Alienware's
Aurora ALX, which was just
unveiled this week alongside ATI's blisteringly fast
Radeon HD 5870 GPU, gets going at $2,299. If that doesn't bother you, the late-October estimated ship date might. Somehow, the benchmarking fiends over at
HotHardware were able to grab hold of one of these rigs, and the results are fairly stunning (if not expected). Granted, their test configuration was a fully loaded $4,074 model, complete with a 3.33GHz Core i7 Extreme Edition 975 CPU, twin ATI Radeon HD 5870's in a CrossFire configuration and 6GB of DDR3 memory. Oh, and blue lights.
Lots of blue lights. Put simply, the one-two CPU / GPU punch produced results that led to domination that made pretty much anything else out there look weak. Don't believe us? Hit that link for the bar-charted proof.
posted Sep 24th 2009 4:04PM
..and engad is buying is all one!
Err "Buying US all one."
I'm assuming this is extremely overpriced as every other alienware product is. I am going to look at the specs, add up the costs and see how much I could hand build this for minus the custom case(i will be using a haf 932), 20 bucks says I can save ya a couple hundies easy.
@God: Correct, this system is extremely overpriced for what you get. It is possible to build this for around $2k at best.
Of course, when i say that, I mean using the non-extreme version of the i7. Performance difference would be neglible anyway after overclocking
They want about $2900 for a base Core i7 + 6 GB RAM + dual 5870's + 2x640 GB's in RAID 0. Now granted, they bundle in a free mouse and keyboard, and the case is cool and all, but I could build that for about $1800 tops.
Well then, for all the lazy people who doubt your claims, can you show me how to build one for "$1800 tops"?
@Lumberjack: It's easy, just go to newegg.com, search for the parts they used, buy them, build the PC, and then donate the extra grand to charity or something.
Um yeah, I'm gonna call bs on $1800 tops.
CPU: i7-975 $279
GPU: HD5870 $758(2X379)
RAM:CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6GB $209
MOBO: ASUS RAMPAGE II GENE $219
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 500GB $150(2X75)
ODD: LITE-ON Black 4X Blu-ray* $199
CPU Cooler: Corsair Hydro H50 $79
total $1746
and that leaves, $1154 to spend on a Windows OS, PSU, case, KB and mouse which is about $525 er...$400 since you barred kb and mouse
I meant 920 not 975
No need in buying OS, install hacked one or LINUX;)
alienware actually wants +900 dollars to upgrade from 6gigs of memory to 12gigs. im sorry but that is absolutely ridiculous. not gonna happen.
it looks as if its because the motherboard only has 3 ram slots. meaning youd need 4gig sticks. those 'are' expensive but come on.. change the mobo to an evga or asus with 6 slots and youve saved yourself 900 dollars.
How about you do not even buy 6gb of freaking ram in the first place, sheep.
whats the point of installing Linux on a GAMING computer
and dont say you can use wine
i have Linux and windows and Linux absolutely sucks for gaming even with wine
You had me at blue lights. Where do I sign?
Is there a blue light special? What aisle is it on?
Yeah... not bad for a preassembled rig.
Of course still much inferior to my server/workstation rig I assembled for my home just last month; I skipped on the blue lights and added some more muscle and speed and, cannibalizing some component from other machines (like its modded case with its embedded 7" touchscreen), it costed me just over a grand more than this clownish thing.
I'm so pleased by it that I postponed the installation of the server room (ok; server closet) that will have to take its place in a not so distant future.
Lights? You had me at 'blue'.
@Plexus
And how much ass are you getting now?
As an added bonus, you can roast a whole chicken with the heat this thing puts out. Rotisserie not included.
If it is fully loaded, it is probably liquid cooled...
Most would be content with hot pockets... I know I would.
@bigjaydogg3: The heat has to go somewhere.
@bigjaydogg3: I didn't realize liquid cooling could violate the first law of thermodynamics. Cool!
@bigjay:
yeah, it's liquid cooled.. look at the main pic for the article. there's a waterblock and tubing going to the radiator at the back.
The only thing that's liquid cooled is the CPU...I'm sure those crossfired 5870s + RAM + all the HDs put out quite a nice amount of heat.
@Hayter D.: Well, I gotta hand you this: At least you realize you're a douche bag.
Engadget needs to edit their system so the absolute lowest ranked post doesn't get lowest ranked but replaces it with Epic Douche in red. I would die laughing if they just did that one day. No announcements. Just Epic Douche in red.
6GB DDR3 is just an embarrassment on a machine like this...
@E71
When are you ever going to need more than 6gb of RAM? Plus it's not like you can't buy another 6gb if you ever do need it.
The energy used to run this rig for a seven hours could power four orphanages for a full year.
What is the things with news PC and that anoying blue light?
It is really anoying
Perhaps purple, green, or red will suite you fancy?
This PC sucks compared to my i7 975, 24GB DDR3-2000, 2xGTX295 system.
Sure, the card may be a little quicker than 1 GTX 295. but i have two.
