---Alienware---

I highly reccomend http://www.newegg.com. Some of the best hardware prices around with good service and shipping.

 

Thank you all for your help and i will check out that website.

 

I was always a faithful Dell buyer until my latest PC which is an Alienware desktop. I moved away from Dell for several reasons: didn't have the choices I wanted; had messed me about with ship dates too many times;Alienware PC came out roughly same price as Dell anyway.

Laptop or Desktop? You'll always get more bang for your buck with a desktop - but depends if you need the mobility or not. Your options for future upgrades are normally more limited with laptops (especially video cards and additional Hard Drives). With the price of LCD screens reducing all the time, you could spend the savings on a nice screen (19" LCD for instance).

General specs you should look for - fastest processor you can sensibly afford (remember to consider whether you'll want to upgrade this in the future). 1Gb Ram (absolute minimum to consider); decent sized HD (100Gb or more); videocard - I'm still a fan of ATI (despite problems that some ATI users have had with CIV4) - most new motherboards support PCI-Express - I opted for the ATI X600 (runs Civ 4 perfectly - right out of the box).

If you want to limit spending - be prepared to spend more on memory and video card and save on your CPU. (Compare prices for 3.2 GHz CPU with 2.8 Ghz and the savings can be significant). If configuring from a site such as Dell or Alienware - look for a model that supports a high end processor - then just down select to your budget. There's always a premium for fastest - I usually look 2 or 3 steps down from the fastest available. Consider this too - buying a fast processor but scrimping on Ram will mean you games will probably be 'paging' to disk all the time - your fast processor won't do you much good if you're waiting on all that disk activity.

Forget about build your own if you're not comfortable with the idea. Yes you can save money but you can also have a lot of headaches. Self assembly just isn't for everyone. (I could have done as I've done major refits in the past - I just didn't need the hassle this time round).

 

I have an Alienware (Area 51) and hands down it's the best PC I ever owned, as well as the most expensive PC I ever owned. I can guarantee you that once you buy one, you'll never want to own anything else. The quality level of Alienwares is unmatched.

Most complaints about Alienwares come from people who bought one, but tried to save money by buying from the "cheaper model" selection. To me that's like buying a mercedes but only getting a C class. Technicaly it's a mercedes, but it's not what all the fuss is about. Alienwares are the same way, if you want true satisfaction and you want to know why people love Alienwares (and why they are so popular) you need to dish out the 3-4 grand and buy the Auraros or the Area 51's. Don't try to skimp on it.

What makes them great?

1. Designed from the ground up specifically for high end gaming. Just to give you an idea, I have a Area 51 from 3.5 years ago and I play all games today at max settings. The PC's are built with the future in mind.

2. Very accessible and upgradable without loosing your warranty. The design is such that you can get at any hardware without any trouble at all and you don't give up your warranty just because you opened the case (the policy of 95% of the PC companies out there today).

3. You can turn in your Alienware and get a new one (similiar to gateway), so once you invest in one, your second time around it will be cheaper.

4. CPU is overclocked with a warranty on it. There is no one in the industry that offers that, not even the designers of the chips themselves.

 

i own alienware pc too - best pc i ever had! their customer support is excellent - my motherboard got broken recently, and got picked up straight away and then 2 weeks time i got my pc back! amazing!

 

If money isn't an option they apparantly have some very nice systems, you can put one together that is just as good with half the money though.

 

uhhh what graphic card do you have on that 3.5 year old computer?
My homebuild is about 3yrs old but i did have to update the graphic card for BF2.

 

My two cents worth.

1. I have built my own. Not worth the savings these days, IMHO, because you don't save all that much.

2. Alienware has an excellent reputation. Make sure you go to their games machine classification to pick something out.

3. Someone suggested Dell. "you can tell by the smell it's a ..." Me not like 'em! But if you do, make sure the wondrous [...] is capable of running the games you want.

 

If you are looking for a laptop you don't need to spend $2k.

What you need to do is stay away from Intel laptops. More likely than not they will have integrated graphics and won't be able to run the game.

I purchased an HP Pavilion laptop from the hpshopping website with an AMD 64 3200+, 1GB of RAM and a 128MB non-integrated ATI x200 graphics card for $1113 before the $50 rebate. The machine had to do two things. Play DVDs and run Civ IV. It does both great and I am very happy with the purchase so far (I've had it two weeks). They can configure laptops any way you want, but the video card choices are limited when choosing AMD processors. Just make sure any laptop you buy doesn't have shared memory, AMD or Intel. They also have a program to trade in your old laptop, which is why I used HP.

