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My computer is dying
Okay my 5 year old Alienware Aurora is having all sorts of usb conflicts and it started with command center issue about a month back and now it is having all sorts of usb conflicts and causing BSD and I think I am going to have to replace the computer.
I always get my computer from Dell because my husband likes their replacement and guarantee policy and he said I could buy one from there. I have no confidence to build my own which I might have if I was still living in Singapore but here in Italy language issues and everything no way. Don't know anyone either so that is out so please don't suggest building my own. I know better and cheaper but no.
If I can get them to give me a windows 7 I should get that right ? Not the Windows 8.1 right ? I will be using it to play Wildstar and ESO mainly for now.
If I get the Dell I can get a GTX 750 Ti but if I get the Alienware X51 I can get the GTX 960,both have 2gb. The Alienware is not like my water cooled present tower version so it is cheaper and oddly enough with the 170 Euro discount currently (if I order soon) it is almost the same price as the XPS 8700 desktop. Euro 1219 versus 1299 without the IVA and other tax and transport. Both have the i7 4790 4.00 Ghz the Dell having a 24 gb RAM which is kinda overkill while the Alienware is 8 gb but 24 seems a tad too much don't you think so ? Dell 2Tb hard drive and the alienware 1 Tb. Problem is the dell comes with the monitor and if I get the better card I want to get the monitor.
Also the MS office is with Dell which i don't even use so no loss .The Alienware is 330 watts my present computer was 875 watts ,yup it was a monster with mini jet engine you should hear it when it starts up.
The suggested monitor is 780 euro only one choice for the Alienware whereas the Dell monitor is included in price. So almost same price is not quite right but what do you suggest which card and system should I get ?
Comments
From what I can tell the Alienware series is a very very expensive brand, it may be good , but Is it really Worth it ? , In Sweden most "computer related" internet sites also builds there own brands and you would get almost double the computer specs for that price of the "alienware"...almost
Ohh..There is NOTHING wrong with Windows 8.1 ...The Metro UI is more/less gone , other than that it's just a matter of time Before you learn the small diffrence in handling it compared to Win 7..
I wish I could get the same video card on the Dell.
Thing is Dell comes and replaces mother boards and video cards which they have for me up to 3 times with no issues. I don't trust these computer shops to do the same. That is the main reason I buy Dell the after sale service no questions asked replacements.
What I was trying to say there MUST be other alternatives to both of your examples..Why do you only look at DELL and Alienware ?
Ok..I understand..
Dell's customer support has always been awesome, but you pay for that with a higher upfront cost. Reading your needs my suggestion would be to get a mediocre Dell PC (read: i5, 8gig RAM) with an onboard graphics card and purchase that seperatly.
Don't get a 750 TI though, TI stands for "totaler Irrsinn" wich translates into total crap
Take a look at the 770s, they're cheap and reliable. If you can shell out a bit more money try to get your hands on 970+, the 900 series has awesome stats, is quiet and doesn't consume too much power.
For GTX cards I'd always stick to the x70s, best bang for your buck!
edit: If you buy a DELL pc, it will most likely come with a stock intel CPU fan wich you want to replace ASAP by something bigger and quieter. (the stock fans are the "jet engines" you mentioned).
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
So I can get them only Monday and ask for the 770 Card huh. I doubt they will offer the 960 since that is only with the alienware. Okay thanks guys.
The jet engine was the Aurora Alienware.
One more thing for monitors I should go for 16:9 right they have one for 16:10. 1920 x1080
Dell reserves the right to not honor or even void their warranty as long as parts not supplied by Dell are installed into one of their systems. If you want Dell's warranty you have to buy Dell's parts that they determine will work in their systems.
That's true, thanks for the addition. You can always buy a graphics card from Dell I guess, no clue how they stand up against ASUS, MSI, EVGA models.
This isn't a signature, you just think it is.
You know what's better than having a company come to your house to fix it when your computer breaks? Having a computer not break in the first place. Most of the parts in a computer you get from Dell will be mediocre quality, and that doesn't help with reliability. Dell's parts won't be terrible, mind you, but they're far from being the sort of quality that a hardware enthusiast would pick out for his own use.
Expect to pay a large price premium to go with Dell/Alienware over building it yourself--and a slightly less large price premium over some other sites that can build a computer for you. And expect to pay a much larger price premium if you want an extended warranty so that if something breaks a year and a half after launch, Dell will fix it for you.
Now, if you've got a business and a computer breaking means that you have to pay people not to work until it gets fixed, a company like Dell that can get out there and have a look within 24 hours can be valuable. But that's not the approach I'd recommend for consumer use.
LOL, reminds me of someone who bought a new car because the front door speakers no longer worked...
Have you considered wiping the hard drive and only installing the software that shipped with the system? Removing any third-party devices to make sure they aren't the culprit... you know, stuff you stuck inside the system as opposed to what shipped with it?
