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I'm new to PC gaming. Please give me your thoughts on this Alienware deal

lachesis

Member
IMHO, there's nothing wrong or shameful buying a pre-built one.
I enjoy making mine, but I can definitely see some people not comfortable with it, and it's quite time consuming too. Stress Testing stability of the system, especially in OC setup et al.
I can definitely see myself paying some extra to have them done - and just enjoy the finished product - especially if I didn't have any time.

Just know the fact that one's money in pre-built computer isn't necessarily paid for the better component but in the convenience of having it built and tested/supported
As long as one realizes what they are getting into, I think it's a fair choice to buy a pre-built one.

It's just a computer. I don't call other people out if they decide to go out and eat. If you can treat yourself out to the fancy steak house once in a while fully knowing you can get better cut of meat and dry-age it yourself if you really put in your mind - why not a pre-built pc with decent business reputation?
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Which part curiously? I thought they were OEM and couldn't be bought off shelf.
Sorry I updated; I meant the part where you can't replace them.

Mostly standard; but I guess some of the systems do have motherboards with weird shapes. Although honestly aren't those replaceable too in most of their designs? Mine is just one of the standard ATX MB layouts.

However I don't think anything else can't be replaced or upgraded.
 
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Edgelord79

Gold Member
Sorry I updated; I meant the part where you can't replace them.

Mostly standard; but I guess some of the systems do have motherboards with weird shapes.

However I don't think anything else can't be replaced or upgraded.
Interesting. I have never owned an Alienware due to what I've heard consistently. Good to know you can buy and replace the parts yourself.
 
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IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Interesting. I have never owned an Alienware due to what I've heard consistently. Good to know you can buy and replace the parts yourself.
Yeah just googled; people even upgrade the motherboards. There was a fan controller at some point that didn't play nicely with some motherboards but that issue is largely fixed I guess.

They've addressed that part for the most part many years ago.

You are paying for a lot of OEM parts, so it's hard to price compare... but in my experience, I've just never had any issue with their parts lol. I've owned so many PCs over the years, with so many issues w/ name brand parts. I'm not saying you couldn't have issues w/ a Dell part, and their customer service is hit or miss, but that's every customer service lol.. good luck if an ASUS motherboard fries.. or any PC parts manufacturer.. the PC world sucks for that stuff.

I've seen the Linus / whoever videos going around.. they get spammed like crazy in every Alienware thread.. but I've just personally never had issues... I put a 2070 in this old Alienware a couple years back for a few hundred bucks (before things went crazy) and this old ass Alienware still kicking just fine.. performs great.. all "cheap OEM parts." They negotiate deals for parts w/i a particular spec range... it's really not that big of a deal they are "OEM."

And ignoring the OEM part.. every time I've priced an Alienware against Cyberpower/iBuypower/whoever else they were price competitive, and when they have a sale, they sometimes crush their prices... and then compare against buying all off the shelf parts and building? You save like $200 often at most...

I just don't get the "you must built it" folks... I'll pay $200 to not have to deal with ordering parts from all over the internet, dealing with separate companies if something goes wrong, or I fuck something up, etc.. and saves me the afternoon of doing it too lol

I'm perfectly capable of building a PC.. I also know how to change the oil in my car.. or replace a battery. I guess I'm just averse to doing shit if it's not THAT expensive to have someone else do it.
 
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GloveSlap

Member
As has been said, get something with standardized parts at least (not Dell). Even the HP Omen has mostly normal stuff in it. The bloatware the big companies put on there is insane though.

I feel like fixing the cooling issues and design flaws on some of these systems takes more expertise than just building from scratch using quality parts and a tutorial video. Getting those parts is obviously easier said than done these days though.
 

BlackTron

Member
Sorry I updated; I meant the part where you can't replace them.

Mostly standard; but I guess some of the systems do have motherboards with weird shapes. Although honestly aren't those replaceable too in most of their designs? Mine is just one of the standard ATX MB layouts.

However I don't think anything else can't be replaced or upgraded.

Yeah exactly why after looking at the system my biggest concern was mobo.

In my anecdotal experience the worst is HP and I trust Dell a lot more, but I've mostly dealt with Dell's business products. I've put SSD's in some Optiplex type systems that are so old they're 32 bit and are still going strong. My personal laptop is an Inspiron close to a decade old now and its lasted longer than any other laptop I've ever used...again all it needed was SSD. Actually, now that I think about it, over 5 years ago I grabbed a dell Studio XPS I noticed at the dump that was old then. It turned out it just had a bad stick of RAM. I took it out, it still had 6GB of RAM left which was more than good enough as a gaming rig for my sister with the games she likes. IT STILL WORKS.

