Desktop or Laptop?

Hi,

I know this should be posted at desktopreview.com but theres not much going on in the Alienware forums over there so I thought I'd post this here.

As I've previously posted, I'm in the market for a new gaming rig. I was looking at the M17X but as I'm not looking for any sort of portability at all I've stumbled upon the Aurora ALX Desktop. I never thought to look at an Alienware desktop as I just assumed if the laptops were expensive the desktops would be way above and beyond that. I configured an Aurora ALX and it fell in line with the same price as the M17X I had previously configured.

What I want to know is this:

How much better is my configured Aurora ALX against my configured M17X?

Heres the specs for both:

Alienware Aurora ALX

-Alienware AuroraALX Cosmic Black Chassis
-Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 930 (2.80GHz, 8MB cache, 4.8GT/sec
-Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit- English
-1 year of coverage included with your PC
-Dual CrossFire™ 1GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 5870 graphics card
-12GB 1333MHz (6x2GB) Tri Channel Memory
-2TB Dual Hard Drive Raid 0 "Stripe" (2x1TB - 7200rpm)
-24X DVD+/- RW Optical Drive (DVD & CD read and write)
-Integrated HDA 7.1 Dolby Digital Audio

How much better is the 12GB of Memory I've chosen against the 6GB 1600 MHz (3x2GB) Tri Channel Memory? The difference is only €50.

Also, when I tried to add in Wireless Connectivity I got this message: 'You have exceeded the number of PCIEx1 slots available. To fix this issue please remove one of the PCIEx1 options'.

I haven't picked anything else to exceed. There's nothing to deselect. Any suggestions?

Finally, I haven't chosen a monitor. I'm not sure what to get. I want something with 120HZ. Any suggestions?

This configuration adds up to €3,048.



Here's the spec for the M17X I was looking at:

-Alienware M17x MLK Gaming Laptop - Nebula Red
-Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 620M(2.66GHz,4MB cache)
-Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
-1 year of coverage included with your PC
-CrossFire™ Dual 1GB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870
-4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
-250GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive
-43cm (17") Wide UXGA (1920x1200) - Beyond HD (1200p) RGBLED
-Blu-Ray ROM combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read & write) Slot Load Drive
-Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module - Europe
-Intel® Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 802.11a/b/g/n card (EUR)

This adds up to €2864

Is the Aurora ALX much better? I'm a Noob at specs. I'm lookin for an awesome gaming rig.

Cheers in advance.

 

It's pretty certain that the desktop will win hands down on both the processor and the graphics cards.

The processor for the aurora is vastly superior in that it has higher clocks and 4(8) cores and the 620 only has 2(4) cores.

The gfx cards whilst named alike a desktop card will always be more powerful.

With regards to memory. Between 6 gb and 12 you will see no difference unless you encode video or other memory intensive app. If it's for gaming I would consider dropping the memory for an ssd drive to boot from and 1tb for the storage. If you really don't care about mobility get the desktop.

Hope this helps.

 

Desktop wins hands down. I was in the market for a new gaming laptop, for starcraft 2. Then it hit me like a ton of bricks, the screen on a laptop is way too close to my face and my hands block of the view a bit from the bottom. Not to forget, at the same price point you get better performance on your desktop than a laptop. The same video card names are no equal in power. Portability doesn't mean anything to a gamer. You won't game in class, library (sshhhhh), and forget the lunch room, that's an accident waiting to happen.

 

Oh and if you get a 120hz monitor I suggest you get a bdrom drive and you'll be pretty much set for 3d.

Another point to consider is that whilst the m17x is upgradeable, it is very hard to get the mobile versions of the hardware down the line. Whereas the desktop is simpler in that if you get to the stage that the processor tech changes (sandy bridge next year) then you can 'easily' change the motherboard.

 

Desktop over laptop for my main gaming machine any day. Better performance for price, and well, unless your on the move alot there is no point in having your main gaming machine be a laptop.

 

The only ways that I see choosing a laptop over a desktop are:

A) You need mobility (and with that the M17X is not very mobile)

B) Your living space is limited.

Otherwise, Desktop over laptop for serious gaming.

 

I own a M17x me self and im impressed! But agains desktop? No offence but i will build my own! better hardware and better on your pocket!

 

What monitor should I get? I got a 32" LG 1080 last week...using it for my PS3 & Xbox. WOuld this be any good? I like the idea of being 3D capable. I know it's a niche but it's still nice to know you could play your games in 3D. Is Alienware's 3D monitor any use or is it way overpriced for what it is?

