what would u rather do

1.buy the alien ware for 2ks

or
2. build a system with 2k


what better ?

Personally, I'd build it myself for 1k! For around there I could get top of the line components.

Plus, it's much, much, much more fun and satisfying to build rather than buy.

Build.... i can have a P4 3.0 with water cooling and bump it up to 3.6 w/o trouble

I would much rather build it. I would know what was going in and would know they are quality parts. Also you could easily get water cooling w/ that price.

If you used 2K to build a system you would have an Alienware at 1.5K and have $500 to spare!

then you could take that $500 and spend it on a prometeia and get 4ghz!

Seems kind of a funny question to ask people in a forum chuck full of comp builders. I'll never buy a pre-built. But this is where I send folks when they want a pre-built that's reasonably priced with good componants and I don't have the time to do it for them:

http://www.abspc.com/

Build it....This is what I just did:

Gigabyte GA-8KNXP.........................213
ATI 9800 all-in-wonder.......................394
P4/2.8 800M.....................................267
Koolance PC2-601BLW case.............260
water blocks/H2O extras................100
DVR\Pioneer A06..............................229
Logitech THX z-560 speakers.............139

PC-2700 DDR memory 2GB & 480 watt Antec Psupply [with blue LED ]
(got a deal from a friend)....................290
Maxtor HDD...250GB.........................250..(after rebate)
2 80 mm fans (blue LED).....................30

This is a little over 2K but you can scale back some of the options.
(Don't forget your XP Pro....runs about 175).

Lol - I just built mine. First one I have built - not without a few teething problems, but I reckon they will be sorted out. Fried of mine bought one because he hasn't the time to build one - and has jsut had to send the entire rig back...
Sir Dantares

not the time?! duuude, it like, takes 30 mins to build a full system (well, speaking from building 23 systems as of now...) but sheesh! no time? always time for something...

Custom Built is better because you can add any components you want. You can put some that they dont offer. It's all in the imagination. Alienwares are overpriced and they offer ok performance. I can spend less 3 grand and I can get better performance. I hope this helps for you.

I think spending $2000 is silly. Spend $1200, and put $800 towards building a new system in a year or so. You'll be able to buy superior parts for the same money at that time. Buy a good monitor and speakers now, and they're something that you won't have to upgrade on your next build.

It's really all on what you want to do with your money. If you have 2k just to spit out then go for it. It'd be cheaper to build out your own system but you don't get tech support ;p You shouldn't need it if your smart enough to throw your own system together tho. On the other hand, if you or your mom or whoever is gonna get you this computer, you can get a kick ace pc from Alienware and make installments on it. ex. 137 a month. What ever your pocket can afford go for. But personally if I had 2k in my hands I would deff build out my own machine. Cuz if you sit back and think about it, you know what you want, you know what you want it to look like etc. It's just like a car. Yeah you can buy a car and have someone customize it for you, or you can save a bit of money and customize it to your exact idea . (i'm referring to cars are dealerships that already have custom parts etc. opposed to you putting your own on) bah i need to get some sleep heh.. gl hf make babies...

CS 1.6 God help us.. cs is gonna die =X

Like they all said, building your own cost anywhere from 100-1000 give or take. The reason Alienware cost so much is because they #1 up the price on parts and #2 charge for building it. Building a PC your first time takes about an hour if you really have no idea what you are doing which I must admit that is what happen to me the first time but once you do it its easy later on to build it. Generly you can buy all the parts Alienware bought for about $500 cheaper.

1 gb pc3200 memory= $148
p4 3.2ghz = $600
asus p4800motherboard = 100
nice case = $50
good powersupply = $50
good heatsink= $30
100gb harddrive= $80
cdrom/cdrw = $50
ati radeon 9800 pro 128mb = $291
floppy = $20
= $1369

See, about $600 cheaper on there man. Prebuilt are for people either to lazy, to scared, or to uninformed to build there own.

Robert, <$300 for a 9800 PRO? The average I've seen is about $350.

Also, why not save over $200 and buy a 3.0GHz/800MHz P4 instead. 200MHz isn't worth $200!

I pretty much agree with everyone here. At the low end level OEM PCs made by proprietary companies are hard to beat, but I would still build. On the other hand "super PCs" like Alienware and Falcon are for people with a whole lot of money and no desire to save it. Like so many have said, you can build a super computer far cheaper then buying one.

The only reasons I'd even consider an Alienware instead of building myself.

1) Would be not having to be my own tech support, then again there's no feeling like finally solving a daunting problem. And you get to hang out in cool forums like this, till you do.

2) Would be being able to say to all my "broke #ss" friends "hey I just spent 5,000$CND on my new Alienware pc". Problem is I'm pretty broke #ss too, and I'm just too cheap to justify paying a lot for a PC. That's why I run an AMD, give me the most bang for my buck, let me spend the rest on games.

3) Would be able to look at the "kick #ss" case. Well.... though it has lost it's "gee wizz" appeal since it first came out, the case is still pretty cool looking. Though I'm sure any case modder worth their stuff, looks at it and laughs.

Truth is I'd love to be able to just plunk down wads of cash for any of the high end OEMs, but that's just it, it takes wads of cash, to get a really good OEM system.

Building it yourself, as long as you pick the right parts, is a sinch these days. PnP basicly works, and hardware conflicts are not nearly as frequent, plus a quick Bios update often fixes any hardware problem.

I think the only reason someone would consider an Alienware is because it looks pretty cool... It's much cheaper to build it yourself, plus the self satisfaction...

Er... http://WWW.SAVROW.COM rocks

Er.... 4GHz P4

Beat that, guaranteed !!

i spent 864pound on my pc 2 weeks ago, my mate has a (area 51 -enthusiast) it cost him 1416pound and is a great pc.........but! my pc not only kicks his pc ass on all games, but aint far behind in office bench marks.This ****'s him of big time, i put it down to this, any company needs profit, this can mean 30% of the price you pay goes to them for building it.Do it your self or get some one with the know how to do it for you, thats what i did and now i strugle to find a pc with 5900ultra or my 9800pro card that can keep up on frame rates with mine.My good! good! mate built mine and tweaked just about everything possible on mobo and 9800 to make it ultra quick.After getting this pc i would never ever go to a retailer again, they cant produce a pc the same spec for the same money as you can if you do it your self.Just think of all those extras you get with retail pc's that most of the time you dont want but it all add's up the total of your pc.
peace, sam

I knia like their cases.. but I still built mine.

Besides.. have to add shipping

12U Rack
Enermax 4U 19"
Enermax 550W p/s
(2) WD 1200 w/8Mb cache
3Com PS40 Hub 12port
3Com NetBuilder 141U
Gyration Cordless Mouse & Keyboard. (Neat little mousie and the keyboard fits within the space I have for it. ..might have been a down point for the size of the keyboard according to some reviews, but for me was a bigger plus.)
headset from Voice Commander (best part and under 20$)
GoVideo DVD/VCR Home theatre system for sound (a one day only sale to get rid of some old stock. edded up 30$ cheaper then Computer sorround sound system and has the DVD/VCR as well. It was a good day that had me really suspicious.. you know.. what wrong was going to happen next? )
(temporary monitor from my Dell (it has the Daewoo monitor that is fading some )

And items below.
(Purchaced over 5 months. (almost 2 months for RAM arriving. (I shoulda wnet mail order for that..))

Still waiting for a decent price on some rails and an LCD monitor. tha twill fit within 1U or 2U of space.

So um.. to make it short. Custom