I don't think it's fair to compare the dual-GPU ALX to your quad-GPU rig... also I think the HD5870 is actually a little slower than the GTX295 in most tests.
the 5870 is the best single GPU card but it doesnt compare to the 295 and the 4870 x2 beats it in some games.
Am the only one who thinks a $4000 PC should have something a little more fancy than a pair of Seagate 1TB 7200RPM drives in a RAID0.
I am not a total snob but come on that is skimping.
I certainly agree. Those should be WD Raptors. Dependable, speedy.
They should be SSD, what kind of "ultimate performance" computer doesnt have SSD?
Agreed, $4000 in, it's too late to skimp on the hard drives.
Still, *drool*
Tommy five. The wd raptors in our dells here have been all dying after 2 years. I wouldnt call that dependable
Yep. And the performance is not THAT much better.
@MajorTom:
I've been running the same WD Raptor for the better part of 5 years now in a 24/7 setup. A lot of people have hard drive horror stories, and will preach endlessly that one brand of hard drives is of poor quality. If you look at reliability surveys (like on storagereview.com), you will see that reliability is generally quite flat between manufacturers. In fact, the original 74gb raptor has a 94 percentile rating on that website.
I personally don't trust SSDs quite yet - they're too expensive, and too new to be truly trusted (in my book). Traditional HDDs are tried and true, and SCSI/Raptor hard drives pull a lot of performance out of that technology. I'll wait on the SSD bandwagon for another 4 or 5 years to see what the real-world dependability is - in the meantime, my workstation sticks with HDD.
I would say an X-25 OS/programs SSD coupled with two 750GB/1000GB HDD's for this price.
It's an animal
Now all I need is $4000 to get one....:[
Can I wait 12 months and buy it for $300 at a garage sale?
Shut up you idiot.
12 months? Probably not. In 12 months, this computer will still be new enough it won't be worth selling for rock bottom prices. Since it's got a good solid processor, in 12 months, you might see the 5870s for sale for $300.00 as the owner looks to pickup next-years '68xx' models.
My nearly two year old 8800 GTS 512 still rocks the latest games at high settings.
@Einhanderkiller
Whats your config.My 8800 gts can barely do crysis at between mainstream and gamer only at 1440*900.I wanna know what part is my bottleneck.
Big difference between 8800GTS 320/640 and the 512...
I have a 260 core 216 ssc from evga and it doesnt play most games on the highest settings at 1024 so i find that hard to believe. altho i will say the 8800/9800 cards are still pretty strong and have lasted longer than other cards iv owned.
Started reading that link and it's a complete waste. Let's arbitrarily pick systems that have last generations video cards in them and compare them to our new system that hasn't even came out yet. Suprise, suprise, it wins.
I could build a $1500 pc with two 5870's in them that would probably beat the 3 other "competitors" too.
Suit yourself, but if I was going to drop $4000 on a gaming machine (which I'm definitely NOT going to do), I'd want to know just how much extra performance I'd be getting over the last-gen gear.
Just the 2 Video cards and processor is going to run you $1700. You still gotta buy a good $250+ motherboard to take advantage. Your looking minimum $2400 to build this yourself.
I was thinking the same thing. It seems like they pulled some random systems out of a hat. None of these machines are top end performing machines of the last generation, which is what this one should be compared IMO. It should have a pair of the fastest last gen cards to compare with that pair of next gen cards. For the sake of a meaningful comparison, the pool of systems should have a pair of ATI 4890's and a pair of GTX 285's along with a similarly clocked i7 CPU. This is, after all, basically a showing off of the new video cards since nothing else is new in that machine.
And I think it is pretty sad that they put some midrange 7200RPM drives in a $4,000 system. At the very least it should have a pair of Raptors. But for that super premium price, it should have a pair of high performing SSD's and maybe one or two 7200RPM drives for storage.
I could build a far better performing machine for FAR less money, and it wouldn't have the ugly turd of a case that system is using.
I guess schmucks will pay any arbitrary amount of money just because it says Alienware and the uninformed might think they are cool.
In before can it run Crysis.
Yes...yes it can run Crysis. Now stop asking
I was actually going to ask if it would run Commander Keen, but I see nothing about EGA graphics support
"domination that made pretty much anything else out there look weak."
Until every real enthusiast PC gamer builds one for cheaper, and overclocks it further than this would ever go.
Oh Darren, you really are an inspiration for creative blog titles, you know that?
It feel so weird to read that a Dell is the current fastest box you can buy.
Tempting, but for that price, the case has gotta be at least 65% more gaudy.
Did they mention it came with blue lights?!!!?!!!
Maybe it needs to flash more!
Blue lights are nothing. I want my next computer case to be modeled after the Celine Dion Vegas show.
The blue LEDs make the CPU run faster. Geez, it's called science.
Looks powerful enough to just about run Vista Ultimate Crap!
-___-
?
good that Windows 7 coming in one month.. there will be much less of this type of comments...
Looks like all the jealous Mac fanboys are out. Don't hate just because Macs won't ever have anything like this...EVER!
I wonder how he would feel when he finds out Mac OS runs faster on this PC then any Mac branded hardware set up for the next 2 years.
