Dell XPS or Alienware for Gaming?

Feb 27, 2022
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I am looking for advise based on experience between Dell XPS and Alienware. I have an old XPS that I've updated over the years but it's not up to the games I'm trying to play now. ARK Survival I have to play at the lowest setting and Elden Ring won't even run because my GPU is too old for v12 DirectX, and even some older games I have to disable shadows, etc.

I'm an IT guy and capable of building my own but have no interest in that. I've been a Dell user at home and at work for years, I'm comfortable with the equipment, etc. I am not interested in any build your own suggestions, just not interested. I know my choice will cost more, don't care.

Here's the dilemma. For about the same cost I can get a XPS with every upgraded component I can choose from the website. Or, I can get an Alienware that is as good without the upgrades.

In this situation I'm thinking that the Alienware may be designed with superior cooling and airflow. I wonder about the XPS cooling after I finish adding every high performance thing I can to it. Just because the website says it's possible doesn't make it a good decision.

I had an Alienware years ago when they were still Alienware. Nice machine, ran games great, water cooled, dual GPU's, had the occasional plumbing problem to fix, replaced the power supply once. I have no idea what has happened since Dell bought them, assume things are more reliable and standard, could be wrong.

If anyone has dealt with either a fully packed XPS or modern Alienware I'll appreciate hearing what you think about them.
 

COLGeek

Moderator
Dell/Alienware builds a decent game rig and there is nothing wrong with them. PC builders will nearly always snub our noses at a pre-built.

However, given GPU prices, builders like Dell can sell them cheaper in builds than most users can buy these days. Dell/Alienwares also tend to last forever.

Go for it, if you so desire. Not a wrong decision to make.
 
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Feb 27, 2022
2
1
15
Visit site
Dell/Alienware builds a decent game rig and there is nothing wrong with them. PC builders will nearly always snub our noses at a pre-built.

However, given GPU prices, builders like Dell can sell them cheaper in builds than most users can buy these days. Dell/Alienwares also tend to last forever.

Go for it, if you so desire. Not a wrong decision to make.

I completely agree with your assessment on the GPU price. I looked around for a modern nvidia for my existing XPS and if you can find them, they are stupidly expensive. I know what you mean about the nose snubbing, appreciate the response.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Brian Boru
Dell/Alienware builds a decent game rig and there is nothing wrong with them. PC builders will nearly always snub our noses at a pre-built.

However, given GPU prices, builders like Dell can sell them cheaper in builds than most users can buy these days. Dell/Alienwares also tend to last forever.

Go for it, if you so desire. Not a wrong decision to make.
Probably due to the fact most prebuilts are hose jobs. Here's an example. This build has DDR5 which is a plus and a minus. DDR5 will eventually be mainstream but for now it has horrible latency and loses out more times than naught to DDR4 in gaming (FPS). This build also has an i9-12900 which is a plus for video editing, photoshop, etc ... but only nets you a few more FPS than an i7-12700 due to the fact both of those cpu's have the same amount of P-cores (8). So for almost $2700 the buyer is getting a gaming build with an RTX 3070, a no name 750w psu, a no name (B660?) motherboard, a 1TB SSD and a case that looks like it was made for an office build.

https://www.dell.com/en-us/shop/desktop-computers/new-xps-desktop/spd/xps-8950-desktop/xd8950adl40h
DELL New XPS Desktop $2,679.99

12th Generation Intel Core i9-12900 (30MB cache, 16 cores, 20 threads, 2.40 GHz to 5.10 GHz Turbo)

videocard
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, 8 GB GDDR6, LHR

memory
32 GB, 2 x 16 GB, DDR5, 4400 MHz; up to 128 GB (add'l mem sold separately)

harddrive
1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD (Boot) + 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (Storage)

psu & case
750W Platinum Silver Bezel Chassis including optical drive
 
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https://www.newegg.com/black-lian-li-lancool-ii-rgb-mesh-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-000Z-00088
LIAN LI LANCOOL II MESH C RGB BLACK $109.99

Exhaust fan for that case.

https://www.amazon.com/Phanteks-SK120-DRGB-PWM-PH-F120SK_DRGB_PWM/dp/B08C2FB7D2/
Phanteks DRGB PWM 120mm 4-Pin Case Fan $12.99

https://www.antonline.com/Evga/Computers/Video_Cards/Graphic_Cards/1444451
EVGA RTX 3070 Ti 8GB FTW3 ULTRA Gaming LHR Graphics Card + EVGA SuperNOVA 850W GA 80 Plus Gold Power Supply + EVGA Z12 RGB USB 2.0 Gaming Keyboard + Xbox Game Pass For PC 2 Month Membership (Email Delivery) $1,049.96

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-TUF-H670-PRO-D4-Motherboard/dp/B09NWFPC34/
ASUS TUF Gaming H670-PRO WiFi D4 $229.00

Intel Core i7-12700F $315.97

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-Liquid-Freezer-LGA1700-Upgrade/dp/B09MRTXRSD/
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 ARGB AIO + Intel LGA1700 Mounting Kit $102.99

Kingston FURY Renegade RGB DDR4 3600MHz 32GB (2x16GB) CL16 $159.99

Windows SSD

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07M7Q21N7
SAMSUNG 970 EVO Plus SSD 500GB M.2 NVMe Internal SSD $64.99

Storage SSD

https://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-Inch-Internal-MZ-77E2T0B-AM/dp/B08QB93S6R/
Samsung 870 EVO 2TB 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD $239.99

https://www.amazon.com/Window-Flash-Upgrade-Windоws-available/dp/B09Q8RBL2G/
Window 10 Home USB | 1 PC | Free Upgrade to Windоws 11 $109.00

Total: $2395

A better look at those components.

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2700f-processor-25m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-GAMING-H670-PRO-WIFI-D4/

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-ii-mesh-rgb/
 
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