Chittagong
Gold Member
With the current gen consoles really showing their age, and no true next generation consoles in the horizon, I decided to make the jump to PC gaming this year. This was largely inspired by the imminent Diablo 3 launch and the introduction of Alienware X51, a PC that looks like a console and is easy for a total noob to upgrade.
I have been having my PC now for a few weeks, tweaking and testing it and thought I'd share my experiences with GAF.
Alienware X51
Alienware X51 is a box roughly the size of the original Xbox. The base setup comes in three varieties - i3, i5 or i7. It's advisable to pick the i5 version because it comes with the 330W power adapter and runs cooler than the i7, which doesn't add much to gaming anyway.
Alienware kit is often ridiculed here for being overpriced and underpowered, but I estimated I'm paying some $150 over the price of the components bought separately - which I think is acceptable for the good design, well laid out (i.e. easy to upgrade) internal parts as well as for just avoiding the risk of messing up something in a totally custom build.
So I got a device and upgraded it to something that seems comparable to most of the rumors of next generation consoles. I thought it'd be interesting to share these findings with GAF, as this gives us a good benchmark on what to expect from a next generation console.
IMPORTANT: You will need to order a configuration with GTX 555 in order to get the 330w PSU that is required for better graphics cards
System spec (customized graphics card)
Five hundred ninety nine US dollars
The cost of jumping to next generation early:
£799 for the Alienware X51 i5
£193 for Sapphire 7870
TOTAL £992
I could probably sell the extra GTX 555 to bring that down a bit.
Sapphire HD 7870
While the stock Alienware X51 comes with a GTX 555 (right), I decided that I would upgrade to a beefier HD 7870 (left). HD 7870 is a new, incredibly power efficient and cool running card from AMD based on the new GCN architecture.
At the time very little was known of whether it would fit in at all, not to speak of heat and power consumption. So I have been doing a ton of research and benchmarking (Prime95 and Furmark) and can confirm the following.
I bought the non-OC version of the card, but for some reason it was clocked at the OC speed, 1Ghz
Screenshots
I took some screenshots of what gaming at 1080P looks like on this box. I like to play with V-Sync enabled to avoid tearing, so you can see the frame rates accordingly. Generally I found I can play the most taxing games at top settings (but with no AA) at a solid 45-60FPS.
Battlefield 3 - 1080P, all settings Ultra, no AA
Crysis - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Starcraft 2 - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Batman: Arkham City - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Diablo 3 - 1080P, all settings maxed out
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 1080P, all settings maxed out, locked at 60FPS
Wii HD - 1080P, 2 x Internal Resolution, 4xAA, 4xAF, locked at 30FPS
The Alienware X51 doubles up really nicely as a Wii HD for me. The Dolphin emulator runs flawlessly, and the Wiimote is easy to hook up using the bluetooth dongle.
Power consumption
I have been measuring the power consumption of this box for a while, running benchmarks after benchmarks and noticed it peaks at 203W during Prime95 + Furmark being torture tested for 15 minutes, which leaves a lot of headroom in the 330W power adapter.
Prolonged gaming sessions with Battlefield 3 consumee 180W As a comparison, launch PS3 consumed 189W and launch Xbox 360 consumed 172W during gameplay.
Heat
With the HD 7870, in an ambient temperature of around 24C, the CPU and GPU temps maxed at around 85C in torture test (Prime95 + Furmark). During regular gameplay the temp for the CPU and GPU was between 65-73C. Idle temp for the CPU was 55C and GPU 35C.
Noise
I would say the Alienware X51 is roughly on par or a little quieter than the launch Xbox 360.
There is one important thing to note, though. Alienware has set Fan 2 too high in the X02 BIOS. By default it caps at 6000RPM, although it's specced at 4500RPM. It gets really noisy at speed above spec. I found that the system is quiet if Fan 2 is capped at 75% using Speedfan, and this has minimal effect on temperatures.
With the new Fan 2 profile the system is really pleasantly quiet. I have still a little trouble understanding how Speedfan works and how to get it stick, though.
Accessories
There is a bunch of essential accessories a gamer should get for the Alienware X51.
Beta box
Clearly the X51 is still a beta product and the consumer is the beta tester. My first box didn't boot, the motherboard was busted. Dell has great service though, an engineer was with me the next day. Also, there is currently an issue of the CPU fan making a very high pitch noise - Dell has promised a replacement fan to everyone.
These are the annoyances of completely new hardware. However, even a complete PC newbie like myself managed to survive with the help of Google, YouTube and Dell forums.
