Help please! Alienware vs Scan 3xs systems both spec'd need to decide

[arbitor]

To clarify its not gerneric i forget the exact brand i can find out..

Calling alienware overpriced rubbish is true to an extent, there laptops have presented themselves quite well, and i know that thier service is very good..

however i would always go with the scan as you are getting all named parts and you know EXACTLY whats going in, however although im sure the alienware parts are very good, it could be an asrock board you get in there as opposed to a top spec evga/asus or whatever.

Plus this forum is very usefull in terms of scan support.

I would only every buy pcs from scan, and vadim (if i could afford them) but i build my own and mostly use scan also, because of the support forum.

Good luck

[moogle]

I want some real feedback from people as to which system they would opt for.

neither, i'd buy all the parts myself. but since you probably can't/don't have the time to do that i'd say go for the scan one. its cheaper and at least you know what parts you are getting. as for watercooling, thats just for enthusiasts most of the time, sure its cool and quiet but most people use it to overclock their system. better stick with a quad or if you want stick it out till the newer quads come out from intel.

[Spartans]

Thank you very much guys, this has been helpful, especially Phillip from Scan for taking time out to respond.

My intention was the Scan, but I did feel a slight allure from the Alienware as I actually really like the case (it is subjective I know, but my girlfriend even said that she loved the look of it), and I have also been conditioned by Alienware's marketing into believing they are super systems, the fact that the price is not as stupid as it used to be (I remember doing a spec a few months ago that was similar and £3,000+) just got me interested.

I am concerned about the fact that their components are not named as has been mentioned by some of you, its a lot of money so why the lack of transparency.

I'm still not fully decided, I have no idea why I am dithering so much, I guess its because my head is saying Scan, and I just like the look (and rep) of the Alienware.

Aaaargh!

[kalniel]

Hi all,

Some questions, do I need a Quad core, I have selected them as to be able to hold out for a long time before upgrading, secondly is just how loud will all of the above systems be? Are Alienware PC really loud, even if water cooled?

I know this is my first post, and I am asking a lot, but I am at the end of my tether, I really need to decide today as to which system I am going to buy.

Any help and feeback will be greatly appreciated. As a final reminder, building my own system is not really an option for me, and I am aware that it would save money, but there you go.

Thanks guys!

You don't need Quad Core yet - most things don't take advantage of dual core, and those that do generally don't see much benefit beyond quad core.

It's hard to guess future proofing, but in my opinion it's quite likely that anything that does require higher numbers of cores is likely to also require a later generation processor as well. So my advice would be go for the best dual core you can afford now, and only upgrade to quad when you need to, as by then you'll be able to get a much better quad.

Alienware are not loud at all, especially if you get the soundproofing options. I've only heard the aircooled ones, and what noise there is isn't annoying at all.

To go against the trend somewhat, I would recommend the Alienware systems - you *do* get amazing build quality, and while I'm not doubting the same thing also applies to the Scan system, there's a certain something to the Alienwares that gives you a bit more pleasure owning one. It's just the little touches, but they are very very nice machines.

[Azza]

If you are spending that much maybe look at Vadim?

Why not built yourself?

And I would go for Scan over Alienware any day.

[Spartans]

If you are spending that much maybe look at Vadim?

Why not built yourself?

And I would go for Scan over Alienware any day.

I looked at Vadim but they are beyond my budget and do not offer any finance options.

[Spartans]

You don't need Quad Core yet - most things don't take advantage of dual core, and those that do generally don't see much benefit beyond quad core.

It's hard to guess future proofing, but in my opinion it's quite likely that anything that does require higher numbers of cores is likely to also require a later generation processor as well. So my advice would be go for the best dual core you can afford now, and only upgrade to quad when you need to, as by then you'll be able to get a much better quad.

Alienware are not loud at all, especially if you get the soundproofing options. I've only heard the aircooled ones, and what noise there is isn't annoying at all.

To go against the trend somewhat, I would recommend the Alienware systems - you *do* get amazing build quality, and while I'm not doubting the same thing also applies to the Scan system, there's a certain something to the Alienwares that gives you a bit more pleasure owning one. It's just the little touches, but they are very very nice machines.

Thanks Kalniel, I did not see any soundproofing options apart from water cooling?

