Alienware X-51

I will start this off by saying that this might be in the wrong forum. If it is, please let me know and I will delete and/or move it to another. I just wanted to put this out there because I am a newer posting member of the forums and after looking through topics through the search and through a Google search with the GWJ site, I haven't seen any discussion or interest in the Alienware X51.

So here is a little something about my experience:

I have recently dipped my toes into the PC gaming community for the first time. I am 26 and just finally getting extra cash flow for the things I want in life for the first time. I have been a console gamer for a long time and just wanted to share/see what people thought around this community about what I finally came up with as my solution for a first gaming PC:

The Alienware X51:
IMAGE(http://cdn-static.zdnet.com/i/story/40/10/025238/alienware-x51-gaming-desktop-pc.jpg)

I bought the Alienware X51 after some thought and much debate. I was wanting to get into PC gaming and I listen to a ton of podcasts while I am working (Truck Driver for a small company. Get normal 7-4 hours for the most part and good pay, yay!) and have heard the growing complaints about the waning edge of console gaming. Also with tons of games I have skipped over and the super sales on games at places like Steam, I started to look into my options.

As a guy with responsibilities and a job and a wife at the ripe age of 26, I don't have the most free time and extra money. I have never built a PC before myself, but I have changed RAM and Graphics Cards on pre built machines and tinkered around here and there. Mostly to play WoW or very scalable PC games. I also live in Southern Indiana, and was out of High School and the little bit of college I attended before I realized the internet is awesome and can connect like minded individuals even when you're in a small town and most of your local friends barely play games, let alone on a higher end PC or could help build or troubleshoot one.

So, my options were limited, at least in my mind. And then I started hearing more about this new PC model Alienware had come out with. I started looking into the X51 and trying to get a sense from a source I trusted about if it was good or not. I understand that it is a niche product and not many people are interested in this machine. I found this thread on NeoGaf about a person who told about their experiences with the X51. After reading an actual gamer's thoughts and assessment of the machine, I was super tempted. But I held back to spend around $1,000 for a new PC, especially a prebuilt one from a company bought out by Dell. Also tempting me was being approved for $1,000 credit line to get the PC now and pay for it in chunks. I know, interest and traps and bad financial decisions...Yes, I am aware that I am playing into corporate America's plans. Either way, I could either wait and try to save the money to get a prebuilt tower from a more "reputable" site (I have heard conflicting things about most) or try to build one myself for the first time without a close friend or someone to help me if things go sideways...

After hearing about Tyler Barber's hardships into PC gaming early on this year on Rebel FM and his Twitter (couldn't find a good link about this, but he talked about it on the Rebel FM podcast and his Twitter around Jan-March of this year), I started looking into prebuilt machines and that is right around the time the Alienware X51 came out. Scared that any machine I built even with getting the right equipment and doing a lot of research (which I did early on and looked at NeoGaf threads and Tom's Hardware) might not post and then I would be in the long and scary process of not knowing which piece is bad or if I screwed up somewhere along the lines, I kept a keen eye on the X51. Skip forward to where I pull the trigger finally about a month ago...

And here we are! I am now an owner of an Alienware X51 and have been happy to try out PC gaming and dip my toes into these waters here with everyone at GWJ. I got the 2nd generation of X51's with the Ivy Bridge processor. Got a pretty good deal for the i7 with the GTX 555. I have tinkered with using it as a home theater/console like some of the guys on the Conference Call and Brad and Vinny on the Bombcast have talked about. Being so hot in my front room, haven't really done much in that way though. As for being a smaller and compact PC, it is totally nice and super quiet! I am using the graphics card that came in it and have been running all my games at max. I have yet to start up The Witcher 2, but have heard that the X51 handles it at pretty high settings. As a cheap and easy option for the PC dilettante that isn't very proficient or confident in building their own PC, it is a nice niche product in my book.

Either way, I just wanted to post up something about the X51 and see if there was any interest or if any other GWjers had gotten or were interested in the Alienware X51. Thanks for dealing with my ramblings and hope this piques someone's interest!

Welcome to the club....

Most of us usually start out with a store built system few of us are lucky to get an Alienware system our first time out.

