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Dell XPS vs Alienware

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Hi,

I am thinking of buying a new desktop PC. My budget is about 1200$. I came across these 2 configurations and I am confused between the two. Can you please suggest pros and cons for these and recommend which one is a better buy. The Dell XPS comes with a Dell ultrasharp U241M 24 inch monitor. I already have a 22 inch monitor and so I do not really need it.

DELL XPS - New - Price $1149

XPS 8500 XPS 8500
Operating System Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
Processors 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3770 processor (up to 3.90 GHz)
Memory 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600MHz - 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell KB213 Wired Multimedia Keyboard
Monitor Dell UltraSharp™ U2412M 24" Monitor with Adj Stand, Widescreen, VGA/ DVI/ DP
Video Card AMD Radeon™ HD 7770 2GB GDDR5
Wireless Driver Dell SRV Software 1703
Hard Drive 1TB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 6.0 Gb/s
Chassis XPS 8500, Black Chassis w/19:1 media card reader
Mouse Dell Laser Mouse
Network Card Integrated 10/100/1000 Ethernet
Optical Drive 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW), write to CD/DVD
Sound Integrated 7.1 with WAVE MAXXAudio 4
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Wireless Dell Wireless 1703 802.11b/g/n, Bluetooth v4.0+LE



Alienware Aurora R4 - Dell Certified Refurbished - Price $1223

Processor: Intel Core i7-3820 Processor (3.6GHz,Quad Core, 10MB Cache) Overclocked up to 4.1GHz
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
Alienware Aurora Desktop R4
1 TB SATA II Hard Drive (7200RPM)
8 GB Quad Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
1 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 555

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I was just looking myself. I found this deal after I purchased my computer. This one is cheaper than the ones you are looking at + you get a free xbox 360. I was kind of kicking myself in the ass for not finding it, but actually it is hidden pretty well. It's similarly spec'd to the ones you are looking at. 16gb ram, i7 3770k (3.5ghz most likely the ones you are looking at are 3.4) 1tb harddrive, 1gb 7770 graphics. If anything you can take the extra 150 you save and buy a better graphics card(The stock graphics cards are generally *** anyway, you can't even google search them for prices they are so old they dont even sell them anymore). Free xbox 360 you can't go wrong. :) 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

The i7 3770 3.4ghz and 3820 3.6 ghz are very similar in performance. However the i7 3770 3.5ghz generally performs better than both. There are only a few scenarios where the 3820 is faster. Ibuypower is a pretty reputable brand. They sell on the bestbuy website too. I think this way you're getting more bang for your buck.

If you want the most bang for your buck, make it yourself. You dont need a i7 for gaming whatsoever. There are much better things you can do if you decide to home-build.

I can make one for $850 that could outperform either of those, and with $1200, who knows how awesome it could get.

Its really not that hard to build, but if you are dead-set on buying one, then then one with the free Xbox is kinda cool, if not overpriced.

That Alienware is not worth getting.

XPS BIOS don't support overclocking in general. Alienware do. So your decision to OC or not will have a role here.

The XPS has an Ivy Bridge processor, and a good one at that, although its not unlocked by Intel (i.e. not a -K series). The Alienware has a Sandy Bridge E processor, which typically isn't that much greater than the XPS's processor. The only advantage of the SB-E processor here is that it supports 4-channel memory, which you will barely notice (unless you're running specialist programs).

For the XPS, call up Dell and tell them you don't want the monitor, (and possibly KB/mouse also), that should drop the price a bit.
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