PCs. One that doesn't look bad for price/performance, has decent reviews and is under $700 is the CyberPower PC Syber Vapor.

http://www.maximumpc.com/cyberpower_pc_syber_vapor_review_2015

I see Walmart even carries it as well... lol: http://www.walmart.com/ip/39068490

James Mason · May 4, 2015

Vlad Rose :

The one from the review is the i7 model though.

The walmart one is the i3, but it's actually fairly decent, just about $200 paid for non-performing hardware is all. I'm actually typing this response on a PC that's pretty much exactly the walmart Vapor, it handles all games fairly well, but I built it for only $500.

Vlad Rose · May 4, 2015

James Mason :

True, I mainly went to the conclusion of the article to see how good the build quality is of the machine since I pretty much figured how the hardware would perform; and had noticed the Walmart ad first. I guess I should have mentioned that... lol

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