$2000 for a Gaming System

NewComputer · 10-12-2005, 06:20 AM

The motherboard on my system that my friend built just died, so I'm looking to get a new system through a company. I'd rather have a built system with support rather than trying to fix futher problems on my own. I'm looking to get a system that can handle high end gaming with no issues and a system I dont have to replace for at least 5 years. Here are the two that I'm looking at:

Alienware: Aurora 5500 - $2,096

Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ with HyperTransport Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 4-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Power Supply: Alienware® Approved 650 Watt ATX 2.0 Power Supply with Active PFC
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case - Saucer Silver
Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening with AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System
Motherboard: Alienware® nForce™4 SLI™ Chipset Motherboard PCI Express
Graphics Processor: 256MB PCI-Express x16 NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 GT
Memory: 1GB Low-Latency Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
System Drive: 160GB Serial ATA II 3Gb 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi® XtremeMusic High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Monitor: No Monitor
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!

Dell: XPS 600 - $1,969

Processor: Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitors Video Ready w/o Monitor
Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ Native Command Queuing
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
Sound Cards Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D), w/Dolby® Digital 5.1
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months
Digitial Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Digital Photography Photo Album™ SE Basic
Hardware Warranty SAVE $50(Dell GiftCard) 4Yr Ltd Warranty,At-Home Srvc, XPS Warranty Spt
Premier Warranty Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Financial Software (Preinstalled) No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial

I think for the most part, Alienware will be as is. I am planning on calling Dell to see if they can take some stuff off (like the dual drives) to see if I can save some money. Any recommendations on which is the better deal or things I should change? Thanks!

Vampiric Rouge · 10-12-2005, 07:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NewComputer

The motherboard on my system that my friend built just died, so I'm looking to get a new system through a company. I'd rather have a built system with support rather than trying to fix futher problems on my own. I'm looking to get a system that can handle high end gaming with no issues and a system I dont have to replace for at least 5 years. Here are the two that I'm looking at:

Alienware: Aurora 5500 - $2,096

Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ with HyperTransport Technology
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2
Warranty: 4-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn
Power Supply: Alienware® Approved 650 Watt ATX 2.0 Power Supply with Active PFC
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case - Saucer Silver
Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening with AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System
Motherboard: Alienware® nForce™4 SLI™ Chipset Motherboard PCI Express
Graphics Processor: 256MB PCI-Express x16 NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 GT
Memory: 1GB Low-Latency Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB
System Drive: 160GB Serial ATA II 3Gb 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi® XtremeMusic High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Monitor: No Monitor
Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value)
Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase
Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE!

Dell: XPS 600 - $1,969

Processor: Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB)
Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition
Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2 DIMMs
Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard
Monitors Video Ready w/o Monitor
Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800
Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ Native Command Queuing
Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included
Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse
Modem No Modem Requested
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0
CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive
Sound Cards Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D), w/Dolby® Digital 5.1
Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only
Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months
Digitial Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic
Digital Photography Photo Album™ SE Basic
Hardware Warranty SAVE $50(Dell GiftCard) 4Yr Ltd Warranty,At-Home Srvc, XPS Warranty Spt
Premier Warranty Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support
Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included
Financial Software (Preinstalled) No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial

I think for the most part, Alienware will be as is. I am planning on calling Dell to see if they can take some stuff off (like the dual drives) to see if I can save some money. Any recommendations on which is the better deal or things I should change? Thanks!

Well, Alian is EXPENSIVE, Dell has bad service and is expence. Dells are intels and arnt as good as AMD for gaming. Out of the two of them i would say alian but if you suck it up and build you could build a lot better system for the price they are both ripoffs. but out of the 2 i say alian.

**Archangel** · 10-12-2005, 08:30 AM

well.. the system in my sig is a home-build pc.
and it costed half of what the alian ware does.. so i wouldnt buy neiter of those 2.

