I was planning on buying a brand new PC to play Skyrim, but things are looking a bit rough on the money side so I thought I would have to wait.
The first reviews for the X 51 say it plays Skyrim full bell and wisthles at high resolutions and settings..and the best model is onl $1150 which is a lot thinking console but not so much thinking gaming PC, and it looks pretty decent to be a viable gaming PC for at least a year with all the new games coming out...
As thing s stand I would have to wait till april to see how things are to consider a proper gaming PC but I can get right now a X51 and play Skyrim finally...I hope the mods dont cripple its performance.
If there is any other early adopter I would love to hear some feedback on how the X51 handles the game, and maybe we can share some good ifo por people who are on the fence like me

Don't buy Alienware brand PCs.

Build the PC yourself. Just by looking at the specs of that one (which isn't amazing, good but not incredible), you're literally paying about ￡400-500 just for it to be built for you.

Especially as you're tight on money, building it yourself is the way to go.

Agreed, Alienware is very much overpriced. You should be able to get a equal system at a lower cost, or a more powerful system at the same cost.

People in the http://www.gamesas.com/topic/1328500-the-community-tech-thread-no-111/ should be able to help you with selecting/building a PC with good value for your money.

Anyone who buys a pre-built desktop PC (especially something so overpriced like alienware) is insane and needs help. Might as well wipe your ass with hundred dollar bills.

Do a few hours of research, order the parts you want seperatly and save over 50% of your money.

Then it's a matter of plugging and screwing some stuff in.

If you want, pm me your price range and I can build you something on newegg, or cyber power if you can't actually put it together yourself. In October I built myself a system for a little under 1k (tad more on newegg, microcenter in Boston so I just went and bought the parts), I skimped a little on the graphics card but it's future proofed, so I'll just pop in one of the 6xx nvidias when they release, the mb is also obviously ready for the new intels as well. Plays everything under the sun maxed with some healthy ocing, just gotta drop AA to 4x in bf3!

basic specs of mine are
I5 2500k
msi 560 ti gtx twin frozr II
8 gigs corsair ?vengeance?
MB is gigabyte don't remember exact model off the top of my head.

I can't really assemble my own PCs any more but I wouldn't by Alienware.

Steer clear of Alienware unless you have deep pockets and don't care how much you spend on your PC. Even if you did have money to burn, you'd still be better off building one yourself. Your $ will buy a lot more PC than just buying an Alienware.

EDIT: I realize the X51 looks cool because it's console sized, but you can buy a case just like those to build your own PC in.

If you are that tight on money, you'll get SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much more value by building it yourself and picking the parts up one-by-one. There is nothing in that rig that is magical and mysterious, and by yourself you can build something much better for the same price, even if you've never done it before.

My head explodes everytime a friend of mine buys Alienware...for the price of coffee and maybe gently cupping my stones of berenziah, I'd put it together for them.

First of all thanks for the replies guys, and the offers to help me build a system which believe me it would be the first choice for me, but the problem is that I live in mexico and we get all the second generations stuff at their original price 6 to 8 months latter so building a pc is nos as cheap as in the states. Hell if I live there I would build my own pc in no time...but as things stand it is not that good an option. The X 51 was a good option because a friend of mine offered to puchase it for me in the states and bring it over, saving me arround $400 from what it would cost here so that is why I thought about it....

would he be willing to just bring the parts over for you?

I realize it's probably not an option either but if that's the case, and it's not difficult to get past customs, It would probably another 400USD cheaper to have him buy the parts and then just take those across for you EDIT: DAMN YOU QUANTA!!!!!

I stopped muling ATI-5970s after two trips to the ER...those svckers are massive.


I hope you can get your pc mate

Werd its a suped up Dell and you can't make a Dell good for gaming without a huge pricetag.
If you don't want to build your own I recommend iBuyPower or Cyberpower.....if you want to build your own Newegg all the way.

