My first ALIENWARE. Overkill? Maybe. Advice?

[mini_2003]

oh, i did the amd because it turns out much cheaper, but if you don't care for price, i would suggest that you just go for the fx-55, because it turns out to be around 3000

oh yeah, and if u want intel and you want to stick to your current config, i suggest that you get a 74 GB 10000rpm hard drive as a master, and a 250gb as a slave, that way, assuming the os is on the 74GB, everything will load up faster

go with something like this
1] Auroraâ„¢ 5500

Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Saucer Silver
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: AMD Athlonâ„¢ 64 FX-55 Processor with HyperTransport Technology
Motherboard: ABIT AV8 - VIA K8T800 Pro Motherboard
Memory: 2GB Alienware® Dual Channel Low-Latency DDR PC-3200 at 333MHz - 4 x 512MB
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6800 Ultra 256MB DDR3 w/Digital and S-Video Out
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 74GB Serial ATA 10,000 RPM w/8MB Cache
Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 250GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Keyboard: Microsoft® Basic Keyboard Black
Mouse: Microsoft® Basic Optical Mouse Black
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
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!

[1] Free Shipping Mail-In Rebate; on Alienware systems excluding peripherals - Continental U.S. Only
[1] $500 Instant Rebate; On Select Systems
[1] Napster Promotion; Free 4 Month Subscription and 12 Free Songs.
[1] Special Financing Offer; 90 Days Same As Cash Financing with the Alienware Credit Card

SubTotal: $3,499.00
Shipping: --
Discount: $500.00
Tax: --
Order Total: --

 

[ComputerWizard]

That should really get the job done! If you can afford it you should get it! Get the Pentium 4 it is much better thant he fx-55 in multi-tasking.

 

[mini_2003]

ok, if you guys suggest intel than here is my final config

[1] Area-51® 5550

Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
AlienRespawn: Alienware® Respawn Recovery Kit
Chassis: Alienware® Full-Tower Case (480-Watt PS) - Saucer Silver
Cable Management: Alienware® Cable Management System
Power Supply: Alienware® 480 Watt Power Supply
Processor: Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 660 w/ HT Technology 3.6GHz 2MB Cache
Motherboard: Alienware® PCI Express Motherboard with Intel® 925XE Chipset 1066/800MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Graphics Processor: NVIDIA® GeForce™ 6600 GT PCI Express 128MB DDR3 w/Digital and S-Video Out
Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening
System Drive: High Performance - Serial ATA - 74GB Serial ATA 10,000 RPM w/8MB Cache
Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 250GB Serial ATA 7,200 RPM w/8MB Cache
Optical Drive One: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Optical Drive Two: NEC® ND-3520 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive
Floppy Drive: 3.5" 1.44 MB Floppy Disk Drive - Black
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy® 2 ZS High Definition 7.1 Surround Firewire (IEEE® 1394)
Network Connection: Integrated High Performance Gigabit Ethernet
Modem: US Robotics® 56K V.92 Performance Pro
Portable Storage : Alienware® 10-in-1 Digital Media Reader / Writer
Display One: No Monitor
Display Two: No Monitor
Keyboard: Microsoft® Basic Keyboard Black
Mouse: Microsoft® Basic Optical Mouse Black
Free Alienware T-Shirt: Free Alienware® T-Shirt - Black
Free Alienware Mousepad: Free Alienware® Mousepad
AlienInspection: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!

[1] Free Shipping Mail-In Rebate; on Alienware systems excluding peripherals - Continental U.S. Only
[1] $500 Instant Rebate; On Select Systems
[1] Special Financing Offer; 90 Days Same As Cash Financing with the Alienware Credit Card

SubTotal: $3,435.00
Shipping: --
Discount: $500.00
Tax: --
Order Total: --

 

[sho95]

NJRonbo
Get your sell a top line mobo for your 3.06ht then run that ram in dual mode and just get a $100 video card and a new burner. The mobo would make a great ugdrade for your old system. That upgrade would cost you may be $400.

 

[mighty_chick]

that amd one pwns the second from last...although i find intels are faster for some things i do

 

[alvino]

Since you need somethings more like, RAM than CPU speed, make your own computer tailored to your own specs.. You can go with a mid-range CPU, 2gb of RAM, mid-range video card etc. I can tell you right now, that Photoshop doesn't need a ATI Radeon X850 XT. That's a gaming card, becides, Alienware's are expensive.

 

[NJRonbo]

Guys, I can't build a computer on my own
no less make my own modifications.

Yes, the Alienware is overkill but I really tax
my system when it comes to running APPS. I
have a dozen APPS in my startup, I use high-mem
stuff like WINDOWBLINDS, STYLE XP, CURSOR XP, etc.

I need a resource-filled system that will handle
the overload of programs I am going to run at once.
I am sure 2GB of ram will not disappoint.

The 256mb videocard is essential to power the
Dell 24" monitor that will be attached.

Yeah, I could go to Dell, HP, Gateway and get a
cheaper computer but you get what you pay for.
I am tired of Dell computers. At least ALIENWARE
puts in quality components that are upgradeable.

Did I also mention good customer support is essential?

BTW, I love the idea of putting the 74GB 10,000RPM as
the host driver and the 250GB 74,000 as the slave.
I can put my most used programs on the faster drive.

Thanks for all your help!

 

[ComputerWizard]

just get the alienware

 

[alvino]

You can go to custom build sites like www.monarchcomputer.com and get them to build a custom computer for you

 

[SSE4]

An Intel will help the man far more than an AMD will, unless he's playing games. Sorry but there's no reason to recommend an AMD system to someone who doesn't genuinely need the system for gaming. As far as I'm concerned it's your money. With computers like those you'll do perfectly fine. They have everything you need and more.