M0ddingMan1a · 10-12-2005, 08:51 AM

well, in this case, if i HAD to choose, then go with alienware. dell is crap

**Archangel** · 10-12-2005, 11:25 AM

and the alienwar case's are a lot cooler

NewComputer · 10-12-2005, 03:14 PM

I've checked out a few threads here and I've noticed the push towards home-built PCs. I've personally had a few computers that friends have built for me. Something always goes wrong and the friend is nowhere to be found. I'm just not tech-savy enough to isolate problems and fix them, and I've heard horror stories about fix-it places. I dont mind spending some extra money to have system I know will work and will have support for the future.

Money isnt really an issue, but I would like to stay around the $2000 range. Anything I should change on the above systems? Are there other companies out there with similar/better systems for the price range?

**Praetor** · 10-12-2005, 07:23 PM

Quote:

Something always goes wrong and the friend is nowhere to be found

So make sure you break the system in before you consider it finished.... lots of peopel think getting the hardware installed and the OS installed and they are done .... well its not good to go until you finish a burnin test

- AMD Athlon64 X2 4200 [ADA4200DAA5BV, 475USD]
- DFI Lanparty UT NF4 Ultra-D [130USD]
- Arctic Cooling Freezer64 [30USD]
- NEC 3540A [40USD]
- 3D Fuzion 7800GTX [420USD]
- Mushkin Redline PC4000 [2-2-2-5, 185USD]
- Maxtor DiamondMax10 250GB [16MB, 95USD]
- XClio 450W [12V@32A, 50USD]
Subtotal = 1425USD

There's a nice baseline to start with

TheChef · 10-13-2005, 12:24 AM

Wow. What a nice system. I'm looking to go for the Redline series soon as I've heard good things. Maybe with that $575 dollars left over invest some in a nice PSU such as an OCz Powerstream or a NeoPower?

**Praetor** · 10-13-2005, 02:31 AM

Quote:

Wow. What a nice system. I'm looking to go for the Redline series soon as I've heard good things. Maybe with that $575 dollars left over invest some in a nice PSU such as an OCz Powerstream or a NeoPower?

Well both of those PSUs are better than what i suggested but the one i've spec'd out isnt bad by any means either ... whether to spend the money is up to you

(me, personally ... id prolly get the PowerStream between those two)

pbsk8er03 · 10-13-2005, 02:50 AM

Build Your Own

10-12-2005, 06:20 AM	#1 (permalink)
NewComputer New Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2	$2000 for a Gaming System The motherboard on my system that my friend built just died, so I'm looking to get a new system through a company. I'd rather have a built system with support rather than trying to fix futher problems on my own. I'm looking to get a system that can handle high end gaming with no issues and a system I dont have to replace for at least 5 years. Here are the two that I'm looking at: Alienware: Aurora 5500 - $2,096 Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 3000+ with HyperTransport Technology Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Home Edition with Service Pack 2 Warranty: 4-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service Bundle with AlienAutopsy and Respawn Power Supply: Alienware® Approved 650 Watt ATX 2.0 Power Supply with Active PFC Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case - Saucer Silver Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening with AlienIce™ 2.0 Video Cooling System Motherboard: Alienware® nForce™4 SLI™ Chipset Motherboard PCI Express Graphics Processor: 256MB PCI-Express x16 NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 GT Memory: 1GB Low-Latency Dual Channel DDR PC-3200 at 400MHz - 2 x 512MB System Drive: 160GB Serial ATA II 3Gb 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x DVD-ROM Drive with Software DVD Decoder Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi® XtremeMusic High Definition 7.1 Surround Sound Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet Monitor: No Monitor Alienware Exclusive Offers: Gamespot Complete - Free 90-day Trial (a $20.85 value) Alienware Exclusive Offers: 10% off your next EB Games online purchase Desktop Enhancements: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE! AlienWiring: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value - FREE! Dell: XPS 600 - $1,969 Processor: Pentium® 4 Processor 640 with HT Technology (3.20GHz, 800 FSB) Operating System Microsoft® Windows® XP Media Center 2005 Edition Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz- 2 DIMMs Keyboard Dell USB Keyboard Monitors Video Ready w/o Monitor Video Card 256MB PCI Express™ x16 (DVI/VGA/TV-out) nVidia GeForce 6800 Hard Drive 160GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM) w/ Native Command Queuing Floppy Drive and Media Reader No Floppy Drive Included Mouse Dell® 2-button USB mouse Modem No Modem Requested Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 6.0 CD or DVD Drive Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 48x CD-RW Drive Sound Cards Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeMusic (D), w/Dolby® Digital 5.1 Speakers No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system) Office Software (not included in Windows XP) No Productivity Suite - Corel WordPerfect® word processor only Anti-Virus/Security Suite (Pre-installed) McAfee SecurityCenter with VirusScan, Firewall, Spyware Removal, 15-months Digitial Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic Digital Photography Photo Album™ SE Basic Hardware Warranty SAVE $50(Dell GiftCard) 4Yr Ltd Warranty,At-Home Srvc, XPS Warranty Spt Premier Warranty Support Dimension XPS, Specialized Support Dial-Up Internet Access 6 Months of America Online Membership Included Financial Software (Preinstalled) No QuickBooks package selected- Includes limited use trial I think for the most part, Alienware will be as is. I am planning on calling Dell to see if they can take some stuff off (like the dual drives) to see if I can save some money. Any recommendations on which is the better deal or things I should change? Thanks!

