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Three Core i7 Systems From Botique Builders

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March 24, 2009 6:00:40 AM

Intel's Core i7 has comfortably established itself as the enthusiast CPU to beat. But we wanted to challenge the system builders in today's roundup with a $2,500 maximum budget. Alienware, AVADirect, and CyberPower battle it out for top billing.

Three Core i7 Systems From Botique Builders : Read more

More about : core systems botique builders

March 24, 2009 6:36:28 AM

Well this article would help people buying preassembled computer very much...
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March 24, 2009 6:58:27 AM

all 3 suck concidering you can add a 24 inch monitor, high quality speakers, audio card, gaming mouse/keyboard and still have money to spare.

ps. running a couple of gtx 260s at stock will be more than enough to pull 45 fps in crysis and everything else at idk fps.
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March 24, 2009 7:00:47 AM

ups forgot to add the new OCZ vortex 30g ssd in raid 0 to boot up and still be in budget.
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March 24, 2009 10:52:48 AM

Hummm, what I tend to miss on these reviews is an actual measurement of the noise generated by the system.

I mean, the subjective evaluation provided is still useful, but... how noisy is "surprisingly quiet" or "the loudest of the three machines"?
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March 24, 2009 10:53:08 AM

Hummm, what I tend to miss on these reviews is an actual measurement of the noise generated by the system.

I mean, the subjective evaluation provided is still useful, but... how noisy is "surprisingly quiet" or "the loudest of the three machines"?
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March 24, 2009 10:54:15 AM

Hummm, what I tend to miss on these reviews is an actual measurement of the noise generated by the system.

I mean, the subjective evaluation provided is still useful, but... how noisy is "surprisingly quiet" or "the loudest of the three machines" in this case?
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March 24, 2009 11:00:13 AM

Oooops... sorry for the multiple posts. I had some issues with my browser (does anyone know how to delete them?) :( 
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March 24, 2009 11:19:31 AM

Kind of surprised that Thomas Soderstrom's (is he swedish btw?) $2,500 core i7 build from December wasn't mentioned from what I could see for comparison.
If anyone is curious how tom's home-build system compares to the boutiques here's the link: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i7-overclock,2...

From the gaming benches on that review it appears that the now slightly outdated december build still trumps the above builds with its triple 260 SLI and 4.0 Ghz overclocked 920. Best value award goes Tom's own Build! Now if only that one came pre-built with a 3 year warranty .... guess I'll still be getting out my toolkit (no pun intended)
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March 24, 2009 11:59:24 AM

pivalakHummm, what I tend to miss on these reviews is an actual measurement of the noise generated by the system.I mean, the subjective evaluation provided is still useful, but... how noisy is "surprisingly quiet" or "the loudest of the three machines" in this case?


Hi, I'm the author of the story. Trying to objectively measure a system's noise levels without sophisticated measurement equipment is as problematic as describing them subjectively.

I have a level meter, but decided not to use it because it wasn't sensitive enough to measure noise levels where it mattered--at ear level where I was seated. I needed to measure the ambient room noise with no computers running to set a basis for comparison, and the meter wasn't sensitive enough to do that.

And even if the meter was sensitive enough for my purpose, the decibel measurement would be relevant only for the environment in which I was testing (my home office, which measures 13.6x8 feet).
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Anonymous
March 24, 2009 12:29:04 PM

“No one ever got laughed at for buying an Alienware.”

Are you kidding? They have to be the most overpriced POS on the market.

Pfft. Alienware = glorified console.

Real PC gamers build their own. Period.
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March 24, 2009 12:58:42 PM

Why the Alienware (Dell) do:

-Ruined Asus BIOS support by changing the P6T deluxe naming?. Is standard behavior from Dell, who delays BIOS upgrades, and sometimes totally forget it. Dell ruins motherboards.
-Overclocked nothing.
-Used crappy memory, when significant better memory cost little more.
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March 24, 2009 1:10:57 PM

I'd like to know what power supply the Alienware uses so I can use it in my next build. Power saving like that definitely add up over the course of a year, and when you look at the life of the hardware (18-48 months) those savings on your electricity bill can add up to the cost of the hardware itself sometimes.
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March 24, 2009 1:13:55 PM

User421“No one ever got laughed at for buying an Alienware.”Are you kidding? They have to be the most overpriced POS on the market.Pfft. Alienware = glorified console.Real PC gamers build their own. Period.


