Let's talk about Alienware's Alpha/Xbox One failure.

Tomorrow, Alienware's Alpha ships and it's producing decent results in gaming. It is equipped with a i3, 4 GB of RAM, and a NVidia 860(basically a 750 ti). Doesn't sound too impressive does it? Here is a link that provides several videos of the Alpha in action, mostly set to high settings and achieving a better frame rate than the Xbox One. It ships with fully functional Windows 8 installed and 10 free games that include; Metro Last Light, Payday 2, Gauntlet, Magicka, and several other titles. For the price of $549 you can enjoy 1080p gaming and better frame rate than the current gen systems, all in your living room. That's a interesting deal isn't it?

Some of you will mock the processor and RAM, but you can upgrade your processor and RAM whenever you need to.. So, you can throw a i5 and 8GB in later if you wanna. I would also like to point out that playing on Steam is free and the sales they have are fantastic. Let's not forget the freedom to adjust in game settings to achieve the best possible experience...something consoles lack.

After learning about this machine I have to wonder why some people choose a sub 1080p/barely capable 30 fps Xbox One? Exclusives? LOL. seriously....why?

Lol alienware.

dont buy alienware

i3?

No thanks, at least not for my PC builds.

You are now up to 36887 pointless posts. Congratulations.

False

@Heil68: This isn't suppose to be a high end PC. They are obviously trying to compete with the home console market. For that price range, performance of games, Windows 8, 10 free games, and the choice to upgrade, it's actually a value. I tried to put together a similar build on PCpartpicker and it always comes out more expensive due to the operating system and such. Not a terrible budget build that competes.

@lostrib: 36888

I don't see a problem

I've seen ads for it in gamestop and walmart so its probably going to sell well, they should of had the base model have at least 6gb since that is what games are starting to demand nowadays as the minimum. I have one preorder and will open it up to see how it looks and see if I can modify it to use custom parts or when I get bored of it I will sell it.

Go big or go home.

Really? Which games are those?

@intotheminx: I'm sorry but that bottom of the line on for 549 will not run games as well as an Xbox One will and that's for sure. 4gb ram, an i3....are you serious? This is supposed to be for gaming not school work.

In order to make it stronger than an x1 or a ps4 you'll probably have to pay 700 or 800 bucks, and at that point I would build a desktop.

That PC is entirely pointless in my eyes.

I3 is pitiful.

Not really. Have you seen benchmarks with the i3 or the Pentium G3258 Anniversary Edition? i3 has hyperthreading too, two cores, four threads. That little thing is a budget beast and has no problem outperforming the laptop-grade chips in the PS4 or Xbox One.

Because we are not interested in PC gaming that´s why; you like playing in PC ---> whatever tickles your fancy.

Speak for yourself buddy...

Most people who game on consoles do so because they do not want to play games on a PC. That's something hermits have never been able to wrap their brains around.

Advanced Warfare

@StormyJoe: they're just for different types of people. PC gamers take pride in their machine, they like tweaking it, upgrading it, installing new software on it. Their PC is like an extension of them, it's a hobby they put time into. They really appreciate the tech side of gaming.

Console gamers just want to play games. They want to pull a console out of a box, know it works just like everyone else's console, pop in a game and play. They know it will run well, they don't have to tweak any settings and they don't need to worry about upgrading to play a certain game at a reasonable frame rate. Just plug in and game.

Alienware is more directed at the second experience rather than the first one

@lostrib: you still have to do the whole PC gamer thing LOL. Update drivers, install steam, install the game, play with graphics settings till you find something workable, upgrade when you cannot run something, etc.

That's a PC in a small case, not a console.

Very true.

I didn't say it was the same, but it is directed at the console gamer

Just look at the website for the alienware alpha. It comes with a "console mode" that lets you boot into steam and navigate with a controller. And with GeForce Experience it will download/install drivers automatically and preset the graphics settings if you so desire.

@lostrib: I know who it's directed at, but my point is that if you want a PC, you would go build a real PC. If you want a console, you are going to buy a ps4,x1 or Wii u. It just does not function the same at its core.

You still have to worry about your specs, upgrading, and which games you can play.

The Geforce experience is nice, but when I tried it, it didn't work so well. It never set graphics settings properly for my PC at all, either underestimating or overestimating my setup. I had to still go in a tweak it myself. But my Xbox doesn't need a Geforce app to keep me up to date and optimized.... Consoles are just simpilar.

Well i dont see this or any low spec PC making any kind of meaningful dent into console sales. There are always going to be people who dont want to mess with PC no matter what and people who like building more than the bare minimum.

i3 + DX11 = massive bottleneck when the graphics are actually demanding. Good luck gaming at 1080p60 with high graphic settings with any demanding game.

Also lol Alienwear. Overpriced garbage.

If you want to play games on your TV in a living room with a controller, just get a game console. A Windows PC and Steam still do not have nearly the usability a game console does in that setting. If you care a lot about graphics you shouldn't be gaming on a console nor even care about the consoles. If you're going to be playing games with a controller in your living room, get a console that has an operating system and games designed around that. Don't fight it by using Windows.

that and Lords of the Fallen, Watch_Dogs, AssCreed Unity planetside 2 doesn't require it but it doesn't stutter as much when I switched to 8GB instead of 4GB,

I was talking in the general idea for $550 and aiming for PC gaming, it seems pitiful, but that's actually not bad.

In comparisons to consoles I'm sure it can do something better seeing as they're even weaker. I just wouldn't ever want a PC with an i3, gaming or not.

It is evident that Alienware Alpha is an attempt to fish in the console gamer population pond and they may catch some fish by doing it, nothing wrong there, but for many like me it´s still PC gaming no matter how many modes it has.

"Console gamers just want to play games. They want to pull a console out of a box, know it works just like everyone else's console, pop in a game and play. They know it will run well, they don't have to tweak any settings and they don't need to worry about upgrading to play a certain game at a reasonable frame rate. Just plug in and game."

That´s exactly the point, that´s what I and millions want.

TC is delusional. Moving on.

you can do better with $450, an FX6300 + R9270X

I totally get it. I actually helped a friend build a budget PC and he ended up opting for the the i3 over the G3258 and put the rest of his budget into GPU, went with a GTX 770. The machine is an absolute beast, it has no problems hitting 60 fps in modern games. He may not be able to run everything on ultra, but it's certainly way better than console quality. The cool thing about i3's is that they have HT which a lot of people don't realize, they are a hell of a CPU for the price. We got his i3-4130 for $90.

If I was going with that sort of budget I would still opt for the G3258 and then overclock the hell out of it though.

@intotheminx: Last I checked you can't play Hotrizon 2, Sunset Overdrive, Halo: MCC, D4 or Fantasia: Music Evolved on a PC. Also, Alienware is garbage. Most PC Gamers stay far away from them.

@blackace: Last time I checked you couldn't play MCC due to patch delays.