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Alienware Alpha Windows gaming PC $399 from Dell

B

Barkley's Justice

Member
Krejlooc said:
this boots directly into steam big picture mode.

this is what you get when you turn it on:

Aj1zFgA.png
Click to expand...

Thanks. Is there a way to edit the options show above in the image?

Preferably, I'd like to keep the options super simple for family members: Kodi, Steam, Netflix, Hulu. Period.

Is that possible?
 
S

SneakyStephan

Banned
synce said:
Dual core makes it already obsolete. Every current gen game is built with 4+ cores in mind. I guess if you just wanted to play older PC games and emulate 90's stuff it's fine
Click to expand...
Even this low end i3 is as powerful as all 8 ps4 jaguar cores combined, and having 2 cores with much higher IPC and a higher clockspeed is a significant advantage over having the same theoretical performance spread out over 8 cores.

There's tons of games that rely heavily on one thread and in those an i3 will crush an 8 core jaguar cpu. In games that fully support 8 cores the performance is still going to better on the i3..
Jaguar is THAT weak.

wachie said:
At this pricepoint and with those specs, you're better off with of a PS4.

If you are going PC, dont buy it gimped, especially as gimped as this one.
Click to expand...

This argument makes no sense.
Buying a better performing pc makes sense (spending 100 euros more for a lot more performance), but buying a console is always worse.
This thing performs at least on par with ps4 and just like every other pc it has no online fees, a 1000x larger library, full BC with older games, cheaper games etc etc etc


BronzeWolf said:
I think people overestimate the need for CPU processing in PC games.This +4G of ram should be enough to handle most games and applications.

Of COURSE it's not going to compare to a mega rig, but it's great value for the money considering you also get a PC on which you can work, but for $450 (+4G Ram included), it's a great PC price with a great form factor
Click to expand...
As someone with a phenom II, you definitely want a decent cpu for gaming...
Gaming on a crappy cpu is not fun :p

But the i3s (even this one according to benchmarks) have high IPC so they make a good budget option for gaming.


LilJoka said:
Not sure if this has been posted, from overclock.net

8f381f01_AlphaBenchmarks.jpeg


COD AW needed 8Gb ram to open. CPU was core i3.

Stock i3-4130T
Idle temp: 40-50 degrees
Prime95 load temp: 67-78 degrees

Users report nearly all games will hit 720p60 at Ultra or close, and 1080p60 at medium settings.
Click to expand...


I tried cod aw during the steam weekend (4GB ram) and the game worked for me.
 
K

Krejlooc

Banned
Barkley's Justice said:
Thanks. Is there a way to edit the options show above in the image?

Preferably, I'd like to keep the options super simple for family members: Kodi, Steam, Netflix, Hulu. Period.

Is that possible?
Click to expand...

yeah, you can add programs to multiple categories and filter by category. my categories, as an example:

qETZiTV.jpg


you can have one program in multiple categories:

abopLaA.png


edit: this is just steam big picture mode, btw. this is nothing special. you can download steam on the pc you are using and play around with bpm before buying a steam machine to see how you like it. i personally love bpm.
 
F

Fezan

Member
This machine runs game as same setting as consoles. so if you want a multimedia machine and not looking for exclusives its perfect . But keep in mind GPU is 860m with only 2gb of vram which may bottleneck future games.

I would say again this would have been perfect machine with 970m Which gives around 50-60% more performance with ust costing 100$more
 
B

Boombox On

Member
Barkley's Justice said:
What about HTPC-style launchers?

Is there anything that can make it SUPER-SIMPLE to graphically launch into Kodi or Steam or Hulu or Netflix without ever seeing a Windows desktop?
Click to expand...

The other responses to this post jumped the gun a bit. Alienware has its own Kodi-based UI that the Alpha boots into. It looks like this:

alienware-alpha-ui_w_600.png
Click to expand...

"Desktop mode" goes into the Windows Desktop. "Console Mode" goes into another menu. Because it's Kodi-based, it's customizable (I think this is currently In BETA) so you can make it look like this:

nDzNw6a.png


Q9RP9aG.png
Click to expand...

You can add in your own programs like Netflix, Hulu or Origin. You can add a Steam shortcut (which I imagine is there by default) and that opens up the Steam UI the others put up.
 
J

Jaded Alyx

Member
Krejlooc said:
this boots directly into steam big picture mode.

this is what you get when you turn it on:
Click to expand...

No that's not quite true. When you turn it on, you get the Alpha UI from which you can choose Steam (which then launches Steam Big Picture), settings etc. and Desktop mode (in Power).

alienware-alpha-ui-carousel-1.png
 
B

bndadm

Member
Well count me in as onboard. Placed the order today and am really excited. Thanks OP for the savings alert or I would still be waiting on one.

This may merrit yet another playthrough of Sleeping Dogs. My desktop had this weird audio hitch that always grated on me when playing.
 
J

Jaded Alyx

Member
bndadm said:
Well count me in as onboard. Placed the order today and am really excited. Thanks OP for the savings alert or I would still be waiting on one.