I can't argue that Alienware isn't overpriced for what you get.

But, not all "Real PC gamers" build their own. Some have the dosh to pay for custom rigs.

Not myself, of course. Plus, I like tinkering with gadgets :) 

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March 24, 2009 1:30:28 PM

LusciousI'd like to know what power supply the Alienware uses so I can use it in my next build. Power saving like that definitely add up over the course of a year, and when you look at the life of the hardware (18-48 months) those savings on your electricity bill can add up to the cost of the hardware itself sometimes.


There were no markings on the power supply other than Alienware's that I could see, so I'm guessing that they contract with a supplier to build a private-label PSU for them (as they did with the Asus motherboard).

But there's more to power consumption than just the power supply. The Cyberpower rig used a dual-GPU videocard, for instance, and the AVADirect machine was running two Nvidia cards in SLI.
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March 24, 2009 1:32:19 PM

OK, who wants to chip in for a spell-checker for Mr. Brown? :)  Shouldn't the title of the article be using the word "Boutique"?
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March 24, 2009 1:55:02 PM

LusciousI'd like to know what power supply the Alienware uses so I can use it in my next build. Power saving like that definitely add up over the course of a year, and when you look at the life of the hardware (18-48 months) those savings on your electricity bill can add up to the cost of the hardware itself sometimes.


I know of a Dell PC whose Power supply stopped working.
The owner buyed a new, standard power supply... and burned the motherboard, because Dell had the custom of modifying his motherboards, and power supplies, making them non standard.
By making that, Dell slaved buyers to buy parts from Dell only, and gave no warning about non standard hardware.

The merely fact that Dell has hidden the P6T Deluxe under a suspicious What The Fck change, advice to not but things from that crappy company.
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March 24, 2009 1:59:31 PM

I work with hundreds of Dells on a daily basis and can state that the only non-standard power supplies they use are in their "slim" cases. Your standard-size cases have a "regular" ATX compliant power supply.
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March 24, 2009 2:07:38 PM

FadamorI work with hundreds of Dells on a daily basis and can state that the only non-standard power supplies they use are in their "slim" cases. Your standard-size cases have a "regular" ATX compliant power supply.


That is not the point. If Dell custom modified this mother, probably was to make it non industry standard, to force you to buy Dell only upgrades.

Dell has done it many times. Be warned.
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March 24, 2009 2:07:41 PM

Wondering when the constant commercials will stop.Most people here build their own systems.Of course I don't deny there is merit in articles like this but the balance of toms is way different than it used to be.
What about a review of the new lcd's that are out now some of which are 120HZ.
Rob & Ben to me was the last saving grace for toms.
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March 24, 2009 2:21:17 PM

Hello, my name is Marc Diana and I work at Alienware and I’m a Tom’s fanatic. Mike, great job on the piece! It was very well written and hits a lot of great topics. I’d like to address a few comments in the postings about Alienware to clear up some misconceptions and answer a few questions.

1. Build vs. Buy- a lot of great points from the Tom’s readership out there on this one, and as usual it seems to be a similar theme whenever system builders are brought up. The article is a roundup on 3 system builders, not a build-it-your-own article so you shouldn’t expect many comparisons or listings to touch on that point. Like most of you, I fell in love with PCs by building them; however, I can also tell you that the experience of purchasing a new PC and unpacking your new build hitting power and gaming into the wee hours of the night is like no other. I have no doubt that there are some Tom’s readers that can also build their own automobiles, I too can. I can tell you that I can build a high performance automobile for far less than other newer models from many of the major manufacturers; however, I can also tell you that one of the coolest experiences is purchasing a new high performance automobile and driving it off the lot. It is this same experience that we strive to give to all our customers, and it is one that we do exceptionally well (trust me you’ll know you’re going to have a great time when that big black box with the Alienware logo shows up at your front door). There are also countless hours of engineering time put into our systems to make sure that your turn-key experience is a flawless one, you can’t get that in a personal build, and when you’re dealing in the arena of high performance with components that are extremely new, having these hours behind our products is key for a fantastic immersive user experience.
2. Alienware tampers with board BIOS- this could not be further from the truth. In fact, all our desktop systems come with what we have evaluated as to be the best boards in their respective categories for the price, the Asus P6T Deluxe that is equipped in the Area-51 X58 is no exception. We do not lock our BIOS, and any customer can tinker with their product as if they built it their own.
3. Alienware is “Overpriced”- Check out Alienware’s pricing, please. We’ve taken major strides to eliminate this assumption everyday, and I can assure you that our pricing is extremely competitive. Our new system pricing has also come down drastically. Take for example our Area-51 m17x notebook which started at $2,499 and launched over a year ago. Now take a look at our new M17 notebook which started at $1,399 and launched last November. Price vs. performance you’ll be hard-pressed to find a better performing 17” notebook. Today we launched a liquid cooling system on our X58 desktop that starts at $99. Take another look at Alienware, we’re doing good things in this sector I promise you.
4. Alienware’s Power supply unit- This is a power supply we built in tandem with Dell. It does excel at providing a very stable throughput of consistent power and shines at efficiency in S1 and S3 sleep states.

