My Gaming Rig Died Last Night

[SDon1969]

Last I turned on my desktop PC. It seemed to crank up normally, except that the monitor stayed black forever. I had to do a hard shut down (held the power button in), and on my second attempt - nothing happened. No sound, just silence on every attempt to power up. Sounds like my power supply is kaputt. The HDD green light comes on but that's it.

This is an Alienware Area 51 from Feb 2001. So I figure I got my money's worth out of it, and this must be a sign for me to finally upgrade it (along with the ancient and huge 19" CRT monitor I've been meaning to replace).

I'd LOVE to stay with Alienware, but I'd have to spend at least $1400 for even their lower end systems (an Aurora, as opposed to an Area 51).

I don't game on my PC anymore (addicted to PS3 and 360 console gaming now), so I am probably being greedy by wanting another Alienware.

Any more economical suggestions? Dell perhaps?

[SDon1969]

Looks like Dell bought Alienware or something, they're one in the same now (as far as websites/purchasing).

I went ahead and ordered the Alienware Aurora (except my lighting will be "Terra Green" and not the red shown below). Now I'll have to wait for about a month for them to build it!

[DJ Manyak]

Originally Posted by SDon1969

Last I turned on my desktop PC. It seemed to crank up normally, except that the monitor stayed black forever. I had to do a hard shut down (held the power button in), and on my second attempt - nothing happened. No sound, just silence on every attempt to power up. Sounds like my power supply is kaputt. The HDD green light comes on but that's it.

This is an Alienware Area 51 from Feb 2001. So I figure I got my money's worth out of it, and this must be a sign for me to finally upgrade it (along with the ancient and huge 19" CRT monitor I've been meaning to replace).

I'd LOVE to stay with Alienware, but I'd have to spend at least $1400 for even their lower end systems (an Aurora, as opposed to an Area 51).

I don't game on my PC anymore (addicted to PS3 and 360 console gaming now), so I am probably being greedy by wanting another Alienware.

Any more economical suggestions? Dell perhaps?

only 3 issues when something like this happens

power supply , video card , or mobo

[Leopold BUTTERS]

You should build your own for cheaper. It's very simple to do.

[xtop]

didn't give us much time to talk you out of it did ya

[Leopold BUTTERS]

wow that was fast. What parts are in the Build and how much did it cost?

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Leopold BUTTERS

You should build your own for cheaper. It's very simple to do.

+1. Looks like you impulse bought another Alienware lol. If I were you, I'd custom build something that will outperform the Alienware for cheaper. And it doesn't take a month to build, it will take like an hour or 2.

How much was your new tower? Specs?

[Leopold BUTTERS]

Originally Posted by tbizzle

+1. Looks like you impulse bought another Alienware lol. If I were you, I'd custom build something that will outperform the Alienware for cheaper. And it doesn't take a month to build, it will take like an hour or 2.

How much was your new tower? Specs?

Did you build your PC? What specs do you have?

[Seeking_Alpha]

Originally Posted by SDon1969

Looks like Dell bought Alienware or something, they're one in the same now (as far as websites/purchasing).

I went ahead and ordered the Alienware Aurora (except my lighting will be "Terra Green" and not the red shown below). Now I'll have to wait for about a month for them to build it!

Share your specs.

And all the people who are gonna say "shoulda built it yourself," he bought it already. He did it less than a day after his old rig died which mean he wasn't the least bit inclined to try. Some people build some don't and that's fine.

And the best way to christen your new rig is with some Mass Effect 2 goodness:





It is very good. I played 31 hours and loved every second.

[tbizzle]

Originally Posted by Leopold BUTTERS

Did you build your PC? What specs do you have?

Yeah I built mine. It's not not top of the line by any means, but a damn good gaming PC that I'm happy with.