10-12-2005, 08:30 AM	#3 (permalink)
Archangel Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Age: 22 Posts: 9,885	well.. the system in my sig is a home-build pc. and it costed half of what the alian ware does.. so i wouldnt buy neiter of those 2. __________________ Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning.

10-12-2005, 08:51 AM	#4 (permalink)
M0ddingMan1a Diamond Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: CA Age: 20 Posts: 1,614	well, in this case, if i HAD to choose, then go with alienware. dell is crap __________________ Entertainment Rig// My FUll BLUE Rig: CPU: AMD 64 Clawhammer 3400+//CPU: AMD Sempron 2600+ Mobo: DFI Lanparty UT 250gb//Mobo: Gigabyte GA-K8NS RAM: 1 gig pc3200 Corsair XMS//RAM: 1 gig PC3200 PQi Video Card: Ati AIW 9800pro 128mb//Video Card: Sapphire Ati 9600pro 128mb HDs: 80gig Sata, 200gig ATA//HDs: 250gig WD, 80gig WD, 30gig WD, 13.5gig IBM PSU: 500w X-Infinity//PSU: 500W Ultra-X Titanium Blue

10-12-2005, 11:25 AM	#5 (permalink)
Archangel Moderator Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Netherlands Age: 22 Posts: 9,885	and the alienwar case's are a lot cooler __________________ Don't hit me with them negative waves so early in the morning.

10-13-2005, 12:24 AM	#8 (permalink)
TheChef Diamond Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: New York Age: 18 Posts: 1,383	Wow. What a nice system. I'm looking to go for the Redline series soon as I've heard good things. Maybe with that $575 dollars left over invest some in a nice PSU such as an OCz Powerstream or a NeoPower? __________________ Athlon 64 3000+ Venice -- MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum Asus nVidia GeForce 6600 -- Corsair ValueSelect 1024mb Seagate 120GB Barracuda -- Xoxide X-Clear Case FOR SALE http://www.computerforum.com/47630-fs-a64-3000-6600-1gb-ram-w-stuff.html http://video.google.com/videosearch?q=mzvideos

10-12-2005, 03:14 PM	#6 (permalink)
NewComputer New Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 2	I've checked out a few threads here and I've noticed the push towards home-built PCs. I've personally had a few computers that friends have built for me. Something always goes wrong and the friend is nowhere to be found. I'm just not tech-savy enough to isolate problems and fix them, and I've heard horror stories about fix-it places. I dont mind spending some extra money to have system I know will work and will have support for the future. Money isnt really an issue, but I would like to stay around the $2000 range. Anything I should change on the above systems? Are there other companies out there with similar/better systems for the price range?

10-13-2005, 02:50 AM	#10 (permalink)
pbsk8er03 Silver Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 207	Build Your Own __________________ COMING SOON: DFI lan party NF4 Opteron 165 dual core XP-120 cooler 520w OCZ Powerstream Crucial ballistix 2GB(2x1GB) eVGA 7800GTX x-fi xtrememusic Sony FW900 monitor

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