Alienware has injected life into the Aurora line with a new gaming rig fitted with quad-core AMD Phenom 9850 processors, your choice of ATI Radeon 3870 X2, HD3850, or HD3870 graphics cards (single or CrossFire configuration), up to 4GB Dual Channel DDR2, and tons of HDD space. Naturally, tricking this thing out with all of the higher-end options is going to make the price ridiculous in a hurry, but a $999 base is about as good as it will get for an Alienware. [Alienware via PC Mag]
Alienware's Updated Aurora Gaming Desktop Starts at $999
8:30 PM on Tue Apr 15 2008
By Sean Fallon
8,360 views
43 comments











Comments
Is it just me or does Alien Ware still have the ugliest cases in the business. Every time I see one out in the wild, it just looks weird.
Pretty sweet.
@Balance_In_Life (PSN): lol! I agree.
But will it run Vista (Crysis is getting old)?
@Mandatory_Field: Please, Crysis NEVER gets old!
I checked the site (just for kicks) and they are charging $450 to upgrade to a phenom 9850 over an athlon 5200+ and $200 to upgrade to a HD3870 over the HD3850, thats rediculous! (a phenom 9850 costs about $240 and an ATI HD3870 costs around $200)
I didn't know TYCO made computers.. sweet.
@gamecrazychris: Caveat emptor, people should learn to build their own so they don't get screwed by suppliers.
Besides, as noted, that is one ugly ass case, I prefer my Stacker 830, that thing is a tank.
@gamecrazychris:
Thats crazy. And just look at the case.
When I decide to buy a gaming pc, I'm going to make it myself. Not just for aesthetics, but I want to mix and match the best components that I can find for the price.
I refuse to just use some limited array of crap that a company says I can choose from.
I guess the case is supposed to look like an Alien? Can't imagine anyone older than 12 wanting this...
psh, the phenom pails in comparison to the latest penryn chips from intel.
When I was like 14 I dreamed of Alienware, then I discovered Newegg, and the fact that I can get the same performance, better cooling, and a cooler case for less.
@Evangelion: Lol. I mean in an Internet "meme" sense -- I'm just (shhh don't tell anyone) not a gamer....
yeah. anyone that knows how to build their own computer knows that retailers or even e-tailers such as Alienware (or should i say ESPECIALLY Alienware) are a ripoff. i mean seriously.... who the hell needs drive bay lighting? and if one DID need such lighting.... you could buy two LED's and a bit of wire for what.... $2-3?
lafond: i don't remember Penryn being out yet. and from what i've heard, for someone who isn't planning on overclocking, the Phenom X4 9850 is just about as fast as the Q6600.... maybe even slightly faster. the main part where Intel picks up the pace is with their overclocking.
I really...really....loathe doors on the front of a computer that aren't flush/recessed when open.
@ElementalDragon: apparently you haven't been reading Giz much lately or been computer shopping. Even notebooks likes Dell's XPS line and Apple's MBP have Penryn chips.
@mechfluff: I used to own an Alienware laptop. Its more of a notebook, that heavy ass thing would "cook the boys" sitting on my lap since it got so hot. For $3,000 I got a re-branded Uniwill laptop. However, they do provide excellent (compared to other companies) customer service. I now stick to building my own PCs for gaming, and have a thin and light laptop for portability. If you really need to, you can buy the Alienware case on e-bay.
It looks better on the inside than the outside! I can appreciate their cable management there, but dang that case needs a paper bag over its head.
No way you need to spend that much for one of these, then get stuck with ATI for video and the power-hungry Phenom.
@pdok: It doesn't even have a window to show off those fancy orange heatsinks.
And to the guy about the case door, I can't stand bulky plastic doors either.
That case is super gay. Antec P182 FTW.
@Mandatory_Field: lol! Ok! Don't worry, I won't tell anyone...
That exhaust outlet is super restrictive will no doubt make the system louder, and warmer to boot.
@stevehp: Clearly... *rolls eyes*
Just when you think you've finally managed to get a girl to have sex with you she sees your Alienware computer and runs the other way.
@lafond66: pails? Don't you mean phails? :)
the case looks immensely gaudy but inside it looks really tidy. Still, one could more than likely do a much better job if they built their own. But hey, if alienware didn't make computers for rich folks who really know nothing about high performance computing, who would be left for us to tell that they have been ripped off by about $1500+?
Good thing Alienware customer service isn't worth .0001% of the cost of thier computers... Like FinalValgas said: build your own.
the CPU cooler looks cools, like a Geiger thingie...
I'm sure that anyone who knows anything about computers realizes by now that Alienware may be the most overrated, overpriced company in the PC building business.
They are for geek fanboiz that want to feel "cool" because they dropped 5k on a pc.
Even if you don't build your own, there is plenty of good performance PC's out there for much cheaper.
i'm not such a pc expert and i tought alienware was pretty sweet until now :D p.s.: i want to build a new rig and i don't know where to start ...helppls?:(
@thesum: You have to admit they would make you feel pretty sweet. If you had the money and bought a tricked out one.
On-board audio?
Come on, now. That's not even trying.
Yeah, but does it come with a Monitor to match? For something that looks that insanely cool, it'd be a shame to do without a monitor to match, same for a keyboard and mouse. Not bad though, the specs are pretty damn good for $999.
I don't get these cases.
It's like they're assuming PC gamers are all 10 years old and hooked on Manga.
As a 41 year-old adult male the last thing I want to see is the case.
The VERY last thing I want to see is THIS case.
Stake that shit out on a piece of frakkin' PLYWOOD, or dump it in a cardboard box. I don't care.
Just make it fast, make it quiet, and make it invisible, in that order.
Gimme the big show ON MY MONITOR.
ERMMMMMMM .....I,m 56 and I love that case
@fastmike: Okay, okay.
My wife just hassled me for that line too, reminding me that not all hot rods are sleepers.
Yeah she is incredibly cool, but she has a good point. I shouldn't dump on it...at all.
By all means, to each his own. I'm sorry.
@strider_mt2k: I'm with you on this one. Don't get the whole case thing either. Hell the case my pc is in has no side on it and the door on the front turned out to be such a pain in the ass i tore it off! I was thinking about spraying it in flat black, adding some pinstripping and calling it a rat pc :)
@strider_mt2k: I have a thermaltake XASER 3.... now that IS ugly
Ass ugly. IMO, case doors = auto fail. Give me a clean Lian Li doorless case any day.
Talk about overrated, go with your Lian LI. Biggest waste of money next to the Alienware.
You want a sweet looking case build your own like I did. My other comp is a 1u rackmount bolted to the bottom of my desk, making it almost invisible!
On a positive note the innerds are gorgeous! Well done in that respect alienware.
I'm sure you guys like building your piece of crap desktop and try to save a few bucks. An alienware is actually cheaper than a dell with the same specs. The biggest ripoff are the voodoo.
@vertibraker: I would put my computer that I built up against anything Alienware or any of the other gaming computer manufacturers puts out.
@gqcarrick: Do we really have to go into the 'I can build it cheaper" argument again? I mean there are gamers out there who want to game on the PC, but don't want to be involved with building one. I love console gaming and generally prefer to play it because I don't have to be a geek, price shop and build the console. On the other hand though I really enjoy RTS games and they are just not that good on the consoles.
Not every PC gamer has to be a graphics whore or have the skills of a PC technician to enjoy gaming. I for one would like to purchase a reasonably price machine, take it out of the box and start playing some games.
@gqcarrick: No one cares. As M.A.S. says it's the same old same old response we see every time. It was old the first time anyone ever bothered to post it.
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