Looking for a gaming rig - Alienware, Syber or build my own?

T

tiagopx

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Jun 23, 2016
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Hello everyone,

I am looking into getting a gaming pc/console to link up with a 1080p tv, and play games mainly from Steam.

I have looked into the Alienware Alpha at 799$, a customised Syber machine or getting the parts and building it from scratch. What would you recommend?

Syber customised machine ($1275):
CPU: Intel® Core™ Processor i7-6700 3.40GHZ 8MB Intel Smart Cache LGA1151 (Skylake)
FAN: Intel Certified CPU Fan & Heatsink
HDD: 120GB Samsung 850 EVO Series SATA-III 6.0Gb/s SSD - 540MB/s Read & 520MB/s Write
HDD2: 1TB Western Digital Caviar Blue SATA-III 6.0Gb/s 7200 RPM HDD
MEMORY: 16GB (8GBx2) DDR4/2400MHz Dual Channel Memory (GSKILL Ripjaws V)
MOTHERBOARD: MSI Z170I Gaming Pro AC mini ITX w/Wi-Fi 11 a/c & BT 4.0, USB 3.1, 1 PCIe x16,1 SATA Express, 6 SATA3, 1 Ultra M.2
NETWORK: Onboard Gigabit LAN Network
OS: Windows 10 Home (64-bit Edition)
POWERSUPPLY: 600 Watts - Corsair SF600 Fully Modular 80 PLUS GOLD Certified High Performance SFX Power Supply
REMOTE: Mini QWERTY Keyboard with Touchpad
SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
SPEAKERS: None
VIDEO: GeForce® GTX 1070 8GB GDDR5 (Pascal)[VR Ready] (Single Card)
WTV: None

Building my own (aprox. $1200)
Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Gigabyte GA-H170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case
EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Phanteks PH-F140XP_BK 85.2 CFM 140mm Fan

Am i missing anything in these configurations? And are they worth it, when compared to the Alienware Alpha i5, at $799?


Thank you, in advance, for your time and attention.
T
 
The new Alpha R2 with the gtx 960 looks like a pretty sweet setup. This should provide a pretty significant bump over the first gen one with the 860m gtx gpu. I think the real benefit is that it is small and if it is anything like the first gen one it will be pretty quiet too. With that being said you are looking at $749 for the base i3 model with the 960gtx, so you are paying a huge premium over what you have selected in your custom build. As far as that one is concerned you should maybe look at the 1070 vs the 970 you have picked.
 
Well first and foremost: That SSD is too small and overpriced. At a minimum, you should be looking at the Samsung Evo 250GB. In addition, the GTX 970 isn't that good of a buy with the GTX 1070 and the upcoming RX 480 on the market. That CPU and motherboard allows you to use the onboard video option if you must build a PC now and can wait for either the GTX 1070 or RX 480.
 
Build your own. To add to other suggestions that are correct, Get a better CPU cooler like a high end Noctua or Phanteks or Scythe. You have that nice K processor and that EVO isn't quite good enough for a nice overclock. Else kill the K if not overclocking and stay with the EVO.
 
Either get a Z170 chipset board to overclock the K CPU, or stick with the H170 board and drop down to a non-K (can't be overclocked) CPU.
 
Thank you so much for the replies! This is awesome info and I will delve into the subject straight away.

Cheers everyone!
 
After checking some options and following advice, here's what i've come up (quite proudly too):

PCPartPicker part list: Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core, Radeon RX 480 8GB, Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower - System Build - PCPartPicker
Price breakdown by merchant: Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core, Radeon RX 480 8GB, Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower - System Build - Price Breakdown By Merchant - PCPartPicker

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($197.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($24.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($56.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($59.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Mushkin ECO3 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($65.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 480 8GB Video Card ($287.50 @ B&H)
Case: Thermaltake Core V21 MicroATX Mini Tower Case ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $873.10
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-04 17:15 EDT-0400
 
Not bad for a value build, but I would avoid any planar TLC NAND SSD's for the sake of long term reliability. At your budget, any MLC NAND SSD is a better choice.


Also, I'm assuming that's the reference RX 480. Better wait till AMD officially announces a patch for the power draw issue (supposedly tomorrow), or when custom cooler cards with 8-pin power arrive (like the Sapphire Nitro).
 
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