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Bob Familton

Alienware?

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Is Alienware any good for their high end Area 51 computer fro flightsimming? I am considering upgrading to one of them with all the goodies. Any experience, good or bad, would be really appreciated. Thanks, regards, Bob.

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I can't answer your question Bob, but how have you been? I don't see you much in the forums these days. I've seen Alienware discussed a bit over in the H/W forum--you may wish to cross-post there. For what it's worth, I've had so much life out of my current system, scaling it for FS2000 and then FS2002, that I'll continue the tradition of building as I go, and just replace the MB and cpu when the time comes. It's really helped my budget, since I can spread out my upgrades in $100-300 increments over the years w/o having to replace the entire system.-John

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Guest Gringo

Excellent machine, fast and reliable. I have the model without the USB 2 and only the P4 with 2.4. The newewr one has the USB 2 and a P4 3.04 and a better ATI card.But on mine I have no problem simming with FS 2002, I fly with the frame rate fixed at 18 and some slider max out. Dont use acraft shadows. Graphics are good, no stutering. I not longer using my desk top since it has only a P3 with 933 Ghz and a Ge Force 2.The only thing I am missing is the second Monitor display but so far there are not laptop graphics card with to exit connectios, neither can you put one inside. Hope soon to swap this one by a newer model which BTW is cheper than the one I bought a year ago.Edmundo CardenasCaracas, Venezuela[table border=1 bgcolor=#eeeeee][tr][td rowspan=1]Proud pilot of [link:www.flymeridian.com]Meridian Airline][/bIt is better to be vaguely right than prescisely wrong

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The Alienware boxes are good machines but be aware that they command quite a premium. I'd recommend pricing like hardware from alternate sources just as a comparison of value. But if you decide the Aienware is, indeed, worth the cost, I think you'll find it a very capable unit for MSFS.Doug


Intel 10700K @ 5.1Ghz, Asus Hero Maximus motherboard, Noctua NH-U12A cooler, Corsair Vengeance Pro 32GB 3200 MHz RAM, RTX 2060 Super GPU, Cooler Master HAF 932 Tower, Thermaltake 1000W Toughpower PSU, Windows 10 Professional 64-Bit, 100TB of disk storage. Klaatu barada nickto.

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Hi John. I've been here a lot. Have not posted much though. Mostly reading and absorbing the info. I've been busy with UT. It's GREAT! Thanks for the info. Best regards, Bob.

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Hi Someone. Thanks. You are right they are costly. I am not sure if it is worth it though. That's what I'm trying to decide. Best regards, Bob.

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Guest ba747heavy

Good PCs, yes. Worth it, no. You can build a similar PC yourself for less than half of what they charge....

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Guest edrutl

Bob,I agree with what's been written about Alienware, good machines but very overpriced. As John said, the best thing to do is minor upgrades as you go. I've been throwing $300-$500 in my PC per year, which is a lot easier than getting a whole new box (plus the wife doesn't notice a big $1500 hit!) . I usually throw extras(drives, graphics cards. etc) in one year and mobo/cpu in the other year. If you stay just under the bleeding edge technology it works very well.I just tossed an Intel 865PE 800 FSB mobo/2.8 Ghmz P4 cpu in my box. With memory (1 gig of PC3200 DDR) , the whole upgrade was about $500. With the Radeon 9500 pro and larger HD I bought last year, I should be set.ed

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Hi Ed. The more I read the more I agree with you. The Alienware is pricey. I just wish I had enough knowledge to do it myself. I had my present AMD 1.8G system done by a local shop and it overheats something terrible even with a Coolermaster and several fans. I want a P4 3.2G and an ATI 256M video card and a lot of RAM at least. Thanks, regards, Bob.

