Looking to get a gaming PC

[Lanceor]

With Alienware, you're paying a premium for the Dell brand. In theory, it should provide better warranty service and all their machines should be built to tried and tested specifications. Dell machines are good for people who just want a PC with minimum fuss and don't want to think about what exactly goes into the machine.

 

But for me, I'd rather do a bit of learning to get the most out of my hard earned dollars.

 

To learn what's hot and what's not, I've been checking out Tom's Hardware's System Builder Marathons for years. Basically, every quarter staff members are instructed to build the best possible computer at a certain price points.

 

System Builder Marathon, Q1 2013: $1,000 Performance PC

System Builder Marathon, Q4 2012: $1,000 Enthusiast PC

System Builder Marathon, August 2012: $1000 Enthusiast PC

System Builder Marathon, June 2012: $1000 Enthusiast PC

 

You'll see that any of these builds will easily outperform an Alienware at the same price and age. The first time you build a computer will be nerve-racking - find a geek friend to help out. The second time you can probably do it on your own and by the 3rd or 4th times, you'll be an expert. :wink:

 

Edit: @ lebrat4u at that budget, you can build a beast of a machine. Here's a link to a $1600 machine with an i5-3570K, a pair of PowerColor PCS+ AX7870 Myst Edition GPU's and a 240 GB SSD, with supporting hardware intended for overclocking

 

Edit2: I noticed that the Alienware at Newegg is a refurbished one... in other words, second hand.

Edited May 13, 2013 by Lanceor

[kalikka]

I dont know about how good the warranty is for Dell/etc. PCs in other countries, but in Finland its total garbage.

Max 2 years of warranty with parts that are specced to last 2,5years, yeah thats nice.... And usually the warranty ends when you try to change components.

 

When you build your own PC, all the components have at least 2 year warranty. My GPU has 3 years, PSU has 5 years and iirc the RAM has a lifetime warranty.

When you talk about dell having better warranty, that is not true.