well i have had enough of my current setup, 5 years old in April. the usb ports stopped working today in addition to a myriad of other issues. i don't have the time or the patience to put one together myself and i saw recently that alienware came out with a small form factor machine that was slightly bigger then the designed xbox 360. anyone have any thoughts or experience with these machines? i don't do a ton of gaming but i was looking to play diablo 3 when it came out and maybe a game here or there. any thoughts or opinions would be appreciated.

Module Description
Alienware X51 Alienware X51
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English
Processors Intel® Coreâ„¢ i5-2320 3.0GHz (6MB Cache) with Turbo Boost Technology 2.0
Memory 8GB (2x4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz
Keyboard Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard
Monitor No Monitor
Video Card 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 545
Hard Drive 1TB SATA 6Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache
Chassis Color Matte Stealth Black with Dark Chrome Accents
Mouse Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100
AlienFX AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
Optical Drive Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless DW1502 Wireless-N WLAN Half Mini-Card
Power Supply 240W External Power Supply

 

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The first question that popped to my mind was: How much?

For $500-600...that seemed good. For $1000...that would look like overpriced alienware. It will most likely run d3 without any issues. Without breaking down the components though, I question how powerful a computer can be when it is running on a 240w power supply. I realize that the wattage on power supplies has gotten silly and illogical...but that is a pretty low ceiling.

 

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Yep, pretty much this. I have to wonder at that PSU and if it's going to be powerful enough to power just the computer, let alone the video card.

 

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for even a couple hundred bucks, i'd put it/piece it together myself, if only for the satisfaction of having it done correctly. even if a big box store could say they could get me the machine $200 cheaper, i'd probably still piece it together myself, knowing it's done correctly.

but, if your time is really worth more than that, feel free to toss around your cash!

 

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the thing i said to myself when writing the initial post was don't forget to post how much it costs, that machine goes for $900. i wish there was a better option then having to build one myself. I know that can be a cheaper option to go but i am having such issues with my current machine that i built myself that i want nothing to do with building another machine.

 

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For $900 you are paying for the name. Are you dead set on the small form factor? If not I suggest looking at something in a mid to full tower, you will get a lot more for your money.

 

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Some people seem to have problems regardless of who built the computer But seriously, I can't imagine alienware being the best bang for your buck. I tend to point family/friends to dell. To me, it doesn't seem that you pay extra for a brand name with them. I've always found that the computer I build are way more reliable because there is less software conflicts caused by bloatware. The biggest issue you have is making sure your hardware drivers are up to date upon initial build.

 

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