Is a new Alienware gaming computer for a 1000 from best buy worth it?

On Jan 3rd 2013 i will become an elite PC gaming snob who looks down on the petty console players. Thus, is the Alienware gaming PC from Bestbuy the way to go?

Doubt it, but let's see the specs just in case.

A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.kuraimen

On Jan 3rd 2013 i will become an elite PC gaming snob who looks down on the petty console players. Thus, is the Alienware gaming PC from Bestbuy the way to go?

Trinitarian

Alienware PCs offer only slightly more value for money than a Mac.

Only slightly.

[QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.Trinitarian

Is it never worth buying from Alienware in my experience, you can build a respectable gaming PC for 700 - 750$ these days. Or if you're like me and don't want the hassle to build it yourself you can ask either a friend, or a guy from a PC shop.

A guy from a PC shop built it for me, for a couple of beers, though some may ask for a price.

Can you give us the specs or the link to the PC you'd like to purchase?

That said, since we're talking about Alienware, there's a good chance the answer to this thread is going to be "no, it's not worth it"...

1. Buy an old pentium 4 class machine second hand. Get a philips screwdriver. Take it to bits. Put it back together and make it go. Format the disk and install Windows. Get all the drivers.

2. Do this as many time as necessary until you feel competent.

3. Get someone to help you spec the machine (PC hardware forums is good), then build it yourself.

You'll gain an invaluable skill which will serve you very well for the rest of your life. Trust me man.

I know you said you don't know how to build OP but you can learn off YouTube in like 2 hours or less. It's really not hard

PC gamers are so much above the console ones you don't even have to say it. Everyone just knows it.

I know you said you don't know how to build OP but you can learn off YouTube in like 2 hours or less. It's really not hard

Masenkoe

What's this doing in system wars and not hardware forums? Also if it's the Aurora, nope the specs on those machines are too unbalanced GPU/CPU wise

1. Buy an old pentium 4 class machine second hand. Get a philips screwdriver. Take it to bits. Put it back together and make it go. Format the disk and install Windows. Get all the drivers.

2. Do this as many time as necessary until you feel competent.

3. Get someone to help you spec the machine (PC hardware forums is good), then build it yourself.

You'll gain an invaluable skill which will serve you very well for the rest of your life. Trust me man.

psymon100

Why waste money on a old PC just to practice on? for my first time building I just studied several how to builds for a couple of months.

PC gamers are so much above the console ones you don't even have to say it. Everyone just knows it.

Yams1980

You ment PC games or PC gamers?

Oh wait, this is another d*ck measuring contest...

I'm out...

Best buy is the last place you want to go for a gaming pc. If you realy dont want to build it, there some good build sites that build your pc for you.

[QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.Trinitarian

Well, you can learn how to build PCs easily yourself. Just read about it on the Internet or books, and there are plenty of videos of it. It's easy really. I used my old PC to practise, teared it apart and put all of them back in, booted it up and it worked. That's how I knew I was doing it right. Then I went ahead and ordered all of my parts and built my gaming PC.

If you don't feel like building one now, I'd buy a PC from Best Buy and learn how to build it in the meantime. I don't mean taking your new PC apart, of course, just use the Internet to learn. There are plenty of resources out there. Or if you even have an old unused PC from your family, you can use it to experiment with.

[QUOTE="Trinitarian"][QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.GamerwillzPS

Well, you can learn how to build PCs easily yourself. Just read about it on the Internet or books, and there are plenty of videos of it. It's easy really. I used my old PC to practise, teared it apart and put all of them back in, booted it up and it worked. That's how I knew I was doing it right. Then I went ahead and ordered all of my parts and built my gaming PC.

If you don't feel like building one now, I'd buy a PC from Best Buy and learn how to build it in the meantime. I don't mean taking your new PC apart, of course, just use the Internet to learn. There are plenty of resources out there. Or if you even have an old unused PC from your family, you can use it to experiment with.

[QUOTE="psymon100"]

1. Buy an old pentium 4 class machine second hand. Get a philips screwdriver. Take it to bits. Put it back together and make it go. Format the disk and install Windows. Get all the drivers.

2. Do this as many time as necessary until you feel competent.

3. Get someone to help you spec the machine (PC hardware forums is good), then build it yourself.

You'll gain an invaluable skill which will serve you very well for the rest of your life. Trust me man.

NoodleFighter

Why waste money on a old PC just to practice on? for my first time building I just studied several how to builds for a couple of months.

Ha. Waste money on an old PC? Such a machine, I can (and have) bought them here in New Zealand for fifty dollars.

Now, if this strategy works for someone (I have seen it work before), then that means they learn some useful PC hardware skills for under fifty dollars.

If they get the book, and jump in on store bought, expensive components - they could make mistakes which void the warranty of these components (I have seen this too. Motherboard screwed in without spacers short circuiting - just one example). Books cost money too (though one can get them from the library, or read stuff online)

I have suggested many strategies to people over the years, and this one seems to be the most effective. A $50 machine - you're willing to take risks. Many of the principles are the same EG the ZIF type of set up for CPU insertion.

If someone learns the skills necessary to maintain their own PC for the measly sum of fifty dollars, that must be one of the cheapest ways possible to learn some utilitarian skills.

Lastly, this will take far less time than 'a couple of months'.

Double lastly, you could mess about with the machine for a week, and if you don't brick it - sell it again. If you bought it second hand at the right price, you won't lose money.