I also built my own PC earlier this year and saved a bunch of money and learned a lot. It is not difficult to do, but you should go to a bookstore and look at some "How to Build a PC" books. This will give you some insight into whether it's something you want to do or not. I used the Maximum PC guide and ordered the parts from Newegg. I will never purchase a pre-built computer ever again, the process was so easy.

If you are looking for a pre-built, look at Cyberpower.com or Ibuypower.com. They build to specifications and they are significantly lower in price than Alien or Falcon NW. Dell is Intel only and that would not be the direction I would go. You can get an AMD system for under $1000 and a SLI machine with dual video cards for around $1,500 from Cyberpower.

All this information is from my own shopping experiences in the last year, but I don't endorse or make any guarantees for any of the companies. They are just the ones I looked at and they seemed to be reputable. I'm just hoping my HP laptop keeps performing like it does right now.

Good luck with your search.

 

Every single store bought computer is the exact same thing. It doesn't matter if it's a Dell, HP, Gateway, Compaq, etc. They all use the exact same components. The only difference is how much you plan on paying for the brand name. Go to Best Buy, get the $300 emachines, get a top notch video card and some more ram, play Civ 4.

 

Just don't expect the Best Buy employees to overclock it for you for free.

 

Completely overpriced. I've speced out systems identical to alienware anywhere from 25%-50% cheaper from other places. You are paying for their (very effective) advertising campaign.

I got my last system from monarch computer, and hypersonic-pc for the one before that (hypersonic-pc is a tad expensive these days). The computer from Monarch took forever to arrive, but it was put together well and they had a great parts selection.

Prices on computers can vary greatly, do a lot of research.

 

"4. CPU is overclocked with a warranty on it. There is no one in the industry that offers that, not even the designers of the chips themselves."

Actually, there are a few places that do that. I think Hypersonic-pc still has a option where they will OC the machine for you, and I know I saw a few others that do the same when I researched my last PC a few months ago.

 

Acually, a friend of mine just got the one with the AMD Sempron 3100 (1.8 or 1.9 I think) and it came overclocked out of the box to 3.1.

 

Oh, if you are looking for a laptop, the Alienware laptops are just another manufacturer's laptop with alienware branding. I'm not sure what they offer now, but I believe they used to have sager laptops rebranded as theirs. If you really are looking for a laptop, find out the actual manufacturer and you'll get it a whole lot cheaper.

Even though it seems like I'm bashing Alienware, they do put out quality product, you just pay top dollar for it and I just think there are cheaper places with a similar level of quality.

 

Not true at all. Whether or not the graphics are integrated is up to the manufacturer of the notebook, not the processor on it.

One of the fastest notebooks you can buy is a Dell with the Pentium M processor and a 7800GTX card in it.

 

I've heard extremely bad things about Alienware. Of course, this is the internet, you hear bad things about everyone, but looking at their site, they really are overpriced. As for Dell, never ever get a Dell. Substandard parts, and they're still selling desktops that cannot be upgraded.

"Build your own" might be the best way, but it doesn't work for most people. I have a Falcon NW Talon. http://www.falcon-nw.com/ When I bought mine, the value-cost ratio was better than for any other pre-made system I found. I've had great customer service too. The computer outperforms its specs as well. Never a problem.

 

"Laptop or Desktop"

Desktop. Cheaper, easier to upgrade, less hassle. I made the mistake of getting a "gaming laptop" a about a year ago where what I really should have gotten is couple of upgrades to my desktop and a more comfortable chair (which I have now, and the expensive gaming laptop is rarely used). Sure, the idea of sitting on the sofa and gaming, or being able to take it into any room was nice, but in the end the comfortable chair was all that was really necessary (and a small shift to the living room so I can watch the news and play at the same from from my comfy chair).

 

I was just looking at a Alienware ALX system for $4449. And it only has 1gb of ram and dual 6800GTs. It also has a AMD FX55 CPU which is expensive.

I can build the same system for less than half of that. For $3000 I could build a system that would take the ALX out back and rape it.

 

jesus christ guys. the original poster DOESNT WANT TO BUILD HIS OWN RIG!
stop saying "oh its cheaper" well yeah its way cheaper but ever thought that not everyone in the world has a lot of free time as you do? maybe the original poster deosnt want to find out all that technical info. maybe the OP just wants the ease of buying a gaming pc and playing in it.

damn if i had 4bills like that id buy an alienware too just for the ohhhhhh ahhhhhh factor.

for the record i have a custom built pc made by a techy friend of mine =).