Also, there is no TV tuner listed, would you consider it a problem to instal an after market one?

[Merlin4458]

spartans, listen to the people. without being arragant we prob know alot more about pc;s and have more experience with certain manufacturers. We have all bar none suggested scan for obvious reasons. Would u give 2300£ to a company and jsut hope that the ram they dont specifiy is good. If ur that worried about the look of the case, spend 80 u save from the scan built and get another one, even though i personally really like the antecs design.

Its ur call, but u would be silly not to go for the scan

[nvening]

I would definitely go with scan because they are a top company who I trust and their systems always review well and they only use quality components.

I configured this, its a shame they do give the option of a P35 or P965 board really but oh well:

1 *No Custom Colour Required*
1 Intel Core 2 Quad-Core Q6600, 775, 2.40 GHz, 1066MHz FSB, 8MB Cache, Retail
1 Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro - P4 up to 4.4GHz - S775 Dual Core / Core2Duo Ready
1 *No System Overclocking*
1 4GB (4x1GB) Corsair XMS2 Dominator, DDR2 PC2-6400 (800), Non-ECC Unbuffered, CAS 5-5-5-15, DHX
1 768Mb XFX 8800GTX PCI-E (x16), Mem 1800 MHz, GPU 570 MHz, Stream 128, 2x Dual Link DVI/HDTV
1 *No ATI VGA Card Required* (nVidia required)
1 *No Specialist Card Required*
1 150 Gb Western Digital WD1500ADFD Raptor Enterprise, SATA150, 10000 rpm, 16MB Cache, NCQ, 4.6 ms
1 **No Raid Card required**
1 500 Gb Samsung HD501LJ Spinpoint T, SATA300, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, 8.9 ms, NCQ
1 Mitsumi FA404M 1.44 Black FDD+Int USB2 7 in 1 Card Reader (SM/MMC/SD/CF/MD/MS) Fits in 3.5" FDD Bay
1 *CD/DVD Not Required*
1 Samsung SH-S183A/BEBN Black SATA 18x18 ±R Dual Layer DVDRW Writer OEM UK inc Nero 6.x
1 *No Soundcard Required* (Onboard option only)
1 Hauppauge Win TV Nova-T 500 MCE/Dual Digital DVBT Tuner+Remote
1 ***NO MODEM/ADSL REQUIRED***
1 ***NO WIRELESS ADAPTOR REQUIRED***
1 Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium 32Bit
1 ** No Remote Control Required **
1 NVIDIA DVD - Gold Edition Dolby 5.1/Digital Headphones/Dolby Pro Logic IIx
1 MS OFFICE 2007 60 Day TRIAL Home&Student
1 BitDefender Internet Security V10 FULL RETAIL (2year/2machines)
1 *No Software Required*
1 22" Viewsonic VX2235wm , Widescreen TFT, 1680x1050, 5 ms, 700:1, 280 cd/m2, Speakers, Black
1 Logitech G11 Keyboard "The Little Daddy of Gaming keyboards" inc Programable & backlit keys, UK
1 Razer Copperhead Laser Gaming Mouse Tempest Blue LED - USB - 800/2000 dpi, 32KB Memory, Onboard Bios
1 *Speakers Not Required*
1 *Heaphones Not Required*
2 120mm Sharkoon 2000 "Golf Ball" Quiet Case Fan
1 AcoustiPack Deluxe (v2) Acoustic Material Kit
1 *Hard Drive Not Required*
1 Standard 3XS System Warranty

EDIT: BTW i wouldn't get a quad core right now but if its what you want go for it, in current games a duo with a higher clock will be faster than a quad with a lower clock, however the software will hopefully mature...

neil.

[Spartans]

spartans, listen to the people. without being arragant we prob know alot more about pc;s and have more experience with certain manufacturers. We have all bar none suggested scan for obvious reasons. Would u give 2300£ to a company and jsut hope that the ram they dont specifiy is good. If ur that worried about the look of the case, spend 80 u save from the scan built and get another one, even though i personally really like the antecs design.

Its ur call, but u would be silly not to go for the scan

No doubt you guys know more, that's why I'm asking.