Again, just anecdotal but in my experience Dell's are like tanks and HP are like fragile pieces of paper.
 

01011001

Banned
Don't
Buy
Prebuilt

Ever.

not all prebuilds are bad. there are vendors that sell prebuilds that are made from standardized parts, in which case you literally get the same stuff as if you'd built it yourself.
so worst case scenario the case/fan setup is a bit shit or the cable management sucks, both of which can be fixed at little to no cost
 

drotahorror

Member
A few weeks ago, I could have got a Dell prebuilt with i7 11700 , 3060ti, 512gb SSD, W10, for $1400. It really wasn't a bad deal in today's climate. All I wanted was the GPU though and decided against it. If you read about those prebuilt Alienware and Dell's, they use awful PSU's which is just not a good idea. Also, taking the thing apart can be a hassle. Finally scored 2 fuckin 3060 ti's in 1 week, sold one on ebay to help pay for the scammed Newegg bundle I had to purchase to buy the first one.
 

SlimySnake

Flashless at the Golden Globes
I bought a pre-built PC last time.

They used standard CPU heatsink that made my cpu run so loud and so hot that it was like a jet engine. had to be replaced. $100.

they used a cheap completely closed off case that made my pc run even more hot. $100 to replace.

they used a shitty motherboard that had no real upgrade paths so when my cpu eventually died, i just couldnt replace it with a half decent cpu and had to buy another motherboard. $180.

the ram they shipped with was slow as fuck. had to replace that too. $80.

the ssd they included was only 256 gb. had to be replaced. $200

The PSU was shit. had to be replaced twice. $200.

the gpu they included has fans that run constantly. its the only gpu that does this. all other gpus turn off when browsing the internet. it has this shitty buzzing noise from the fans that is slowly driving me insane.

i have rebuilt a new pc from the ground up. the only thing im using from the old pc is the gpu. every single thing had to be replaced.
 
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Brofist

Member
The problem with prebuilt PCs is that they tend to skimp on important things. Thing like the power supply and decent airflow/cooling. These things don't sell PCs like flashy looks and lighting.
 
Try and grab some second hands parts for cheap
Where are you seeing decent gaming PC parts for cheap?

Alienware is one of the few places that hasn’t seemed to jack up the price of gpu’s. Prebuilds aren’t as flexible, that’s true. I think many are just offended by people paying more for shit than they would.
 

packy34

Member
I tend to agree with the notion that pre-built is generally a worse choice, but the current market makes it somewhat easier to swallow.

But yeah, don't buy Alienware. Check out Gamers Nexus on YouTube. They test a lot of pre-builts and go very in-depth. They've found a few that are pretty good.
 

Mozzarella

Member
There are thousands of videos on YouTube that go over the process of assembling a PC. It's not rocket science.
I agree with this, and i dont know if someone said it (didnt read all posts) but you can let someone else build it physically if you are not expert in this, what you need to do is choose the specs yourself for whatever suits you. And with that i agree with your posts.
I tried pre-built PCs but they have disadvantages, also i called a friend who works at a store who sells PCs, literally tried to sell me one of them, i felt i was being scammed tbh, most of them had good GPU and good CPU with good RAM which is what i requested, but when i educated myself on the matter i noticed the Power supply was bad, the Motherboard was not looking good. I mean they hype you up with good prices that feels like good deals, but when you dig deeper you find that they take it from you in another place. So i said fuck this shit im building my own PCs even if it costs me higher, at least i know what im putting in it. Moreover each part i can add based on consensus around the community, you can ask on Reddit and watch Youtube by experts to get the nesscearry information to know what specs are the best suited for you based on your needs and budget, and finally i want to add that as a gamer the whole process was very enjoyable and made me more educated on PC gaming.
So to sum it up, its 100% worth to build your pc.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
I paid ~AUD$2049 for an Alienware Aurora 10 with a Ryzen 7 5800 and 3070. I bought a 3070 for my mining computer like 3 months earlier for $1800.

Do you guys see why it’s a goddamn steal? I put a $80 Corsair H60 liquid cooler in it and now the cpu temp maxes out at 60 while playing flight sim at high-Ultra at 1440p ultra wide at 30-60fps depending on settings.

Building your own gaming pc at the moment is dumb tbh. Prebuilt ones are amazing value at the moment, and some of these comments in here are stupid lol. “You can’t replace any parts in them!” Lol yes you can, it’s a computer and you can replace pretty much everything with whatever you want. Taking the gpu out of one of these is deadset a 2 minute job lol.

