Alienware x51 opinions? (Help!)

[rhonniemacrae]

Wondering what you guys think about the new Alienwares.

The base model is:

Intel® Core™ i3-2120 3.3GHz (3MB Cache) with Hyper-Threading Technology
4gb of RAM
1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 545
it costs $699



The upgraded model is:

Intel® Core™ i5-2320 3.0GHz (6MB Cache) with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
8GB of RAM
1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 555
It costs $999

They say the base model can run Battlefield 3 at 30fps. Im no expert on computer gaming, but wouldnt that mean it should have no problem playing other games at atleast 30 fps? (Excluding games like The Witcher 2 or Crysis of course.)

Would the 699 mode be any good for gaming? It seems like an underpowered GPU to me... but thats just what ive been able to find in my research.

Do you thing it could run games like Skyrim? Or FFXIV?

Im wondering because im trying to decide between buying one of these, or building my own. I know i can build my own cheaper, but the Alienware comes with the gaming keyboard and mouse, and Windows 7 already installed. (I would have to pay extra for those if i purchased them on my own.)

So... Any thoughts?

 

[Zero_]

Lets put it this way. You can build a PC with an OS, keyboard, mouse and the works for $700, that would outperform the $999 version of the x51.

 

[kajabla]

Yep. Building it on your own is definitely the way to go. Just give us a maximum budget.

 

[rhonniemacrae]

Lets put it this way. You can build a PC with an OS, keyboard, mouse and the works for $700, that would outperform the $999 version of the x51.

I took a look through your 500 600 and 800 builds very helpful.

But what do you think about their claims? you think that GT 545 could pull off Battlefield 3 on high at 1080p?
Its the GDDR5 version, but still. From what i found about it online it doesn't seem that great.

 

[kajabla]

Perhaps they mean low settings at 30fps. High definitely wouldn't happen.

 

[rhonniemacrae]

Yep. Building it on your own is definitely the way to go. Just give us a maximum budget.

Well i tried to put together my own system, and this is what i came up with. What do you think? Im a novice at this, but i spent a few days putting it together, watching gameplay videos, and reading reviews.


Rosewill CHALLENGER-U3 Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ,comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top ...
Model #:CHALLENGER-U3
Item #:N82E16811147060
$49.99

ASUS M5A88-V EVO AM3+ AMD 880G SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
Model #:M5A88-V EVO
Item #:N82E16813131733
$119.99

SAPPHIRE 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
Model #:100314-3L
Item #:N82E16814102948
$164.99

Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630W Continuous @40°C,80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
Model #:RG630-S12
Item #:N82E16817182200
$59.99

AMD Phenom II X4 960T Zosma 3.0GHz Socket AM3 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor HD96ZTWFGRBOX
Model #:HD96ZTWFGRBOX
Item #:N82E16819103995
$124.99

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Model #:F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL
Item #:N82E16820231314
$46.99

Seagate Barracuda ST31000524AS 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Model #:ST31000524AS
Item #:N82E16822148697
$134.99
Subtotal: $701.93

 

[rhonniemacrae]

Perhaps they mean low settings at 30fps. High definitely wouldn't happen.

"Even the 699 model is capable of play battlefield 3 on high settings at 1080p at up to 30 FPS" - Frank Azor, the man in charge of Alienwares product management.

The thing that catches me there is "up to" That means it could be like... 2. haha.

I was just wondering if anyone thought this thing could stand up to what theyre claiming it can do.

 

[Zero_]

That's $700 with no OS? In that case my $800 sig build minus OS will be much faster.

 

[rhonniemacrae]

That's $700 with no OS? In that case my $800 sig build minus OS will be much faster.

Definitely. I may steal that from you... Have you ever actually built it? or is it a theoretical build?

 

[Zero_]

Definitely. I may steal that from you... Have you ever actually built it? or is it a theoretical build?

Partially theoretical. I've built similar systems, but with different brands. (Eg: Gigabyte motherboard and Axle graphics + PSU).

 

[peep1988]

Definitely. I may steal that from you... Have you ever actually built it? or is it a theoretical build?

if you havent heard of ibuypower give them a try google up the ibuypower hs 11 its a base of 999 and you can customize it further for the base of 999 you get a i5 2500k and a nvidia 570 but ibuypower doesnt have the best customer service