All in all, a great review Mike, and another excellent piece in the Tom’s achieves of high performance computing!
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March 24, 2009 3:04:21 PM

marcdiana12...
2. Alienware tampers with board BIOS- this could not be further from the truth. In fact, all our desktop systems come with what we have evaluated as to be the best boards in their respective categories for the price, the Asus P6T Deluxe that is equipped in the Area-51 X58 is no exception. We do not lock our BIOS, and any customer can tinker with their product as if they built it their own.


Is a P6T Deluxe, so when Asus fixes the P6T deluxe, will the customer be capable of download the update and use it right away?

...Or him gonna need to wait months until Dell decides to allow the Bios upgrade? (Dell have a history of never making available some Bios upgrades, specially concerning to new CPU support).

marcdiana123. Alienware is “Overpriced”- Check out Alienware’s pricing, please...
Take for example our Area-51 m17x notebook which started at $2,499 and launched over a year ago. Now take a look...


ALL notebooks prices gets down with time. Any trademark PC is overpriced.

Now, if the buyer pays extra money, him should get extra benefices. Selling to him non standard hardware, and slaving it to your trademark, is misbehaving, and giving him less benefices for his extra money.

Taking away BIOS upgrades is giving him less for his extra money.

Forcing him to buy an unwanted OS, is giving him less for extra money.

Limiting, or blocking upgrades, is giving him less for extra money.

Not giving him an OS installation DVD, instead giving him only an OEM image in hard disk, is risky, and giving him less for extra money.

DDR3 1066? That is crap, and giving him less for extra money.

marcdiana124. Alienware’s Power supply unit- This is a power supply we built in tandem with Dell. It does excel at providing a very stable throughput of consistent power and shines at efficiency in S1 and S3 sleep states.All in all, a great review Mike, and another excellent piece in the Tom’s achieves of high performance computing!


You carefully avoided to say if the power supply is standard, so, i guess is not. right? (Then wrong!)
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March 24, 2009 3:05:27 PM

Why even bother. It's all bunch of bullcrap.

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March 24, 2009 3:23:05 PM

To author Michael Brown:

The Alienware is, or is not a standard power supply? Not even have a standard connector?

That is VERY important. A review should include that data.

¿Can you change the videocards next year? do the connectors are standard? what if the provided power is not enough, and you need a new one?

Please, fix it.
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Anonymous
March 24, 2009 4:21:51 PM

Boutique Builders..does dell really class, cough, sorry alienware. I thought boutique building was about squeezing as much performance out of the equipment...not as much profit out of the customer
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March 24, 2009 4:33:41 PM

I know something that can help the image of Alienware. Take a random person who commented on this article and give him/her that rig tested from the article. I have heard lots business have success in give away promotion especially during times like this. Maybe it's time to give something back to the ppl. I'm a pretty smart shopper and I dont remember ever seeing Alienware offers anything like coupons or promotional discounts publicly online. To me that's a deal breaker not simply because of the greed I felt from such a well-known company, but also how dumb I think it is for a company to just sit there and let other companies to fish all the customers. I know Alienware is like Lexus to Toyota, or Acura to Honda (Premium line products) but no one's gonna touch it when there are many other more affordable options around. All I ever see daily is HP, IBM, Lenovo (IBM), Gateway, Dell, having limited coupons on a number of their units, but not Alienware (Dell). And why bother sending a Alienware PR dude (marcdiana12) here to give everyone a speech, we know he's good w/ words but there's not action. Times like this simply words cannot convince anyone here anything. Provide something physical-like a freebie. You guy (alienware) are trying to buy the hearts of customers like many of us, this is how you do it. I'm not unreasonable, this is what makes sense to me.
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March 24, 2009 4:36:45 PM

marracoTo author Michael Brown:The Alienware is, or is not a standard power supply? Not even have a standard connector?That is VERY important. A review should include that data.¿Can you change the videocards next year? do the connectors are standard? what if the provided power is not enough, and you need a new one?Please, fix it.


