I need some honest opinions.

[DragonMaster2014]

Hello, my name is Jacob and I love playing skyrim. I am new to this so which website should I buy a computer from cyberpower or alieware? I am looking for a computer that would run skyrim with max power. I also want to mod and make skyrim better. I never bought a computer off of the internet. I want your honest opinion on this. I would really appreciate it if you guys help me out. Thank you!

 

 

I customized a computer from cyberpower. Tell me what you think.

 

*BASE_PRICE: [+1205]

Case: AZZA Silentium 920B Mid-Tower w/ Noise Reduction Material & USB 3.0 [-24] (Black Color)

Laser Engraving: None

Laser Engraving Message:

Internal USB Extension Module: None

Neon Light Upgrade: None

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

Noise Reduction Technology: Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels [+29]

Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts [+9]

CPU: Intel® Core i7-4770K 3.50 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150 (All Venom OC Certified)

Freebies: None

Performance Tuning Protection Plan by Intel: None

Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No Overclocking

Cooling Fan: * CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo Gaming Cooling Fan [+4]

Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant

Motherboard: [CrossFireX] GIGABYTE Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Ultra Durable 4 Plus, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2 PCIe x16 (1 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2 PCIe x1 & 2 PCI (Pro OC Certified)

Freebies: None

Intel Smart Response Technology: 64GB ADATA SP900 SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 550 MB/s Read & 505 MB/s Write [+84] (Single Drive)

Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+85] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Freebies: None

Freebies: None

Video Card 2: None

Freebies: None

Video Card 3: None

Power Supply Upgrade: 800 Watts - Standard 80 Plus Certified Power Supply - SLI/CrossFireX Ready

Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD [+78] (Single Drive)

Hard Drive Cooling Fan: None

External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None

USB Flash Drive: None

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: None

External Optical Drive: None

Sound: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO

3D Vision Glasses: None

LCD Monitor: * 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 ASUS VS247H-P 1080P (23.6" Viewable) 2ms LED Backlight, DVI, HDMI Input [+179]

2nd Monitor: None

3rd Monitor: None

Speakers: 600Watts PMPO Subwoofer Stereo Speakers [+15]

Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

Keyboard: (Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Cooler Master Storm Devastator Gaming Keyboard & Mouse Combo [+59]

Mouse: None

Mouse Pad: None

Headset: None

Gaming Gear: None

Extra Thermal Display: None

Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: 802.11b/g/n 300 Mbps Wireless Card + External 2.4G 5 Dbi Omni-Directional Wireless Antenna [+39]

External Wireless Network Card: ASUS USB-AC53 802.11ac Dual-band Wireless-AC1200 up to 867Mbps/300Mbps USB Adapter [+56]

Wireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: * ASUS RT-N16 802.11n 300Mbps Multi-Functional Gigabit Wireless N Router [+100]

Bluetooth: None

Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

Video Camera: None

Tablet: None

Cable: 10-FT HDMI v1.4 Cable Type-A Male to Male High Speed Cable [+10] (2 pieces [+10])

Power Protection: OPTI-UPS VS575CB 575VA/345W 6 Outlet Uninterruptible Power Supply [+57]

IEEE1394 Card: None

Internal USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

USB Port: None

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 8 (64-bit Edition)

Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None

Office Suite: Microsoft® Office® 2013 Home and Student (Word, Excel, PowerPoint + OneNote) [+119]

Games: None

Ultra Care Option: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]

Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]

Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Rush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS

*_PRICE: (+2143)

 

 

 

 

Here is one from Alienware.

 

 

 

 

Alienware X51 - $2,109.99

 

 

 

4th Generation Intel® Core i7 Processor

 

Windows 8

 

8GB Memory

 

1TB Hard Drive

 

Upgrade to the latest 4th Gen Intel® Core i7 processor, optional Windows 8, and the new NVIDIA® GTX 660 graphics card for nearly 2x the graphics power over the GTX 645.

Alienware X51 price includes $100 instant discount.

Register for Dell Advantage and get 5% back and free 2nd business day shipping

Save $60 off the Flat Panel Monitor!

For a limited time, purchase Office Home & Student for only $119.

3 years of McAfee for the price of 2.