Took one look at my 6970 after the last card being an 8800 and I was so glad I got a full sized tower....can't imagine two or three of them sitting next to each other.

Funny I got more for my buck in prebuilt PC out of Alienware than Dell or HP and am extremely happy with it, My daughter and best friend also have Alienware and have found them great. Persoanlly I alos like the safety net of a warrenty. Had some real issues with ahome built PC a few years ago and haven't gone that route again.



Finally steam seems to actually work like its avocates claim it does on Alienware whereas on two other PC I''ve had and also on a friend's PC, it was a nightmare of buggery and disfunction.

Like most parts, there is a premium on such brand names and Alienware is no different, but they do cater for gamers better than the other manufactures where they would give you an underpowered PC for hard gaming.

I will tell you the simple way. If you buy a Alienware product you will spend a much amout of money JUST for the name(Alienware). The x51 hasn't a superb hardware.

You could make a much much better and newer PC (wait for ivy bridge) if you buy piece by piece.

Sorry to play thread necromancy but I got my Alienware X51 2 days ago and it runs skyrim full on ultra setting at my res 1680x1050 at rock steady 60fps in almost any situation, the least fps I have gotten was 43, but it is simply marvelous to watch...I got a pretty good discount and while I am a bit worried about the noise and heat (the pc sitts right next to my monitor) I believe that it was acomplished what I wanted, to play Skyrim at those levels with plenty f room for future upgrades; I plan on getting a SSD for it next

People told you not to buy it, gave you good reasons, still you buy it.

They "Donated" some to the U.S soldiers in Iraq. (Donated is the term they used but they made the Army pay a "reduced price" that ended up being 3% off each computer) and when they finally killed themselves (never allow it to get even slightly dusty or it will [censored] melt it's motherboard) everyone was pissed and the customer service was the worst I have ever had to deal with. If it gets remotely hot, it dies. Remotely dusty, it dies. Remotely wet, dies. (from the moisture in the air, how does that [censored] work?)

If you still can, return it. Alienware is a nightmare.

Hey I got a year warrant and I plan to get my monys worth-, if there is a problem I will return it and that is is, the thing about the army is still a bit unclear, did you experience that your self?

Please don't listen to people that say "Don't Buy Alienware".

Are they more expensive? Yes. However, they have GREAT customer service and their computers are top notch. You get what you pay for.

I had nothing but a pleasurable experience and a great computer when I bought Alienware. Now, I build my own.

I would suggest that you build your own. However, if you are unable or not confident enough than an Alienware computer would be a great buy. If you have the money any you are willing to pay more there is nothing wrong with them and their customer service is top notch.

Edit:

OK, didn't know you have peformed necromancy on the thread. I think people dislike Alienware because their price. I'll say again, you get what you pay for and they are quality computers. As far as customer service, I had no problems when they had to replace my motherboard. Never had a problem it again.

In any case, hope you enjoy your computer.

Yes, it's mostly the price. peolpe have nothing against the company itself, really, but just the fact that you can get a PC with better specs for usually a few hundred dollars less if you simply build it yourself.

Not to mention that building it yourself makes tech support pointless anyway. There's nothing that they could do that a normal DiYer couldn't.

My rig runs Skyrim at ultra and I paid $500 for the mobo, proc, memory and video card amd HDD.

You do the math.

Yeah yeah It is simple to me; I have never built my own rig but have done numerous upgrades to PCs so I know my way arround...since I live in Mexico we get second or third generation stuff at at least a 30% price rise from when they originaly appeared, so a $1000 could not get me the componets I wanted for a great rig; this was I get to play the games I have been missing for the last 3 years; the Witchers, the Dragon Ages, The Mass Effects, Deus Ex, Total War and of course Skyrim with a rig that as it stands is pretty comeptitive and with a few upgrades down the road (first SSD and then in about a year or so a Geforce 560) so its not a question of math or knowledge, is is simply a matter of choice...