I used my old PC to practise, teared it apart and put all of them back in, booted it up and it worked. That's how I knew I was doing it right.GamerwillzPS

Noodlefighter this is my point.

[QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.Trinitarian

I know you said you don't know how to build OP but you can learn off YouTube in like 2 hours or less. It's really not hard

Masenkoe

[QUOTE="NoodleFighter"]

[QUOTE="psymon100"]

1. Buy an old pentium 4 class machine second hand. Get a philips screwdriver. Take it to bits. Put it back together and make it go. Format the disk and install Windows. Get all the drivers.

2. Do this as many time as necessary until you feel competent.

3. Get someone to help you spec the machine (PC hardware forums is good), then build it yourself.

You'll gain an invaluable skill which will serve you very well for the rest of your life. Trust me man.

psymon100

Why waste money on a old PC just to practice on? for my first time building I just studied several how to builds for a couple of months.

Ha. Waste money on an old PC? Such a machine, I can (and have) bought them here in New Zealand for fifty dollars.

Now, if this strategy works for someone (I have seen it work before), then that means they learn some useful PC hardware skills for under fifty dollars.

If they get the book, and jump in on store bought, expensive components - they could void their warranty (I have seen this too). Books cost money too (though one can get them from the library, or read stuff online)

I have suggested many strategies to people over the years, and this one seems to be the most effective. A $50 machine - you're willing to take risks. Many of the principles are the same EG the ZIF type of set up for CPU insertion.

If someone learns the skills necessary to maintain their own PC for the measly sum of fifty dollars, that must be one of the cheapest ways possible to learn some utilitarian skills.

Lastly, this will take far less time than 'a couple of months'.

$50 PC? than I take that back, but still I'd rather use that $50 to go towards the PC

It only took a couple of months for me since I was buying every part slowly, and around the time I was building it, hardware was moving over to AM3+/LGA 1155, the main thing I was spending time on beside looking at how tos using hardware similar to the kind I was checking newegg reviews to see if the parts I were buying were quality and if they were compatible. I partially followed a budget build and the RAM they had listed did not work with the motherboard they listed so I had to look at the mobo manual to see which pair of compatible RAM to buy and I had to look through a bunch of them to find one cheap enough.

I know you said you don't know how to build OP but you can learn off YouTube in like 2 hours or less. It's really not hard

Masenkoe

Dude is a troll they changed this topic, lmao my post was deleted i offered a good response...

[QUOTE="Trinitarian"][QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.Toxic-Seahorse

[QUOTE="kuraimen"]A real PC gamer master race builds their own computer. You can build a more powerful one for half the price.Trinitarian

Look here for finding the parts to use.

Look here for instructions on how to put it together.

I did it myself a month ago with no prior experience. It's way easier than you'd expect.

If you're too lazy to build it, then get a rig off CyberPowerPC and have em build it for a couple hundred extra than it'd cost you. Still cheaper than Alienware.-RocBoys9489-

alienware are always a terrible purschace.

Just build one. It really isn't that hard. You said you aren't getting one until January? Plenty of time to research.

I built my first computer back in 2009 and it is still running perfectly today (though I've upgraded it a bit since then). I learned how in probably 1-2 hours and put it together in about the same amount of time with zero issues.

You can put together a beast of a computer for 1000 bucks.

Alienware is almost never worth it, my dude.

Build your own.

Sent from my Alienware M11x.

Alienware is almost never worth it, my dude.

Silverbond

Building a PC is like putting a lego set together, but much easier. The only thing you have to worry about is if the numbers match up, (motherboard socket) LGA 1155, only works with processors with that socket type. And (motherboard) "DDR3 800/1066/1333/1600/1866" means only those types of RAM will be happy. Inconsistancy

Yeah, all those numbers and letters may seem confusing at first, but its all very logical.

If you want to game.. you can get a good pc buying it for like 600 ir you wanna build it yourself for about 500.

alienware= over priced... Then again depending on the special.

I know you said you don't know how to build OP but you can learn off YouTube in like 2 hours or less. It's really not hard

Masenkoe

On Jan 3rd 2013 i will become an elite PC gaming snob who looks down on the petty console players. Thus, is the Alienware gaming PC from Bestbuy the way to go?

Trinitarian

PC hardware don't make a skilled pc elite gamer...

Some pretty good advice here OP. Here are my thoughts as a long-time builder of PCs and also purchaser.

Building a PC is not as cracked up as most on here will admit. Sure every component has a warrenty, but troubleshooting each piece of hardware can be a real pain before having to RMA (Replace) it. Yes there is value in building, but "time is money" and if building a PC isn't a passion, then I doubt you will find it worth it. Plus, no offense, the fact you didn't even know the specs or what to look out for is an indicator that building would be a chore for you.

Now obviously, i have an Alienware in my sig but it is a notebook PC. They offer the best deals on notebooks with coupons and buying from the Dell Outlet if you are located in the USA. The current chassis (build) rivals the best notebook chassis makers out there (Clevo) and they have cooling that is considered top notch. You get what you pay for from a notebook perspective.

However, even the most loyal AW enthusiasts will say that the desktops are not worth it. There are plenty of other reputable online boutiques that offer better bang for your buck. Do some research and get ideas for builds (CPU, GPU, RAM, Cooling, etc) and then make your decision. 1K can go a good ways. Good luck. Plus, if you enjoy your first gaming PC, then you may be inclined to build them later in the future.