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[dragonfart28]

I heard this thing gets hot and loud and eventually throttles the CPU back after it's been running hard for some time. Any owners notice this?

You will hear the fans once the CPU over clock kicks in, but only really noticeable if you have the volume on your home theater system pretty low.

I felt the unit during those moments and it didn't feel any warmer than what I've noticed with consoles.

I have never seen a drop in performance after extended play and I use it so often it could qualify as abuse.

 

[oneils]

This is what has put me off

same thing in Canada. starts at $699, and with tax it goes up to 790. i would snatch one up at 400

 

[AngryNapkin]

How does this compare to a Shuttle in the same price range?

 

[Pooya]

It's fine with the i3, it doesn't get loud or warm. But with 4790 in it, it could easily hit over 80c on some light load and that's with never running close to full speed due to TDP limit. The heatsinks are just too tiny.

 

[WoolyNinja]

Wait, I just bought this and was about to go to Best Buy to buy a controller when I noticed Dell lists this as coming with a wireless 360 controller? Did I just buy a $329 computer that includes a 360 wireless controller (normally about $45)?

 

[Beerman462]

Wait, I just bought this and was about to go to Best Buy to buy a controller when I noticed Dell lists this as coming with a wireless 360 controller? Did I just buy a $329 computer that includes a 360 wireless controller (normally about $45)?

Yes
$329 is insane for what you get.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It's fine with the i3, it doesn't get loud or warm. But with 4790 in it, it could easily hit over 80c on some light load and that's with never running close to full speed due to TDP limit. The heatsinks are just too tiny.

Ah I see, so it's better to not upgrade the CPU to the i7 then. How does the i5 fare though?

 

[outunderthestars]

Wait, I just bought this and was about to go to Best Buy to buy a controller when I noticed Dell lists this as coming with a wireless 360 controller? Did I just buy a $329 computer that includes a 360 wireless controller (normally about $45)?

Yep. Comes with a controller. I continue to be shocked that the Alpha hasn't been a bigger deal for people on GAF.

 

[Pooya]

Ah I see, so it's better to not upgrade the CPU to the i7 then. How does the i5 fare though?

no idea, I suspect the i5 they sell should be fine. Upgrading CPU in this thing is just not a worthwhile investment considering what you pay for the whole system and the performance level of the GPU. If you got the i3, stick with it. The i7 SKU is a complete waste on this thing. Might want to look out for deals on the i5 model and jump on that from the start. It sure helps to have a quad core, just not when you pay like 200 bucks to upgrade a 400 bucks budget PC and you can never get the optimal performance from it. Maybe when Haswell CPUs can be had for very cheap, then upgrade.

 

[WoolyNinja]

Yes
$329 is insane for what you get.

This is crazy, been wanting to get back into computer gaming for a while and think this is the easiest way I could've imagined.

Thanks to NeoGAF and commish for letting us know this deal was happening!

 

[metareferential]

329? Someone please buy it for me and send it here in Europe xD

You can keep the games too xD

 

[Raimond]

We need a WITCHER 3 report. ASAP!

I'm hoping all of you owners will test it for us! (unless I missed it on a previous page)

 

[commish]

We need a WITCHER 3 report. ASAP!

I'm hoping all of you owners will test it for us! (unless I missed it on a previous page)

Mine gets delivered tomorrow, so I will let you know then.

 

[Hatchtag]

Ugh, why does this deal have to end tomorrow and not after my next paycheck? >.>

I'd say there's a fairly good chance it'll go on sale again soon if it's already been on sale twice in the past month though.

 

[stangend77]

Took the plunge as I have wanted to get back into PC gaming for a while, but can't justify spending much nor do I have the time to build a legit PC. That said, I have a few quick questions:

1. If I just want to play games at 1080p with middle of the road settings, will this be up to snuff for current releases (Witcher 3 and etc.)

2. Would dropping resolutions to 720p allow this box to stretch considerably further on its lifespan? I'm not a graphics fiend, and I really want into the PC world more for the great sales and availability on different types of titles.

Thanks for any input!

 

[commish]

Took the plunge as I have wanted to get back into PC gaming for a while, but can't justify spending much nor do I have the time to build a legit PC. That said, I have a few quick questions:

1. If I just want to play games at 1080p with middle of the road settings, will this be up to snuff for current releases (Witcher 3 and etc.)

2. Would dropping resolutions to 720p allow this box to stretch considerably further on its lifespan? I'm not a graphics fiend, and I really want into the PC world more for the great sales and availability on different types of titles.

