Alienware Alpha Can You Beat Its Price Point.

[ro9ue]

One thing that worries me about the compact case is it hard to upgrade parts in it?

[Kagthul]

I'd say, for someone who doesn't want to be bothered with building it themselves, its not a bad deal.

is it a powerhouse gaming machine? No.

Would it make a great box to use as an HTPC and for using with Steam In-home streaming? Yeah, and especially if you dont want to build mITX yourself, that case is pretty svelte looking and its not a big premium to pay to not have to do it yourself.

[eperezf]

Hi everyone, I have two questions:
For playing games... Is it better than a ps4 or a xbox one?
And
In every website where you can buy an Alienware Alpha, I saw this message "... you can feel free to upgrade the CPU...". Which is the best CPU that I can use with the cheapest model of Alienware Alpha?

[Arbiter]

Hi everyone, I have two questions:
For playing games... Is it better than a ps4 or a xbox one?
And
In every website where you can buy an Alienware Alpha, I saw this message "... you can feel free to upgrade the CPU...". Which is the best CPU that I can use with the cheapest model of Alienware Alpha?

Why would you buy one of those overpriced pieces of junk just to intentionally upgrade the CPU? You could use that money to invest into a better self built system. There are console sized computer cases available. Well near console sized...

As for performance, I'd say it'll probably be on par with consoles, but consoles have some exclusives obviously and so does PC. The money can be better spent on building yourself. The CPU isn't what's going to hold you back for the most part. It's the GPU that's about the same performance as a GTX 750 and I don't believe that GPU will be easily upgradable if at all. It's also the 4GB of RAM in the base model that will hurt for some tasks. As for upgrading the CPU, it's a T model and I'm sure there are restrictions on power consumption so probably 35W TDP CPUs only. Not 100% on this but I'm sure they left no breathing room for the cheap power supply brick used.

I don't know who in their right mind would even consider spending $850 for a weak i7 designed around power efficiency and a measely GTX 750 type GPU. Products like this make people believe that PC gaming is truly expensive.

[eperezf]

Why would you buy one of those overpriced pieces of junk just to intentionally upgrade the CPU? You could use that money to invest into a better self built system. There are console sized computer cases available. Well near console sized...

As for performance, I'd say it'll probably be on par with consoles, but consoles have some exclusives obviously and so does PC. The money can be better spent on building yourself. The CPU isn't what's going to hold you back for the most part. It's the GPU that's about the same performance as a GTX 750 and I don't believe that GPU will be easily upgradable if at all. It's also the 4GB of RAM in the base model that will hurt for some tasks. As for upgrading the CPU, it's a T model and I'm sure there are restrictions on power consumption so probably 35W TDP CPUs only. Not 100% on this but I'm sure they left no breathing room for the cheap power supply brick used.

I don't know who in their right mind would even consider spending $850 for a weak i7 designed around power efficiency and a measely GTX 750 type GPU. Products like this make people believe that PC gaming is truly expensive.

With my budget I could buy a console (PS4 or Xbox One) with a couple of games, or the cheapest Alienware Alpha.
I don't want to buy the cheapest model to upgrade it immediately, I just wanted to know how much could I upgrade the CPU to get in the future a performance similar to the other models and if that performance would be the same or better than the performance of the consoles with the games that are coming this year (like Elder Scrolls Online with no subscriptions, Dead Island 2, GTA V, The Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight).

[Arbiter]

With my budget I could buy a console (PS4 or Xbox One) with a couple of games, or the cheapest Alienware Alpha.
I don't want to buy the cheapest model to upgrade it immediately, I just wanted to know how much could I upgrade the CPU to get in the future a performance similar to the other models and if that performance would be the same or better than the performance of the consoles with the games that are coming this year (like Elder Scrolls Online with no subscriptions, Dead Island 2, GTA V, The Witcher 3, Batman Arkham Knight).

Again, in most cases it won't be the CPU holding the game back, it'll be the weak GPU that's sitting in it. Building a PC on the same budget of the Alienware Alpha would still be better than what's sitting in it currently.

[Warrax]

There is no mention of the PSU, it's probably weak hence all the low power parts so forget about getting a new GPU in the future (which is what matter if you plan to upgrade, not the CPU). Also 4GB of RAM is pretty low but you might be able to put more RAM in the future.

