Alienware today ?...

[Javis]

My Dell XPS710 is getting a bit long in the tooth, also persisting problems with HD's, only cure seems to be format. More and more FSX shutting down because of low memory ( just bought Treescapes and i end up flying in a wood that reaches up to virtual heaven... ) and more of that kind of annoyenses.

Anyway, there's quite something to read about Alienware systems in the 2009 posts. Great but (too) expensive seems to be the most common verdict.

Although i think it would be very interesting to build my own rig for possibly half the price of what i'm going to pay to Dell, i don't exactly feel up to that, so i'm about to recieve an offer from a very friendly Dell Account Manager ( of course.. : ) for a personalised Alienware Area51 ALX.

With the most interesting 'Jetline Systems FSX Performance Guide' at hand i choosed for the i7 Extreme 980x, GF GTX 480, 12GB 1600MHz Tri Channel Mem, 2x 600GB plus 1x 300GB ( only for FSX ) HD's all at 10.000 rpm and Windows7 Pro. In line of 'you only live once' i couldn't help throwing in that Dell Ultra Sharp 3008WFP 30" monitor to top it all off.

So, guys, what do you say, am i crazy or what ??.....

Sure it's expensive and probabely *too* expensive as well but i can afford it and i have always been very happy with the Dell help desk and support, to me that sure is worth something as well ( that's another reason, 3 year full garantee for my XPS710 expires in a week or two.. )

Anyone here that is running such an Alienware Area51 ALX ?....

What about the 3008WFP 30" monitor ?...

Thanks for any comments guys.

Cheers,
Jan

[txnetcop]

Jan I will never be a Dell fan I used to be service engineer for them and then later a contract engineer. I hate what they charge for what you get. I also hate their lies about Dell not being a proprietary system...it still is today(although a little less so). However, Dell does not make Alienware products. Even though they own it, they don't make them. Alienware is a quality product but so are a few other companies now. Even Cyberpower and IBUYPower now put out a really good i7980X product for the money! It really comes down to what you like and feel comfortable with. It is kinda like the old saying we used have in business...no one ever got fired from buying IBM (even though IBM was ridiculously expensive-they were very dependable).
Ted

[Naismith]

Scratchbuild! These proprietory companies overprice their product. Build your own and you get the components you really want at much less.

[Snuffy]

Scratchbuild! These proprietory companies overprice their product. Build your own and you get the components you really want at much less.

Gotta go with this. Its been a year since my last build ... and I have none of that bloatware that Dell or the other "big name" companies install on my system for whatever purposes.

[txnetcop]

Jan if you decide to build your own you can get our help. It really isn't that complicated. I have tons of info I give away and heck I have probably built a 100 i7Core units from the i7-920 to i7 980X.
Ted

[Javis]

Ok, thanks, guys. So it seems i AM crazy....

Thanks, Ted, i really do know that i could get all the help i need from you guys here if i'd decide to build my own puter. But like i said i do not see this happen, atleast not at the moment. I have a nice big HO scale railway running in the attic so i don't have two left hands but building my own, high end system which i need to depend on for all kind of stuff is a bridge too far for me.

Personally i have always loved my Dell systems. Almost never a problem and if there was one it would be fixed right away. I could very well see the difference between Dell and another big proprietory company, NEC, when Dell was stuck with Intel processors and their newest proved to be a hog. Needed to switch to AMD. Only NEC could deliver a high end system with AMD CPU here in Holland. So i bought that and it proved to be nothing BUT problems... Atleast 3 times a service man had to come round to replace the Motherboard.... And that was not all...

Really not much choice here in a very small country like Holland... I have seen it again just now, it's only Dell that can deliver a system with the i7 980x and GTX480 to begin with. All these other rigs like HP, PB, Acer, are really cheap indeed but the best you can get is i7 920 with GT300. HD's are all 7200 rpm, and mostly they don't even show you what kind of memory is used.