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Guest SoarPics

Hi, Bob, long time no see.Gotta agree with what everyone is saying about the Alienware. Great box of bits, but pricey.Another option is to build it yourself. You know that should you have ANY problems you can come here and you'll have plenty of folks to assist you. You'll save alot of money, and know that system top to bottom, front to back. Which will save you even more money in the future.Food for thought,

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Guest Id Rather Be Flying

You can easily overheat with AMD since that is the main drawback with them. Like everyone else said, their systems are WAY OVERPRICED. If I took a peoplepc and threw it in a snazzy looking case with a high tech looking mouse and keyboard people would think it is superslick.The truth of the matter is IT IS the SAME inside as most except maybe the way they wrap wires and lights and such.What you want is what you are looking for, top end performance for your dollar. I recommend to everyone that if they don't know much about the guts or they dont have someone to help them then find a PC which offers a great warranty. I build custom gaming/business systems as well in my own business: datahookup.com but I recommend to most that advice.If a gamer or business wants a hardware and software tweaked for their application then I can do it all the way to removing software services which just slow the whole thing down. This isn't a sales pitch but just letting you know where I am coming from and I have been an avid programmer on and off for the last 25 years as well.Bottom line Bob is go with what you feel comfortable with. If you want a fancy case then pay 2 times the amount and get an Alienware! :-)

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Guest product

All,I have an Area 51, P4 3.06. Great machine. I would disagree with people's comments on priceness- expensive yes, but if you add up the street prices of all the name brand bits and pieces, plus even a small allowance for your own time gathering them up and puttin them together, the price is actually cheaper than doing it yourself. Aside from poor customer service, I'd highly recommend buying from them unless you get some personal value / satisfaction from the do-it-yourself process.Best,Joel

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Guest Maul

Hello,Since I just purchased one and have been playin around with it for about 6 weeks, I have only one thing to say....SWEEEEET! Although there was a large amount of money involved, it was all worth it in the end. All my games are unbelievable (FS2002 takes minor tweaking but with everything max sliders with Ultimate Traffic at KORD, never gets below 10 fps!) I don't see a hiccup in other games like Tiger Woods 2003 (It looks so damn realistic now!) Games like C&C: Generals and Warcraft III are breathtaking to look at! I like how you can customize the hell out of it too. I don't have anything on here but games and it rocks. The DVD quality is incredible (when coupled with my 6.1 THX sound and a 19 inch monitor) I don't even watch DVD's on my 32 inch TV anymore, it's just not worth it. I watched Tears of the Sun last night, and it was like the bullets were whizzing right past me! You will truly get the most bang for your buck. When I went to pick it up at FedEx, they said it was the largest shipment they had that week, for one individual of course (Grand Forks, ND, what do you expect.) It comes in a huge box about 4 feet tall so you know it stays comfortable while shipped and the tower looks like a freakin Alien, with all the cooling fans in there, it's really quiet and never lets me down.One gripe though, I'll give it to you straight: I ordered the system on April 9 and picked it up by the end of May. The reason for the delay was that the company was shipped bad motherboards at one point and that put a lot of peoples order on backlog, plus Radeon 9800 Pros' were generally new and popularity for them was so great, they had to order more. All I have to say, is that you must have patience. I called the hotline one time and they directed me to a very nice individual who explained why the system was taking so long to ship. She told me when the parts would be available and when my system would be put together and according to the Order Tracking Status, it was started on the day she said. Now this was after 3 weeks of waiting, but I wasn't sour about it, hell, when the system finally arrived, I was happy to see it, but I was really happy when I booted it up and everything worked like a gem, fresh out the box!All in all, patience is the key. They go through many tests with your system, 200 point quality control process and even run Quake III on there to benchmark it at various settings. you even get a binder with your specs and performance and where everything goes for your system. I have little experience building my own PC, and I'm sure it would have been less, but I wanted a PC that kicked ultra-mega-platinum @$$ and that's what I got.Okay, okay, it was the free t-shirt that sold me....EricP.S.: I use ATI Catalyst drivers and they are definitely worth the downloadArea51Intel

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