Conclusions
Alienware X51 got pretty good reviews from CNET, Anandtech and other websites. After my first few weeks, I would mostly agree with them. I have found the Alienware X51 an absolutely spectacular gaming machine. It has decent looks, runs silent enough, and best of all - it has crazy good performance when coming from the consoles. The upgradeability seems sufficient for the time being, and is super easy.
Comfy couch gaming is indeed comfortable, with a lightweight Apple bluetooth keyboard and the Logitech G700 mouse that I tend to use against my jeans. Or, with the Xbox 360 controller for some games.
I do miss, however, a proper 10 feet UI. It would be amazing to have something that would combine Steam and Plex into one big screen experience.
Given that this is my first PC, I found the tweaking and testing part incredibly fun and addictive. I even replaced the CPU thermal paste. The X51 is an easy introduction to tinkering with PCs, I think that should a nice case be available when I need to do a new PC, I'm now more confident of building one myself.
Which brings me to case design. The X51 case should be a real opportunity for case manufacturers - designing a console style box this well will certainly find a target audience.
Using Alienware X51 as a yard stick for next generation consoles is pretty interesting. The system is entirely unoptimized, yet manages to pack 2.5TFLOPs into a console size box that is well within the power budget of the launch PS3. Given the huge amount of cost optimizations, efficiencies of a light OS and economies of scale, I now believe that 1080P games matching BF3 Ultra at 60FPS are a realistic possibility as a minimum ballpark of graphics we'll see at next generation console launch.
Finally, the alien eyes on the console turn red when in danger zone in Battlefield 3, which is pretty cool.
EDIT - small correction, I just realized I had my video card model wrong, it's actually a Sapphire 7870 I have been running in my X51. My original post stated 7850, but it is in fact the beefier one that I've used and pictured below. Apologies for the confusion. Good news is that the more powerfu card works fine.
I have been having my PC now for a few weeks, tweaking and testing it and thought I'd share my experiences with GAF.
Alienware X51
Alienware X51 is a box roughly the size of the original Xbox. The base setup comes in three varieties - i3, i5 or i7. It's advisable to pick the i5 version because it comes with the 330W power adapter and runs cooler than the i7, which doesn't add much to gaming anyway.
Alienware kit is often ridiculed here for being overpriced and underpowered, but I estimated I'm paying some $150 over the price of the components bought separately - which I think is acceptable for the good design, well laid out (i.e. easy to upgrade) internal parts as well as for just avoiding the risk of messing up something in a totally custom build.
So I got a device and upgraded it to something that seems comparable to most of the rumors of next generation consoles. I thought it'd be interesting to share these findings with GAF, as this gives us a good benchmark on what to expect from a next generation console.
IMPORTANT: You will need to order a configuration with GTX 555 in order to get the 330w PSU that is required for better graphics cards
System spec (customized graphics card)
- Intel i5 2320K processor 3.0GHz
- 8GB RAM
- Sapphire HD 7870 2GB (2.56TFLOP, DirectX 11.1, Open GL 4.2)
- 330W power supply unit
- 7.1 surround sound
- 1080P HDMI
Five hundred ninety nine US dollars
The cost of jumping to next generation early:
£799 for the Alienware X51 i5
£193 for Sapphire 7870
TOTAL £992
I could probably sell the extra GTX 555 to bring that down a bit.
Sapphire HD 7870
While the stock Alienware X51 comes with a GTX 555 (right), I decided that I would upgrade to a beefier HD 7870 (left). HD 7870 is a new, incredibly power efficient and cool running card from AMD based on the new GCN architecture.
At the time very little was known of whether it would fit in at all, not to speak of heat and power consumption. So I have been doing a ton of research and benchmarking (Prime95 and Furmark) and can confirm the following.
- The Sapphire 7870 works just fine with the X51
- Power consumption at torture test is max 203W, which is ok for a 330W adapter
- Heat at torture test maxes at around 85C for both CPU and GPU
- No mods required, but the card is a tight fit so better watch a video
- Power cable to graphics card should be routed behind HDD to keep it away from fans
- Card should be attached to tray with a cable clip to avoid it blocking the airflow
- Alienware X02 BIOS has too high fan speed for Fan 2, so need to use Speedfan to cap it at 75%
I bought the non-OC version of the card, but for some reason it was clocked at the OC speed, 1Ghz
Screenshots
I took some screenshots of what gaming at 1080P looks like on this box. I like to play with V-Sync enabled to avoid tearing, so you can see the frame rates accordingly. Generally I found I can play the most taxing games at top settings (but with no AA) at a solid 45-60FPS.