Market Value1$2,305.98

Total Savings$195.99

Dell Price$2,109.99

as low as $64 / mo* | Apply

Estimated Ship Date: 9/6/2013

Processor

4th Generation Intel® Core i7-4770 processor (8M Cache, up to 3.9 GHz)

Operating System

Windows 8, 64-bit, English

Productivity Software

Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2013

Monitor

Dell 24 Monitor - S2440L

Memory2

8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600Mhz

Hard Drive3

1TB SATA 6Gb/s (7,200RPM) 64MB Cache

Video Card4

NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 670 with 2.0GB GDDR5

Optical Drive

Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)

Keyboard

Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard

Mouse

Alienware Standard Optical Mouse

Wireless

DW 1506 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi Wireless LAN

McAfee Security

Help Me Choose

McAfee SecurityCenter, 36 Month Subscription

Support5

4 Year Alienware Enhanced Support

Accidental Damage

Help Me Choose

4 Year Accidental Damage Service

Slots

Memory Slots

2x 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Slots

 

Ports

External Chassis Connections

Front

(2x) SuperSpeed USB 3.05

(1x) Microphone In

(1x) Headphone/Speaker Out

 

Rear

(1x) On-board HDMI 1.4 Output

(1x) RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet

(2x) Hi-Speed USB 3.06

(4x) SuperSpeed USB 3.05

(1x) Front Left/Right Speakers

(1x) Center Speaker

(1x) Rear Left/Right Speakers

(1x) Side Left/Right Speakers

(1x) SPDIF Digital Output (TOSLINK) (1x) SPDIF Digital Output (Coax)

 

Internal Chassis Connections

(3x) SATA 6.0Gb/s Ports

Chassis

Chipset

Intel® H61 Express Chipset with 3rd Generation Processors (Standard)

Intel® H87 Express Chipset with 4th Generation Processors

 

Color Options

Matte Stealth Black with Dark Chrome Accents (Standard)

 

Dimensions & Weight

Height: Front: 13.504" - (343mm) Rear: 12.54" - (318.5mm)

Depth: 12.52" - (318mm)

Width: 3.74" - (95mm)

Starting Weight: 12.1 lbs - (5.49 Kg.)

 

Motherboard Class

Mini-ITX Motherboard

 

Power

Alienware 240 Watt Power Supply (Standard)

Alienware 330 Watt Power Supply

 

Processor Cooling

Alienware High-Performance Air Cooling

 

Software

Alienware Command Center

AlienFX

AlienFusion

AlienAdrenaline

Regulatory Compliance

Product Safety, EMC and Environmental Datasheets

Dell Regulatory Compliance Home Page

Dell and the Environment

[Vindekarr]

Alright, I'll do my best. PCs aren't really my area of expertise but I am good at making things, and I can mostly advise on set-up, wiring and cooling.

 

MY MOST CRITICAL ADVICE, AND YOU WILL HEAR THIS FROM EVERYONE HERE, IS TO MAKE YOUR OWN RIG. THIS IS MUCH MUCH CHEAPER, A LOT MORE FUN, AND YOUR PC IS A VERY PERSONAL THING-WHY NOT BUILD IT YOURSELF(it's not hard or even time consuming)

 

What country and climate are we talking about? it pays to build a system to match your local area's climate. A computer built for Australia requires doubled-up cooling and should have as little sound proofing as possible, while a computer built for Russia needs less cooling, and a computer for Canada needs a balance.

 

Ok: first and foremost. There's two main "powerblocs" in computing. Intel and Nvidia are one, and the other is the AMD-Athlon/ATI Radeon group. Both make superb tech, but parts are usually optimised for one or the other. The will work in concert with opposite "set" parts, but they have little features in them that make a vast difference when you have a full set. Imagine a set of "set bonus" gear in an RPG; it all works fine, but put it all together, and everything just... clicks.

 

Second, AVOID Windows 8 like the plague. It's a poor choice for gaming due to it being unreliable, taking up a lot of disk space, and being incompatible with many games. In my experience Windows XP and Windows 7 are the two best gaming operating systems. XP is ancient now, but is superbly well engineered, very user friendly, and takes up very little disk space. Windows 7 is still current, it's affordable, reliable, and vastly more user-friendly for gamers than 8, which is mostly for powermoms and accountants.

 

Thirdly, don't just go for raw power or size. Optimise things for the situation, if you help, ask-it's what PC shop people are paid to do. One example would be the Hard-Drives you've specced.

