Alienware 5550 Custom Gaming System

Alienwares have been known as the Porches of gaming computers ever since they started making them. The glossy paint job, fancy lighting, and ability to control virtually every aspect of the system sets them apart as one of the fanciest computer makers in the market. However, a lot of people will tell you quite a bit about how Alienware's a ripoff, etc, etc- so I've decided to give my own opinion.

I ordered the Alienware Area-51 5550 system. This being the best range computer running Intel (and in that vein, more in my price range than the step-up SLI system), its the generically best system for the cash. Any higher means you'll be touching the NVidia SLI systems, which is WAY out of my price range.

Just to keep you in the know, these are the specs on my system:
Area 51 5550 PCI Express System
Intel Pentium 4 3.6 GHZ Extreme (With L3 Cache and 64 bit ability)
1 GB DDR-2 RAM
500 GB (2 x 250GB) RAID 0 HDD Configuration
ATI x850 XT Platinum Edition
Soundblaster 2 Audigy
Logitec 5.1 Surround Sound Speaker System (Will be reviewed seperately)
Hyundai Imagequest L90D+ (Will be reviewed seperately)
Microsoft Multimedia Mouse and Keyboard combo
Doom 3, Battlefield 1942, Norton AntiVirus and Internet Security
Specialized 510 Watt Power Supply Kit
3 Years warranty with AlienRespawn and AlienAutopsy

First, I was dissapointed with the shipping and general building situation. This isnt really related to the PC so much as to the company, but it still is something to note. When I ordered this, sometime in March, I had assumed that their estimated ship date (March 24th) was going to be somewhat gospel promise. Of course this was stupid in and of itself, but still, I expected them to give some sort of sign as to when it was going to be shipped. A week later from March 24th, it was FINALLY shipped to me via FedEx mail. In any case, almost a month from when I ordered it, I got my Area 51 5550 system.

The system was packed rather nicely in three boxes- one for the speaker system (In the speakers box with the label on it), the computer case box (Labeled with the Alienware logo on it, kinda obvious in and of itself, to my dismay), and a third unmarked box, which contained Doom 3, BF1942, and the Norton pack. I would have preferred the Alienware box be somewhat incognito, but whatever- it being a whopping 60 pounds and in an unmarked Fedex truck, I doubt seeing anyone pilfer it any time soon.

In the computer box itself it contained:
- The System in all its glory
- The keyboard and mouse
- A Func Industries Alienware Mousepad
- "The Guru", a folder filled with all the CDs I would need if I reformatted
- My users guide and users card for support purposes
- Every single extra cord or adapter that came with the parts, from a spare Molex adapter to a DVI to Analog adapter
- Two posters telling how to open the case and what each card on the system meant
- And every single guide for my parts, from the motherboard jumper guide to the ATI Catalyst guide.

Overall, you'll notice they don't do the typical Dell or Gateway thing and steal all your extra parts- they left me everything I might need if I would open the case, or even want to hook up a second monitor. Hell, I could even read the BIOS guide if I felt like I needed some somewhat boring nighttime reading.

Now for the system itself. Setting it up took about 15 minutes, not different from any other computer setup. The first thing I noticed about the system: it is a MONOLITH. This isnt too much of a bother to me, because I stick my PC on the top of my desk, but for anyone using a PC desk or having to cramp their PC into a small compartment, this might be a major issue for you.

The PC on the outside is quite nice to look at. The front contains 4 USB ports and a "Intel Inside" sticker, as well as the front door (I'll get to that in a bit). The front lights up with an LED right beside a front intake fan, as well as a mesh screen for looking in at... the fan. The back is your typical computer case, with all the slots and the like. From what I've seen, the motherboard appears to have the "Break Off" form of PCI Express slots, meaning you have to break off a little plastic peice before you use the slot. Not bad, but not a favorite of anyone wanting to expand and switch parts around a lot. Of course, the motherboard contains somewhat of a speaker system, ONE firewire jack in the back (Sorry firewire fanatics, there's only one, and its way back there). Did I mention that there are also another four USB jacks? This thing is loaded with USB. Windows 95 would be ashamed.

The front door, while appearing quite flimsy, is pretty sturdy, compared to most PC doors. It nicely hides 4 5" drives, while also having two 3.5" drives for those of us who still have old Floppy disc games at home. Inside it has your standard Power and Reset buttons, as well as HDD/Power lights. Inside the front door is also your Windows XP serial number sticker, right on the back of the panel. The door also locks quite nicely. A note about the door is there is no real visible sign on the outside on where to push to open it. It took me about a minute to find the place to push, but it does lead for a quite nice look. On the front of the door, also, is the Alienware alien head logo, which eyes light up.

The LED lights on this are nowhere near the power of the ones on the site, which is actually a nice thing for me. They are enough to be noticed, but they don't blare out at you like, say, a power light for your computer.

The Alienware-styled Microsoft mouse and keyboard combo are your standard deals. The mouse is the Intellimouse 3.0, which may be a bit big for those with small hands, but I, with no such problem, got used to it quickly. Also, the Mouse Pad is quite nice, being pretty high quality considering it came for "Free". What really confused me at first was the fact the mousepad came in a d*** padded tin case, which made me think it was some form of Holy Grail. Apparently its some really good gaming mousepad, but for me, being someone who thinks "Fatal1ty" is an f**ing idiot, I don't see the advantage of it over a normal mousepad.

The system itself runs at a very cool temperature, even when its just "Sitting around doing nothing". The fans are noticable when you have no form of sound anywhere, but the surround sound system makes it unnoticable. I will say in its defence, though, that I'm willing to put up with any amount of noise for this cooling quality- at any given time, most of the air around the fan grates, intake or exhaust, are cool, even during a heavy Doom 3 game or CS:S. That's pretty good considering my old Laptop used to get so hot it would error.

As for some generic benchmarks (Don't expect a fancy graph or chart like on [H]ard_OCP, I'm not that technical). I can run Half Life 2 with everything turned on to the max (AA at 6x, AF at 16x, etc..) at 120fps without a touch of lag. Doom 3, being the nVidia lover it is, runs at about 90 FPS with everything cranked up. That being said, here's some 3D Mark info for you junkies.

3D Mark Score- 6,004.00
GT1 - Return To Proxycon: 27.53 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest: 16.82 FPS
GT3 - Canyon Flight: 29.92 FPS

Overall, I am very satisfied with this PC. The parts included are by no degree shoddy, and every part in here runs just like it should. I did have to update the ATI Catalyst drivers , which gives me the feeling that they just installed everything from the included CD instead of finding the newest ones ("Newest Drivers" my ass). This system is definately not for everyone, being a monolith in size and in price. However, I wouldnt trade this for my old Laptop or even a Dell XPS any day- this thing is the best PC I've ever owned.

4 star(s) out of 5

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