This may merrit yet another playthrough of Sleeping Dogs. My desktop had this weird audio hitch that always grated on me when playing.
Click to expand...

Note that Sleeping Dogs doesn't use the Steam Cloud for saves, so you'll have to manually transfer them.
 
T

TheAutomator

Banned
Sounds like a neat little gaming machine. What I'm concerned about though is temperature, because that thing looks pretty small. Can I for example run battlefield 4 on ultra settings, without CPU/GPU temperatures going over 80 degrees celsius?
 
B

bndadm

Member
Jaded Alyx said:
Note that Sleeping Dogs doesn't use the Steam Cloud for saves, so you'll have to manually transfer them.
Click to expand...

Ah, thanks for that! I've got a lot of my Steam games backed up to an external hard drive to save on download time when I reinstall, so it should have my completed game save...maybe,

I just realized the portability of this kind of device is going to be great when visiting friends. I should have gotten the case.
 
SmokedMeat

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
Finally showed the Alpha to the wife last night while buying her MacBook. Could be a possible birthday gift in June, but in the back of my mind I'm wondering if I should wait a little longer.

Crazy as it sounds I'm mostly interested in grabbing last gen games and running them in 1080p at (hopefully) 60fps.
 
O

outunderthestars

Banned
ShinUltramanJ said:
Finally showed the Alpha to the wife last night while buying her MacBook. Could be a possible birthday gift in June, but in the back of my mind I'm wondering if I should wait a little longer.

Crazy as it sounds I'm mostly interested in grabbing last gen games and running them in 1080p at (hopefully) 60fps.
Click to expand...


That is one of my favorite uses, especially with games that have a good mod scene.
 
K

KenzinFive

Member
Didn't see it mentioned earlier in this thread, but Dell's student discount stacks on top of this coupon, bringing it down to $383.99. I couldn't say no with even another discount added on top, so I took the plunge. Ended up being around $410 after sales tax.

If you want to get the student discount, find the Alienware Alpha through www.dell.com/student. Direct link should work here: http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/alienware-alpha. They never asked me to confirm that I'm a student, for what it's worth (even though I'm in grad school).

I'm relatively unitiated to the PC gaming realm as well, so what would be best to upgrade first: changing the 4GB RAM for 8GB or the HDD to an SSD?
 
L

LostMyNarbles

Member
KenzinFive said:
Didn't see it mentioned earlier in this thread, but Dell's student discount stacks on top of this coupon, bringing it down to $383.99. I couldn't say no with even another discount added on top, so I took the plunge. Ended up being around $410 after sales tax.

If you want to get the student discount, find the Alienware Alpha through www.dell.com/student. Direct link should work here: http://www.dell.com/en-us/member/shop/productdetails/alienware-alpha. They never asked me to confirm that I'm a student, for what it's worth (even though I'm a grad student).

I'm relatively unitiqted to the PC gaming realm as well, so what would be best to upgrade first: changing the 4GB RAM for 8GB or the HDD to an SSD?
Click to expand...
Definitely get an SSD first if you can afford one. I've heard the hard drive they ship this with is super slow so I'll be popping in an SSD not long after I get it.

RAM is also a good idea if you want to upgrade it and it'll really help the machine in the long run. Below is a great single 8GB stick for a pretty good price.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KQCOTCM/?tag=neogaf0e-20
 
G

Gren

Member
Mine came in, setting it up now.

As a little tip to other new owners, there's a small covered compartment beneath the console housing a 5th usb port. It was supposedly for discreetly hiding the dongle for the Steam controller.

I put the unifying reciver for my Logitech mouse & keyboard there :)
Will get a DS4 when it's on sale for more wireless goodness w/out unsightly usb chips.
 
M

MesserWolf

Member
Sure it is not for enthusiast - high end performance market, but still it is impressive:

  • Very Compact. If I compare it with the self-assembled pc I put together .... just no comparison.
  • Powerful enough to compete with the latest consoles
  • Cheap - alienware was always super expensive.... this is actually good value.

Overall it seems to me a very good value proposition. Makes me think that in 1-2 years max, by the time I would have to think about upgrading my assembled pc, there will be similar boxes, even with more bang for the buck. Basically another nail in the coffin of the self-assembled desktop pc.

I could save so much space with one of this things....


Although I am still expecting one day to be just able to dock my smartphone or tablet somewhere and use it for everything, pc gaming included. That's clearly the direction of these hybrid tablet / laptops ... but we are not there yet. Maybe with windows 10.
 
T

topramen

Member
Just bought this and listed my ps4 for sale. Fulfills my dream of a box that can play blizzard, indies, and the big RPGs. But God I hope the next red dead comes to PC.


Any chance of this being able to run witcher 3?
 
B

belmonkey

Member
Is there any idea on how much the company actually spends to make an Alpha? There seems to be more interest at the $400 price point, although I imagine it probably wouldn't be worthwhile for them to make that a permanent thing, right?
 
I

impact

Banned
LilJoka said:
Not sure if this has been posted, from overclock.net

8f381f01_AlphaBenchmarks.jpeg


COD AW needed 8Gb ram to open. CPU was core i3.