I didn't include a keyboard or mouse in my config either. Think I'm going to get the G19 and a logitech mouse.

Will the Aurora ALX play the latest games ay max settings? I ask because they have the Area 51 ALX so just checking. COuldn't afford the Area 51 plus don't know if I'd need something like that. Basically, as future processors like the i9, graphics cards etc come out, will I be able to easily upgrade the Aurora?

Thanks for all the replies. I think it has o be The Aurora now instead of the M17X.

 

Also, anyone know why I keep getting error messages when configuring the Aurora? As soon as I start adding in things like wireless connectivity it says I've exceeded my ports and to delete it. I wouldn't mind but the wireless option was one of the first things I try to alter.

 

@ Craigscott0, you were saying about getting Blu Ray for the Aurora. Is that needed for 3d? Sorry if this is a stupid question.

 

Because 3d is basically 2 x 60 hz images you would need a 120mhz display and a drive capable of holding enough data to hold in effect 2 image streams. As far as I am aware blu ray is the only such media currently capable.

As far as the pcie situation I believe it is because you currently have x fire and they will take up two pcie slots but the cards cooling system will in effect block the adjacent slot. The only remedy is to lose a gfx card or get a USB dongle after shipment.

 

As everyone already pointed out, desktop wins easily over the laptop anyday on performance.

Though I'd recommend you build it yourself or get a friend to build it if you dont feel technically confident. You'll probably get the same specs for like 60-70% of the cost or ofcourse better specs for the same cost.

PCI Express slots are limited on the motherboard. Again, another thing you can customize by looking at different motherboards, not sure if alienware offers this.

The Dual Crossfire is probably using 2 PCIe-x16 and the sound card could be using a slot too. The wireless card(x1) can fit in any of those but ofcourse they are occupied. So either the motherboard only has the three PCIe slots or the other(s) are being occupied by something else also.

And any 2x or faster blu ray drive should be able to play Blu-ray 3D discs. The latest 3D media is going onto Blu-ray discs.

 

You should have alot of scope to upgrade the gfx cards in future as the all use pcie, you may need to increase the power unit but not immediately. With regards to the processor if you get the 920/940 you won't be able to upgrade outside of the current architecture ie when the sandy bridge processors arrive next year without changing the mother board(that's not definate but it's 90%).

The overriding factor is that you won't need to for a long time! And at that point you can quite easily change the mother board.

Have you considered building your own? The difference in the area 51 I believe is liquid cooling.

 

If you are not comfy with building rigs yourself, I would also look elsewhere. I find that alienware desktop systems are overpriced and there is really no incentive to getting them (in contrast to notebooks).

If you look at this pc: MIFcom Gamer-PC: Amazon.de: Elektronik

It has almost the same specs, but 6GB ram (you really dont need more for gaming) and 1 5870 which you can buy for about 400 euros and you end up with a rig for 1800 Euros instead of 3000.

 

I've kinda got my heart set on an Alienware. Always wanted one. I will however look at different rigs like the one posted by Wattos. It's annoying about the slots being taken up. Really want the dual graphics cards.

Any suggestions on savage 3d monitors?

 

You actullay ending up paying for the brand "Alienware" not the hardware! But dont get me wrong, Alienware have some awesome looking rig! but i preffer performance than the looks!

 

Ok, had a look on Amazon.

How does this compare:

Acer G7750 Desktop PC, Intel Core i7-920, 6GB RAM, 1TB: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Although is the Nvidia GTX260 graphics card pretty old?

 

Found this on Newegg.com:

Newegg.com - Acer Aspire Predator AG7750-U2222 Intel Core i7 930(2.8GHz) 12GB DDR3 1.5TB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 470 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit

 

Although it doesn't have Blu Ray.

 

Alienware desktops are over priced imo.


And don't just use the "mobility vs stationary"argument. I chose a laptop because it is compact, stylish, and fun. It also saved me the hassle of buying a keyboard and came with an incredible screen. Mobile gpus are improving vastly as well so I am very happy with my laptop.