Battlefield 3 - 1080P, all settings Ultra, no AA
Crysis - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Starcraft 2 - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Batman: Arkham City - 1080P, all settings maxed out
Diablo 3 - 1080P, all settings maxed out
XCOM: Enemy Unknown - 1080P, all settings maxed out, locked at 60FPS
Wii HD - 1080P, 2 x Internal Resolution, 4xAA, 4xAF, locked at 30FPS
The Alienware X51 doubles up really nicely as a Wii HD for me. The Dolphin emulator runs flawlessly, and the Wiimote is easy to hook up using the bluetooth dongle.
Power consumption
I have been measuring the power consumption of this box for a while, running benchmarks after benchmarks and noticed it peaks at 203W during Prime95 + Furmark being torture tested for 15 minutes, which leaves a lot of headroom in the 330W power adapter.
Prolonged gaming sessions with Battlefield 3 consumee 180W As a comparison, launch PS3 consumed 189W and launch Xbox 360 consumed 172W during gameplay.
Heat
With the HD 7870, in an ambient temperature of around 24C, the CPU and GPU temps maxed at around 85C in torture test (Prime95 + Furmark). During regular gameplay the temp for the CPU and GPU was between 65-73C. Idle temp for the CPU was 55C and GPU 35C.
Noise
I would say the Alienware X51 is roughly on par or a little quieter than the launch Xbox 360.
There is one important thing to note, though. Alienware has set Fan 2 too high in the X02 BIOS. By default it caps at 6000RPM, although it's specced at 4500RPM. It gets really noisy at speed above spec. I found that the system is quiet if Fan 2 is capped at 75% using Speedfan, and this has minimal effect on temperatures.
With the new Fan 2 profile the system is really pleasantly quiet. I have still a little trouble understanding how Speedfan works and how to get it stick, though.
Accessories
There is a bunch of essential accessories a gamer should get for the Alienware X51.
- Apple bluetooth keyboard. Very light with great, tactile keys. Great for gaming on sofa.
- Logitech G700 gaming mouse. Superb wireless mouse with keys for grenades, prone etc.
- Bluetooth stick. Required for the keyboard
- Xbox 360 controller wireless adapter. Turns the X51 to what feels like a 1080P 60FPS console.
Beta box
Clearly the X51 is still a beta product and the consumer is the beta tester. My first box didn't boot, the motherboard was busted. Dell has great service though, an engineer was with me the next day. Also, there is currently an issue of the CPU fan making a very high pitch noise - Dell has promised a replacement fan to everyone.
These are the annoyances of completely new hardware. However, even a complete PC newbie like myself managed to survive with the help of Google, YouTube and Dell forums.
Conclusions
Alienware X51 got pretty good reviews from CNET, Anandtech and other websites. After my first few weeks, I would mostly agree with them. I have found the Alienware X51 an absolutely spectacular gaming machine. It has decent looks, runs silent enough, and best of all - it has crazy good performance when coming from the consoles. The upgradeability seems sufficient for the time being, and is super easy.
Comfy couch gaming is indeed comfortable, with a lightweight Apple bluetooth keyboard and the Logitech G700 mouse that I tend to use against my jeans. Or, with the Xbox 360 controller for some games.
I do miss, however, a proper 10 feet UI. It would be amazing to have something that would combine Steam and Plex into one big screen experience.
Given that this is my first PC, I found the tweaking and testing part incredibly fun and addictive. I even replaced the CPU thermal paste. The X51 is an easy introduction to tinkering with PCs, I think that should a nice case be available when I need to do a new PC, I'm now more confident of building one myself.
Which brings me to case design. The X51 case should be a real opportunity for case manufacturers - designing a console style box this well will certainly find a target audience.
Using Alienware X51 as a yard stick for next generation consoles is pretty interesting. The system is entirely unoptimized, yet manages to pack 2.5TFLOPs into a console size box that is well within the power budget of the launch PS3. Given the huge amount of cost optimizations, efficiencies of a light OS and economies of scale, I now believe that 1080P games matching BF3 Ultra at 60FPS are a realistic possibility as a minimum ballpark of graphics we'll see at next generation console launch.
Finally, the alien eyes on the console turn red when in danger zone in Battlefield 3, which is pretty cool.
EDIT - small correction, I just realized I had my video card model wrong, it's actually a Sapphire 7870 I have been running in my X51. My original post stated 7850, but it is in fact the beefier one that I've used and pictured below. Apologies for the confusion. Good news is that the more powerfu card works fine.