Building PC is not that easy and not for everyone esp for beginers
Given the circumstances of graphic cards rarity these days it will be ok if you want to go that way
If money isnt issue for you and you have money then you can go for Alienware R13
It's your money but Alienware is overpriced shit most of the time. Don't take my word for it though:
There are plenty of decent builders out there problem is the cost because they are higher endDon't
Buy
Prebuilt
Ever.
Like Digital Storm would totally trust them to build me a Pc among a few others like Origin and Maingear just to name a few I personally would trustI recently bought a prebuilt from Digital Storm and love it. Only had a few minor issues with thr settings, but everything runs like a dream. Maybe look there?
The best things to do imo is to buy the parts and then ask someone to build it (a friend or a professional). Also, I'm sure there are some websites where you can buy the parts separately and then ask them to build the PC (like materiel.net in Europe).Ok, so if I was to take the leap of faith despite everybody's recommendation and go for a pre-built PC, may be because I have no experience building PCs or little knowledge of good component brands, what other name should I consider if not Alienware/Dell?
Rule of thumb:
- Never, under any circumstances, ask PC gamers about pre-built systems
Only some. It's a sore spot for some of us and I have no idea why. It's some real pcmr shit. I say that as someone who uses that label.Rule of thumb:
- Never, under any circumstances, ask PC gamers about pre-built systems
Unfortunately, you don't have much of a choice as the pre-built machines actually have the parts you can't get anywhere else.Don't
Buy
Prebuilt
Ever.
There are plenty of decent builders out there problem is the cost because they are higher end
Like Digital Storm would totally trust them to build me a Pc among a few others like Origin and Maingear just to name a few I personally would trust
Only some. It's a sore spot for some of us and I have no idea why. It's some real pcmr shit. I say that as someone who uses that label.
Yep, it's hard finding anything that's not prebuilt. I managed to get my hands on an R9 rx5950 laptop.I would not waste my money on Alienware. Typically I'd stay away from prebuilts but that isn't necessarily ideal under the current climate. Look for more reputable options.
Yep, this is a good point. I personally like to research refurbished prebuilts to make sure they're using quality parts, then buy them and just swap out the pieces that I'm less thrilled about (usually buy one with a cheap graphics card then upgrade it myself). With prices being so wack-a-doodle right now on everything, prebuilt is just fine as long as you do your homework.Not great advice IMO. If the OP has never had a PC before they will have little knowledge of the general layout of the mobo and wiring. Building your first PC can be daunting and way more so if you've never owned one previously. Once you've owned one and done various upgrades you get a feel for how they are built and gain the confidence to tinker with them. Also the GPU prices as previously mentioned has thrown things up in the air somewhat from the cost angle, self builds are not necessarily the cheapest option on a like for like build.
Killing me that people are recommending Digital Storm on this forum in a thread about Alienware.
That is the absolute worst company I have ever dealt with in my history of consooming. Spent $8k on a system from them and then over a month of multiple calls a day w/ their awful support. Like just total bastards, evil fucks. Not kidding.
They instantly helped me as soon as I found a good place to publicly complain about them. Like a month of them literally laughing at me on the phone turned into a return w/in hours. They beg you to delete your complaint too. You won't see anything negative on their actual forums, they moderate all comments and nothing remotely negative shows up, as it stays hidden from users.
I think they have a bigger team dedicated to monitoring every public review site on the planet than they do actual customer support.
In my personal experience, pre-built PCs were a huge scam from like 1992 all the way up to about 2017. That's a lot of time for folks like me that have been doing this forever to form strong opinions one way or the other.Only some. It's a sore spot for some of us and I have no idea why. It's some real pcmr shit. I say that as someone who uses that label.
This hasn't been true for well over a decade, mobo manual tell you precisely were all cables need to go and the hardest thing to install is probably the CPU + cooler (knowing that you only need a drop of paste etc.).Not great advice IMO. If the OP has never had a PC before they will have little knowledge of the general layout of the mobo and wiring. Building your first PC can be daunting and way more so if you've never owned one previously.
I am sorry you had that experience. Maybe they improved? Never had an issue with CS when I ordered mine.
Don’t listen to random inters adviceDon't
Buy
Prebuilt
Ever.
This is a myth
The only time I would buy pre-built is from Microcenter's own line of desktops. They use completely off the shelf parts and not no name power supplies/motherboards/ram/etc.
Perfectly understandable and you have every right to be pissed in that situation. Hopefully whomever had their hands in thst build got removedI don't doubt that. You probably got your system fully in tact though, and not completely busted like mine was.
My case was broken; and I don't mean broken in shipping, I mean it had broken before shipping.. they sloppily soldered it together before sending it, and that soldering came loose. You could literally see someone's greasy handprints all over the corner of the case, complete with soldering iron shit all over the place. I noticed it as I halfway opened the thing.. and instantly took photos.. with part of the wrapping still on, to ensure they knew it wasn't me. I never even turned the thing on, because when you spend 8 THOUSAND DOLLARS on a computer, you expect it not to have that kind of shit.