I'm just waiting for the "I can build it cheaper" crowd to chime in...
Look up^
They already did!
I'm sure it could be built cheaper, but not nearly as ugly.
I think they melted down the dashboards of some 1994 ford escorts for that oh-so-attractive case, designed by the same friendly folks who brought us the Pontiac Aztek.
Time to donate sell kidneys!
...Nah, that won't be enough.
There's half the liver for a bundle!
I wouldn't call it a DELL although Alienware got swallowed by DELL.
Unless you are using this box as a server for your dot com startup, you are a moron to pay $4,000 for a system. Windows 7 won't have half the drivers you need. Before you open your mouth, I'm typing this comment on a six-year old HP running Ubuntu Linux. Nine months from now, the Alienware Aurora ALX will be in the discount bin at Wal-Mart.
Another ass hat going off about Win7 not having drivers...
Huh... it already has all the drivers for my system, and has had them since before it came out. Odd, that. Also, your HP running Ubuntu is supposed to mean what, exactly? Is that supposed to be impressive? Christ, you are amateur.
I don't usually open my mouth to type comments online, but I wonder if that 6 year old HP running Ubuntu Linux (you Luddite you!) can run the same level of games that this machine can run...
To a guy contemplating purchasing a Lamborghini Murcielago, the fact that you still drive a 1999 Pontiac Sunfire is meaningless...
"Unless you are using this box as a server for your dot com startup"
Not even that. This box wouldn't even work as a server - two hard drives in RAID 0. It's not even the kind of OpenGL monster preferred for engineering and professional graphics work. It has one and only one purpose, being a huge e-penis for it's owner.
I paid 4500 for my XPS laptop. I'm most certainly not a moron. Just someone who can buy whatever he wants. And Im getting one of these... and mostly for the blue lights. Ewwww, is that your asshole clamping up I hear?
stick two 5870's in anything and it will perform well.
Scott, I'm hoping after the epic FAIL that was Vista (and the utter paucity of drivers at launch, including for their OWN dang hardware), MS *should* at least be trying to have more drivers avail at launch of W7.
But, maybe they wont have learned their lesson
Alright, we get it, your life cam didn't work with vista ultimate when it first came out. Let's move on.
Or my printer. Or two of my 3 external HDDs. Or my digital camera. Not that I'm keeping count or anything.
Well rest assured lil' diggy dug, I plugged my brand new HP Printer into my Win7 machine 3 months ago and didn't even need to find a driver much less download it. Windows found my driver for me, downloaded it and installed it. I plugged in the printer, came back 10 minutes later to download the HP drivers and it was already good to go.
You do realize that when the Windows Kernel changes it's the responsibility of the vendor of your hardware to provide the new drivers not Microsoft right?
Only 6 GB of DDR3 ram. Thats what my laptop uses. I would expect AT LEAST 8 GB of DDR4 ram on a 4000 gaming machine
DDR4 Ram???...........is it even out yet?.....i know video cards have GDDR5 but this is different right
Yeah...DDR4...there's definitely processors out with integrated memory controllers for that...it's not like the i7 requires DDR3...
... You're just making things up to sound smart, right?
@Zunesucks
I'd rather have this than that "Mac nub".
The sad part isn't that Alienware still exists or that people still buy them but that this rig is probably not even OC'd despite the amount of potential it holds. Hell, the GPUs aren't OC'd either probably. Custom or go home, build it for half the price and get a case that actually doesn't look like crap.
The i7 processor automatically overclocks itself for you depending on what you are doing.
@Mark: Au contraire mon pote, I'm just someone that unlike you, can afford a Mac.
Right, 'cause I can't afford a Mac on my Software Engineer salary. Hand built quad core PC dual booting OSX/7 connected to a 42" 120Hz 1080p tv with blu-ray drive, 128GB SSD and a couple terrabytes of other random harddrives notwithstanding.
Or people can afford Mac but realize how stunningly stupid it is to buy such limited hardware. Try dropping that ATI 5800 GPU that was released yesterday in your Mac Pro, boot into OS X, and tell me how that works out for you. Or swap out your CPU in 2 years with next years model. It MAY work, but your odds are pretty much 50/50 with Apple and their tweaked EFI.
Nope there is a reason people don't buy Macs to game. Macs are designed to look pretty. That is all.
Can you both stop poking me in the eyes with your e-peens. Kthxbai
@ Hayter D
You fking arrogant stuck up asshole.So you wanna act like a millionaire coz you can buy a computer thats just worth a months salary for most people here in these blogs.
For your fking info,I drive a brand new BMW M6 and can probably buy that lousy Starbucks where you sit with your fellow mactards yapping all day but I will never buy a Mac coz its an underpowered overpriced POS of and god fortunately did not give be the brain of a sheep.
/rant
"Someone paying attention to you" is just a phony illusion that you get whenever you make a post.
The end.
@deccangroove: So you drive a big M6 beemer huh? maybe you're just compensating for something, I wonder what it is. why are you angry anyway?
I find your comments highly disrespectful, it speaks clearly about the kind of person you are.