crafteroftemines
Active Member
Well after a time for relevance, I have come with a review of an old computer that is serving me quite well. The cheap, small form factor PC that does pretty much everything. I am referring of course to the Alienware Alpha. And might I say that it is damn good.
Firstly, on price, there are of course several configurations, however I chose the baseline model, sporting a i3-4130t, 4GB of RAM, and a Nvidia 860M, this fuck of a computer only cost me about $450. And honestly, I couldn't be any happier.
Because the size of it is perfect, it takes up about the same room as a Wii, while still being whisper quiet for the most part. If you need a computer that doesn't take up a large amount of space, then it is golden.
Speaking of quiet, acoustics are great, I hardly ever hear except when its on max load. That being said, when you do finally hear it, it is rather noisy. If you use headphones or have decent speakers, you should be fine in the end.
Now onto ports, this actually saddens me a little. It has 2 USB 2.0 ports in the front, 2 USB 3.0 in the back, and a hidden USB 2.0 on the bottom (accessible without any tools). It also has a HDMI out, HDMI in, optical audio out, and an Ethernet port in the back. There is no 3.5mm jacks on this, so you'll have to use either USB headphones, or a USB to 3.5mm jack adapter.
Finally, performance is very good for the price, however there are of course much more powerful computers. It should fit in well with anyone that is fine with 1080p and high settings. I was able to get Just Cause 2 to benchmark at about 40 - 50 fps on maxed out settings.
My main two problems may be the biggest problems. The baseline model only has 4GB of RAM, which can be very annoying, but rarely becomes a nuisance. But the largest problem plagues all configurations, which is a 5400 RPM hard drive. They will all have is speed, which is disheartening. A new hard drive is easy to swap in, however it only accepts 2.5 inch hard drives.
All said, I really enjoy it, I dont really play newer games, and compared to my last computer, this thing is fucking light speed. All said, if you're poor and want a small PC, this is the best computer for that job
Firstly, on price, there are of course several configurations, however I chose the baseline model, sporting a i3-4130t, 4GB of RAM, and a Nvidia 860M, this fuck of a computer only cost me about $450. And honestly, I couldn't be any happier.
Because the size of it is perfect, it takes up about the same room as a Wii, while still being whisper quiet for the most part. If you need a computer that doesn't take up a large amount of space, then it is golden.
Speaking of quiet, acoustics are great, I hardly ever hear except when its on max load. That being said, when you do finally hear it, it is rather noisy. If you use headphones or have decent speakers, you should be fine in the end.
Now onto ports, this actually saddens me a little. It has 2 USB 2.0 ports in the front, 2 USB 3.0 in the back, and a hidden USB 2.0 on the bottom (accessible without any tools). It also has a HDMI out, HDMI in, optical audio out, and an Ethernet port in the back. There is no 3.5mm jacks on this, so you'll have to use either USB headphones, or a USB to 3.5mm jack adapter.
Finally, performance is very good for the price, however there are of course much more powerful computers. It should fit in well with anyone that is fine with 1080p and high settings. I was able to get Just Cause 2 to benchmark at about 40 - 50 fps on maxed out settings.
My main two problems may be the biggest problems. The baseline model only has 4GB of RAM, which can be very annoying, but rarely becomes a nuisance. But the largest problem plagues all configurations, which is a 5400 RPM hard drive. They will all have is speed, which is disheartening. A new hard drive is easy to swap in, however it only accepts 2.5 inch hard drives.
All said, I really enjoy it, I dont really play newer games, and compared to my last computer, this thing is fucking light speed. All said, if you're poor and want a small PC, this is the best computer for that job