I just wanted my money back and for them to take it back. I wasn't going to deal with a company that would do that. They wanted to charge me a $1000 return fee, plus pay for the $200 shipping (thing had to be shipped "freight", like a semi-truck shows up to your house.) They continuously "put me on hold" AKA hung up on me.. they mocked me a few times.. they were "having fun" with how fucked up the situation was. In the meantime, I realized their entire forum was a bunch of ball-licking nonsense, as they don't let anything negative even show up.. just out the gate a completely bullshit/not trustworthy thing. They do every paid BS promotion they can to, with all these "awards" that if you look into, are just things you pay a company for.
I'm not still bitter.. I SWEAR.
I'm really not one to complain either; I've had semi-negative experiences with companies and considered it bad luck and continued to do business with them and it's been fine.Perfectly understandable and you have every right to be pissed in that situation. Hopefully whomever had their hands in thst build got removed
I've built many PCs and although it mostly goes ok there can always be curve balls. I recently installed a new CPU in a new mobo and it didn't boot. Pc part picker showed no compat issues for the parts. It turned out that the mobo had been sat on a shelf and had an old firmware version that wasn't compatible with the newer CPU. I had to put in an older CPU that I had so that I could flash the mobo to the latest firmware. If I was less experienced and had no spare components to troubleshoot then I wouldn't have known how to solve the issue and even if I did I wouldn't have been able to flash it without a working CPU.The only pre-built kinda worth it currently, are the OMENS from HP, Alienware is pretty much never worth the price.
This hasn't been true for well over a decade, mobo manual tell you precisely were all cables need to go and the hardest thing to install is probably the CPU + cooler (knowing that you only need a drop of paste etc.).
The manuals even tell you, and use pictures to illustrate, how to install ram properly (dual channel).
Websites like pcpartpicker even take care of the compatibilty between parts for you.
In 2019 I built a pc for a friend of mine, and he wound up removing the air cooler I installed and installing water cooling himself; he had never done something like that before.
It's your money but Alienware is overpriced shit most of the time. Don't take my word for it though:
Don't
Buy
Prebuilt
Ever.
They wanted to charge me a $1000 return fee, plus pay for the $200 shipping
The biggest issue I have with omens are that they put their own heat sinks on the gpus. It’s probably not that big of a deal but it definitely looks cheaper.The only pre-built kinda worth it currently, are the OMENS from HP, Alienware is pretty much never worth the price.
This hasn't been true for well over a decade, mobo manual tell you precisely were all cables need to go and the hardest thing to install is probably the CPU + cooler (knowing that you only need a drop of paste etc.).
The manuals even tell you, and use pictures to illustrate, how to install ram properly (dual channel).
Websites like pcpartpicker even take care of the compatibilty between parts for you.
In 2019 I built a pc for a friend of mine, and he wound up removing the air cooler I installed and installing water cooling himself; he had never done something like that before.
15% "restocking fee."What the fuck? That's obscene. How the fuck do they justify a four figure sum "return fee", plus 200 for shipping?
Considering you paid £8k, they should have arranged collection for for the faulty unit and shipped you out a new one without charge.
These have excellent parts. The mobo is the only part that might cause upgrade problems 5+ years from now, but the PSU/CPU/GPU/Cooler are all very good. The motherboard is packed to the gills with ports too.People saying don't buy prebuilt clearly forgot we are in a situation where prebuilt is cheaper than buying parts these days. However, if you gonna buy one I recommend a different one, Alienware is known for selling selling PC with shit parts, also that case is difficult to deal if you want to upgrade.
- Cheap OEM parts that can't be replaced unless it's by DellI would hardly ever consider buying a prebuilt PC for myself, but I'm not so deluded that I feel my way is the only way in the known universe. Some people need to get off their high horse.
Maybe you have a LOT of money in the bank and just want to plug it in and go. Maybe you can find a decent deal on a machine, like a sale or open-box/return item. Maybe GFX card prices are frigging insane and the cost saving benefit of building yourself has eroded.
We all know Alienware is usually a rip off, but he asked about this specific PC at this specific price. So saying "Usually, Alienware..." doesn't help anyone. Even though I hate them and think their case designs are ridiculous.
Looking at the specs on this PC, it doesn't seem like a bad deal to me. He might pay the same amount to gather the parts himself, and then have to spend time putting it together. I'd be wary of Alienware's reliability or customer service, but there's none at all if you make it yourself...sure you can take it up with individual part manufacturers, but how do you even know what the issue is or what part is at fault if you don't know what you're doing and have no support?
I think the defining question would be to find out about the motherboard in there. The other parts seem OK but quality/reliability of the cohesive package will really depend on how good the mobo is and I'm unsure with how everyone derides Alienware's reputation. For an item of this price you really don't want to throw caution to the wind and end up with a mystery issue in 1-2 years from heat or whatever. On the basis of the price/specs alone I think its fine but I lack the experience/knowledge of Alienware to say it's a good call to get it. Maybe there is someone here with more experience to add more insight beyond "ALIENWARE IS OVERPRICED!!!!!1111!!11"
- Cheap OEM parts that can't be replaced unless it's by Dell