I have ordered a new desk top!

[Strix]

Ok, so times for jeers and wtf!?!

I ordered a new alienware Aurora Desk Stop;

Windows 7
Intel i7 920 (3.2GHz w/ 8MB cache)
Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240's
1 TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB Sata-II)
6GB Triple Channel 1333Mhz DDR3

plus various other bells and whistles

So, will this be able to run stuff ok? Or am I buying outdated stuff already?

[Grey Fox]

Whats the motherboard? Whats the PCI express chip?

[Strix]

Can't ask easy questions I know....argh!

I know it's a micro ATX motherboard but not sure which one...will look it up tomorrow.

[Barrister]

I don't know that you need to RAID the harddrives, but that should work out well for you.

I'd hate to ask what it's costing you though. 

[Strix]

I don't know that you need to RAID the harddrives, but that should work out well for you.

I'd hate to ask what it's costing you though. 

After a Union rebate (they have a deal with Dell) it comes out to around $2,000 (with tax and shipping). Probably could have done it cheaper by assembling it myself but wanted to avoid the hassles (parts not working, not working together, etc).

[DisturbedPervert]

So, will this be able to run stuff ok?

You MIGHT be able to run WoW on it

[Barrister]

I don't know that you need to RAID the harddrives, but that should work out well for you.

I'd hate to ask what it's costing you though. 

After a Union rebate (they have a deal with Dell) it comes out to around $2,000 (with tax and shipping). Probably could have done it cheaper by assembling it myself but wanted to avoid the hassles (parts not working, not working together, etc).

You could have bought a Mac Pro for that much money.

[Vricklund]

I don't know that you need to RAID the harddrives, but that should work out well for you.

I'd hate to ask what it's costing you though. 

After a Union rebate (they have a deal with Dell) it comes out to around $2,000 (with tax and shipping). Probably could have done it cheaper by assembling it myself but wanted to avoid the hassles (parts not working, not working together, etc).

You could have bought a Mac Pro for that much money.

I agree, it's way too much money to spend on any computer, let alone a mac.

If I were to get a new, non-mobile, rig today I would get this combo...

motherboard: ASUS M4A785TD-M EVO
processor: AMD Phenom II X2 550

The processor is 2x3.1GHz but with this motherboard it's possible to unlock the two extra dormant cores of the phenom and get 4x3.1GHz. Price for motherboard and processor, 1800SEK (that's 240USD) at my local store. That's half the cost of the intel i7 processor alone!

If you throw in 4GB of DDR3 PC12800 RAM, a cheap 1GB graphics card and use a pre-existing chassi/HDD you're sitting pretty for less than 450USD.

[Grey Fox]

Can't ask easy questions I know....argh!

I know it's a micro ATX motherboard but not sure which one...will look it up tomorrow.

[Caliga]

Alienware 

No offense Strix, but you really should have asked us for advice before you went ahead and bought that.  You overpaid by many, many hundreds of dollars.

[DontSayBanana]

Alienware 

No offense Strix, but you really should have asked us for advice before you went ahead and bought that.  You overpaid by many, many hundreds of dollars.

Plus, do you think Strix realizes that RAID-0 is mirroring?  All RAID-0 would mean is that for every byte you put on HDD 1, an identical byte will be written to HDD 2.

[Grey Fox]

Atleast, it'll look good.

Around 1550$. Cheaper then I would have expected.

[Barrister]

Alienware 

No offense Strix, but you really should have asked us for advice before you went ahead and bought that.  You overpaid by many, many hundreds of dollars.

Okay, this is where I'll stick up for Strix.

Yeah, you guys can come up with all kinds of 'equivalent' systems, but they aren't actually the same.  We've had these debates before - someone will say 'oh you can take some POS processor, overclock it, and it'll be just as good' except it isn't quite the same.

That's a lot of serious silicon that Strix just bought, and I very much doubt you'd be able to buy anything exactly the same for any less than he paid.

Trouble with Alienware though is it looks like hell.

[Grey Fox]

Lets see.

By my recon, Strix computers is around 1550$ + taxes & shipping, in US currency.

All price are from NCIX.com unless noted.

Windows 7 : 207$, 116$ for OEM

Intel i7 920 (3.2GHz w/ 8MB cache) : A 920 is 2.66hz at 305$, The overclock 3.2 version is 200$ more from Dell.

Dual 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240's : This part is Confusing since Nvidia only sells the GTS as an OEM product but a GT 240 is 78.19$ x2

1 TB RAID 0 (2x 500GB Sata-II) Dell sells Samsungs : 50$ x2 from Newegg

6GB Triple Channel 1333Mhz DDR3 =  No idea what Dell sells but OCZ set is 151$

Now we need more a case, a motherboard, a power supply and a dvd-rom

A case : I like the HAF 932 & it's expensive 155$

A motherboard : Aurora sports micro-atx cards : a Microstar supporting the i7 & 1333 memory is 161$

A Power Supply : Strix probably got the 525w version : Coolermaster 550w 61$

A Dvd Burner : Samsungs are 25$

Total cost 1114$ + Windows 7.

Much cheaper. NCIX builds the computer for you for 50$

[Strix]

The extra money isn't that major an issue. If I were single I would build my own. I am married and the extra dough it costs to prevent my wife from nagging and stating I told you so for every mishap that occurred while building a new computer is well worth it.

I just want something to run WoW better and STO plus any new games coming out. I am replacing something about 5-6 years out of date (Athalon AMD 1.6 GHz). A lot of the added cost is a new monitor and speaker system.