Everyone is missing the point, this system is small and is easily thrown into a backpack to take on holiday or vacation. Build a small form factor build with an i7 and a graphics card. The power supply costs and arm, leg and first born. Small form factor is not for the cash strapped pc gamer
TYPICAL GHOST SNIPER my laptop is about exactly the same speed as this machine and it cost me about 300 dollars a couple years ago used. You can buy the same laptop on Craigslist for about 200-250 bucks now.
It's true, the premium really is the portability. I built a portable Mini ITX VR PC, and while I do love it, I probably spent a good 50% more than I needed to just due to the somewhat specialty parts.
I think this definitely has it's uses. Seems more than adequate if you aren't as into the modern triple a titles but it can still run them at 30fps. And if you are traveling you could just pack this + a wireless mouse and keyboard and hook it into any tv for gaming or watching videos or streams.
frostedlambs yeah you go get a core 2 duo with integrated graphics and tell me you can even play knights of the old republic above 10 FPS. That game might be older than you. Lol
Not Cross I mean who can argue with that logic? A 24k gold Apple Watch has to be worth buying in order to still be worth buying. A gtx titan z has to be worth buying to begin with in order to still be worth buying. A hooker has to be worth buying to begin with in order to still be worth buying.
@@itsShiftless As the owner of a few Dell products, one of which is an Alpha R1, I can say that the full retail price of a new Alpha was way out of line with the product and quality, which is why I bought one used. The Alpha is decent quality but I would not call it premium. As an example the majority of them shipped with a 5400 rpm HDD which is damned slow, especially for a desktop.
He's not wrong, my work picked up a few Mac mini's, they have far worse cpu and gpu parts and for what we use them for honestly this alienware would have been a way better bang for buck
I had the original one and it was what got me into PC gaming, have my own build now. Not a great PC IMO, but happy I could get it on sale and that it sparked an interest in a hobby.
Dell gaming is actually pretty cheap. Yes there's a separate Dell gaming, not talking about alienware. Alienware is like the apple of the pc world. Way overpriced for what you get.
@@yufanchen6072 nah,Razer make pretty good products. Remember the price goes up more for what you get as the product is better as it takes more money to improve something that is expensive. Same could not be said for Apple.
Rebranded 260X? Man, I really hate how prebuilt pc companies decide specs for their "Gaming" lineup where they use i7s as a marketing method instead of the graphics. :(
Nathan Hamman because people like having 4 or more cores and the cpu is the brains of a computer. Laptops with an i7 and a 1050ti are literally some of the best builds they make because they can be made very thin and light due to the thermal constraints being so lax. Same thing goes with a 1060. The thing is these graphics cards are not only gaming cards. The world doesn’t revolve around gaming. The 1050ti is a decently powerful card that can blaze through spreadsheets, photo editing, cad work, etc. when people buy business class laptops they usually always have an i7. Would you rather see i7 laptops with only integrated graphics? Do you think a normal person needs an i7 and a gtx 1080 or Vega 56 mobile? It’s all about money. These cards are rebranded specifically to sell off old stock and pcbs that are left over when a new line of cards come out. Also some programs or certain tasks people do specifically require a certain cpu or gpu. These machines can be customized most of the time so I really don’t see what the problem is. There are so many different makes and models.
An 8th or 9th get i5 is enough for a 1050ti since they have six cores and are much faster. The older generations I would not want an i5 even with a 1050ti too many games can max out those CPUs. I do agree that these GPU rebrands are kind of anti consumer.
I was using radeon 7790 since 2 weeks ago. A card is similar as this one and i was more than happy with performance. Now i have gtx 1060 6gb zotac mini
I've used my base alienware alpha as a more experimental PC for what has to be 5 years now. I doubled the ram and swapped to a 500gb SSD. Honestly it runs everything i want it too. No complaints. I picked it up used for under $400 back then, so it was a steal.
@@hardworq2630 Its not great for new games. Idk how cheap are you getting it for? To put in perspective. I tried Cyberpunk 2077 at 60% resolution (1080p) on all low settings and could only manage 22fps.
Bought one 2019.... It's not bad I can play all my games on high/medium graphics no issue that I see with default hardware hmm might be the games I play on it I guess
Funny you choose now to cover this, I was just starting to consider getting one to leave at my parents' house for when I visit, so I have a small gaming PC of some kind.
Great vid as always. I'm surprised by the performance of this, considering the relatively new age. I've challenged myself to build an equal performance machine in a same size wooden build.
Cheers for including fallout 4, much appreciated to see the creation engine tested on older machines - especially with FO 76 out now on the same engine.