I did really like that Acer Aspire GT7700 Predator, loved that chassis, but it was taken out of the shops really fast, atleast overhere.

So, if i don't feel like scratchbuild a system myself and i want one last monster pjuter ( which i think our precious 'the last of the many' FSX really deserves ) i have no other choice than to knock on Dell's door..

I did hope someone here might have done that as well lately, would've loved to hear something about this Alienware range before taking the big step. I've seen quite a few of these big things at the last Flightsim Weekend event here at the Aviodrome in Holland...

Afraid no scratchbuilding/money saving for me here, guys.Dell's probabely getting another piece of the contents of my wallet but i'm used to that when dealing with uhhhh..... ladies ( in my language ' dell' means slut.... :d )

cheers,
jan

[dominique]

You are not crazy. From my own experience building your own rig is not at all cheaper, in Europe at least, but it gives the choice to pick up what you really want and a big grin on your face when you start it up (look honey I DID IT, IT WORKS !) . I am no techie but its actually quite easy.

[gigabyte]

Javis,

I don't think you are crazy at all, value is more than just the box and it's components, IMHO any vendor of any product that offer and DELIVER good after the sale support and service are providing GOOD VALUE. I maintain approx 120 Dell systems and while I can find all kinds of fault with the proprietary design I find the service and support excellent and that adds value!

You have to be the judge it's your hard earned cash, but if you put a priority on things other than just the box and it's components then Alienware with the support system Dell has in place is probably a good choice for you.

I personally build my own systems for gaming and prefer to, mostly because I like to torture myself...lol, but for those who want to "Plug & Play" let someone else do the hard work.

Oh BTW, I will say I have seen one of those 30" monitors and that is one nice piece of gear on it's own, we use one on one of our CAD computers and it does kick A$$...

No offence to the system builders (hobby builders or pro builders like TXNETCOP) in the forum, I just wanted to point out that there are reasons that companies like Dell and Lenovo cost more and that cost is not only in the components inside the box.

[Javis]

You are not crazy. From my own experience building your own rig is not at all cheaper, in Europe at least, but it gives the choice to pick up what you really want and a big grin on your face when you start it up (look honey I DID IT, IT WORKS !) . I am no techie but its actually quite easy.

I believe you right away, Dominique, and maybe, if i would've asked about it here a month ago i might have started contemplating about building a computer myself. I feel the thought actually grows on me but the thought of having that big Alienware monster here next to me is very strong.

Pushing that button on the chassis for the first time should be extremely exiting, oh yes ! But i also can't help thinking about that and subsequently nothing will happen..... Or worse, a big POEFFFF!! and a flash will be the only result...... Then what..... :d

Cheers,
Jan

[Javis]

...... I find the service and support excellent and that adds value!

My thought exactly ! F.i. here in Holland it's getting worse and worse everyday to be able to contact the right person at a civil authority, manufacturer, or even just a shop. Not so with Dell... My experience has always been and still is that I'm usually being put through to a very helpfull assistant within a minute. In this day and age that's quite unique.

Last time i needed the Dell helpdesk was when something went wrong with my mirror HD ( RAID Access Failure ) I don't think it took more than 10 minutes that the guy had me change te connectors of both HD's and showed me, by 'taking over my computer' , how to setup a new mirror. He did warn me that the problem might be coming back and that i might have to format both HD's... He was right about that and it's one of the reasons i am where i am now...

I became a fan of Dell ever since i bought my first Dell system many moons ago. The difference between it and the various 'cheapish' computers i had bought before from these ' box shovers' outlets was extraordinairy. For the first time i felt i finally had a *real* computer. Never, i mean *never*, have had a problem with it and when the time came to replace it i gave it to my brother ( who is a computer illiterate ) and he's still working with it for all these years without so much as a hickup. ( true, he only runs Word Perfect on it... )

Cheers,
Jan

[dominique]

It happened to me !