This low price system begs to be upgraded imo.

[Master Guns]

You can definitely build a more powerful machine with less $$.

[apepi]

You can definitely build a more powerful machine with less $$.

I don't think you guys are understanding what these kind of machines are trying to achieve. Of course you can build something better, but you could do the same thing for a ps4 and xboxone. But that is not the point, the point is about getting people to be able to play a pc like they do a console. For it to be small and convenient, for it to be able to use in a living room and look nice. Something for the average person can buy and use without any hassle, something that just works. Someone that can build a pc is not target market.

[SinR]

What happens when newer sexier hardware comes out? is this console upgradable?

[Remilia]

What happens when newer sexier hardware comes out? is this console upgradable?

It would depend entirely on how modular it is.

There is a set up I can think of for a small form factor PC but it's also a lot more expensive due to needing an SFX PSU and such things.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4160 3.6GHz Dual-Core Processor ($106.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($111.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($43.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 270 2GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($152.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Silverstone RVZ01B Mini ITX Desktop Case ($78.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Silverstone 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply ($117.99 @ Directron)
Total: $672.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-02-11 00:57 EST-0500

It's still bigger than the alpha though, not particularly fond of the aesthetics of the case but it's the smallest one within reason.

[Master Guns]

I don't think you guys are understanding what these kind of machines are trying to achieve. Of course you can build something better, but you could do the same thing for a ps4 and xboxone. But that is not the point, the point is about getting people to be able to play a pc like they do a console. For it to be small and convenient, for it to be able to use in a living room and look nice. Something for the average person can buy and use without any hassle, something that just works. Someone that can build a pc is not target market.

I'm sorry but that's just stupid; any PC tower can be put next to a 50 inch TV in a living room. I just don't get the appeal. You can connect a controller to ANY PC. So what the hell is the point?? You're paying extra money for a small case that more than likely has airflow issues and can get very hot?

[cuafpr]

guessing the alienware comes with some warranty and free tech support so don't forget to add that into the cost of the systems you price out.... Should still be cheaper but you are also paying for the "labor" of putting it together and testing it which is not something everyone enjoys or even knows how to do.

- - - Updated - - -

I'm sorry but that's just stupid; any PC tower can be put next to a 50 inch TV in a living room. I just don't get the appeal. You can connect a controller to ANY PC. So what the hell is the point?? You're paying extra money for a small case that more than likely has airflow issues and can get very hot?

people don't want a normal PC in their den in a lot of cases, myself included. i purchased this: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811204039 for my HTPC cause it would look better imo.

[Alfakennyone]

Soon enough, you will be able to stream PC to Xbox One. Since they already confirmed you can steam xbox to PC tablets etc.

[Deleted]

Alienware is overpriced crap for idiots who can't build their own PCs.

[darkminaz]

Id say it's worth the price, if you don't pirate windows it might get quite hard to get a better price. And doing all the work for 50 bucks ..

Then again, why? i mean any "decent" gamer got a better Pc setup, why not just link that to your Tv? I mean at least i set the cable anyway since it's better for watching movies and i never planed on buying a blueray player. Why not just use the 1000+ pc that you already have?

Or if you don't, why not just get a good Pc, so you can also play pc games with it.

In short, the price is okay, but id still rather get a decent Pc to set next to my little tv

[Warrax]

If some people are so afraid to build their computer themselves, just buy the pieces and bring them to a computer shop so they build it for you.

[Barracks00]

Alienware is overpriced crap for idiots who can't build their own PCs.

You would actually consider this box overpriced? The markup seems to be pretty low based on other posts. Yeah, their high end stuff is pretty ridiculous, but this item? Not so much. I would have no problem giving this to someone as a starter.

[Anium]

I like the idea of a little media box...but then again I don't like to settle for average specs sooooooooooo...

[Warrax]

You would actually consider this box overpriced? The markup seems to be pretty low based on other posts. Yeah, their high end stuff is pretty ridiculous, but this item? Not so much. I would have no problem giving this to someone as a starter.

It's cheap initially but since the specs are rather low-end, you will probably want to upgrade that PC really soon. 4GB of RAM is low and the PSU make it very limited for future upgrades like a video card. It might be fine now, but not for very long. It all depend on what you do with that computer.