I am torn between computer builds.. any computer nerds available for opinion-n-talk?

[Trey Yeoman]

I have customized an Alienware Aurora and a Dell Studio XPS 9100... the first is 1,500 dollars and the second is 1,300 dollars. I am much MORE inclined to speand the lesser amount... but I am torn... here are the specs of both builds:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5 650 Dual Core 3.2GHz (4MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon™ HD 5770, 1GB GDDR5 edit
KEYBOARD No Keyboard edit
MOUSE No Mouse edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD edit
MEDIA READER 19-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
ENTHUSIAST ESSENTIALS Killer Xeno™ Pro edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
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Studio XPS

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability


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Now here is where I am torn... I can get an intel I7 processor on the XPS where as the alienware has i5... but it has a faster process speed... but I feel that a 2.9 ghz speed with an i7 is better than 3.2 with an i5... and on top of that... the xps has tri channel 12 gb of ddr3... while the alienware has dual channel... there is also a difference in cd drive speeds... and MB cache of the processors...
I only play world of warcraft... and other games that require no real epic graphics... but I feel that both of these machines would allow me to play WoW on epic settings... any opinions? Am I justified in getting the XPS for less money? Is it better or at least the same than the alienware? and if so... am I just paying so much more for the alienware for the name brand and fancy case?

[Freakie_frog]

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

[Egapal]

I have customized an Alienware Aurora and a Dell Studio XPS 9100... the first is 1,500 dollars and the second is 1,300 dollars. I am much MORE inclined to speand the lesser amount... but I am torn... here are the specs of both builds:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i5 650 Dual Core 3.2GHz (4MB Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz edit
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon™ HD 5770, 1GB GDDR5 edit
KEYBOARD No Keyboard edit
MOUSE No Mouse edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD edit
MEDIA READER 19-in-1 Media Card Reader edit
MONITOR No Monitor edit
ENTHUSIAST ESSENTIALS Killer Xeno™ Pro edit
SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio edit
OPTICAL DRIVE 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
------
Studio XPS

PROCESSORS Intel® Core™i7-930 processor(8MB L2 Cache, 2.80GHz)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
MEMORY 12GB Tri Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 6 DIMMs
VIDEO CARD ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB GDDR5
HARD DRIVE 1TB - 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 16X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability


----
Now here is where I am torn... I can get an intel I7 processor on the XPS where as the alienware has i5... but it has a faster process speed... but I feel that a 2.9 ghz speed with an i7 is better than 3.2 with an i5... and on top of that... the xps has tri channel 12 gb of ddr3... while the alienware has dual channel... there is also a difference in cd drive speeds... and MB cache of the processors...
I only play world of warcraft... and other games that require no real epic graphics... but I feel that both of these machines would allow me to play WoW on epic settings... any opinions? Am I justified in getting the XPS for less money? Is it better or at least the same than the alienware? and if so... am I just paying so much more for the alienware for the name brand and fancy case?

I really hate to burst your bubble but both systems are overkill in the extreme. The only thing that really matters when it comes to playing most games is a good dual core processor 3 or more GB of ram and the best video card you can afford. If you want to play the crazy intensive games you want 3 or more cores with more ram and the best video card you can afford. At the end of the day its your money but if I were you I wouldn't spend anywhere near that amount of money. Get something with 6 to 8 GB of ram, a decent processor and a great video card.

[Egapal]

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

Good points but, what do you think about those systems for playing WOW with the settings maxed out. What's your advice for that?

[Trey Yeoman]

Go with the i7 and overclock it to the 3.2 also the i5 may be faster GHZ wise but the i7 cache buffer is twice that of the i5. Plus the Tri-Channel memory depending on the brand can be out preformed buy two channel.. I just bought 8gb of OCZ two channel pc6400 800mhz that out preforms some tri-channel.. I think they are about even but I'd still go with the i7 processor..

I'd go with the i7..sometimes you are paying for the Alienware name more than you are the hardware they put in them..

that is what I have gotten from most people... they say that the expensiveness of the alienware is the case and liquid cooling you are getting And I have read a few articles about tri channel being just a little better than dual channel.

My current rig... which decided to die on me... has quad core phenom (at like.. 2.4 ghz) with 8 gb of ddr2 and ati radeon hd 4650... so th i7 would be much of an upgrade

[Freakie_frog]

Good points but, what do you think about those systems for playing WOW with the settings maxed out. What's your advice for that?

Like you said I think they are overkill or WOW if that's all you're going to be playing, Now if you're going to be feathering some Crysis, COD: Black OP's or Battlefield 2 then yea you're right there where you need to be video card is lacking SLI or sorry Crossfire since they are ATI.

But yea for WOW and only WOW overkill.

Buy a good HP or Dell Desk top with 4 GB of ram an i7 or i5 processor and save about 700.00 if all you're going to be doing is playing WOW..

[Trey Yeoman]

Like you said I think they are overkill or WOW if that's all you're going to be playing, Now if you're going to be feathering some Crysis, COD: Black OP's or Battlefield 2 then yea you're right there where you need to be video card is lacking SLI or sorry Crossfire since they are ATI.

But yea for WOW and only WOW overkill.

Buy a good HP or Dell Desk top with 4 GB of ram an i7 or i5 processor and save about 700.00 if all you're going to be doing is playing WOW..

well I own Black ops and teamfortress 2 and crysis... I just never got into them because my old rig didnt do much justice... playing at low settings... I have all of those games on steam...

[Trey Yeoman]

and is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB a decent card? there was an option for 5870... but for studio xps.. there wasnt an option for crossfire

[Freakie_frog]

well I own Black ops and teamfortress 2 and crysis... I just never got into them because my old rig didnt do much justice... playing at low settings... I have all of those games on steam...

LOL then if you're wanting to do them justice then the i7 with a few on-board tweaks is the way to go no doubt. But like I said if you have no real interest in playing them you can save yourself alot of money and get you a nice 26-32" monitor or 2-3 22" monitors.. It's all going to come down to what you're want to spend your money on.

[Freakie_frog]

and is ATI Radeon HD 5770 1024MB a decent card? there was an option for 5870... but for studio xps.. there wasnt an option for crossfire

The 5870 HD made Videocardbenckmark.net's top ten..

the 5770 scored a G3D of 1640 and is ranked #39 out of thousands so yea its a descent card.