Thanks for any input!

So far, everything, including GTA5, has been playable at pretty decent image quality, and that should remain the case for a bit. You'll be able to play 99.99% of current steam games without a problem, if not 100%.

The jury is out on Witcher 3, but I am hopeful. That said, consider upgrading your ram and/or getting a SSD to boost performance a bit. Doubling the ram should cost you 30 or so dollars and helps. SSD would speed up loading, but i don't think it would help with the graphics much.

 

[megabytecr]

Really nice box, only if I could justify it. I already have Wii U and PS4 and need to re-buy a PS3 as I have more than $450 in software.

I think I might get one or a similar PC when the PS4 is 2/3 into its life. Going by logic each iteration of this box will be stronger when compared to the tech window it is released.

I am no expert but I was into PC gaming until 2006-2007, I think the base model could work for a solid 2 years and a 3rd year lowering the specs.

I am also looking for a good i5 box that I can change the vid card, even if its later.

 

[belmonkey]

I'm very interested to see how the i3 model handles The Witcher 3.

 

[Elixist]

man if this was 330 straight up, id buy it for fun, but rebates blow.

 

[Apoleptica]

man if this was 330 straight up, id buy it for fun, but rebates blow.

Same, if it the price was $330 I would bite but having to deal with a $70 rebate I'm not willing to risk. There are some comments on the slickdeals site of people claiming to be waiting for months for certain rebates and still nothing. It's a risk.

 

[Raimond]

Mine gets delivered tomorrow, so I will let you know then.

Awesome thanks!

 

[dugdug]

I've got Witcher 3 pre-loaded and ready to go on my Alpha. Will report my findings after a couple hours.

 

[Ploppee]

I wish we had the same deal in the UK right now. I'm seriously tempted by the i5 version of this but it's going for £540 over here (approx $845!) which is ludicrous.

Any idea if these will be getting a price drop any time soon? is it worth holding out until Christmas time?

 

[luffxan]

That's not too bad for a pre-built piece of hardware. Was expecting way worse from Alienware

 

[OmegaDL50]

Anyone try ps2 emulation on this thing?

Probably would be feasible but PCSX2 is heavily CPU bpund, so that Dual Core i3 might need to be upgraded to an i5 or i7 if possible.

 

[commish]

I wish we had the same deal in the UK right now. I'm seriously tempted by the i5 version of this but it's going for £540 over here (approx $845!) which is ludicrous.

Any idea if these will be getting a price drop any time soon? is it worth holding out until Christmas time?

I would imagine that a new version of the machine would be released in the fall.

 

[dugdug]

As promised, some Witcher 3 reports:

Loving the way its running on my Alpha (i7 version). Currently running the game on high settings, and, its running at 30FPS/1080p.

Here are a couple screenshots I took:

Should say, there's a little bit of stutter. Might knock it down to medium to get rid of that.

 

[Pooya]

do you have the game ready drivers?

 

[Dreamwriter]

I would imagine that a new version of the machine would be released in the fall.

They've already announced it, the Alienware Steam Machine is shipping in November:

http://www.alienware.com/landings/steammachine/

 

[Trouble]

So the Dell support thing was bitching at me saying there was a hardware failure. The disk was throwing S.M.A.R.T. errors, but hadn't failed (yet). Just a couple of clicks and they shipped me a new HDD. That's kinda neat, didn't have to deal with any humans.

Anyways I was trying to figure out how to get a boot USB to reinstall the system, but I was overthinking it because the disk they sent me had the system image already on it.

Turns out you have to order (for free) a recovery USB stick if you want to reinstall Windows. You can (and should) order it here if you haven't already: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/media

 

[dugdug]

do you have the game ready drivers?

I don't, actually. Thanks for reminding me!

 

[bomblord1]

So the Dell support thing was bitching at me saying there was a hardware failure. The disk was throwing S.M.A.R.T. errors, but hadn't failed (yet). Just a couple of clicks and they shipped me a new HDD. That's kinda neat, didn't have to deal with any humans.

Anyways I was trying to figure out how to get a boot USB to reinstall the system, but I was overthinking it because the disk they sent me had the system image already on it.

Turns out you have to order (for free) a recovery USB stick if you want to reinstall Windows. You can (and should) order it here if you haven't already: https://www.dell.com/support/home/us/en/19/media

Windows has a feature that let's you create a bootable recovery drive. The system should also have a recovery partition.