It was my understanding that Dell quit using power supplies with proprietary connectors some time ago--at least on its consumer rigs. I don't know that Alienware ever used that type of PSU, but I will ping my contact at Alienware to confirm this, just to be sure.

You can change out the videocards and as you can see from the pictures there is room to add hard drives, optical drives, cards, and other devices just as you could on the other two machines I looked at.

Many people build their own machines; many others want to buy something pre-assembled. Any good computer publication should address the needs of both types of readers, in my opinion.
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March 24, 2009 5:37:32 PM

MrMickIt was my understanding that Dell quit using power supplies with proprietary connectors some time ago--at least on its consumer rigs. I don't know that Alienware ever used that type of PSU, but I will ping my contact at Alienware to confirm this, just to be sure.You can change out the videocards and as you can see from the pictures there is room to add hard drives, optical drives, cards, and other devices just as you could on the other two machines I looked at. Many people build their own machines; many others want to buy something pre-assembled. Any good computer publication should address the needs of both types of readers, in my opinion.

Thanks for answering. Although I are ranting about the info I miss, I still think your article is a good one.

I know perfectly that many people want to buy a totally assembled computer, because I are asked frequently about what computer to buy, and sometimes they don't want an user assembled one.

For that reason, I have interest on articles about pre-assembled PCs. They not only teach what computers are good, but also which ones are bad.

I can guarantee that Dell lost dozens of sales on my city because of me.
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March 24, 2009 5:39:43 PM

Good job Mike on the write up...i like that you're objective pointing out the pro and con of each system.

Alienware has been injected with Dell's DNA...now you're getting Alienware prices on a Dell...LOL

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March 24, 2009 6:04:15 PM

marracoTo author Michael Brown:The Alienware is, or is not a standard power supply? Not even have a standard connector?


Okay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.
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March 24, 2009 6:17:50 PM

MrMickOkay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.

Good to know. Good work.
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March 24, 2009 6:26:31 PM

MrMickOkay, I've heard back from Alienware. The power supply is not proprietary and it definitely is user replaceable.


Now, the mistery is, Why Alienware hide the motherboard model? What modification it contains?

Publicizing a P6T Deluxe is a good selling point, as it is a mother an enthusiast can choose to buy (if does not plan to run 3xSLI/Crossfire).
If forced to buy a trademark, then it can be say, "well, at least the mother is not classic prebuilt crap"... unless some classic big vendors bad practices are added.

I still mistrust Dell.
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March 24, 2009 6:30:10 PM

I imagine it has more to do with perceived exclusivity rather than deliberate misinformation. If the company is able to use a board custom-made for them, it appears all the more big-time.
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March 24, 2009 6:39:31 PM

cangeliniI imagine it has more to do with perceived exclusivity rather than deliberate misinformation. If the company is able to use a board custom-made for them, it appears all the more big-time.


Inexperienced users can't take a clue from it. But for more experienced, it is lack of information. And from big PC vendors, it hint bad things, probably hidden.
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March 24, 2009 6:45:34 PM

Hey Chris, To answer the motherboard question. We use boards that we feel are the best in class for the price range in which they reside. For example we would not put a 3-way SLI board in a PC that starts at $999 because that would drown our feature set out from a cost point of view and not allow us to reinvest in other features that would possibly benefit that cusomter greater, like larger HDDs or more memory, ect...

The way we look at motherboards is pretty simple- we could spend countless dollars + time and investment into making a fantastic board or we could invest in a partner's board with an excellent name/quality in the space and reinvest our resources on developing new feature sets for the customer, like AlienFX, and Alien Sense (Facial recognition software).

A good comparison would be to take a look at a high performance automobile and the components those manufacturers choose to build their cars with. The Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution is a great example of this- instead of Mitsubishi going out and making their own brakes they get them from Brembo, instead of making their own wheels they get them from BBS, and instead of making their own turbo they get them from Garrett. Each of those manufacturers is arguably a respective leader in what their catagories. So rather than investing in doing it from the ground up, Mitsubishi chooses to invest the resources in other areas that make sense for the customer. Both BMW and Porsche opperate Similarly.