To be honest I doubt that Alienware use shoddy components as they get excellent results in benchmark tests and would not have built their reputations with sub standard stuff, almost all reviews are glowing about the actual product, its the price which is the main sticking point, and understandably so. Generally I would say they have silly prices, and in many cases unjustifiably so, because of this many in the custom build community have an instant dislike towards them. Like I said my attraction to the system was the fact that it is not priced the way I would have expected it to be.


The aesthetics are really the last thing I should be looking at, and the Scan system is awesome and twice I have almost finalised the sale, but I just cant help being slightly seduced by the Alienware.

I am really dithering here!!!

[Clunk]

You know why they get excellent results in benchmarks though dont you?

Look here.

Some reputation theyve built

[Spartans]

You know why they get excellent results in benchmarks though dont you?

Look here.

Some reputation theyve built

I read that and the way Alienware reacted was shocking, however...

The review of the Alienware by Hexus that prompted the controversy was quite clear:

Performance is just where we'd expect it to be given the default-clocked components. We had hoped that Alienware would have indulged in a little overclocking on this SKU but that's not been the case. We reckon that's fine if backed up by aggressive pricing. However, this Area-51 7500's biggest drawback is, frankly, an exorbitant price-tag of £3112 excluding delivery. That kind of outlay would buy you our comparative Vadim PC, which is significantly faster than the Alienware in almost every regard, and still leave you £200 change. Alternatively, you could opt for the MESH PC, which is equipped with faster graphics and ships with a 20-inch TFT, speakers, and discrete soundcard, and save yourself over £600 in the process.

So no matter which way we dress up the Alienware's performance and feature-set, it's relatively poor in comparison to SKUs that we've reviewed recently. Value for money may not be the greatest concern in this sector of the pre-built market but when you can get substantially more for less, it becomes impossible to recommend this particular Area-51 7500.

There's nothing much intrinsically wrong with the SKU, and other publications reviewing it in isolation may well find it to be a winner... Here at HEXUS, however, we aim to bring you an impartial buyers' guide by providing in-depth information. As such, if you've £3,000 burning a hole in your pocket and want a high-performance PC, there are better and cheaper alternatives to the Alienware Area-51 7500. Now if the price was to drop to, say, £2112.......


HEXUS.awards
In view of the fact that the sample successfully completed a 12-hour test without failure, we certify the Alienware Area-51 7500 an Extreme HEXUS Labs.

Now that review is from last year, the price of £3000+ is just ludicorus, and Alienware were rightly slated for it. However, the price now for a half decent system is not that bad, it is at least comparable to other manufacturers.

[mcmiller]

No doubt you guys know more, that's why I'm asking.



To be honest I doubt that Alienware use shoddy components as they get excellent results in benchmark tests and would not have built their reputations with sub standard stuff, almost all reviews are glowing about the actual product, its the price which is the main sticking point, and understandably so. Generally I would say they have silly prices, and in many cases unjustifiably so, because of this many in the custom build community have an instant dislike towards them. Like I said my attraction to the system was the fact that it is not priced the way I would have expected it to be.


The aesthetics are really the last thing I should be looking at, and the Scan system is awesome and twice I have almost finalised the sale, but I just cant help being slightly seduced by the Alienware.

I am really dithering here!!!

actually for a while alienware where using onboard ac97 audio, in £2000k rigs!!! shocking. I also saw a comparison where a magazine brought a £2k alienware rig and compared it against one which they had made there was a very tiny performance difference something like 3 -4% but the cost difference was huge, hundreds of pounds.
I also agree with ppl saying quad core is a waste of money and hardly any benefit at the mo go for something like a water cooled e6600 that would last quite a while

[NightshadowUK]

I'd recommend Scan cos I know for a fact they have immense customer service, I can't do the same for Alienware as I've never used them.

I second what everyone says about the quad-core too, unless you're doing hardcore editing and need the performance from day one there's absolutely no point. It won't be future proof as compared to future quad-cores the Q6600 will no doubt be laughable. Get the best dual-core you can afford and enjoy superb performance from the day you own the machine.

[arbitor]

Problem with half the people on here sprartans is they haven't used alienware....
I have used them but not bought..

[Spartans]

Problem with half the people on here sprartans is they haven't used alienware....
I have used them but not bought..

How were your experiences using Alienware mate?