The elitism on display in here is ridiculous. Anyone can build a computer, you’re not special. Building isn’t always the best option though.
 
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MaestroMike

Gold Member
Maybe Puget Systems is a good brand:


Not sure though I think they mainly make workstations.

Maybe Origin may be good as well?

 

V4skunk

Banned
Looking at Trustpilot, Alienware has one of the worst customer service performances you will come across: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/www.alienware.co.uk
That being said, they are owned by Dell so I'm wondering if I should seriously consider the following deal which seems to have magnificent specs (it is just slightly above my budget of 2000£):

Should I go for it or can I find better elsewhere or should I stay away from alienware out of principle?

Thanks Gafers
Build your own.
Or get a cpu/ram/mobo combo built up from a good pc hardware store like overclockers/Newegg and build up the rest of it yourself (gpu, ssd,high quality psu 650w+, tower).
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
lol lotta hate for Alienware in this thread.. well i've been using my Alienware laptop for neigh on 3yrs trouble free, not a fucking issue and have just taken delivery of the latest RTX model, cant wait tbh.. does help that its work bought ;-) but if i had £2500 to blow on a PC id certainly be building one
 
Don't
Buy
Prebuilt

Ever.
Ah, to hell with this opinion honestly.

There is NOTHING wrong with buying pre-built PC's if this is your first entry into PC gaming, and you have money to spare (and steady income).

All of you old PC heads get such a hard on for building your own PC's, but for a newbie it's a lot to take in if you're completely lost.

Yes, you can google it, you can ask a friend, etc.

But let's say you just want to dip your toes into gaming PC and just wanna jump into it without the hassle, I see no issues with it.

If you buy your second PC, and it's a pre-built, that's on you.

But your first PC op? Nah, its chill. Just do some research and know what you're getting into and keep in mind it's for you to give PC gaming a try.
 

DavidGzz

Member
Pre-builts have served me well. I'll probably never build one. I'll never get another laptop though. Burnt twice.
 
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To hell with yours. :messenger_grinning_sweat: Calm down. Relax. Breathe.
Haha i feel like this is the most polite rebuttal in Gaf that i've had.

Because you and me both know we could say insults, but we choose not to because...

Love You Heart GIF by SWR Heimat Rheinland-Pfalz
 

01011001

Banned
lol lotta hate for Alienware in this thread.. well i've been using my Alienware laptop for neigh on 3yrs trouble free, not a fucking issue and have just taken delivery of the latest RTX model, cant wait tbh.. does help that its work bought ;-) but if i had £2500 to blow on a PC id certainly be building one

you can't compare laptop quality with desktop PC quality.
Laptops are a completely different beast with different standards and expectations.

their desktop PCs are absolute pure garbage of the highest order. basically the worst case scenario you could get. shitty case, non-standard parts, usually overpriced and due to the shit case and parts upgrading becomes almost impossible.

a laptop has to be well engineered and it's good, noone expects standardised parts in a Laptop nor do people expect to upgrade them much.

Dell does good stuff like Laptops and Monitors, but their tower PCs are among the worst you can buy if you actually want to have a PC that isn't obsolete in a few years
 
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AJBungah

Neo Member
Don't listen to the naysayers shitting on pre-builts. If you go to a good, reputable seller (which Alienware is not) then it's absolutely fine to do this. You will probably pay slightly more yes but as you say you are new to PC gaming, I would not recommend building your own PC first time around.
 

MrFunSocks

Banned
There seems to be a very massive anti Alienware consensus so I'm wondering: is TechRadar in their pocket? they have listed the Aurora ryzen Edition R10 as "the best gaming PC, bar none – especially with the next generation rocking with configurations touting the RTX 3090 for 8K resolution gaming."

They’re ridiculously good bang for your buck, have great warranties, and as long as you get liquid cooled ones you’ve got nothing to worry about. People on here seem to have all sorts of misconceptions about them based on what just seems to be elitism. “Non standard parts” is one of the weird and wrong things going around. “Hard/impossible to upgrade” is another. Both completely wrong btw.
 
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SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Alienware is garbage. If you're gonna buy prebuilt, do it from a smaller company and expect to pay a premium.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
Yeah just googled; people even upgrade the motherboards. There was a fan controller at some point that didn't play nicely with some motherboards but that issue is largely fixed I guess.

They've addressed that part for the most part many years ago.

