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[WolfWalker]

[1] Aurora™ 7500

Processor: AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 5000+ Processor w/ HyperTransport and Dual Core Technology
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional with Service Pack 2
Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis - Space Black
Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling
Power Supply: 650 Watt Alienware® Multi-GPU Approved
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 590 SLI Motherboard
Memory: 4GB DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 16MB Cache
Storage Drive: Additional Storage Drive - 750GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 16MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive w/LightScribe Technology
Secondary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 16x Dual Layer DVD±R/W Drive w/LightScribe Technology
Graphics Processor: 1024MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7950 GX2
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline: Video Performance Optimizer
Monitor: Dell 24" 1920 x 1200 UltraSharp Widescreen Flat Panel /w HDCP
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio - Standard
Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse Keyboard
Mouse: Alienware® Optical 3-Button Mouse with Scroll Wheel
Warranty: 3-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service / AlienAutopsy / Respawn
Alienware Exclusive Offers: GameFly - Unlimited Game Rentals for 15 days - FREE TRIAL
Productivity Software: Microsoft® Works 8 Productivity Suite
Removable Storage: 3.5-Inch Floppy Disk Drive
Power: UPS Power Protection - Opti-UPS Power Series PS1500B UPS/Backup/AVR
Game Controllers: Saitek X52 Flight Control System
Free Alienware Shirt: Alienware® T-Shirt - Black - XL Only
Alienware Extras: Exclusive AlienGUIse Theme Manager
Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value

[KingSparta]

Nice, but i think I will wait a bit longer for vista to be out and installed.

been watching there systems, i think the price has come down a tad for there top of the line in the past 6 months.

[glynor]

Graphics Processor: 1024MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 7950 GX2

I, personally, would have gone with the ATI X1950XT XTX (and would have built the system myself and saved a bundle) but that looks pretty darn nice.  The AMD X2 will treat you quite well!  I'm going that route in a couple of weeks here (though I'm going to save a few hundred and go with the either the Opteron 165 or the Athlon64 4400+ X2 and clock the crap out of it).

(The 7950 GX2 is a really nice card, I just like the things the ATI cards excel at better and they'll tend to outperform in many newer DX9 games and applications.)

[WolfWalker]

Well, I know you all said built it my self but I chickened out of building it.  I am happy with what I am getting.  The hard part was doing the research and not just going crazy and order right off hand.

[glynor]

I am happy with what I am getting.

You should be.  That's a pimpin' rig!

[KingSparta]

Well, I know you all said built it my self

I never said that

Depending on your chipset you can not buy the max off the rack.

Makers Like Gateway, HP Dell, Etc... all get the chips first with a discount, after that the smaller companies will get the chips to sell to do it your selfers and small computer stores.

I would not overclock a cpu chip, without proper cooling you will burn it up, and you maybe out $1000+ just for your attempt.

 

[dlone]

Makers Like Gateway, HP Dell, Etc... all get the chips first with a discount, after that the smaller companies will get the chips to sell to do it your selfers and small computer stores.

True, but they usually use the cheapest and nastiest bits they can buy
I fix these for a living, and so far haven't seen one of them that has a good motherboard
Most of the motherboards I see aren't available at the local pc shows because nobody who knows the details would buy them
What's worse is that the difference in price is tiny - for about $20-40 more they could have had a much better motherboard
Build it your self and you normally end up with a cheaper pc, or a much better one for the same price
Alienware are an exception though
They make quality systems, but they really make you pay the extra....
Re
Alienware Extras: AlienInspection - Exclusive Integration and Inspection - $99.99 Value - FREE!
What does that even mean? That they did their job and they're trying to make you think it was worth EXTRA money that you don't have to pay, so you got a bargain?
Alienware Extras: AlienWiring - Exclusive Internal Wire Management - $99.99 Value
You have got to be kidding $99 for making the cables pretty ? It's a lot more work for someone to valet your car and how much does that cost?

Watch out for 'Free' stuff - normally it means your being screwed
Barnum was right  - there's a sucker born every minute
We've just got to try not to being one of them 

[glynor]

Build it your self and you normally end up with a cheaper pc, or a much better one for the same price
Alienware are an exception though
They make quality systems, but they really make you pay the extra....

What he said.

Depending on your chipset you can not buy the max off the rack.

That's quite rare and it never lasts long (like Dell had the exclusive Quad-SLI for a little while there, but now you can build better yourself).  Generally, going with ASUS, ABIT, Gigabyte, or DFI will get you much better value, features, and build quality.  It does take some research and know how though...

I would not overclock a cpu chip, without proper cooling you will burn it up, and you maybe out $1000+ just for your attempt.

I'd never overclock a $1000 CPU that's for sure!! What would be the point?

The $1000 processors are just factory overclocked essentially.  "Tested" at the factory as being definitely capable of those speeds.  The dirty little secret of the CPU business is that there is generally no difference at all between the $250 CPU and the $1000 CPU.  The latter of the two has just undergone more testing, and the cheaper one is "locked" somewhat to the slower speeds artificially.

I would overclock a $250 CPU, since (especially nowadays) you can almost always get them to perform at the same speeds as those double their cost with little or no risk (and the right motherboard).  Actually cooking a CPU is quite difficult nowadays.  Generally, they just fail to boot and you have to reset the BIOS to a lower setting next time.

If you take your time and bump the clock a little at a time (testing, testing, testing in between) you don't really have much to worry about.  A CPU will start making math errors long before it gets close to the top of it's thermal tolerances (where it would actually break the chip).  Back in the "bad old days" of hard volt-mods and multiplier overclocking (Pentium 3 - K7 era stuff) it was easy to fry your CPU, but not anymore.  Now there's GUIs that you can use to do it from inside Windows, with automated tests to check success!

The biggest downside is really time spent anymore.  It takes a lot of time and patient testing (and a LOT of time reading boring forum reports and reviews).  Some of us (me and dlone apparently) would be spending that time anyway, so why not save the money?  Others, could better spend the time doing other things...