 

if you wanna have a wireless card get the 5970 it's a crossfire ona single card it's just a little slower then two 5870
this way tou can avoid a usb wireless theya re usualy rubish

also the desktop gives no chance to the laptop but the laptop is adrealy overkill for almost everything so the choice is your's but alienware's desktop generaly don't have a good reputation and with a laptop you an more esealy brag about it when you bring it along ^^

 

Im always for the laptop when any one asks which one they should get and I See no difference weather you need portability or not when determining what you should get for gaming. Its completly preference with this subject. Either you like having laptops or you like having desktops, its about all it comes down too.
For starters you not in a desktop forum, your in a laptop forum so me sugessting that laptops are something you might like for gaming should be resonable. I had a thread over here if you would like to read the pros and cons of both.

 

That is one powerful desktop. And I do agree some alienware products are a bit overpriced, the desktop sure is. But it is more powerful then the laptop.

 

I think it's pretty BS of Dell to charge an additional $150 for the 930 over the 920. The only difference in the two is the multiplier at 21x instead of 20x.

I would try to get the nvidia SLI cards as ATI scales pretty poorly in crossfire compared to SLI.

 

930 sucks. Just OC a 920 to 4GHZ. >.>

 

One thing you can do. Is buy a Used Alienware. dont matter the Make as cpu or gpu. Gut the thing out and rebuild it with your own specs. . I am building my nephew his own desktop.

 

I'm sure this was said, but if your NOT looking for portability you'd have to be crazy not to build your own!

If you were gonna spend $2000 on a laptop, any system you build yourself would be ZOMG CRAZYILY powerful for that price range.

I highly recommend you building your own pc. You can get some awesome cases and part combinations for good deals on Newegg and NCIX (combo's are good because you know each part will work well with the other).

Have fun.

High end alienware desktop = $2500
Your own build desktop (same parts) = $1500 (more or less).

Darn that alienware premium.

Also building PC's is surprisingly easy and oh so much fun!
Source?: I've built over 1000 custom PC's in my life time! No lie

 

hem hem that is really un true and a 480 will be crushed any day by a 5970 if he wan wireless conectivity through a pci port it's the best way to go

but if he really wan 2 card 2 460 vs 2 5870 the ati's win esealy even the 5970 is giving the 2 460 a hard day

 

To the OP, if you are still interested in getting an Alienware desktop as opposed to building one yourself (to each his own) look at the Area-51 non-ALX. It is more future proof then the Aurora ALX (PSU, graphic cards, 6 HDDs slots, similar top cooling vents, full size tower) and it costs on average $300USD less when compared to a similarly configured Aurora ALX.

It is what I am considering too.

The Area-51 non-ALX's price (EPP) is very competitive actually. As opposed to the ALX flavors, which are complete armed robbery.

 

definitly and no one can answe clearly on what is the diference between a ALX and a non ALX system

 

From what I have researched so far I am pretty certain the only differences between the Area-51 ALX and non-ALX Area-51 versions is that the ALX has:

• Motorized front door
• Anodized aluminum chassis
• And the configuration starts with higher end upgrades

This is most definitely not worth the $2,000+ difference.

The Aurora ALX on the other hand has a bunch of features more than the non-ALX Aurora, but it is also more expensive, less future proof, and has less features than an Area-51 non-ALX.

It's a no brainer really, if you want an Alienware desktop go with the non-ALX Area-51.

 

After listening to some of the views here, I've decided the best thing is to either build my own or get something like the Acer Predator G7750. In my opinion, it looks even better than an Alienware (and a lot cheaper). I'm just not sure about the graphics card in it. It has an Nvidia GTX 260. I know theres configs out there with dual GTX 260's but can't find them and don't even know how they compare to the ATI 5670, HD 5770 or 5870.

I think an awesome set up could be the Acer Predator G7750 with the Acer 120HZ 3D monitor, the G19 keyboard, G9X laser mouse, and the HD Pro Webcam C910.

I've had a look on NewEgg etc and admittedly, I could build an awesome and savage looking desktop but I lack the know how - don't know what parts to choose and whats compatible with what.

 

Is this Acer config good and reasonably priced or is there a better config?

Acer G7750 Desktop PC, Intel Core i7-920, 6GB RAM, 1TB: Amazon.co.uk: Electronics & Photo

 

Heres another config of the Predator from play.com. Same price but seems far better although I don't know if it has Blu Ray.

Acer Aspire Predator G7750 / Intel Core i7 3.2GHz / 12GB / 2TB / Windows 7 Home Premium / Desktop (PC PT.SDEE2.041) - Computing at Play.com (UK)