For the rig I use now, the assembling completed, the last screw tightened, I plugged it into the wall, pushed the front button with some angst and then NOTHING... I was devastated untii I found that I had forgotten to also throw the rear switch of the PSU !

Go with your Alienware and tell us about it !

[Javis]

It happened to me ! For the rig I use now, the assembling completed, the last screw tightened, I plugged it into the wall, pushed the front button with some angst and then NOTHING...

Surely better than "POEFFF!!! "

I was devastated untii I found that I had forgotten to also throw the rear switch of the PSU !

I'm sure that would've happend to me too !

Coincidently i saw a documentary on BBC yesterday about the assembly of the new RR Trent 1000 engine that will power the B787 Dreamliner. Phew!!!! That's something else than connecting a few components inside a small metal cookie tin. Seeing that i feel silly leaving that to the pro's rather than do it myself. :d

Go with your Alienware and tell us about it !

If i go through with it i sure will !

Cheers,
Jan

[kilo delta]

I had the previous gen Alienware ALX c/w Dell 3008WFP monitor (fully specced out,it cost me ~€10k).

Identical to this:



I was never happy with it however, overheating was a serious issue due to the case design and poor liquid cooling. I wound up selling it and building an even better(and cheaper) system later...kept my Dell 3008WFP monitor though.
I haven't had the opportunity to test the latest gen Alienware desktops but would advise to see if they too suffer from overheating issues (google is your friend). I can heartily recommend the Dell monitor...it's awesome.

Somewhat OT...but I've a first gen ALX case and several original Koolance liquid cooling systems sitting here beside me awaiting a rebuild. Mrs KD will not be happy with yet another PC in the house! :d

[GT182]

Jan it's a no brainer...... build your own computer. If not for the reasons above, for the cost alone. You'll spend half or less of what a very good store bought rig will cost. Alienware is so over priced it's not funny. You build your own and get what you want, not what they want to give you. You don't need the bloatware.

Besides, if I can build my own, you can too. It's so easy a Caveman can do it. But just in case, get Ted's info too.

[stansdds]

I've been building my own for years and so far I've always been able to build a better system than I could buy.

[Javis]

Thanks for further advice, gents ! :salute:

A bit disturbing to read about the overheating problem of your Alienware, KD... Thanks for the tip. Googled it and yes quite a lot turns up about the subject but the few i've read until now are mostly from 2 years ago... Atleast there's a new casing now with different, hopefully better cooling system... ( had lots of overheating problems myself during the summers, but this was with my NEC system, not Dell's ..... ) I will certainly ask my Dell contact about it !

It's not so much that i do not feel up to getting all the stuff required to build my own system, installing and connecting everything as well, it's just that i do not feel confident enough about my knowledge of what makes a computer work.... It's like building my own car but having no driver licence....

I mean, Ok, say i have build my own system and it runs great, then, all of a sudden the system shuts down and i can't get it started up anymore..... Now what.....

One call would be enough with my Dell or Nec systems to get it running again but this time i have nobody to call, all on my own, in a vast desert of Power Supply's,CPU's, Mobo's,Mem blocks, all kind of Card's, Harddrives, Optical drives, and mysterious things i don't even know the name of...

I can't even come in here : " Hey, my system stopped working ! Help !!! " ....

In my book that's nothing short of a nightmare !

I LOVE computers ( although i've been on the virge of throwing the thing thru the window not only once..... ) but i HATE it when they stop working. Nothing gives me more confidence when that happens than having a phonenumber i can call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and a friendly guy at the other end tells me to do this, then do that, e presto the thing works again.

I mean, i just read the thread in the FSX forum about what's missing in today's native FSX hangars.... tons of suggestions, from a flying flea to the massive Martin Mars. I guess we might call ourselves very lucky if we maybe see 10-20% of all these suggestions for new, native FSX aircraft models actually realised in the foreseeable future.... I could easily add a comment to this thread like " Hey, guys, start-up GMax - it's free ! - and build it yourself, it's easy ! "

I'm really serious, it IS easy, " if I can do it so can You ", but like always, it's easy once you know what to do.... Getting there usually is quite something else...

