Alienware vs Custom PC question

I'm planning to get a PC that would be really good for gaming, and yesterday I was looking at some Alienware Desktops, but I was also thinking of getting a custom PC with Intel Core 2 Quad Processor and Nvidia 8800 GTX Graphics Card, what should I get? I'm leaning towards getting my PC customized, but I'm open to suggestions.

Thanks a lot.

building ur own can be alot of fun (i am doing it now) but if u buy a pc premade chances are u might not be able to overclock it and u have to deal with warranties and company support (if needed)

idk alot about alien ware but i would, and am, making my own pc

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640mb

500gb HD 7200 rpm

Quad core 3.8 ghz (then overclocking into the 4's)

and a logitech G15 Keyboad w/ G5 mouse

building ur own can be alot of fun (i am doing it now) but if u buy a pc premade chances are u might not be able to overclock it and u have to deal with warranties and company support (if needed)

idk alot about alien ware but i would, and am, making my own pc

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640mb

500gb HD 7200 rpm

Quad core 3.8 ghz (then overclocking into the 4's)

and a logitech G15 Keyboad w/ G5 mouse

R-Dogg

[QUOTE="R-Dogg"]

building ur own can be alot of fun (i am doing it now) but if u buy a pc premade chances are u might not be able to overclock it and u have to deal with warranties and company support (if needed)

idk alot about alien ware but i would, and am, making my own pc

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640mb

500gb HD 7200 rpm

Quad core 3.8 ghz (then overclocking into the 4's)

and a logitech G15 Keyboad w/ G5 mouse

Zaber123

Unless you are utterly inept at building things technical in nature there's no reason to buy a pre-built as they offer nothing in the way of benefits over a custom rig.

There are many positives of custom building:

• Lower costs
• Boundless design options
• Warranties of 1-3 years on parts
• Higher degree of upgrade-ability
• Flexibility of picking any part you want

Negatives of pre-builts:

• You're locked in to only the parts they sell
• Configurations are limited by 'packages'
• Technically support is typically difficult to understand & uninformative
• Warranties are typically under a year unless you pay extra
• Higher costs
• Upgrading is sometimes limited when a company uses proprietary parts

Great, thanks a lot for the info guys! Yeah, once again, I'm plannaing to get an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor and an Nvidia 880 GTX, with about 3 Gigs of RAM, I just have to find a good base PC to start out on, does it matter what kind of PC you start off with, because I was thinking of an Acer or something like that?

After seeing Rage from id Software, that 's what made me want to get a new gaming PC, and Spore too :D

Thanks again.

Unless you are utterly inept at building things technical in nature there's no reason to buy a pre-built as they offer nothing in the way of benefits over a custom rig.

There are many positives of custom building:

• Lower costs
• Boundless design options
• Warranties of 1-3 years on parts
• Higher degree of upgrade-ability
• Flexibility of picking any part you want

Negatives of pre-builts:

• You're locked in to only the parts they sell
• Configurations are limited by 'packages'
• Technically support is typically difficult to understand & uninformative
• Warranties are typically under a year unless you pay extra
• Higher costs
• Upgrading is sometimes limited when a company uses proprietary parts

Krall

Yeah. Can't I get a PC shop to make the PC for me? How does that work? Do I tell them what chips I want in there and they make it? Sorry that I'm a noob. First time potential PC gamer if you know what I mean...

If you can insert screws and tighten them and follow step-by-step instructions, you can build a PC.

It's super easy for anyone with the dexterity required.

[QUOTE="Krall"]

Unless you are utterly inept at building things technical in nature there's no reason to buy a pre-built as they offer nothing in the way of benefits over a custom rig.

There are many positives of custom building:

• Lower costs
• Boundless design options
• Warranties of 1-3 years on parts
• Higher degree of upgrade-ability
• Flexibility of picking any part you want

Negatives of pre-builts:

• You're locked in to only the parts they sell
• Configurations are limited by 'packages'
• Technically support is typically difficult to understand & uninformative
• Warranties are typically under a year unless you pay extra
• Higher costs
• Upgrading is sometimes limited when a company uses proprietary parts

natester10

Yeah. Can't I get a PC shop to make the PC for me? How does that work? Do I tell them what chips I want in there and they make it? Sorry that I'm a noob. First time potential PC gamer if you know what I mean...

There's 2 ways to do that; 1 is just walk in and pick what you want, but again you're limited to what they sell and of course it's going to cost more. 2 a lot of those stores will take all the parts you bought from somewhere and assemble them for you for a cost which is usually around $100, but you'd have to call and find out.

There's also barebones computers and you can find some configs at mwave.com which come already assembled with the basic parts.

[QUOTE="Krall"]

Unless you are utterly inept at building things technical in nature there's no reason to buy a pre-built as they offer nothing in the way of benefits over a custom rig.

There are many positives of custom building:

• Lower costs
• Boundless design options
• Warranties of 1-3 years on parts
• Higher degree of upgrade-ability
• Flexibility of picking any part you want

Negatives of pre-builts:

• You're locked in to only the parts they sell
• Configurations are limited by 'packages'
• Technically support is typically difficult to understand & uninformative
• Warranties are typically under a year unless you pay extra
• Higher costs
• Upgrading is sometimes limited when a company uses proprietary parts

natester10

Yeah. Can't I get a PC shop to make the PC for me? How does that work? Do I tell them what chips I want in there and they make it? Sorry that I'm a noob. First time potential PC gamer if you know what I mean...

[QUOTE="Zaber123"][QUOTE="R-Dogg"]

building ur own can be alot of fun (i am doing it now) but if u buy a pc premade chances are u might not be able to overclock it and u have to deal with warranties and company support (if needed)

idk alot about alien ware but i would, and am, making my own pc

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640mb

500gb HD 7200 rpm

Quad core 3.8 ghz (then overclocking into the 4's)

and a logitech G15 Keyboad w/ G5 mouse

dayaccus007

ya a guy i know is gonna get me a quad with either 3.6 or 3.8 ghz, i have a connection through my moms work (im only 16) in a comp company that can get me good products at lower prices

[QUOTE="dayaccus007"][QUOTE="Zaber123"][QUOTE="R-Dogg"]

building ur own can be alot of fun (i am doing it now) but if u buy a pc premade chances are u might not be able to overclock it and u have to deal with warranties and company support (if needed)

idk alot about alien ware but i would, and am, making my own pc

eVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640mb

500gb HD 7200 rpm

Quad core 3.8 ghz (then overclocking into the 4's)

and a logitech G15 Keyboad w/ G5 mouse

R-Dogg

ya a guy i know is gonna get me a quad with either 3.6 or 3.8 ghz, i have a connection through my moms work (im only 16) in a comp company that can get me good products at lower prices

There's no such thing unless you overlock.

Avoid Alienware unless you drive a Mclaren F1...you don't need to be wasting that kind of money ;)D9-THC

i have the m9750:)