You are paying for a lot of OEM parts, so it's hard to price compare... but in my experience, I've just never had any issue with their parts lol. I've owned so many PCs over the years, with so many issues w/ name brand parts. I'm not saying you couldn't have issues w/ a Dell part, and their customer service is hit or miss, but that's every customer service lol.. good luck if an ASUS motherboard fries.. or any PC parts manufacturer.. the PC world sucks for that stuff.

I've seen the Linus / whoever videos going around.. they get spammed like crazy in every Alienware thread.. but I've just personally never had issues... I put a 2070 in this old Alienware a couple years back for a few hundred bucks (before things went crazy) and this old ass Alienware still kicking just fine.. performs great.. all "cheap OEM parts." They negotiate deals for parts w/i a particular spec range... it's really not that big of a deal they are "OEM."

And ignoring the OEM part.. every time I've priced an Alienware against Cyberpower/iBuypower/whoever else they were price competitive, and when they have a sale, they sometimes crush their prices... and then compare against buying all off the shelf parts and building? You save like $200 often at most...

I just don't get the "you must built it" folks... I'll pay $200 to not have to deal with ordering parts from all over the internet, dealing with separate companies if something goes wrong, or I fuck something up, etc.. and saves me the afternoon of doing it too lol

I'm perfectly capable of building a PC.. I also know how to change the oil in my car.. or replace a battery. I guess I'm just averse to doing shit if it's not THAT expensive to have someone else do it.
You don't need to order stuff all over the internet lol. You can get everything you need at Overclockers or Amazon for example. And if something goes wrong (unlikely) you just send it back like any other Amazon return.

You're entitled to pay someone to build it for you obviously, but it's easy enough to find a tutorial on YouTube, and that's $200 that could be spent on games/accessories .
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
You don't need to order stuff all over the internet lol. You can get everything you need at Overclockers or Amazon for example. And if something goes wrong (unlikely) you just send it back like any other Amazon return.

You're entitled to pay someone to build it for you obviously, but it's easy enough to find a tutorial on YouTube, and that's $200 that could be spent on games/accessories .
Well I put that part in because if you aren't deal hunting, there's a good chance you aren't saving any or much money at all due to how competitive the custom build market is (and they get wholesale pricing.) Those companies also.. actually get sent GPUs / CPUs lol

Look, I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do.. that's MY point.. I'm happy for people who want to build systems.. but how dramatically opposed to OTHERS not wanting to is the part I don't get. Many of the claims are either false or exaggerated as well, particularly about Alienware.
 

Hezekiah

Banned
Well I put that part in because if you aren't deal hunting, there's a good chance you aren't saving any or much money at all due to how competitive the custom build market is (and they get wholesale pricing.) Those companies also.. actually get sent GPUs / CPUs lol

Look, I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do.. that's MY point.. I'm happy for people who want to build systems.. but how dramatically opposed to OTHERS not wanting to is the part I don't get. Many of the claims are either false or exaggerated as well, particularly about Alienware.
No way, it will always be significantly cheaper to buy parts yourself than to get a pre-build, and some places will rip you off big-time.
 
OP, a few points to not consider this pre-built:

  • It's by Alienware. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. Shit brand. Overpriced garbage.
  • Probably in-house motherboard with terrible vrm's
  • Again, in-house psu's that don't hit the rating on the box, doesn't suck enough power from the wall, and comes with bad capacitors
  • Worst cooling/airflow among pre-builts. Don't fall for the rgb and futuristic looking case design bling.
  • Bad customer support.
Now, a few points to consider this build:

  • Parts like cpu, gpu, ram, ssd, hdd etc are done by different vendors. You can salvage those and find good motherboard, psu and case. Sell the motherboard psu and case to someone who is looking for a midrange or low end build which both of these will suffice and don't overcharge them.
  • Check with you local pc gaming community for the value of the parts in the build that are good, and make this decision, because ymmv in this chip shortage period.
  • Build a pcpartpicker mockup in your region and compare this build with it. I think it will exceed this build's price with taxes, but just to be sure, try it.
  • This probably has a warranty period of at least 14 days? Ask customer support for the "free warranty" or they'll charge you or insert the charge in the final bill while you weren't noticing. Try it and return back within the period if it has one.
  • Ask people on r/buildapc on reddit, if they have anyone who purchased this build. They are a helpful community and most probably will have at least one who did.
I wouldn't ask you to wait till zen4 and nvidia 4000 or amd 7000 gpus, especially in this climate of chip shortage which will most probably lead into 2022 end.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
No way, it will always be significantly cheaper to buy parts yourself than to get a pre-build, and some places will rip you off big-time.

