Where to buy a high end gaming machine

[Chronictank]

Been getting alot of pm's regarding buying a new pc off the shelf and what to look for. Can i jsut stress that i don't make PC's professionally, i just have far too much free time at work when its quiet so tend to try to do something productive.
So here's a few off-the-shelf solutions for gaming rig's

Alienware
http://www.alienware.com/
By far the best in high quality machines but a bit on the pricey side
They hold 50% the market share so are pretty reliable

Voodoo PC
http://www.voodoopc.com/default.aspx
I stumbled over VoodooPC by accident but they are pretty nice.
Also very expensive, but use very high end products and dont have a low-end range like Alienware
They hold 15% the market share so are pretty well established

Falcon Northwest
http://www.falcon-nw.com
IMO Falcon machines look alot better than alienware and voodoopc,
and are the best value, but they tend to stick with the more common components than going out their way for the gear thats very rescently been released (i.e the space of a couple of weeks)

Remember the above reviews are for HIGH end gaming rigs, not normal desktop PC's.

 

[Naffets]

Could add savrow i guess, cant argue with a 4gb nand attachment on the hdd

 

[confused]

Personally I'd go to http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/full_systems.html As their High end systems are using the best of the best componants in each catagory, and also if you spec up the computer yourself to build the difference in the price is very limited... gifv "Ultima Extreme Crossfire X1900 XT-X" AMD Athlon 64 FX60 Dual DDR Silent System.
though some of the companys Chronic mentioned iirc can overclock your system from stock, yet give their own personal warentees

Edit: just specced the same (ish) system of the oveclockers one on both alienware and Falcon NW, prices were over £2k less

 

[confused]

nerf can't edit: Make that £3k+

 

[Cemeterygates]

imo vodoo are stupidly over priced....reading a review...an if i remmeber right....u pay about £1000 more than an area 51 (alienware)....for a full 3fps.....an some disadvantages....so err.....i think alienware owns them....i have an alien....nothing amazing....1gbRAM..256mb nvidia 7800gt gfx card.....2ghz amd athlon 64....an im more than pleased with it....handles anythin i use it for with ease...set me back about £1300 if i remember right...its the aurora 5500

 

[Konah]

build your own. save a fortune and enducate yourself at same time!

course if your lazy, super-rich and mildy retarded then... pay thru the ass for alienware et all

 

[Cemeterygates]

build your own. save a fortune and enducate yourself at same time!

course if your lazy, super-rich and mildy retarded then... pay thru the ass for alienware et all

ye they expensive...sure...but theres nothing wrong with them man....an if you dont have the know-how of building ur own an settin it up....if you got the money then alienware is prob the best option....vodoo is a no no....deffo no no....an area 51 has 3fps less than vodoo;s answer to the area 51....and it had advantages over it.....so if u gonna buy a nice system...alienware seems to be the best bet...an lets be realistic....u wanna fuck about with expensive kit when u dont know what ya doin??? if so....you aint right in the head....not aimed at you...just generaly speakin....if you dont know what ya doin with it...dont fuck around with it

 

[Naffets]

agree with konah

My system cost me ~900 quid, probably less. Including G15 keyboard, mx1000 mouse, 6.1 speakers, 19 inch 8ms tft, and ofc the base unit (Edit: Homemade system ofc)

A64 3700 @ 2.8ghz (~fx 57+)
1GB ocz memory
Abit AN8 Ultra
ATi X1800XL 256
Audigy 2 ZS
2 x 300gb sata hdd
Antec P180 SPCR case
580W modular PSU
16 x dual layer DVDRW

Find me a game i can't run at 1280 x 1024 at decent detail and then ill take that as good reason to buy a ready made system rather than build one

 

[Konah]

building a pc isnt rocket science, knowing which bits to buy is harder but all the research materials are right here online, if u care to look. including step by step building manuals etc.

but as i said if your lazy or rich or both then i agree theres nothing wrong with 'em

 

[Cemeterygates]

ye it aint rocket science....but take into account shipping costs of parts...not knowin how to configure them...an somethin goes wrong an you dont know the soulution...what do you do...with alienware...you got the tech support to fall back on for n00bs like me ....oh an konah....you forgot the "mildly retarded" bit

 

[Konah]

ye well.. just cant understand ppl paying 1-2000£ extra for alienware etc i guess. i would never ever buy a pre-made even if i worked 80hrs a week and was a multimillionaire

must be my scottish blood or smth

 

[Chronictank]

people wanted to buy pre-built stuff so i gave them a lsit of the more reputable companise that do all the over clokcing, optimising for you

 

[confused]

As I said, buying all the pieces separately from overclockers the same spec as their no. 1 crossfire rig is approx £350 cheaper than buying it pre built

 

[Lamp]

This isn't a bad set up

Silverstone TJ04 Black Tower case
Silverstone 600W PSU
Asus A8N32SLI Motherboard
AMD64 x 2 FX60 Socket 939
Zalman CNPS7000LED AMCU CPU cooler
Corsair TwinX 2048Mb 3500LL Pro
NVIDIA SLI with 4 x 7900 GPUs (see below !!)
WD1500ADFD Raptor 150Gig 1000rpm 16Mb Hard drive
Sony DRU820A Dual Layer DVD/RW
Creative Labs X-FI Elite Pro Sound Card
Apple Cinema HD 30 2560 x 1600 - Monitor

Total cost: £5,400


Four NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GPUs and an NVIDIA nForce4 SLI MCP combine to take NVIDIA SLI technology to the next level. 48 gigapixels/sec. of raw graphics performance and 6 teraflops of computing power. 96 pixel pipes and 2 GB of on-board graphics memory for stunning visual effects. Turn it ALL on. Run your favorite games at extreme HD resolutions. Crank up the resolution to an unbelievable 2560x1600 while maintaining silky smooth frame rates. 32x antialiasing and 16x anisotropic filtering. raise the bar for image quality. Maximize your shader and texture settings for a truly immersive gaming experience. Handcrafted for excellence like a Ferrari Enzo. Elite technology delivers performance in a class by itself.

 

[confused]

even at that screen rez a x1900 master and x1900xtx could easily cope with any game

 

[Yoshimo]

Four NVIDIA GeForce 7900 GPUs and an NVIDIA nForce4 SLI MCP combine to take NVIDIA SLI technology to the next level. 48 gigapixels/sec. of raw graphics performance and 6 teraflops of computing power. 96 pixel pipes and 2 GB of on-board graphics memory for stunning visual effects. Turn it ALL on. Run your favorite games at extreme HD resolutions. Crank up the resolution to an unbelievable 2560x1600 while maintaining silky smooth frame rates. 32x antialiasing and 16x anisotropic filtering. raise the bar for image quality. Maximize your shader and texture settings for a truly immersive gaming experience. Handcrafted for excellence like a Ferrari Enzo. Elite technology delivers performance in a class by itself.

imagine the resolution you could get on porn!