Stock i3-4130T
Idle temp: 40-50 degrees
Prime95 load temp: 67-78 degrees

Users report nearly all games will hit 720p60 at Ultra or close, and 1080p60 at medium settings.
Click to expand...

Why do I doubt this with that trash CPU? My 760/4670k can't even run all games at 1080p/60/medium...
 
bigace33

bigace33

Member
How much more powerful is this thing than my old PhenoM II X 4, 3.0 ghz, 8 gb ram, with a 760 gtx? I've been told that i3's are much faster. Might be worth upgrading to this huh?
 
H

hodgy100

Member
Barkley's Justice said:
What about HTPC-style launchers?

Is there anything that can make it SUPER-SIMPLE to graphically launch into Kodi or Steam or Hulu or Netflix without ever seeing a Windows desktop?
Click to expand...

http://www.xbstart.info/

Lets you control windows 8.1 metro with a controller. you will probably have to set up your tiles and stuff with a mouse mind, but once you have all your apps and tiles in place you can navigate with the controller fine :)

impact said:
Why do I doubt this with that trash CPU? My 760/4670k can't even run all games at 1080p/60/medium...
Click to expand...

i think 1080p 60fps is a bit optimistic. this box is about on par with the consoles so 1080p 30fps should be easily attainable with most games. saying that the cpu isn't really much of a bottleneck these days.

bigace33 said:
How much more powerful is this thing than my old PhenoM II X 4, 3.0 ghz, 8 gb ram, with a 760 gtx? I've been told that i3's are much faster. Might be worth upgrading to this huh?
Click to expand...


you will probably get similar/ the same performance. moving from that to an alpha isnt an upgrade inb performance, but it is an upgrade in power useage & space requirements.
 
L

LostMyNarbles

Member
I just realized this thing has no audio port which is pretty worrying. To anyone that has one how do you go about using it on a PC with speakers?
 
DirtyLarry

DirtyLarry

Member
Tainted Giraffe said:
I just realized this thing has no audio port which is pretty worrying. To anyone that has one how do you go about using it on a PC with speakers?
Click to expand...
If your speakers do not support optical audio you could always get an optical to what it does support splitter. Should be under $10 on Amazon.

In regards to this deal, I would have strongly, strongly considered it, and in fact almost picked it up the other day but something told me not to. Good thing I did since unfortunately I am having some major plumbing issues that appear as if they may cost me thousands of dollars. Ahhh, the joy of being a homeowner.
 
Z

ZOONAMI

Junior Member
MesserWolf said:
Sure it is not for enthusiast - high end performance market, but still it is impressive:

  • Very Compact. If I compare it with the self-assembled pc I put together .... just no comparison.
  • Powerful enough to compete with the latest consoles
  • Cheap - alienware was always super expensive.... this is actually good value.

Overall it seems to me a very good value proposition. Makes me think that in 1-2 years max, by the time I would have to think about upgrading my assembled pc, there will be similar boxes, even with more bang for the buck. Basically another nail in the coffin of the self-assembled desktop pc.

I could save so much space with one of this things....


Although I am still expecting one day to be just able to dock my smartphone or tablet somewhere and use it for everything, pc gaming included. That's clearly the direction of these hybrid tablet / laptops ... but we are not there yet. Maybe with windows 10.
Click to expand...

Do an itx build with a hadron air, 980/290x, slot-load blu-ray, and you'll change your tune. So awesome on a 4k display.
 
P

pompidu

Member
Just bought this. Gonna be my dedicated dota machine. I got the i3 version, is there game benchmarks floating around for this model?
 
U

Unicorn

Member
A tad off topic, but I love the state of portable PC gaming these days. I wish the new xbox controller was Bluetooth like ps4 so I didn't have to fiddle with USB splitters and cords.
 
T

TAJ

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Seanspeed said:
That's not the problem. The problem is that you can't build a PC with those specs in that form factor for the same price. The small size of this thing is basically what makes it unique, not it being pre-built.
Click to expand...

I get that, but I have a Corsair Air 540 in my living room, and like it. It's huge, but with the clear panel against the side of a cabinet and without any drives on the front people either don't notice it or assume it's a high-end room AC unit.
And wireless HDMI is an option if you're still doing 1080p. Or you could run video cable from another room.
 
maks

maks

Member
So excited. I'm building a bartop arcade cabinet and want to stick an Xbox 360 and Mame pc in it. The Alpha is more than powerful enough and luckily for me I just got one for $300 from bestbuy (pricematch to microcenter).

Here is what i want to do. Are there any Guides out there that can help?

1. Power On by Controller (hoping to use PS360+ controller rather than xbox controller)
2. Control all menus with my PS360+ controller
3. Launch Hyperspin, Steam, Origin from these menus. Do i have to use Kodi?


It looks like this guy may be doing it but he's selling these Alpha systems pre-configured on his site. I sent an email to see if he has advice.
http://www.homearcadesystems.com/alpha.php
 
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