 

Fourth: Avoid Alienware at all costs. I've heard horrorstories about that brand, and been in a few myself. My first gaming PC was an Alienware, when I got it home and opened it up I discovered that five different parts were second hand. Naturally I returned it, and spent the next two months getting threatened with legal action and being treated like an imbecile for expecting a $4000 PC to be $4000 worth of quality, rather than made out of used parts, some of them badly corroded. Their prices seem fair, but experience has taught me that you'd be better off buying new parts than risking the horror of asking these bastards for help. I can't ever forgive the harassment or mistreatment my family and I received from them.

 

OK: so disregarding the Alienware(I strongly, strongly urge you to avoid them-they really aren't nice people) your build is... OK but needs some work.

 

The main trick I'd like to share is called a boot-drive where I live. There's two ways to store your saved data, a Hard-Drive stores it on a spinney plate. Hard drives store monolithic amounts of data, are cheap, and extremely reliable. The other option is the far newer tech the Solid State drive. These save data into what is essentially a jumbo-sized PS2 memory card. They can't store much more than 300GB of data, but they load hyper, hyper quick(usually several times faster than a hard drive) Most PCs including mine have a cheap Solid State drive, and a big Hard Drive. You install Windows on the Solid State drive-this VASTLY speeds everything Windows-related up, but install all your games on the big Hard Drive where the loss of speed doesn't matter so much. It's cheap and hugely effective; my PC is able to go from off entirely to the login screen in under 15 seconds flat.

 

The Motherboard you've selected is excellent. I have last year's model, and it's great-Ultra Durability isn't just a slogan, I live near a desert, if it wasn't ultra durable it'd be dead. The issue is-it's designed for an AMD-Athlon based system, but you're using an Nvidia graphics card. I strongly recommend you use maybe a Radon 7890 a potent but extremely affordable graphics card, prefferably two running in Crossfire(ask a PC dealer, it lets you run two graphics cards as one monster unit) to take full advantage of the fact it's what your motherboard was designed to do. You CAN run that graphics card, but may produce more heat and less power as a result.

 

The Processor is great-again, that's more or less what I use. Tough, reliable, goes like hell(mine's a 3770K, she puts out around 4.0 GHZ in winter, 3.7 in summer) You probably won't need a water cooler for that unless you live in Australia/Kowloon/Mumbai/somewhere else infernally hot. If you don't need it, I advise avoiding water cooling, excuse the language but they're a b&@*$ to work with. Noisy, unreliable, and you need to replace the water constantly. You can't use -ordinary- "WATER" water either. You need to use what's called de-ionised water(costs around $50 USD a bottle) otherwise, one drop and your PC's a burning pile of parts. Plus, one drop, and you risk electrocuting yourself as well.

 

RAM could be better, since it's fairly cheap. I actually recommend G.Skill as a brand-I picked them up recently, was blown away by the value for money. I'd aim for 12 or 23 GB with a motherboard like that. It can handle it easily and there's no real drawback to "too much RAM"

 

Sound proofing? depends on your climate. Live in Andorra? pile it in! Live in Australia? rip it out. Sound-proofing is something with which I'm intimately familiar with as I've spent many an afternoon waist-deep in a car engine bay using a Vibrating Slice or Saw-Zaw to rip the wretched stuff out. Soundproofing foam looks so sweet and innocent, but it's really not. See, engineers like me, we design a machine to actually god damn work. And then the guys in hipsters with moustaches in the design department come in and they say "mmmm, it's too loud dahrling" and fill what we made with foam, and so whenever anyone goes to use it, the thing doesn't work.

 

The problem is the same with cars and computers. More foam = quieter, but the more foam you add, the hotter any machine will get and the less efficient any cooling system will be. Choose carefully based on climate. My PC has literally none, it's made quiet by carefully balanced fans.

Edited August 31, 2013 by Vindekarr

[Rennn]

Normally I advise people not to use Alienware. They overprice all their stuff.

 

Having said that, both those PCs have very similar performance, but both of their PSUs are too weak.

[DragonMaster2014]

What PUS would you recommend?

[Rennn]

What PUS would you recommend?

 

Any good name (Antec, Coolermaster, Corsair, possibly Rosewill, etc) 650w or above. Going above 900w is just a waste of money though, unless you plan on using 2 Titans in SLI or something.

A PSU degrades by about 20% the first year it's used, meaning a 500w essentially becomes a 400w after the first year. For that reason, you generally want to aim a bit high.

It's never really a good idea to skimp on the PSU anyway. It's always important, but especially matters in games when your entire PC is under load, and it can even damage the rest of your PC if it fails.