Hope that helps clear things up.

Marc
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March 24, 2009 7:02:20 PM

Well, I must say there are good points in these posts. I cannot express how amazing it is to see everyone so deep in thought and truly observing what boutique builders should be focusing on. If anything, I don’t feel that companies should be “explaining” to the public about their actions or their policies. If anything, they should take what is said by end-users into consideration and adapt to the current times. It is definitely important, in this day and age, that we as system builders pay attention to detail and do what we can to satisfy the customers. Without that we are losing sales and taking major hits, and appreciation that is well deserved by a PC builder that does much research into new hardware and system development. Without our customers where else would we be, right?
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March 24, 2009 7:02:57 PM

Why no ibuypower?
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March 24, 2009 7:03:05 PM

Well, I must say there are good points in these posts. I cannot express how amazing it is to see everyone so deep in thought and truly observing what boutique builders should be focusing on. If anything, I don’t feel that companies should be “explaining” to the public about their actions or their policies. If anything, they should take what is said by end-users into consideration and adapt to the current times. It is definitely important, in this day and age, that we as system builders pay attention to detail and do what we can to satisfy the customers. Without that we are losing sales and taking major hits, and appreciation that is well deserved by a PC builder that does much research into new hardware and system development. Without our customers where else would we be, right?
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March 24, 2009 7:16:48 PM

To Marcdiana12:

There is no point in use a P6T Deluxe, and loading it with DDR3 1066, doing no overclocking, and only one RAID.

Speedier memory cost almost the same. The main purpose of that mother is to do overclocking.

From the performance you squeeze from it, you really wasted money on the mother.
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March 24, 2009 8:25:10 PM

cangeliniI imagine it has more to do with perceived exclusivity rather than deliberate misinformation. If the company is able to use a board custom-made for them, it appears all the more big-time.

why theres no pics showing inside Alienware rig?
very good "perceived exclusivity" !
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March 24, 2009 8:45:41 PM

recent customer got a dual gpu set up from alien it was $5000? he had the same cpu set up but 2 vieoc cards? is this is special THG price? or this as configured? i email him for more details and post it!
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March 24, 2009 9:57:41 PM

C_RayWhy no ibuypower?


iBuyPower sent us a system, but we didn't review it because it didn't fit the specs we had defined (a model number got transposed and we didn't discover the error until it was too late to have them ship us a replacement).
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March 24, 2009 10:03:20 PM

Salsoolowhy theres no pics showing inside Alienware rig?very good "perceived exclusivity" !


The very first photo in the story is of the Alienware Area-51 X-58, and there are two more detailed shots in the Alienware review itself.
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March 24, 2009 10:22:25 PM

Was shipping accounted into the budget?....thats usually the killer when I build a computer. It takes me from a $1000 budget, to a $700 budget, and thats the difference between an extra video card (a GTX 260 or a 4870).
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March 24, 2009 10:25:52 PM

boudyWas shipping accounted into the budget?....thats usually the killer when I build a computer. It takes me from a $1000 budget, to a $700 budget, and thats the difference between an extra video card (a GTX 260 or a 4870).


No, we did not tell the vendors to include tax or shipping into their prices because those factors would vary depending on where you live.
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March 24, 2009 10:43:24 PM

Great article Micheal Brown. Really, great job. I only wish that people here would stop the "advirtisment" nonsense.

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March 24, 2009 11:04:50 PM

MrMickNo, we did not tell the vendors to include tax or shipping into their prices because those factors would vary depending on where you live.


Alright, that makes sense.

I have another question though; Is there a article in which you asked for the participants to build around the Dragon platform? If so, could you please give me a link or something?
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March 24, 2009 11:29:54 PM

this is what The $5000 alien was:
as for the alienware pricing, I am not too sure, I just customized the system and thats what it came out to be.

Core i7 920
Solid state drives in raid 0
12gb of ddr3
gtx295 quad sli
blue ray drive
Xtreme gamer sound card
and the changeable custom alienFX lighting
4 year parts replacement warranty ( if i dont void the warranty, so if it fails they will replace the parts)

The video cards alone were 1,000, and the solid state drives were expensive...like almost 1000 or 800 bucks...


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March 25, 2009 12:16:29 AM

whats the point of alienware offering water cooling if the bios is locked?
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