I think for me the Alienware AMD spec is right out - because of options like the Cyberpower. The Alienware Intel spec as currently configured is also out because it doesn't really offer enough extra performance to be worth it over the Cyberpower spec. While a beefed up Intel Alienware spec is a possibility but unlikely to be worth the insane price premium versus alternatives.
You'd be saving me $200 bucks before taxes so I'd be thrilled. But what could be added to this PC for that extra $200 to make it even better.
it's a fixed spec that you can't customise, so you can't add stuff to it before buying it. You could add things to it afterwards but unless you need more storage there wouldn't be anything worth it.
if you buy a PC and start replacing things in it almost immediately you probably bought the wrong PC - and you're paying for things twice over.
Arguably the best thing to do with the $200 is pocket them towards inevitable future upgrades in 2-4 years.
So the Ryzen CPU is better than the i7?
No, but it's not always quite as simple as that.
Of the two PCs you posted, the Alienware ones, the Intel build also has a somewhat better graphics card, the Nvidia RTX 2070 Super.
If you gave the Ryzen build a 2070 Super (Dell don't let you, but let's say you could) then that would close the performance gap. The system with the Intel CPU would still outperform an otherwise-identical system with the Ryzen CPU in gaming, but how much would depend on the game and settings. In most cases the difference would be marginal.
Although note that the CPU is the 10700F, not the K or KF which boost 300MHz higher.
At general market prices you'd see in most stores, the Intel CPU + motherboard will be more expensive than the Ryzen CPU and motherboard. Also, where Intel CPUs can further increase their performance margin over AMD's Ryzen lineup (i.e. if you really do want to squeeze out every last drop of performance you can) is in overclocking. Overclocking requires a CPU with an unlocked multiplier, which in real terms for Intel means it has a -K in the name. e.g. i7 10700K rather than i7 10700. -F means the CPU has no integrated graphics, which isn't usually a big deal.
Overclocking will also want decent CPU cooling - the low profile standard cooler in the Alienware wouldn't cut it, and I've no idea what their liquid CPU cooler is and whether it'd be suitable / ideal, either.
You can overclock AMD CPUs too, but in short there's less mileage in it - Intel CPUs tend to have more performance on the table you can pick up with an overclock.
So you either:
- End up with the i7 10700/F (non-K) which you can't overclock, which would probably be a little faster than the Ryzen CPU, but not wildly, and probably not worth any price premium. That feels, at least to me, like an unsatisfactory half way house between value and squeezing every drop of performance. And costs $200 more than the Cyberpower thing off bestbuy. Which is a lot for performance gains you might not be able to perceive.
- Or, you need to sink yet more money into the Intel build to get it overclocked - which gets very expensive on Alienware and I can't tell you if Alienware's mobo and cooling and the PSU are any good for the task either.
By then, that's getting on for $400 over the ~$1350 Cyberpower thing, which doesn't really sound worth it for, maybe, a 10% framerate difference, probably less much of the time. And even if it is worth it, why buy from Alienware when anywhere else will sell you the same sort of thing for usually a lower price, and with more freedom of component choice.
I also noticed the build you recommended has a liquid cooler, I was just about to ask if that was a better option, which of course raised the price of my build.
It depends - there are lots of different designs of air and liquid cooling. Some air coolers are better than some liquid coolers. I've no idea what Dell's liquid coolers are like. A lot of PCs at this sort of price point will sport 240mm all-in-one liquid coolers, which will generally be adequate to the task, even with a slight overclock.
The stock air cooler on the Dell won't be up to handling an overclock - they don't even let you buy a -K CPU without the liquid cooler.
PC's were way to expensive for me back then. I know absolutely nothing. Just like the CyberPower PC?? Never heard of it before. I was just looking at main computer peeps to find something.
There are a lot of system builders out there besides the big OEMs like Dell, Asus, and so on. Origin, Maingear, CyberpowerPC, ibuypower are some of the better known ones in the US I believe.
Are these computers as reliable as Alienware.
Everywhere I looked Alienware was at the top of the lists as Best Gaming PC's.
If someone as seasoned as you (seem to be on this site) recommends it then I'll definitely take it seriously.
Most of the parts in the builds will be the same, whether it's Dell, Cyberpower, or you in your livingroom building the PC. The CPU's by Intel, even dell's OEM SSDs are made by other companies like Samsung . I don't think there's much in it, ultimately.
I'd suggest assessing priorities for the build versus cost and then reviewing options.