A note for the future is that you will find you can actually build your own system for cheeper and get better hardware. Now that I have a really good job and make enough to afford nice custom rigs like yours I find that I would rather build my own nicer custom rig for cheeper. Thats not to put down your system by any means, not that long ago I would have killed to have an Alienware system. My first 6 gaming PC's were all purchased at stores, it wasnt until about 6 years ago I took the plunge on building my own. You can easily build a very nice gaming rig for under 800, you just need to do your homework.

PC gaming is a lot of fun, especially for the older gaming crowd.

Welcome to GWJ, and make sure you stay on here read and pick up ideas and tips. This place has tons of folks who have been gaming for a very long time and probably can answer any question you can think of. I cant think of a nicer place to talk PC gaming.

In general, any prebuilt system you buy is going to have compromises. Fans and power supplies are the two most common, and it's why I'll never endorse a prebuilt machine. To get quality in those two areas you're looking at an outrageous markup.

Glad you're happy though, regardless of the advice(often unasked for) folks will give, that's really the only metric that matters.

Le0hart85 wrote:

After hearing about Tyler Barber's hardships into PC gaming early on this year on Rebel FM and his Twitter (couldn't find a good link about this, but he talked about it on the Rebel FM podcast and his Twitter around Jan-March of this year), I started looking into prebuilt machines and that is right around the time the Alienware X51 came out. Scared that any machine I built even with getting the right equipment and doing a lot of research (which I did early on and looked at NeoGaf threads and Tom's Hardware) might not post and then I would be in the long and scary process of not knowing which piece is bad or if I screwed up somewhere along the lines, I kept a keen eye on the X51. Skip forward to where I pull the trigger finally about a month ago...

We've got a very supportive PC building thread in the tech forum if you ever decide to upgrade. I can't remember many people we've not gotten straightened out on hardware builds.

Just something to keep in mind next time. PC building is really much easier than you'd probably think these days. Glad you've got something you like this time, though.

Thanks guys for the feedback! I'm glad to be here at GWJ and have listened to the Conference Calls for quite awhile now. Now that I am actually doing more on the PC, this community seems perfect for just bouncing conversations and discussions off of about games and what not!

I thought about building my own for a very long time, but after being scared off with horror stories (like Tyler Barber's from Rebel FM) about what to do if it doesn't post the first time out, I have been very satisfied with the X51. Sitting horizontally, the system takes up so little space and have done a little bit with Afterburner and FurMark stress test. Temps look good, but that's not to say that it might crap out in a year or two. But I was hoping if it ever does crap out, at least anytime soon, that I would be able to just deal with Dell Customer Support instead of trying to bang my head against a brick wall. But, I understand with my own build, I would get the parts I choose and superior quality.

Thanks for the welcome and feedback, I appreciate it all!

As someone who rolls my own I still have to say that is a cute little gadget, welcome to the fold (GWJ and PC alike) and enjoy.

And because it's been a while I'll kick a hornets nest here

IMAGE(http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll120/MrDeVil_909/PC_Gaming_Master_Race.jpg)

Le0hart85 wrote:

I would be able to just deal with Dell Customer Support instead of trying to bang my head against a brick wall.

Those two options are often one and the same :p

Thin_J wrote:
Le0hart85 wrote:

I would be able to just deal with Dell Customer Support instead of trying to bang my head against a brick wall.

Those two options are often one and the same :p

Indeed. I don't know that I've heard a good story about Dell customer service in 5 or 6 years.

These little things are cool as sh*t. The power supply at 330w handles a GTX 670 with no problems. Welcome to PC gaming!

Welcome! I've got an M11x Laptop that I love. I remember reading a review on the X58 and it seemed like a very viable option. It's a slick little machine.

Le0hart85 wrote:

Scared that any machine I built even with getting the right equipment and doing a lot of research (which I did early on and looked at NeoGaf threads and Tom's Hardware) might not post and then I would be in the long and scary process of not knowing which piece is bad or if I screwed up somewhere along the lines, I kept a keen eye on the X51. Skip forward to where I pull the trigger finally about a month ago...

One thing to keep in mind here is that you have to find the right partner in this. You need to find a retailer who can get you the parts you need AND the protection if things go bad. I like MicroCenter for this, I can buy all the parts I want there and if something is DOA, or heaven forbid something goes horribly wrong I can return the part.