Just a heads up for anyone who for whatever reason would want to buy one, or has one, the yellow ring of death can often be fixed with a simple CMOS battery change
I'd never heard of these things before. If you're going to go for a mini ITX, it's best to have a standard mini itx case so you can upgrade in the future. A mini AMD APU based system would be great in the future, but this thing looks like it has to have the ports in a specific place, so you have to have the same motherboard if it goes wrong, so no upgradability.
I had no idea these things existed, but it's a perfect comparison to the build I'm working on so thanks! I'm building a small form factor PC inside a Dreamcast case, and I'm using a 6700T...6gb ram...and a 750ti. I'll upgrade the card if i can fit a better one though
I really enjoy your content, thanks for continuing to upload fun videos based around quirky ideas like this alienware. While I do enjoy your channel, I think it's time to upgrade your microphone and lighting. Even a cheap daylight lamp and fluffy mic cover would make a huge difference. Another thing is scripting on some of your more impromptu videos has been clunky, and I worry that people viewing those as a first time viewer might be put off of your other more consistent content. All that said I'm really pleased for you and all the subscribers your channel has gotten, you're offering something unique, and that shows in the thoughtfulness of your content! Keep up the excellent work!
The original one had a major retail push by Alienware. Actually had big displays in Walmarts and Best Buys. When Walmart began clearing them out, the i3/4GB RAM/500 GB HDD model was going for $175 in-store 😎👍
I got one of these 3.5 years ago, it's an amazing bit of kit really once you put an SSD in. I upgraded the memory to 12 GB and it's really quiet, very small and performs well especially in less demanding games. The GTX 860M was very good for the time, as was the i5-4590T. For the money it was a steal
Omg I still have one of those, I use it for a media PC. That was my very first pc ever, without those dirt cheap little boxes I doubt I would have ever gotten into PC gaming. Damn that brings back some FO4 modding disasters. The poor little thing had a hard time running it without 15 gigs of mods on top lol.
Depending on price and expectations I would say the R2 GTX 960 model is still worth buying. You get a tiny little computer with a speedy processor AND a graphics card still capable of playing all titles, be it with reduced settings and frame-rate for heavy ones. If you're an avid gamer it may not be for you, but for the casual user who still wish to game from time to time as well as saving quite a bit space on the desk it should work well enough. It will also be fully comparable in price to a mITX system since these tend to be rather popular on the used market as well as far smaller.
Im using it now still as my main pc it still runs great and I'm happy with it. It takes up virtually no space. It still runs anything I throw at it.Mine has a 4gb GTX 960 in it though and that handles games a lot better so 60fps no problem on more games. Also with the R2 model you can get the alienware amplifier that allows to hook up any graphics card you want.
I got the R1 back in 2015 on Amazon Prime day for $330 I believe. Upgraded the ram to 16gb I had on hand from a laptop I got rid of, and put in a SSD. A year later, upgraded the 4130t to a 4170 and it was great for what it was (a console PC similar in performance to the PS4/XB1, but much smaller). I just upgraded the 4170 to a 4770t this week and it runs even better. The GPU is an 860m (between a 750 and 750ti in performance), and it still can handle 1080p low or 720p low-medium on newer games (30fps of course). So if you want something that you can toss in a suitcase when you are out of town for a bit, its not a bad little machine given you will be gaming at 720p or 1080p, low to medium settings and 30fps (many hotel and bedroom tv's are still 720p anyway and rarely above 1080p). So if you can get it for $150-200 for a base model, and drop another $150 or so in upgrading ram to 8gb, a ssd, putting in a 4770t/4790t and selling the original cpu, its worth ~$300 for the size. I have AC Origins running on my 1440p monitor at 70% resolution scaling, medium settings, and a solid 30fps. Compared to the Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build I have in an InWin BQ656 case (one of the smaller ones on the market), the Alpha is smaller, lighter, and comparable in performance with the i7 in it at $50-100 less, though if the rumored Ryzen 3300g is real... that will be a significant upgrade. So the R2, while more expensive, should be even better performance. However, it is interesting those are holding higher prices than the R1's have, maybe because of the ability to use an external graphics unit?
I have a similar setup. R1 with i5, upgraded with 16gb RAM and a mini SSD. Everyone shits on Alienware, but this is actually a cool little OEM system. I've had it since 2015 and the only thing to fail was the front right USB port circa 2017. The Kodi OS for console mode occasionally bugs out and won't respond to your bluetooth controller (but can be navigated with keyboard/mouse). It wont run graphically demanding games on high/ultra, yet so far I havent encountered anything it couldnt make playable on low-medium settings. I mainly use mine with an external CD ROM to run old disc games on emulators.
