Whats best for a high end PC?
 

I am seeing conflicting reports - I like the look of the AlienWare systems, but at the end of the day they are just Dells....

Any input?

Bump - come on - I have money burning a hole in my pocket!!

Build it yourself or find a reputable pc shop to do it for you.

I was thinking about building one myself - but its been years since I last did that and things have changed a lot......

Video cards alone are a minefield. You can read up on them for a week and still not know what the fuck to buy.....

AlienWare isn't bad, but if you want a system that isn't as loud as a lawnmower, you should look for a watercooled system which has alot more overclocking potential, too.

Apple...

build your own its cheaper, you can use better parts and it will cost half.

build it yourself.... it ain't that hard, plus you'll save $1k or so on a high end parts

Well I can spare you a whole week of reading - get a 8800GTX or even better, go SLI with two of them. That's the highest of the highest end you can get.

Thats where I got stuck - I thought I had it sussed and then I found out about SLI and that threw me totally.

Then you have to worry about the motherboard - can you SLI link 2 boards with a PCI Express and an AGP port - or do they both have to be the same?

The MBoard I looked at first only had one of each - I need to find a forum that deals with this stuff I think.....

You need a motherboard with two PCI express slots, you can't SLI with one PCI and one AGP card. I think those motherboards only exist for people that still want to use their AGP card with a modern cpu and ddr2 ram etc then upgrade to a PCI express card later on.

But beware that SLI is only really worth it if you play the latest games at super high resolutions (24" widescreen lcd's and up). Playing at 1024x768 would be a waste of SLI, only one card would be more than enough.

This is perhaps the best advice you can get.

Alienware makes some crazy, cool looking computers but Dell is just fine. Apple on the other had (Mac Pro) is a bad ass mofo. If you can afford to, buy one of those powerhouses and throw Windows XP Pro on it. That beast renders video almost faster than real-time. This is coming from someone who has hated Apple for many years, and is currently a certified Microsoft Engineer (MSCE, MCSA, MCDBA, MCDST, etc…)

I have several computers, from custom $15,000 computers to Dells & Apples. I personally love the Dell Dimensions and XPS, as well as their Precision lineup.

Now one recommendation I have and I know this will get all kinds of feedback is: Intel. Intel in my professional opinion is the only processor to go with. In regards to which one, I personally use Duo Core, Dual Xeons, but Pentium 4 Duo Cores are bad ass as well. AMD has a lot of good processors but in the 6+ years working as a Systems & Network Engineer, Intel has always performed and never let me down. AMD has.

your advice is invaluable here...This is what I do, and am about to look into purchasing another motherboard!! Are the quad cores out in the states yet?

BTW this is another great route; if you have the cash (can be VERY expensive). Just make sure if you go to a local shop, they will be in business a year or two down the road. Warranties tend to work well when the business is actually in business.

I build almost all of my PC?s, but after a while it is nice to have a warranty from a company like Dell or Apple vs. your wallet. It?s nice to have something break and have it replaced for free? Or 24/7 support, not 9-5 m-f like the local shops.

They are still in production. I was unaware they were available anywhere... I'll make a couple calls and find out the ETA, I tend to get the newer technologies from Intel to Beta.

Keep in mind this first batch of Intel quads are NOT going to be true quad-core and as such they are not going to have the same drastic effect (in MOST applications) as the core 2 duo did compared to other intel/amd single core chips.

Umm... Please don't soil a perfectly good Mac pro with Windows XP. Stick with OS X. That's what it's made for.

I was even thinking about going that route.

The only thing that I cant live without is DreamWeaver and they have a Mac version - something to think about.

Get a Mac... you'll love it, after you hate it.

As a person who has experience with both PC and Mac I say get a Mac. I now have 7 Macs in my office and just one PC. Why the one PC? So I can see how my website looks to the rest of the world. Nothing else.

Sorry man, OSX is a great OS and is extremely stable, but with the software I run, the only way to go is Windows. I do run bootcamp so I can switch between OS's (not emulated) but Windows gets used 99.998% of the time. The .001% is when I test my sites in Native Safari.

Funny thing is, the Mac Pro runs Windows XP Pro better than a PC, so I am with you on your respect for macs, but Mac OSX isn't my thing and probably never will be.

To each their own.

Why not do what virtually EVERYONE does and run both?

Yes and no. I usually wait until a re-release before I purchase, but even when the quad-cores come out, there will be nothing in comparison. I have my chips set aside for Intels 4x4 (quad core, quad processor), that thing is going to be sick. Until that beast gets released I will be just fine with what I have.

Running both in an emulated state is worthless and bogs any system down. It was a good idea, but a no go. There is a application called bootcamp, which allows you to run either OS from startup, and the ability to switch between them without emulating. This gives you full system resources, power, and performance.

Dude, do yourself a favor and build your own computer. It will be way better than buying a Dell or Gateway and you will learn a lot. I just built my own and I'm very happy.

I made it 3 days ago. The very best computer that uses hardware sold to the general public right now would be an intel quad core QX6700, any mother board that uses Nvidia's 680i chepset that has: 2 pci express slots, room for 4gigs or ram, and two graphics cards based on the nvidia 8800GTX chipset, some DDR ram (doesnt reallly matter if you get PC800, the higher stuff wont help unless you overclock) you can get it with C4 timings instead of C5 timings if you are hardcore trying to be the very best. Western Digital's raptor is the fastest HD on the market. It is only 150GB so I got one for the boot drive and got a 750GB drive for storage.

Throw in some disk drives, a case, some fans, and you are set. I did all of this except the dual video card thing. I'll never use the benefit of the 2nd and the card is about $600 so why waste it? But to really have the best you need two. I believe all of the 8800GTX cards have SLI but check. It needs SLI to be able to link two cards. If you want to clone it I can give you the part #'s from new egg. Building this yoruself instead of letting alienware do it for you will save you about $1300 but your case will not be as cool.

EDIT: I edited some mistakes but I'm on sleeps meds and out of my head. Sadly, there are probably more mistakes, lol.

I'm on sleeping meds right now too. Your post made perfect sense. BUT, you can get a cooler looking case from new egg.

As far as alienware goes, don't go that route. I have an alienware laptop and it is always having problems. Save the money and build it yourself. You will be much happier when you are done. It's very easy and a lot of fun.

The 680i boards are a waste of money if you don't plan on running SLI. If you do, then by all means.. I've heard mostly good things about the eVGA board. I ended up going with the 650i board from Asus with SLI. The P965 based boards have been getting good reviews if you are planning on overclocking with a single video card. If you're going to run at stock speeds you might even just get an Intel board..

And yes, if you're not going to overclock, don't bother buying super fast RAM. Some of the motherboards are picky about running the faster RAM because it generally takes a higher voltage.

I must be COMPLETELY fucking confused. Why would ANYONE emulate Windows on Intel hardware? My Mac runs both Mac OS X and Windows XP, using Boot Camp.

:helpme

Please show me a pimper looking case at newegg.

Take your pick, they only have 870 to choose from
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...N=2010090 007

Relax, it's the same people that think the mouse has one button, don't know how to change he size of the desktop icons, and say you can't open Mac files on a PC.

Haha .. seems so. :winkwink: