Just in the nick of time [H]ard|OCP purchased and tested an AlienWare Aurora 550. They managed to miss buying a DELL by a matter of days, although the recent sale may give them a reason to buy another AlienWare machine in the future, and test them head to head.
“We purchased the Aurora 5500, the baseline AMD-based gaming computer from Alienware. Among the mid-range of Alienware’s offerings, the Aurora 5500 is marketed towards gamers but it could also be a good family computer. The computer may be a bit pricey (and bulky) to suit many college students, but configured properly, the 5500 could make a very good mid-range general purpose machine.Our configuration, however, was beyond what many families would consider for a computer these days. We paid a total of $1,939.00, including $104 shipping via FedEx air. This included a 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 7800GT, which was a steep, $192 upgrade from the 6600GT that was offered as the base video card in the configuration.”
Here are some more Systems articles from around the web:
- PC Upgrade Planning: 2006 Edition @ ExtremeTech
- System Builders Guide @ TweakTown
- Building Your Own Computer (DIY) Guide @ Legit Reviews
- Gaming System Specs Guide for the Casual Gamer @ Short-Media.com
- Sun’s T2000 “Coolthreads” Server: First Impressions and Experiences @ AnandTech
- Quiet DIY OC’ed Pentium D 830 System @ SPCR