Quick build on iBuyPower:

zKb3yMb.png


Same parts, nearly exact (can't pick the 3060TI brand, but i chose the cheapest I could find on Amazon):

Z0BCCEj.png


Almost $100 more on Amazon.. and iBuyPower throws in a cheap mouse/keyboard.. oh and builds it for you lol

Like I said, w/o shopping around, there's a good chance you aren't saving much.. if anything..
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
Just had a wee look at my new Laptop in work as it's getting set up and I gotta say it's a sleek wee bastard, really tiny and light considering it's got a Rysen & RTX3070 in it, feels nice and sturdy, solid keyboard and the details all over it, around the vents etc are all class... Honestly chaps don't know why you give them a hard time
 

Hezekiah

Banned
Quick build on iBuyPower:

zKb3yMb.png


Same parts, nearly exact (can't pick the 3060TI brand, but i chose the cheapest I could find on Amazon):

Z0BCCEj.png


Almost $100 more on Amazon.. and iBuyPower throws in a cheap mouse/keyboard.. oh and builds it for you lol

Like I said, w/o shopping around, there's a good chance you aren't saving much.. if anything..
That's purely because of the overpriced GPU. In 'mormal' times its much cheaper to buy the parts yourself.

Personally I would look to buy an older card from a friend/local and wait until prices normalise rather than pay almost $1,000 for a 3060ti. Simply not worth it imo.
 
That's purely because of the overpriced GPU. In 'mormal' times its much cheaper to buy the parts yourself.

Personally I would look to buy an older card from a friend/local and wait until prices normalise rather than pay almost $1,000 for a 3060ti. Simply not worth it imo.
Yeah, that feller forgot to substract $550 of that amazon price. [3060 Ti is a 400$ deal] iBuypower or other pardners do not pay much above msrp and don't forget they buy all of their other parts in bulk as well, so it's more like $600+ rippof on this single PC.
 

IntentionalPun

Ask me about my wife's perfect butthole
Yeah, that feller forgot to substract $550 of that amazon price. [3060 Ti is a 400$ deal] iBuypower or other pardners do not pay much above msrp and don't forget they buy all of their other parts in bulk as well, so it's more like $600+ rippof on this single PC.
I didn't forget anything.... i mentioned that the builders are actually getting GPUs.

RIGHT NOW that's what you get for a competitive GPU.

You want a GPU you can get for retail at Amazon?

Well I switched it out to a GT1030.. the only one really you can get that iBuyPower offers.

Amazon now saves you ~$140. Around what I said initially, that the savings might be a couple hundred bucks. But iBuyPower... also builds it for me lol.. they supply thermal paste, generally some wiring, they also do have a fan/RGB controller I didn't account for, something that would likely cost you $50 on Amazon..

More like a $600 ripoff? What exactly are you even talking about? Your math is terrible.
 
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Fare thee well

Neophyte
If it were me, I would wait for the next retail drop at a store for a gpu. If you don't have one find a good friend who can wait at Best Buy, Microcenter, etc and get you one.

As soon as you have your gpu in hand then you can begin researching how to build your own pc. Just be sure to have a friend that can help you and a way to check compatability. I always look at confirmed completed builds to get an idea of what fits together (different towers, different motherboards).

Usually it saves me money when I do a lot of research.
 
I didn't forget anything.... i mentioned that the builders are actually getting GPUs.

RIGHT NOW that's what you get for a competitive GPU.

You want a GPU you can get for retail at Amazon?

Well I switched it out to a GT1030.. the only one really you can get that iBuyPower offers.

Amazon now saves you ~$140. Around what I said initially, that the savings might be a couple hundred bucks. But iBuyPower... also builds it for me lol.. they supply thermal paste, generally some wiring, they also do have a fan/RGB controller I didn't account for, something that would likely cost you $50 on Amazon..

More like a $600 ripoff? What exactly are you even talking about? Your math is terrible.
You really think ibuypower or other builders pay 950 for 3060ti :messenger_tears_of_joy: They get the contract early in for ex for 1000 units for $400 each. 950 - 400 = 550 + the deals on other parts. So $600 fleecing figure is sound.
 

jshackles

Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
That's purely because of the overpriced GPU. In 'mormal' times its much cheaper to buy the parts yourself.

Personally I would look to buy an older card from a friend/local and wait until prices normalise rather than pay almost $1,000 for a 3060ti. Simply not worth it imo.
Turns out, GPUs are just overpriced these days. Will the cost normalize? Sure doesn't look that way when most manufacturers are saying chip shortages are going to last a least a few more years. "Just wait a few years" is good advice for people looking to save money, but it's not entirely practical here.
 
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