Alienware alpha

[Cmiller00000]

Hi guys I was wondering if you can help me before I spend pennies. Basically I wanted a computer tower to go into my tv for multimedia and light gaming and for apps like iTunes, I do have a work laptop which is low spec and you cannot install apps on. Basically I would be using it to play mmorpg games and slightly only games like the sims 4 and skyrim I already have a ps4 which I use for high spec games. The alpha I'm looking at is the i5 version which has a 1tb hd, 8gb ram and custom 860gtx graphics card. Would this be any good or for that price could I get a custom rig cheaper and by custom I mean choosing parts and getting a building site make it for me.

Cheers

 

[setishock]

Alienware is now owned by DELL. That was a sad day when that happened.
Anyway it looks like a reasonable bang for the buck. Unfortunately it has win 8.1 on it.

 

[Cmiller00000]

Yeah not majorly keen on 8.1 but ooh well when I try spec a mini pic at same specs with a os the cheapest I can find is around £650 mark.

 

[~Darkseeker~]

Custom PCs, Gaming Computers and Laptops, Home & Office PC - 3XS
PCSPECIALIST - Custom PCs, Custom Computers, Custom PC, Desktop PC, Custom Built Computers, Gaming PC
Custom Build PC, Gaming PC, Desktop PC, Gaming Laptops PC - MESH Computers - Award Winning Since 1987

don't waste money on rebadged dell crap If you're not going to build it yourself get a proper custom company to do it for you. SCAN in my opinion are by far the best custom PC builders in the UK.

If you were open to doing it yourself, look at the Silverstone HTPC cases, they have brushed metal finish so they look like an old school VHS or DVD player, and they fit full ATX motherboards so you can pretty much put whatever you like in it, rather than pay 500 bones for a box of reused (and probably downclocked given it's size) XPS parts

 

[setishock]

Not every one is a DIY kind of person. Intel makes a box like that which is very reasonably priced. Might want to scope them out.

Mini PC: Intel® NUC

 

[cb600fshornet]

Custom PCs, Gaming Computers and Laptops, Home & Office PC - 3XS
PCSPECIALIST - Custom PCs, Custom Computers, Custom PC, Desktop PC, Custom Built Computers, Gaming PC
Custom Build PC, Gaming PC, Desktop PC, Gaming Laptops PC - MESH Computers - Award Winning Since 1987

don't waste money on rebadged dell crap If you're not going to build it yourself get a proper custom company to do it for you. SCAN in my opinion are by far the best custom PC builders in the UK.

If you were open to doing it yourself, look at the Silverstone HTPC cases, they have brushed metal finish so they look like an old school VHS or DVD player, and they fit full ATX motherboards so you can pretty much put whatever you like in it, rather than pay 500 bones for a box of reused (and probably downclocked given it's size) XPS parts

I agree, scan usually turns out very reasonably priced!

 

[~Darkseeker~]

Not every one is a DIY kind of person. Intel makes a box like that which is very reasonably priced. Might want to scope them out.

Mini PC: Intel® NUC

We use NUCs at work as small satellite-office servers, very quick and absolutely tiny, but I doubt you'd get much out of them in terms of games

 

[setishock]

The i7 version is supposed to be able to game. For the record though, the reviews on Newegg are split 50/50 on the lower end models. They released the 5th general CPUs and the NUCs have em. Unfortunately retailers that have those are scarce right now.

 

[Smart_Guy]

It is a Steam machine, does not have an optical drive and input devices other than the game pad and the video card is not upgradable. That, and I didn't mention the price, because different people look at that differently.

If you're fine with the above, I'd say go for it for it's simplicity in light weight and size.

Personally, and since you mentioned it with the possibility of others doing it for you, I prefer custom rigs.