 

And as I said before, both PCs you listed are almost identical in performance, so go with the cheaper one, but use a good PSU with 650w or above, to be safe.

Edited September 1, 2013 by Rennn

[DragonMaster2014]

Yeah i was thinking about going for the cheaper one. I think I'll do that. Thank you so much! I can't thank you enough. I will let you know when I get it. It'll be a while. I have 500 saved up right now.

[DragonMaster2014]

What do you think of these builds?

 

From cyberpower

 

*BASE_PRICE: [+1205]

Case: AZZA Silentium 920B Mid-Tower w/ Noise Reduction Material & USB 3.0 [-24] (Black Color)

Laser Engraving: None

Laser Engraving Message:

Internal USB Extension Module: None

Neon Light Upgrade: None

Extra Case Fan Upgrade: Default case fans

Noise Reduction Technology: Sound Absorbing Foam on Side, Top And Bottom panels [+29]

Anti-Vibration Fan Mounts [+9]

CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4770K 3.50 GHz 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1150 (All Venom OC Certified)

Freebies: None

Performance Tuning Protection Plan by Intel: None

Venom Boost Fast And Efficient Factory Overclocking: No Overclocking

Cooling Fan: * CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Evo Gaming Cooling Fan [+4]

Coolant for Cyberpower Xtreme Hydro Water Cooling Kits: Standard Coolant

Motherboard: [CrossFireX] GIGABYTE Z87-HD3 Intel Z87 Chipset DDR3 ATX Mainboard w/ Ultra Durable 4 Plus, 7.1 HD Audio, GbLAN, 2 PCIe x16 (1 Gen3, 1 Gen2), 2 PCIe x1 & 2 PCI (Pro OC Certified)

Freebies: None

Intel Smart Response Technology: 64GB ADATA SP900 SATA-III 6.0Gb/s - 550 MB/s Read & 505 MB/s Write [+84] (Single Drive)

Memory: 8GB (4GBx2) DDR3/1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)

Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 2GB 16X PCIe 3.0 Video Card [+85] (Major Brand Powered by NVIDIA)

Freebies: None

Video Card 2: None

Freebies: None

Video Card 3: None

Power Supply Upgrade: 1,000 Watts - LEPA G1000-MA 80 Plus Gold Certified Modular Power Supply [+90]

Hard Drive: 2TB (2TBx1) SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 64MB Cache 7200RPM HDD (Single Drive)

Data Hard Drive: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD [+78] (Single Drive)

Hard Drive Cooling Fan: None

External Hard Drive (USB3.0/2.0/eSATA): None

USB Flash Drive: None

Optical Drive: 24X Double Layer Dual Format DVD+-R/+-RW + CD-R/RW Drive (BLACK COLOR)

Optical Drive 2: None

External Optical Drive: None

Sound: Creative Sound Blaster ZXR 5.1 Channels 24-bit 96KHz PCIe Sound Card w/SNR 124dB, DBPro optical output, Multi-channel surround, SBX Pro Studio, Sound Core3D Processor & Audio Control Module [+226]

3D Vision Glasses: None

LCD Monitor: * 24" Widescreen 1920x1080 ASUS VS247H-P 1080P (23.6" Viewable) 2ms LED Backlight, DVI, HDMI Input [+179]

2nd Monitor: None

3rd Monitor: None

Speakers: Eagle Arion ET-AR506-BK 2.1 Soundstage Speakers [+56]

Network: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network

Keyboard: AZZA Multimedia USB Gaming Keyboard [+5]

(Keyboard & Mouse Combo) Cooler Master Storm Devastator Gaming Keyboard & Mouse Combo [+59]

Mouse: AZZA Optical 1600dpi Gaming Mouse with Weight Adjustable Cartridge [+4]

Mouse Pad: None

Headset: None

Gaming Gear: None

Extra Thermal Display: None

Wireless 802.11B/G Network Card: 802.11b/g/n 300Mbps PCI Wireless Adapter Network Card [+26]

External Wireless Network Card: * ASUS USB-N53 802.11a/b/g/n 300Mbps Dual-Band Wireless N300 USB Adapter [+49]

Wireless 802.11 B/G/N Access Point: * ASUS RT-N53 802.11n Dual-Band 300Mbps Wireless Router [+68]

Bluetooth: None

Flash Media Reader/Writer: INTERNAL 12in1 Flash Media Reader/Writer (BLACK COLOR)