 

[commish]

They've already announced it, the Alienware Steam Machine is shipping in November:

http://www.alienware.com/landings/steammachine/

This fall will see a flood of steam boxes, which is great. Some look very promising.

 

[Trouble]

Windows has a feature that let's you create a bootable recovery drive. The system should also have a recovery partition.

Recovery partition doesn't help when you replace the drive, though.

 

[bomblord1]

Recovery partition doesn't help when you replace the drive, though.

You could clone it.

 

[Trouble]

You could clone it.

Assuming the drive hasn't failed, sure.

 

[PBY]

2 PC Idiot questions:
1- How does this compare to my ps4 graphically?
2- Can I/is this optimized to just plug into my TV/use it as a media center/use Steam in a form that resembles my consoles?

 

[bomblord1]

2 PC Idiot questions:
1- How does this compare to my ps4 graphically?
2- Can I/is this optimized to just plug into my TV/use it as a media center/use Steam in a form that resembles my consoles?

1. The gpu is incredibly on par with the PS4 on paper. CPU should outperform. In real world performance it's a mixed bag with some games performing on par and others slightly better.

2. It's meant to be put in your media center and has a mode that boots straight into a controller optimized interface resembling consoles.

 

[jwk94]

They've already announced it, the Alienware Steam Machine is shipping in November:

http://www.alienware.com/landings/steammachine/

Looks like that's just a SteamOS version of the Alpha.

 

[outunderthestars]

Looks like that's just a SteamOS version of the Alpha.

That is what I believe it is as well: same hardware, just a different OS.

 

[stangend77]

Anyone know what the maximum useful RAM to put in this would be?

 

[The Real Abed]

Looks like that's just a SteamOS version of the Alpha.

That is what I believe it is as well: same hardware, just a different OS.

I wouldn't dare buy a gaming PC that didn't come with Windows. I don't care how mature Steam OS is.

 

[WoolyNinja]

Anyone know what the maximum useful RAM to put in this would be?

I believe the max it'll take is 16GB

 

[commish]

Got mine yesterday, bumped it up to 8 gb and put in an SSD. This thing is so awesome. I'm really surprised at how small and compact it is, especially for the performance it puts out. I didn't get to game much because I was too busy downloading and installing my favorite stuff, but from what I did play, it was well worth the cost.

I haven't tried Witcher 3 yet, but there a bunch of videos and impressions of the alpha (i3 variety) playing W3 (e.g., https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LBRw29HYNc). Seems to work just fine. Pretty cool.

Anyone know what the maximum useful RAM to put in this would be?

If you mean for gaming, then there's no reason to go over 8. I don't think any game uses that much.

 

[outunderthestars]

I wouldn't dare buy a gaming PC that didn't come with Windows. I don't care how mature Steam OS is.

Agreed. I love the Steam Machine push because I believe that quality made prebuilt gaming PC's will lead to more people becoming PC gamers. That said, I think that going with Linux is too limiting in terms of software.

 

[commish]

Agreed. I love the Steam Machine push because I believe that quality made prebuilt gaming PC's will lead to more people becoming PC gamers. That said, I think that going with Linux is too limiting in terms of software.

Which is why I hope Alienware continues with the alpha boxes.

 

[outunderthestars]

Which is why I hope Alienware continues with the alpha boxes.

Last I heard Alienware was quite happy with the sales of the windows box. I can't imagine them dropping the windows SKU's.

 

[Pooya]

Refreshing it with something like 965m with 4GB VRAM would be great. I'm not expecting 970m. They have to keep it under 500ish or it won't sell. That would be like a underclocked 960 GTX. Fitting successor to under clocked 750TI :b

 

[WoolyNinja]

Got mine in last night and tried out a few games and I'm pleasantly surprised by how fast this thing seems to be. I was able to play Alien: Isolation and Assetto Corsa at some pretty high graphics settings and they both seem to run very smoothly.

Only problem now is the giant backlog of PC games I forgot I had purchased from sales over the years!

 

[Gren]

Dell's at it again. Base i3/4GB model is $350 after rebates, with free shipping for continental US.

I think this is the cheapest it's gotten (short of pricing errors) thus far? Similar-spec'd SteamOS version will start @ $450 with a Steam controller. Even if you planned on getting the controller day-one, this would be a better deal.

EDIT: Oh, I see it's gone as low as $330 before. Ah well. Still recommend it to anyone looking for a supplemental PC, or if they just want an indie/emulator box.