Should I buy an Alienware x51 desktop?

Question

I am currently a console gamer on the xbox 360. A lot of my favorite games sequels wont be getting released in the future on xbox 360 only on the one. On top of that I am getting rather tired of the console gaming constraints and having to pay for xbox live service, and dlc.

I have heard nothing but great things about pc gaming in comparison to console. Especially with games like skyrim and all the really cool mods available. I would love to start pc gaming but have absolutely no idea whats good what is not and even where to start looking. In the past people have told me about Alienware computers. I googled them and the x51 seems awesome to me.

I would use it for gaming and just entertainment in general kind of like a home entertainment console in the living room. Obviously I would want to use it as a computer but definitely on a nice sized monitor. I have a laptop currently and plan on keeping that.

I just want a gaming console that will easily replace my xbox 360 in terms of graphics and smoothness for the majority of popular games Skyrim, Halo, COD etc etc. So would an alienware x51 satisfy that? Also, there are 9 different options for the x51 there is a intel i3, i5, and 7 different i7 variations.

Would the i3 do given that its the cheapest? Or should I instead look into building my own pc? I am obviously very confused and don't know where I should start looking. I must admit though the alienware styling really has me thinking x51. Thank you so much!!!

Answer 1

Hello, as others have noted the X51 with an Intel i3 is the wrong choice for gaming. It doesn't even come standard with an SSD hard drive which helps a systems responsiveness and noise reduction (especially for a system intended for the living room). Pricing for a good gaming computer will be well above those of consoles as you are also paying for way more capabilities than consoles and even non-gaming class computers have. I'm not one to build my own computers and purchased my last one from WolfPackPC.com

Answer 2

Hell. No. I mean, if you really want to spend extra money, go for it. I would build my pc, seeing as you know what kind of games you are going to play, whether you are going to bitcoin mine, etc. You could build yourself a computer thats decently better than the x51 for the same price.

Answer 3

The Alienware x51 isn't a total horrible PC like many put it out to be. Yes, it's a bit overpriced and you could build one for cheaper way better, but this isn't to bad. I have one and get 100+ frames on minecraft and get 50 frames high settings on DayZ. It has enough power to run most of the new games on Medium to low and all of the older games should run just fine. The GPU isn't horrible but it holds the PC back a bit and the i3 is just fine for casual gaming, mostly cause it's clocked at 3.4GHz which helps out a bit. Well just don't try to stream and you outta be good.

Answer 4

No. The i3 alienware will not perform well on even basic games, generally you want at least an i5. Not only that, but the alienware is limited to last generation graphics cards, only offering a few extremly high end models with current generation components. Furthermore, alienware just uses cheap dell motherboards and RAM, bottlenecking the already sub-par components.



IF I were you, I would build my own computer. IT will require some reasearch on your part as to what parts you want exactly, but you will save a considerable amount of money and have a better performing machine by a long ways. NewEgg and LinusTechTips youtube channels contain alot of great information on their build guides.

Answer 5

No, definitely not.



The Alienware X51 is not even a gaming computer. It is a desktop being marketed as a gaming computer. It has an integrated graphics chip by default, which is not powerful enough to be classed as a real gaming chip.







Also, you are asking about the processor, but the processor is much less important than the graphics chip or card.



You might as well forget about Intel iwhatever, because that doesn't matter.



What matters is that you have a GTX 750 ti or better graphics card, and the X51 does not, not by a long shot.



To make it a real (and minimally decent) gaming computer, you have to pay Dell $350 to put in a $240 graphics card.







The important thing you have to realize is that gaming computers, real gaming computers, are not cheap.

They cost a lot of money, usually 3-4x more than a gaming console. The reason for this is that they are usually 2-3x more powerful than a gaming console, even when new gaming consoles are released.



And to play games at the resolutions and framerates demanded by monitors, and at the quality gaming computers offer, you need that power to be competitive. It isn't like COD on a console where there is input lag and imprecise aiming. You have to have a smooth, high framerate rig because every twitch input you make really matters.







Here's a rough analog of my rig:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3r1ZO

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3r1ZO/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3r1ZO/benchmarks/



CPU: AMD FX-8350 4.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($179.00 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-970A-UD3P ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($79.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($134.99 @ NCIX US)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 770 2GB Video Card ($319.99 @ NCIX US)

Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.87 @ Amazon)

Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts Platinum 650W 80+ Platinum Certified ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($26.97 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($99.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $1077.77

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-04-13 12:49 EDT-0400)



Except I have about $300 more in hard-drives and solid state drives, and am running W7.



A "budget" gaming computer would look like this:



PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3RDji

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3RDji/by_merchant/

Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3RDji/benchmarks/



CPU: AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor ($109.99 @ NCIX US)

Motherboard: MSI 970A-G46 ATX AM3+ Motherboard ($69.99 @ Micro Center)

Memory: Crucial Ballistix 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($84.80 @ Amazon)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.97 @ OutletPC)

Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 750 Ti 2GB Video Card ($129.99 @ Newegg)

Case: Antec Nine Hundred ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ NCIX US)

Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)

Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($129.98 @ OutletPC)

Total: $775.69

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-05-26 22:32 EDT-0400)



And then you still need to buy a monitor, keyboard/mouse/headphones, etc.