Antec 900 case
Thermaltake 700w PS
MSI 9600GT
WD 500GB HD
Foxconn Destroyer MB
AMD Dual-core 3.0GHz 6000+
Coolermaster V8
4 GB's ram
Hanns·G 28" HD Monitor

[doctorD]

Yeah, you could have built a lot better system for the price you payed. Actually you could have spent a lot less and built the system you are getting with the Alienware. That way if anything went wrong, like the motherboard you wouldn't have to be at the mercy of the manufacturer to replace it for $400 or $500. This is something a friend of mine ran into. I actually talked him into building a new machine.

[SDon1969]

Thanks for the support, Alpha! Leopold, it is $1438 but after tax & shipping it is $1541. I hear you all on the build-it-yourself deal, I just don't have the desire, time, and I have been out of the PC loop for years so I'd surely run into some trouble. Plus, my Area 51 lasted 9 years and I guess I'm an Alienware fan now. Besides, this Aurora costs less than half of what I paid for my Area 51 in 2001. Since Dell bought 'em, they seem a little less costly.

Here's the specs:
Intel i7 Core 920 (2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache)
3GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
Alienware Keyboard & Mouse
21.5" Dell Monitor ST2210
1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 240
500 GB SATA II HDD
Lunar Shadow Chassis
Alienware Liquid Cooling
875W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home
AlienFX Lighting (Terra Green)
24X CD/DVD Burner
Soundblaster X-Fi

Originally Posted by xtop

didn't give us much time to talk you out of it did ya

Haha, guilty as charged. Build time is a month and I guess my refund was burning a hole in my pocket.

[Seeking_Alpha]

Originally Posted by SDon1969

Thanks for the support, Alpha! Leopold, it is $1438 but after tax & shipping it is $1541. I hear you all on the build-it-yourself deal, I just don't have the desire, time, and I have been out of the PC loop for years so I'd surely run into some trouble. Plus, my Area 51 lasted 9 years and I guess I'm an Alienware fan now. Besides, this Aurora costs less than half of what I paid for my Area 51 in 2001. Since Dell bought 'em, they seem a little less costly.

Here's the specs:
Intel i7 Core 920 (2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache)
3GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
Alienware Keyboard & Mouse
21.5" Dell Monitor ST2210
1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 240
500 GB SATA II HDD
Lunar Shadow Chassis
Alienware Liquid Cooling
875W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home
AlienFX Lighting (Terra Green)
24X CD/DVD Burner
Soundblaster X-Fi



Haha, guilty as charged. Build time is a month and I guess my refund was burning a hole in my pocket.

Great deal, better than what I expected. And that can run Mass Effect 2 just fine

Hmm I might pick up one of those Alienware M11x's when I get my refund. Or get a fermi card and a 256 gb SSD for my rig. Decisions decisions...

[Leopold BUTTERS]

Originally Posted by SDon1969

Thanks for the support, Alpha! Leopold, it is $1438 but after tax & shipping it is $1541. I hear you all on the build-it-yourself deal, I just don't have the desire, time, and I have been out of the PC loop for years so I'd surely run into some trouble. Plus, my Area 51 lasted 9 years and I guess I'm an Alienware fan now. Besides, this Aurora costs less than half of what I paid for my Area 51 in 2001. Since Dell bought 'em, they seem a little less costly.

Here's the specs:
Intel i7 Core 920 (2.66 GHz, 8MB Cache)
3GB Triple Channel 1067MHz DDR3
Alienware Keyboard & Mouse
21.5" Dell Monitor ST2210
1GB Nvidia GeForce GTS 240
500 GB SATA II HDD
Lunar Shadow Chassis
Alienware Liquid Cooling
875W Power Supply
Windows 7 Home
AlienFX Lighting (Terra Green)
24X CD/DVD Burner
Soundblaster X-Fi



Haha, guilty as charged. Build time is a month and I guess my refund was burning a hole in my pocket.

You should overclock your CPU, you could get it to 3.8 stable without any problems at all. it would be really easy too