From me and my family I wish you and your family a safe and Happy Holiday season.
Monthly Archives: December 2009
The Alienware is finally here!!
Well, after waiting, and waiting – its here!
So far, so good. Since then I upgraded swapped the video card out to the GTX 280 from the GTX 260, and I had no choice, but to upgrade the sound card as well. The sound card that was included was really bad. After looking at all the reviews, it turns out the the card that was included was a rebranded Audigy 2 card. You can read some of the reviews: http://us.store.creative.com/Sound-Blaster-XFi-Xtreme-Audio-PCI/M/B000W7PNZI.htm
As others have stated, it does awhile to boot, but I don’t mind that. On HL2 based games (source), I usually get around 250 FPS on 1680×1050 22in screen with AA on 4x. However that can vary based on what I am looking at.
Also, the system itself responds very well to the prime95 stress test. The cpu never gets above 72C, and it remains “cool” at idle at around 45C or so. Keep in mind that these numbers can vary. Right now, its close to 65F in the room where the system is at.
Vantage:
Graphics Score 10825
CPU Score 48305
3DMark Score P13431 3DMarks
Quick Specs:
Alienware Aurora Desktop
Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis, 875W PSU
Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (BD-ROM; DVD/CD Burner) and DVD-ROM
Sound Blaster X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional (Updated)
Overclocked Intel Core i7 975 Extreme (3.6GHz, 8MB Cache)
6GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Single 1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 (Updated)
2x 300GB – SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 10k RPM, 16MB Cache HDD (Updated)
Western Digital Black 1TB HD , 7200 RPM (Added)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English (Now Ultimate)
I took some pictures. Hope you all enjoy! Any questions, just ask! (Click on a picture once to get it by itself, then once again to get it bigger.)
Dell Exchange *Update 2*
Well, after waiting for quite a bit – the system has finally shipped and should be here soon…I can’t wait!!! Thank you Dell…
On another note, I do feel really bad about those people waiting for there systems. Its a shame that they have to wait so long 🙁
Dell Exchange *Update 1*
Well, it hasn’t been that long since my last post, however apparently the delay is not my imagination.
There have been posts of the AW delays on Dell’s AW forum. However some have reported to receive theres. Which lets one to believe there is a shortage of parts. However no one knows which parts are having supply issues… You call support and they say “we have no shortage of parts”, but if that is the case – why are people waiting months for their AW?
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/3746.aspx
On another note, I spoke to Dell corp and I have someone assigned to my case now. The agent will work with me closely till this issue is resolved. I just hope it gets resolved before Christmas.
Dell Exchange *Update*
Well, its been one week so far since the initial contact and system build process.
Desktop is still in production with no estimated shipping date:
Estimated Delivery Date: Data Temporarily Unavailable
Phone number also produces no results, since it bounces you between different days. One say it ships tomorrow, then next it says next year… (even if you call back to back). So thats not really 100% reliable.
Website status:
Order Status: In Production
I will update once I hear more. Have a nice weekend everyone and enjoy the warm weather when you can!
Dell Exchange Hardware Update
Well my system hasn’t shipped yet, and according to a few people it has a 10 day wait, so I will get it eventually (I hope). However thats not the reason for the post 😛
One of the issues I had with the exchange was the lower-end video card. Well, according to Dell (2 different agents) I can use my existing card, the GTX 280, in this new box and ship the other back to dell. So thats one less worry 🙂