PC Question

I'm looking to replace my old laptop with a PC. I plan on hooking this PC up to my television and stereo as a media PC for playing movie, music, web surfing, DVD ripping and host my 2 2G Apple TVs.

Which one of the two would you go with?

#1
Studio XPS 9100
$1,204.79 Processors: Intel® CoreTMi7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz) Memory: 6GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 3 DIMMs Keyboard: Dell Wireless Desktop Keyboard and Mouse Monitor: No Monitor Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 Hard Drive: 1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English Mouse: Mouse included in Wireless, Laser or Bluetooth Package Network Card: Standard USB 2.0 + 10/100/1000 Ethernet Modem: No Dial Up Modem Option Adobe Software: Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 9.0 Multi-Language Optical Drives: Blu-ray Combo Drive (8X BD-R, DVD+/-RW) with DVD+R double layer write capability Sound: THX® TruStudio PC™ Speakers: No Speaker Option Wireless: Dell 1525 Wireless-N PCIe Card

#2
Alienware Aurora-R3
$1,188.72 Processors: Intel® Core™ i7-2600K (8MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz Memory: 6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz Keyboard: Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard Monitors: No Monitor Video Card: 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache Chassis Color: Matte Stealth Black Chassis with 525W Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English Mouse: Alienware Optical Mouse, MG100 Network Card: 802.11n Wi-Fi and Bluetooth 2.1 EDR USB Combo Adapter AlienFX: AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue Adobe Reader Software: Adobe Acrobat Reader Optical Drive: Single Drive: Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW) Sound Card: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates: Enabled Security Software: McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Days Hardware Support Services: 1 Year Basic Service Plan Cooling Option: Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling

 

Save your money and learn to build your own!

If you wish, I can help... Been building my own systems for almost 20 years!

 

Custom built > any Dell non-mobile (IE: laptops, netbooks, etc)

 

Most likely not the same PC because you would have known that you were installing quality components. Dell only puts decent motherboards in their top of the line machines and still they aren't the greatest.

 

I assume if you're wanting a true media pc you would also want a tuner card or a hdhomerun unit. Currently I am only using my computer for downloaded content only and feeding my receiver through an hdmi on my video card. I have a dvi cable feeding my computer monitor. I have a tuner card so I can record programs and the like with WMC which I was doing before we moved into the new house. I need to build a media pc for the TV downstairs so everything can be tied together.

Also, I would run a separate drive for the OS and a really big drive for storage of media because it will fill up fast. The Dell is set up in a RAID 0 config with 2 500 gb drives which I don't think is ideal. I would run an SSD for your OS and a 1.5 TB or larger drive for media storage.

One of the biggest things I try to do is build and ultra quiet machine. I get super quiet fans and power supplies.

 

For the money a mac mini makes a great multimedia PC. It is under a grand and has an HDMI port. It will rock! Considering the small form factor that fits right in to your AV equipment setup it can't be beat.

 

Bargain basement machines will always be cheaper, since Dell buys their parts by the thousands...

The OP is looking for what will essentially be a HTPC, which an OEM machine *can* do, but there are so many more options that Dell (or any other OEM for that matter!) cannot even begin to provide. Especially components tailored to run extremely cool and quiet, so as to not disturb your entertainment!

Plus, bargain basement systems come with bargain basement warranties... by the time you upgrade the warranty duration to that of what most individual parts carry, the value is completely lost in buying a system from Dell.

Now, this is for a home user... when it comes to a business setting, in all but the most specific circumstances you should always stick to a major OEM.

This is coming from someone who resells and supports plenty of Dells as part of my business, FWIW...

 

I know, I wasn't trying to discredit that... Just pointing out that a custom system will typically exceed most OEM systems for the same price, or less.

 

Custom built is the cheapest/best.

But I would go with option 2, the alienware.
It has better specs, and is watercooled. The core i7 2600k is a beast of a cpu, it can overclocked to 4.4ghz easily, and since you have water cooling with that, maybe around 4.8? 5.0 if you're a good overclocker.

And everything else in general in the pc looks to be better than the first option from my point of view.

 

Maybe everyone already knows, but Dell owns Alienware. Building process is almost identical. I agree I prefer to build my own machines, but between the two I like the Alienware, its a matter of prefrence and I like the Nvidia based cards.

 

Of your two choices I'd go with #2 but only after making some changes to the specs... Let's go through these specs:

#1
Studio XPS 9100 Price: $1,204.79

Processors: Intel® CoreTMi7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz) Much lower throughput then the i7 2600k

Memory: 6GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz- 3 DIMMs Better performance then the dual-channel - but have to upgrade RAM in groups of three, bummer

Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5 Great card

Hard Drive: 1TB Performance RAID 0 (2 x 500GB SATA 3Gb/s 7200 RPM HDDs) Better off with a single 1TB, try to go for a 10k rpm drive

Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Ughh, not great. Better upgrade to Ultimate or Media Center

Sound: THX® TruStudio PC™ Basic/decent sound

#2
Alienware Aurora-R3 Price: $1,188.72

Processors: Intel® Core™ i7-2600K (8MB Cache) Overclocked Turbo Boost to 3.9GHz Great CPU, good choice

Memory: 6GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz Kind of weak, tri-channel is better throughput for gaming

Video Card: 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 A sad little card - not great at all - the GTX 285 is a better card by far

Hard Drive: 1TB SATA 3Gb/s (7,200RPM) 32MB Cache Chassis I'd opt for a 10k rpm drive if available but the capacity is good

Operating System: Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, Very limited. Try to upgrade to Ultimate or Media Center edition

Sound Card: Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio Standard/Default