My very first build went flawless, when I did my second build just a few weeks later (for a friend) I ended up having to go back to the store 3 times. Once because the MOBO was bad, (no charge) and the 2nd time because the power supply blew and fried everything during set up. Microcenter took it all back without a problem and I was able to get his system up and running, and again no charge.

You just need to find that right place who can take care of you.

Been a little bit since I checked this post I made, but once again the GWJ community continues to be awesome! Thanks so much to everyone for the tips and comments. It's so nice to hear. I've been thinking about upgrading my graphics card from the GTX 555 that came with the PC and NeoGaf had a post about someone reviewing the 660Ti that should be coming out soon. So I was thinking about saving some scratch to switch it out with that bad boy once they have been reviewed and released. Should be less power hungry than the 670, which I have heard people saying works in the Alienware X51 (the system I have). What say you GWJ community?

mcdonis wrote:

One thing to keep in mind here is that you have to find the right partner in this. You need to find a retailer who can get you the parts you need AND the protection if things go bad. I like MicroCenter for this, I can buy all the parts I want there and if something is DOA, or heaven forbid something goes horribly wrong I can return the part.

My very first build went flawless, when I did my second build just a few weeks later (for a friend) I ended up having to go back to the store 3 times. Once because the MOBO was bad, (no charge) and the 2nd time because the power supply blew and fried everything during set up. Microcenter took it all back without a problem and I was able to get his system up and running, and again no charge.

You just need to find that right place who can take care of you.

Thanks mcdonis for the anecdote! I appreciate the confidence booster and I will definitely take that into consideration when/if I need to replace this system down the road. Good on ya, bruv!

I've never owned one, but I've always loved the Alienware stuff. It looks so damn cool.

Congrats on the awesome system.

Remember, guys, not everyone wants to dive into building thier own. If I were one of those I'd look at AW if I could afford it.

That said, :), There are some very cool looking cases out there if you want the radical look.

groan wrote:

I've never owned one, but I've always loved the Alienware stuff. It looks so damn cool.

Congrats on the awesome system.

Remember, guys, not everyone wants to dive into building thier own. If I were one of those I'd look at AW if I could afford it.

That said, :), There are some very cool looking cases out there if you want the radical look.

Thanks for the compliments. Everything you said, pretty much accurate. The only thing that also helped me out was that I got a line of credit with Dell and am paying the X51 off slowly and already got it down to half in a couple of months. I really liked that option, so I was able to go ahead and get the system without dropping loads of cash (which I didn't have at the time).

I'm looking at replacing my current desktop (which runs perfectly fine but takes up way too much space on my desk) with the X51. Eight months in, how do you like it? I've built my last three desktops, but own an Alienware M11X and have never had any problems with it.

I've had one of these since December. I changed out the GTX 555 and put a 670 in. Runs great and takes up very little space. I love mine.

I expect to be replacing my PC in the near future, finances permitting. I have a Falcon NW (Talon 6.2) that I bought 7+ years ago.

Despite the fact that my job involves building embedded computers that fly in space, I have never had an interest in keeping up with current PC HW enough to feel comfortable building my own gaming PC. I've always been happy with Falcon, both the machines and their customer support (which I've used on more than one occasion).

I have had very good success with Alienware, Origin, and CyberPower PCs. Cyberpower is cheaper than the others, but more configurable and what I run now. I have built my own in the past, but I'll pay the premium for having the system "done right". CyberPower offers preconfigured systems via Amazon, NewEgg and TigerDirect if I am not mistaken or you can configure exactly what you want through their website.

As an X51 owner I have to say I was impressed with it. My last build gave up the ghost and I knew it was going to be solid 7 day work weeks for a month and couldnt do anything about it. I got it as a place holder between my next build and actually fell in love with it. I picked it up for $700, which was just around cost of parts, so my plan was to part it out for my next build but I may actually keep it as a spare for the wife to use and for hen I have a buddy over. It is near liquid cooled quiet unless im seriously pushing the grafix of a game for more than an hour. My wife even says its quieter than anything I have ever built So keep an eye out if you can find one for 699 like I did its worth it.