Video Camera: None

Tablet: None

Cable: PPA 6FT HDMI to DVI 18+1 Male Black Cable [+10] (2 pieces [+10])

Power Protection: OPTI-UPS VS575CB 575VA/345W 6 Outlet Uninterruptible Power Supply [+57]

IEEE1394 Card: None

Internal USB Port: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports

USB Port: None

Operating System: Microsoft® Windows 7 Home Premium (64-bit Edition)

Media Center Remote Control & TV Tuner: None

Office Suite: Microsoft® Office® 2013 Home and Student (Word, Excel, PowerPoint + OneNote) [+119]

Games: None

Ultra Care Option: Ultra Enhanced Packaging Solution - Protect Your Dream System During Transit [+19]

Professional Wiring for All WIRING Inside The System Chassis - Minimize Cable Exposure, Maximize Airflow in Your System [+19]

Service: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT

Rush Service: NO; READY TO SHIP IN 5~10 BUSINESS DAYS

*_PRICE: (+2457)

 

 

 

From ibuypower

 

 

Labor Day Revolt Special

1 x Case ( iBUYPOWER Revolt Mini Tower Gaming Case )

1 x Case Lighting ( Revolt Advanced Lighting )

1 x Processor ( Intel® Core™ i7-4770 Processor (4x 3.40GHz/8MB L3 Cache) )

0 x iBUYPOWER PowerDrive ( None )

1 x Processor Cooling ( Certified CPU Fan and Heatsink (Revolt) - *Free Upgrade to Corsair H55 Standard 120mm Liquid Cooling* )

1 x Memory ( 8 GB [4 GB X2] DDR3-1600 Memory Module - Corsair or Major Brand **FREE Upgrade to Corsair Vengeance** )

1 x Video Card ( NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 - 3GB - Single Card )

1 x Motherboard ( ASRock Z87E-ITX -- 4x USB 3.0, HDMI, DisplayPort, Wifi + Bluetooth )

1 x Power Supply ( 500 Watt - FSP 1U 80 Plus Gold Certificated Power Supply )

1 x Primary Hard Drive ( 1 TB HARD DRIVE -- 32M Cache, 7200 RPM, 6.0Gb/s - Single Drive **Free Upgrade to 2TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Single Drive** )

0 x Data Hard Drive ( None )

1 x Optical Drive ( Dual Format/Double Layer DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW Slot Load Drive )

0 x Internal Wireless Network Adapter ( None )

1 x Operating System ( Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium + Office Starter 2010 (Includes basic versions of Word and Excel) - 64-Bit )

1 x Additional Software ( Microsoft Office 2013 Home and Student - Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote included )

1 x Keyboard ( Logitech Wireless Desktop MK710 )

1 x Monitor ( 19" 1366x768 Sceptre X195W-NAGA -- LCD, VGA/DVI Connection )

0 x 2nd Monitor ( None )

1 x Speaker System ( Eagle Arion 2.1 Soundstage Speakers w/ subwoofer & remote - Black )

1 x Wireless Network Adapter ( ASUS USB-N53 802.11 a/b/g/n 300Mbps Dual-Band Wireless-N300 USB Adapter )

1 x Wireless Network Access Point/Router ( TRENDnet TEW-812DRU Dual Band Wireless Router - 4x Gigabit Ports, IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac )

1 x Power Protection ( Surge Suppressor - APC Surge Arrest )

1 x Power Protection ( Mighty Voltage Regulator - Opti-UPS SS1200-AVR )

0 x Video Camera ( None )

1 x USB Cables / Accessories ( [Hub] USB 2.0 External Hub (4 x Ports) )

1 x Warranty ( 3 Year Standard Warranty Service )

1 x Rush Service ( Rush Service Fee (not shipping fee) - No Rush Service, Estimate Ship Out in 5~10 Business Days )

 

Protect Your Investment More Info

Upgrade your desktop warranty for extended protection. Select one of our warranty options below:

 

 

Three Year (3 Years Labor, 1 Year Parts) Standard Warranty [+$0]

[Vindekarr]

Neither is particularly good, and the ibuypower one is just miserable.

[Rennn]

Neither is particularly good, and the ibuypower one is just miserable.

 

Are we looking at the same PC?

Last I checked, an i7 at 3.4Ghz and a GTX 780 was a pretty awesome setup.

The other specs are meh, but certainly not bad.

[DragonMaster2014]

Yeah I do not have a computer to build my own.