# Is this computer build good?



## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

Hey I was building a alienware computer and needed a budget of about $2,200 so i came up with this. Can you guys please check out my customizations and give some recommendations? :wave:



Alienware Aurora Desktop

Intel Core i7 920 (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache)

6GB Triple Channel 1333Mhz DDR3

Alienware MM Keyboard, US

21.5" Alienware AW2210 OptX Full HD Gaming Monitor, 21.5" viewable image size

Dual ATI Radeon HD 5670

1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD

Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis, 875W PSU

Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English

DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic

PC-Restore, Dim/Insp

Accessory Kit, Aurora, Eng

Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup

No Mouse

AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue

ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE

Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
NERO 9, ANW

Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback with Kit

Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio

Automatic Updates: Critical Updates Only

Alienhead Glow



Alienhead Chrome Blue

Killer Xeno Pro

Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

You could built it yourself cheaper, with a better Video Card and Power Supply> http://www.techsupportforum.com/f25...evised-2010-and-updated-regularly-448272.html

The 920 is at End of Life and been replaced by the 930 with hyper-threading.
Liquid cooling is not all it's cracked up to be there are issues with corrosion in the water blocks and as we all know electronics and liquid don't mix well.


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## hhnq04 (Mar 19, 2008)

wrench97 said:


> You could built it yourself cheaper, with a better Video Card and Power Supply> http://www.techsupportforum.com/f25...evised-2010-and-updated-regularly-448272.html
> 
> The 920 is at End of Life and been replaced by the 930 with hyper-threading.
> Liquid cooling is not all it's cracked up to be there are issues with corrosion in the water blocks and as we all know electronics and liquid don't mix well.


Good advice right there.

Building it yourself is easier than you may think. And you'll end up with a high quality build, satisfaction from doing it yourself, and a pocket full of money.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Same advice as the preceding posts. Our suggested builds are good quality so you save money and get better hardware.:grin:


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## Tumbleweed36 (May 14, 2005)

Another advantage of building it yourself. If anything goes wrong with an Alienware brand name computer, you can't do anything to try to correct the issue yourself or you risk voiding their warranty. They are really picky about that issue, so you need to consider how long it takes to send it in and get it back if you have difficulties (and someplace along the line most computers do have some issues to deal with).


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

@Tumbleweed36 I really dont trust myself at building a computer no matter how great the instructions are... i'll always mess up 

@Wrench97 I looked up the i7 920 and the i7 930 and i found out that 920 actualy has hyperthreading... anyways what is hyperthreading? and btw is the water cooling problem often? cuz i ordered my computer a while ago already and i'm getting nervous cuz u mentioned that


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

From time to time the fluid needs to be changed, and the hoses checked for cracks, or hardening which will lead to cracking over time, just like in a car.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

k ty. and by looking at the specs of the computer, will it support games such as modern warfare 2 for pc? I'm a gamer so i dont mean just play, but run very smoothly and resolutions such as 1024x768 +


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

My first concern would be the quality of the 850W PSU. Prebuilt PC's, and Alienware is certainly no exception, very often cut corners on hardware and particularly PSU's.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

i'm sorry tyree.. but i'm not really much of a computer person so... wat ur saying is that the 850W PSU (??? WTH is a psu???) quality may limit the gameplay


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

A poor quality PSU (Power Supply Unit) can do physical harm to primary components (i.e. GPU-CPU-Mobo).


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## grimx133 (Jan 15, 2008)

The water cooling will be a sealed unit, maintenance free sort of thing. They're usually about as efficient as high end air cooling. The maintenance aspect of water comes in with custom loops, they're a bit more complicated, and you have to keep on top of them. Much better cooling performance though.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

so would the psu vary by what type of outlet i have or can i get a better power supply unit (PSU)


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

and btw u guys are worring me D: so is this computer still good for gaming (such as modern warfare 2 on resolutions such as 1680x1050) or is it gonna be a total failure


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

It will game alright, I think the main point is for the money you can do better building rather then buying.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

so will it game stuff like modern warfare 2 on high resolutions?

and so u guys are just talking about money i'm using and how i can use that money i spent to build another better computer?

and the psu can be changed rite? and if so, how?

and is the processor and graphics card especially good? i'm not so sure about the radeon hd 5670 dual when i could have picked the geforce 260


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

so will it game stuff like modern warfare 2 on high resolutions?

and so u guys are just talking about money i'm using and how i can use that money i spent to build another better computer?

and is the processor and graphics card especially good? i'm not so sure about the radeon hd 5670 dual when i could have picked the geforce 260

when the alienware specs mention a 875W PSU does it mean that the PSU comes with it or do i have to spend another $100 on a 875W PSU?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

The PSU comes with it, the GTX260 would have been a better choice but the 5670 supports DX11 where the 260 only up to DX10


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

how much better is a single GTX260 vs dual radeon 5670s because i couldn't find any info for dual radeon 5670s and what use is dx11 compared to dx10?


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

how much better is a single GTX260 vs dual radeon 5670s because i couldn't find any info for dual radeon 5670s, but doesn't a single 260gtx have roughly the same performance as a single 5670?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

No a GTX260 is close to HD5770 depending on the game and on the settings.> http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/...h-quality/Battlefield-Bad-Company-2,2112.html

The 5670 is more of a mainstream card then a high end gaming card.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

so even tho theres 2 radeon 5670s, the radeon 5670s wont even be close to a 260? 

and the radeon 56970s, even though they are mainstream cards, will still be able to game? more specifically talking about if it would be able to game better than my current card, a nvidia geforce 8500 gt.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

Better then your current card yes. Equal to a 260 no.


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## guitarzann (Jun 18, 2009)

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon-hd-5670-review-test-crossfire/9
As you can see, the gtx260 is a bit faster.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

@guitarzann as i can see, the radeon hd 5670 crossfire enabled is better than the radeon hd 5670, but would a dual radeon hd 5670 crossfire enabled make the same gap in frames as the crossfire did to the reg?

@wrench97 the radeon hd 5670 crossfire pwns this 8500gt rite? cuz my 8500gt, no matter how crappy people say it is, can still play modern warfare 2 at 1024x768 perfectly smoothly, though its overclocked


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

At 1024x768 it won't be an issue, notice all the resolutions in the comps are quite a bit higher.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

what i'm worried about is where my 2grand went to. i want a higher performance pc and i'm not sure if this is offering that to me.


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## guitarzann (Jun 18, 2009)

Your 2grand went into Dell's pocket, thats why we were all recommending you build your own PC. You end up with more for less.


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## mrnachos38 (May 13, 2010)

yes i know that it went into dell's pocket... -_-... i'm just asking if my 2 grand computer will give me the high performance that i would like for gaming


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