But thanks again for the advice, guys, highly appreciated !

Cheers,
Jan

[stansdds]

I never retire my current computer until I'm reasonably certain that my new build is working properly. Only once in about 12 years of building my own have I been stranded with a broken machine. In that instance, I called a friend who has quite a bit of computer knowledge and after describing the problem he correctly diagnosed it as a bad motherboard that wiped out my system. You can buy an off the self system and it can still die, then it has to be sent back to be repaired and you are still without a computer for a while.

[Javis]

I never retire my current computer until I'm reasonably certain that my new build is working properly. Only once in about 12 years of building my own have I been stranded with a broken machine. In that instance, I called a friend who has quite a bit of computer knowledge and after describing the problem he correctly diagnosed it as a bad motherboard that wiped out my system.

Some 10 years ago i was in the very fortunate position of having a next door neighbour who is a computer whizz kid. Learned a lot from him. Alas he moved away a few years ago. He really was the only person i know who has more knowledge of computers than myself....

You can buy an off the self system and it can still die, then it has to be sent back to be repaired and you are still without a computer for a while.

Not with my Dell and Nec systems.... If something bad happend i'd just call the respective help desks and the problem would be fixed before i could say 'thank you!' . If something went wrong with the hardware a technician would come round the next morning to replace the offending item. Btw, that happend only with the Nec system, 3 times they came round to replace the Mobo..... All within garantee period so no money involved.

Reading about the Alienware overheating problem i stumbled over a thread with which somebody claimed that in the USA there's no such thing as a 24/7 Dell helpdesk service....

Cheers,
Jan

[XLR8]

There is a secret to owning a Dell PC . I just got a Alienware Aurora about 3 months ago .Its a i7-975 xstream OC 4.0,gforce 240,640 GB HD,6GB 1067 DDR3 ram,DVD/CDrw,bluray,19-1 media reader,850 watt PSU wimdow 64,black case.

I upgraded the video card to a saphire 1GB 5850,and in the process of upgrading the ram to 1600mhz .

I got it as a replacment for my3 year old XPS 710 after constant problems .

Keep the warranty on them,after 2 years Dell just replaces them instead of trying to fix them . I have had 3 other PC exchanged out with new ones .

[Javis]

There is a secret to owning a Dell PC . I just got a Alienware Aurora about 3 months ago .Its a i7-975 xstream OC 4.0,gforce 240,640 GB HD,6GB 1067 DDR3 ram,DVD/CDrw,bluray,19-1 media reader,850 watt PSU wimdow 64,black case.

I got it as a replacment for my3 year old XPS 710 after constant problems .

Wow! Good for you !

My 'problem' here is that my old XPS710 still works fine....

Thanks for the tip though, i'll keep that in mind.

Cheers,
Jan

[Javis]

Well, i've got that Alienware Aera51ALX monster sitting next to me for a couple days now. And it's a MONSTER indeed !! :isadizzy:

It's a funny feeling..... having absolutely nothing to complain or wish for re FSX performance anymore.... it will still take some time to get used to.... I guess as far as FSX goes, and i suppose that'll be loooooong time, i think i'm finally done....

The only thing i am slightly dissapointed with is that, because of liquid cooling, the noise would be less than my XPS710. In fact, however, i think it's even a bit louder... Certainly not a reason to send it back, just something i didn't expect.

Another thing is that i found out today that the Dell 30" monitor doesn't work.... The system worked fine on my old monitor but after connecting this new 30" all i get is 'No display port cable' dancing around the screen..... The monitor came with a DVI cable so i tried that first with the above result. A VGA cable is already connected to the monitor so i tried that, same thing, no go.... There's also a 'Displayport Cable' included but i can't find a connector for that on the GF GTX480. It might be that an adaptor cable is missing.... Still one would think that this monitor would still work with VGA or DVI as well.... i mean, there's even a VGA cable attached to it....

