Alienware Area 51 vs self build/3XS

[Spud1]

Hi Guys,

I'm in the middle of costing up a few options for a new PC, and was just looking for a little advice on the best way to go about it. As background, up until 2008 I always built my own PCs and upgraded over time..had fun doing so and typically it was the cheapest option. In 2008 I then bought a Mac Pro (dual xeon/lots of ram/decent gfx) as at the time, the deal I got was over £400 cheaper than any self build of the same components (£1550 vs approx £2k). That machine has lasted me 8 years and i've only needed to upgrade the graphics..it's really done me proud.

It's time to replace it though whilst it's still worth something (£600ish on ebay ). I want to take a similar option again - i.e. go for a top end CPU setup where I can swap out the graphics/ram as needed over the next 3-4 years. The system will be used for gaming and VR, and I am not interested in a Pascal GPU yet (i'll wait for the 2nd gen) so I am looking at Maxwell cards really. Strictly Intel & Nvidia only, really not interested in AMD/ATI stuff. I will be started 100% from scratch - not carrying any components over other than monitor/kb/mouse.

Anyway, after a bit of haggling Dell have quoted me £1700 for an Area 51 with this spec:

Intel Core i7-5820K (clocked at 3.8ghz)
1500wt PSU
128GB SSD
2TB Hard Drive (7200RPM)
16GB 2133mhz DDR4
Water Cooled CPU Cooler
GTX 980 Ti 6GB (nvidia reference I think)
Windows 10 licence

and obviously the alienware case/custom mobo/wif/dvd/lighting/warranty etc

The list price for the above is £2k which imo is expensive, but at £1750 I am very tempted to bite. If I spec up something similar on PCPartpicker it comes in at around £1850, and a 3XS system like the VR25 is around the £1770 mark (smaller PSU and less pretty case, but bigger SSD).

Any thoughts/suggestions on what I should do? Taking aside the obvious that Scan have close ties to Hexus and I am sure they could price match Alienware if asked, i'm a little torn! Anyone got experience of the build quality of the recent Area 51s etc that could help sway my opinion? Or if I could build it myself and save over £150 i'd do it, but I am not sure that's possible

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I don't think the GTX980TI is going to be worth it with the way Kepler getting slower and slower,and the fact that Maxwell,went from being faster than the AMD equivalents to falling behind in performance. An R9 390X is now GTX980 level speed,and the Fury X is no consistently getting close to or matching a GTX980TI.

There seems to be a real issue with the staying power of the last two generations of Nvidia cards. If you look at the Hawaii GPU in the R9 290X/390X it has fought off both the GTX780TI and the GTX980.

Going from that I would not touch a GTX980TI now,the GTX1080 will be a better bet,but if Vega is being released this year,I am not sure how long it will be top dog??

Out of interest,why are you not interested in AMD/ATI. Is there a specific reason??

[Spud1]

I was looking at the Ti rather than a plain 980 as the price difference was only £100, which seemed worth it for the extra 15-20 performance. Vega/Pascal will certainly be a big step up but we're a few months off release of sensible priced cards so I will have to stick to current Gen now. There is no way my current GTX960 will power a retail Rift (it does OK with my DK2 at low res, but won't cope with the higher res needed) so waiting that long isn't really an option. A 970 is really minimum spec for VR and from my experience way under powered to ensure you don't drop any frames (and therefore avoid getting sick!). I take the point though you are probably right in the mid term. I take the opinion that I can always upgrade later in the year though once the performance gap has been proven in the real world rather than synthetic benchmarks

I use some of the Nvidia specific features (notably the streaming side of things), and I still see AMD as a budget option - which in most cases they still are. Particularly from the CPU front whilst we're still waiting on developers taking full advantage of multi core setups (less so on Graphics these days) but as the GFX card is where I am using Nvidia specific features, i'd rather stick with Nvidia there too. So it's partly "real" reasons, but also partly perception in my mind.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I would probably hold off for a GTX1070 or GTX1080,as you are guaranteed driver development for the next year or two. AMD seems to be probably less affected due to sharing hardware with the consoles. There is also certain things like fine grained pre-emption that AMD has which Nvidia lacked with Maxwell. Pascal seems to be more orientated towards VR than Maxwell too.

PS:

I have a GTX960 too.

[Spud1]

True...really depends on that UK release date I guess. And if Scan will have any Could make that 3XS option a good one. Think you've talked me out of the A51 for the moment.. it's probably is no bad thing

[Zak33]

Any thoughts/suggestions on what I should do? ...... Or if I could build it myself and save over £150 i'd do it, but I am not sure that's possible

I think perhaps building it yourself to a close spec and enjoying the experience is the best choice.

I'd definitely build it myself.. and then know it intimately. With a FULL new build.. no cross over components from current rig.. you're under no time pressure.. no stress... you have a fully active PC that you can use for help/tech advice.. and still have email and stuff...then move over to the new one when ready.

And while that's clearly ok with a ready made... having the new build as a standalone.. it will be v low stress.


I think you already know that Spud... you're not new around here..you're a clever person.... and I suspect you're only looking at a ready built because you don't have the time to DIY maybe?

I vote Built it yourself

[Spud1]

What got me thinking was that I couldn't find the parts cheaper myself - unless I skimped on the quality and went for inferior components..and I am past the days of JetWay motherboards and "sunbeam" coolers I could make time on a weekend to do a good build, but admittedly you do have a point there too as it's been a long time since I installed any watercooling setups or planned an air cooled layout.

I did also want someone to talk me out of buying that Alienware (which Cat did a fantastic job of) as I knew that really I should be waiting for a GTX1080 before spending that sort of money.

For now i've resolved to wait until the GTX1080s are available and then look again..and do some reading in between!

p.s. you're right - although not been active in the past few years, its been nigh on 14-15 years as a member now, 2003 minus whenever the reset happened. Ridiculous!

[Zak33]

well I hasten to add that perhaps you can make a beauty of a rig for less than you think

lets be honest... you don't need water cooling. a Lovely air cooler is fine

Do a Core i7 and a lot of ram while it's cheap. A good board. a GREAT case and PSU as they last the longest and then do a card when you can. a big SSD and a few HDD's

I actually plan to build rigs with a bog standard card now UNTIL everything else is right... THEN the card goes in.

[Spud1]

Good plan. I have actually spent the evening reading up on cases since the last post, as you are right since it's a whole new build I can do it in stages and buy the bits over the next couple of weeks. Probably get it up and running with my old 560ti or something in the meantime

First decision is full or mid tower, but i'm reading that if not going the water route, a mid tower is fine. something like this appeals

http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassi...0-new-edition/

Anyway think i'm sold on the idea. Will see what I come up with over the next few weeks.

[herulach]

Honestly, I wouldn't worry overmuch about GPU power for vive. My 970s are fine (bearing in mind you can't SLI them) not noticed any dropped frames and a friend plays on a 680, which is about 970 levels of performance. It might be suboptimal for something like Elite, but the graphics on most of the decent games are pretty light anyway, by the time you're getting into top quality graphics 1080 will be well out, and if the benchmarks are to be believed stomping a 980 all over the place, and you're now £500 lighter.

Appreciate the next best thing is always just around the corner, but considering the next gen is specifically designed with VR performance in mind and thats your reason to upgrade it really does seem nuts to do it now.