New Machine.... thoughts please

[untested]

Hi all

Relatively new to the world of OC. Have been looking for a rig that will allow me to have a bit more of a tinker and will offer me great performance. I'm CLEARLY not some kind of hardcore overclocker, I simply like to push my machine a little......

Rig will mostly be used for gaming and watching Hi-def movies. I also want to be able to work on uni assignments while watching movies.

Have looked at a few options recently then this deal came up on a daily deal site:

http://www.firstin.co.nz/products/alienware-aurora-r3-core-i7-desktop-pc-5873/

Please comment on performance vs PRICE of this machine, please keep in mind this is in NEW ZEALAND, and price is in NZD.

If anyone (especially kiwis) could suggest a better build for the same money I would be grateful for your time.

Clearly there are a few trade-offs here but it seems like the same machine built from scratch here would cost $3k PLUS......

Price is a BIG factor for me.





Thanks all

 

[blarr]

Don't buy that... please for the love of god don't buy that! Lol, they are basically robbing you of $500-800.

Here's the setup I'm going to build, total price will be about $650 but you're not in the US so newegg doesn't ship to you, just find a good online/local retailer that can sell these parts to you. If you are desperate enough you can resort to Amazon or eBay :]

CPU: i5-2500k($220)
Heatsink & Fan: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus($28)
Motherboard: ASRock Z68 Extreme3($137.87)
RAM: Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 @ 1600mhz($48)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750($95)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Illusion($45)
Hard Drive: SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM($60)
Optical/DVD Drive: I'm scrapping the one from my current build so just look around, they're about $20-$30.
GPU: Intel 3000 HD graphics(built into the i5-2500k, works GREAT for integrated graphics. Can play Crysis 2 at 15+ FPS during some intensive battles, cod4 at max settings and, well, pretty much plays any game out if you modify your visual settings correctly. I'm going to use that setup for a while and when Christmas comes around I'll be getting a GTX560ti or a 570 depending on the prices & other video cards released at the time.

 

[lowjack989]

Give me $2000.00 USD I will build you a machine that kicks some major ass.....you pay the shipping

 

[cadder]

Alienware has a good reputation, but any prebuilt machine will likely cost more than if you buy the parts and build it yourself. Most of us want to save the money by building our own, but we would probably still do it even if it wasn't cheaper just because we get enjoyment and satisfaction out of building our own computer and using the computer that we built.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Alienware never had a good reputation...hasn't improved because Dell bought it.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Alienware
http://www.alienwaresucks.com/

Build it yaself or have a local shop build for you

 

[untested]

It seems that here in NZ we are being ripped off by our retailers, on trying to build a machine like this myself I simply cannot make the numbers add up.

Have looked into buying the parts overseas but companies either won't ship parts or want to charge extortionate prices for shipping, the other concern is warranty. I don't want headaches if anything plays up....

 

[pckitty4427]

It seems that here in NZ we are being ripped off by our retailers, on trying to build a machine like this myself I simply cannot make the numbers add up.

Have looked into buying the parts overseas but companies either won't ship parts or want to charge extortionate prices for shipping, the other concern is warranty. I don't want headaches if anything plays up....

You're quite right about being ripped off in NZ. I live in NZ and the prices on Pricespy are sometimes double that of Newegg.

 

[untested]

Best answer selected by untested.