I'll call Dell in the morning, see what's up about that.

( btw, the guy that is responsable for setting up the line of connectors with these Dell flat screen monitors should be send to a mental institution..... )

Anyway and Otherwise, i am completely bolted over with extacy about FSX performance with this monster machine. The joy of approach and landing at the most demanding airports with all sliders maxed out (apart from road traffic, 15% is more than enough for me ), without so much as a stutter and the fps staying around 30/35 really is a dream come true.

Mind you, i have not installed any of the fancy thirdparty photoreal airports yet, just FSX with SP1/SP2 and REX at the moment, so we'll have to see about that later on.

Looking forward to see all this amazing eye candy appearing on that 30" monitor if all works out well in the end.

Cheers,
Jan
Happy virtual pilot for once ( finally have the idea i'm actually flying ! :naturesm: )

[dominique]

Still happy after 10 days ?

Have you installed your 30" monster monitor and some heavy addons and made water cooling quieter ?

[Javis]

Still happy after 10 days ?

Even more ! :mixedsmi:

It turned out quickly that i DID get problems with FSX. I got a few BSOD's and every testflight would end with a 'FSX stopped working'. W7 proved very handy with its 'event log system'. Every FSX crash showed ' terrain.dll' as being the culprit.

A guy at Avsim got the same problem and he adviced me to shove the sliders back a tad. That worked ! I did a few 2 hour flights without any problem !

Not as pretty as with all sliders maxed surely but i do have a good base now to do some more tweaking and testing to find out which of the sliders causes the FSX crash.

Have you installed your 30" monster monitor and some heavy addons and made water cooling quieter ?

Well, i don't feel up tinkering with the cooling system just yet eventhough there's a very fancy "Alienware Thermal Control Manager" menu to do so. I'll get the helpdesk to assist. Have to call anyway because sometimes after having put the system in Sleep Mode and getting it back up i get this message that Thermal Control has stopped working.....
The 30" is working and i am still flabbergasted running FSX on it....


It proved that, somehow, my new system will not display the menu with which to select the cable to connect the monitor with. I tried the monitor on my old system and up popped that menu immidiately ! I could then select DVI as connection cable so when i connected the monitor to the Alienware again it worked right away. Yiihaaaaa!!

Shouldn't happen of course..... what if i did not have an old XP system to connect the monitor too.... Still, i was so happy to finally get that monitor working i forgat about that annoying initiation problem right away. I have to use seatbelts now everytime i fly FSX !!

Next to REX i have installed UTX/GEX/USA/Europe, FTX/PNW, UKVFRGenX, San Francisco, and a couple fav planes. Everything working fine now with the scenery sliders moved back a bit.

Am i still happy ?... Well, i can't really tell how happy i am. This sure is what FSX is all about, the most amazing PC flightsim i have EVER experienced. Personally i don't need anything more when it comes to flightsimming ( well..... OK.... maybe 3D ! Yessss, deffinately 3D !! ) I know i will enjoy this tremendously for many years to come.

Of course, when somebody feels up to surprise us with a totally new flightsimulation program i'll be the first to try it. Not because it will be better than FSX ( IMHO it's a fat chance we'll see anything better than FSX in the forseeable future.. ) but just out of curiosity.

Ok, seatbelts on, here i go again !

Cheers,
Jan

[kilo delta]

Hi Jan...only just seen this now. Congrats on the new system...it seems Alienware have gotten their act together with the ALX range since I bought mine. I'm surprised that you had problems setting up the monitor but it's great to hear you've got it up and running okay now. FSX on a 30" monitor @ 2560x1600 resolution and good fps is sublime!

[dominique]

I still have to get my own dream machine but I really enjoy seeing people who did get theirs having fun ! Thanks for sharing that.

You had 'to shove the sliders a tad' before or after installing all the fancy addons ?