Tag Archives: aurora

dell

The Alienware is finally here!!

7 Comments

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

Dell Exchange *Update*

2 Comments

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

Dell Exchange Hardware Update

Leave a comment

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 🙂

dell

Dell Exchange

2 Comments

Thanks to my dog and water – my XPS 730 finally kicked the bucket and having issues. Since I have complete care on the system (a must have by the way), they agreed to replace the system with “a like or better” model. Now since they don’t make the XPS 730 any longer it either had to be a Alienware (recently bought out by Dell) or a Studio XPS desktop. I was very worried thinking I could actually get “worse” (a lot of times they don’t go by the model, just GB, MB, or GHz). Well after waiting around 2 weeks to hear something from them I noticed a new order in my list. It was for a Alienware Aurora!!

Now compared to my XPS there are few draw backs…1) The video card is less powerful (260 vs 280), 2) the PSU is less powerful (1000w vs 875w), 3) no built-in bluetooth, and 4) the motherboard is smaller in regards to open slots. I could cancel this and get my money back from the XPS, or I can keep this system and be happy with the upgraded features of this system. Its hard choice since I need the money right now, like anyone else, but since I don’t have a desktop I most likely will keep this one.

I will follow up once I get the system with pictures, and maybe a video… 🙂

Here are the specs:

1 224-6493 Alienware Aurora Desktop
1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install
1 313-8322 Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis, 875W PSU
1 313-8750 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
1 313-8767 Dual Drives: Blu-ray Disc (BD) Combo (BD-ROM; DVD/CD Burner) and DVD-ROM
1 313-8948 Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
1 317-1886 Overclocked Intel Core i7 975 Extreme (3.6GHz, 8MB Cache)
1 317-1891 6GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
1 317-1904 Alienware High-Performance Liquid Cooling
1 317-2818 Accessory Kit, Aurora, Eng
1 320-0862 Single 1.8GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260
1 320-7810 No Monitor
1 330-4769 Dell Resource DVD with Application Backup
1 330-6348 Automatic Updates:
1 330-6517 No Mouse
1 330-6518 No Keyboard
1 341-0436 300GB – SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 10k RPM, 16MB Cache HDD
1 410-0312 McAfee VirusScan Plus 15 Month Subscription (English)
1 410-1867 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANG
1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic
1 421-0974 CYBERLINK PDVD 8.0 ANW
1 421-0975 NERO 9, ANW
1 421-1424 Alienhead 3D
1 421-1721 Soft Contracts,Banktec Care,Alienware
1 421-2064 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
1 430-0637 1505 PCIe WLAN card with11n mini-Card & external antenna