Of course if this is just an excuse to justify buying a new computer, it really doesn't matter what is or isn't wrong with your computer, you're going to replace it no matter what anyways. Hence the new car because the speakers failed comment...
seriously this is kinda funny , just because some techs come to your house to fix your computer makes them a good company and worth the over inflated charges for sub par systems like ailenware? When I built my laptop I ended up getting a sager custom built and that was over a year ago. I looked at alienware along with a myriad of other companies offering the same specs or worse for far more money on the promise of tech support and bloatware. The best thing you can ever do is learn your basic computer issues yourself and stop relying on third party techs to fix your issues for you. Not only do you then become a slave to their brands but you also can easily be prone to buying/replacing unneeded parts and issues for extra money paid.
At my work I watch almost monthly our owner buying unneeded parts from these over paid and uneducated techs that come out and charge 90 dollars an hour. 9 times out of 10 they are wrong in the first place. If you really want to do yourself a favor learn the basics of computer repair and problem solving and solutions, in the end you will save thousands of dollars. Also there is about 10 different issues with the problem you described that could easily be the culprit, start with a process of elimination and check your soder points around your usb hubs and go from there. A 5 year old motherboard is more than likely just breaking down from normal wear and tare. Also why does people hate windows 8 so much here? Its been fine if people would just learn the os and stop crying about it.
There is a huge difference between a 750Ti and a 960 - nearly double the speed difference. That being said, the difference in price between those two cards, here in the US, is about $20. I don't think I can get a monitor for $20 though, and you can upgrade GPU cards aftermarket pretty easily in most Dell desktops.
Either one wouldn't need a huge power supply - they are vastly more power efficient than what you likely had before.
And I would seriously consider an SSD - if you can't get it preconfigured get one aftermarket.
Yeah - 24G is a bit overkill, but too much isn't so much a problem as too little.
Windows 8.1 can look and act just like Windows 7, particularly if you install something like ClassicShell - I wouldn't let that decide my computer choice. If there is no cost difference, I'd just as soon have 8.1 at this point (I totally ignore Metro and just use Desktop with ClassicShell - works and acts just like 7 but with the few nice things Win8 actually added).
"We all do the best we can based on life experience, point of view, and our ability to believe in ourselves." - Naropa "We don't see things as they are, we see them as we are." SR Covey
I built my last two computers, which spans roughly 10 years of time. My current computer is 6+ years old.
Never have my hard drives quit on me.
Only 1 video card was going bad and I replaced it.
And NEVER have I had to replace a motherboard. Sounds to me like they use cheap parts that you pay a premium for.
Personally speaking, if I was unable to build my own (so easy....) I would go to a manufacturer that lets me pick what I want built, put together a beast of a computer, and let them build it and warranty it.
Are there any companies like that there? If I didn't know of any, I would talk to some local gamers.
I have nuked the partitions and reformatted several times and the problem keeps coming back. I also removed the hardware connected to those ports that has stopped it for a bit but now my other ports with hardware other than the earlier failed ports are failing too . Soon I will run out of ports for my mouse,keyboard and speakers.. Thanks for the response.
Thank you I shall keep what you have pointed out in mind.
Sorry forgot to say the problems they fixed were for 10 computers we have bought from them. It is not like 3 but over the years we have bought about that many for our family. I would say I upgraded every 5 years or so.
I live in Italy but I am not Italian .They do have some places but I do not know if they are reliable and if I spend the money and it breaks down and they do not honour their guarantee I will be stuck. I bought a laptop which had a guarantee and stuff but they just gave me back the money saying later they could not fix the problem. Lucky they gave me back the money because the laptop was practically brand new.
Quite honestly I do not want to handle my husband's wrath if I get into problem where a custom made computer gives me a problem.
I am aware of the advantages to building my own but I cannot communicate very well and honestly I would rather not deal with some of the shops here. Being a foreigner here.... well let's not go into that.
Yes I know I was thinking of getting the Windows 8.1 and then upgrading.
Thanks Quizz
http://www.dell.com/it/p/xps-8700/pd?oc=cdx8737&model_id=xps-8700
http://www.dell.com/it/p/alienware-x51-r2/pd?oc=d00ar218&model_id=alienware-x51-r2
hi i used to build but so not anymore.
reason been is that unlike 5 years or so ago there are tons of companies that supply parts and build it for like £20-30 some free and still stick a warranty with it as they rather sell all the parts to you and make their money from that.
tbh you have to really be a strong micro manager to make the difference.
i am not in italy so cannot suggest where to go in UK aria is a good choice their average price are one of the lowest and the beauty of it is you get to design your own PC with the parts and still get warranty and good saving.
my experience with companies that just build without letting you pick each part and brand yourself is this.often they will cut corners .you might even think you are configurating your pc but trust me often they tell you 600W power supply but trust me most big names (maybe not alienware) toss in a very cheap one .people like aria who let you pick each part yourself you can find a seasonic for sale and ask them to slot it in.also often i find dell and others stick the cheapest motherboard in there .again aria lets you decide which you want.