@@manpotion Ya, its a great little machine. I eventually stopped using the front end for similar issues and now just have it load to big picture mode and I add all my games to launch from Steam so I can just load from that. Between my other builds, I really don't have a place for mine anymore but I just can't get myself to sell it and still use it from time to time even though a more powerful PC is connected to that TV. Keeping it for the few times a year I am out of town for a bit and want to play something on PC instead of Switch. Part of me wants to get a small ~15" LCD travel monitor to sit on top of it... or a 7" 720p monitor to connect to a DualShock 4 using one of those phone/tablet clips made for the DS4 to use as a "handheld" PC... but that's just blowing money away at that point. Plus I'd be too tempted to play it in bed and not sure how much that would be appreciated, haha.
neosrt10 ya, I had considered doing that a couple years ago when people started trying it out, but losing the WiFi card and only having PCIE 1x was a deterrent for me. Also it’s not the most aesthetic look having an external psu, cables coming out of the Alpha and the external PCIE unit. But ya, definitely something people can do to extend the life of their Alpha if the don’t mind the extra stuff. Will get more performance even when not at 8x or 16x, and I think you can use the internal gpu for physX as well.
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for all the amazing content. You’ve inspired me to build my first budget gaming pc, which is also my first build. I still really enjoy your content a lot, so keep it up man!
The GTX 960 version has a Alienware Graphics Amplifier port to plug up the Alienware Graphics Amplifier. Basically you put a GPU into it and you get most of that cards performance. You just need the Alienware Graphics Amplifier and the graphics card of your choosing. I think it is worth a look.
I've been following your channel for quiet long time, love you and your channel, and today when I paused the video to get a coffee and discovered that you really look like John Kramer The Jigsaw when paused (Super young version), no offensive :D
I have an R1. It was my first "proper" PC. It's graphics card performs slightly better than a 750 TI. I've had it for the past 3 years and it's still been good for me. That being said, I plan on building a new PC next time I need a new computer.
Apparently the first thing that struck me when looking at the exterior case is that it's just the Alienware Steam Machine with no Steam branding on it. The corner that was cut looking is what gave it away.
I run the Alpha R1 as a office PC and part time gaming machine. For $150 it was a very good buy. I recommend re-pasting the cpu/gpu to reduce the fan noise, mine runs very quiet after i did so. i5 version.
Wowzer, Australia huh? I'm impressed you even uploaded in a jetlag condition :o Anywho, just wanted to say that I like your content. Keep up the good work! (And get some sleep while your at it)
Amazing bruv to see how far you have come. Went from gtx 1060 3gb to a 1070 6gb free lol Thx man cause your the reason I went to buy a 1060. Man that card over clocks so well. Anyways thanks and keep up the vids bruv.
These are good little machines if you know what you are getting. Currently rocking two at home myself. R1 for the other half as a general use machine. i7, 16gb ram, GTX 860M and 500gb SSD. R2 for me as a gaming/steam streaming/emulation machine in the lounge attached to the TV. With the I7, GTX 960, 16gb ram, 1tb m.2 and a 2tb SSHD. Also got the Graphics amplifier. Only run it once with a 1080ti in it, that a mate was having problems with to test it. Will be getting something to go in it at some point. R1 cost sub £250, R2 cost £350. Both boxed and complete with the Xbox controllers and so on. Spent some cash with the SSD's and memory upgrades. But really don't owe me that much.
Bought it in 2015, really like it, it can ran most games at high graphic, and it’s so small to put into backpack, because I travel between home and university dormitory, and I prefer to play games and watch videos on a larger monitor rather than on a laptop screen. And I don’t see it more expensive than good gaming laptops either
Yes, OC the GPU using MSI Afterburner. I've had one since 2015 (got it for $330 back then), had a i3 4130t, replaced that with a 4170 and used that for years. Still capable for 720p low-med and some 1080p low in newer titles. Just this week, I got a i7 4770t and put that in it and it opened it up even more. Went from 720p low 30fps in AC Origins to 720p medium and even more stable 30fps. Right now have it at 1440p 70% resolution scaling, medium settings and a stable 30fps. DQ11 is the newest game I have tried on it, and the i3 I had in it struggled on 720p low/off everything, but I imagine the i7 will be a stable 720p low/medium. About the same performance as making a Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build, but spending $350-400 (have one as well and compare the two). Plus its smaller and lighter still. However, the stock hdd is the slowest drive I used in years, put a cheap ssd in it and make sure it has at least 8gb ram. Shouldn't need to spend more than $50 between the two. If yours is the 4130t model, look into upgrading to an i7. If its the later 4170 update they did, thats the best single core speed you'll get outside a 4770t or 4790t, so just use that until you cant and try to find a cheap 4770t or 4790t and sell the stock cpu. If it is the stock i5 or i7, just stick with that.
I only bought one to add to my collection cause I found it unique and liked the size and design. Since I own it and don't intend to sell it, I use it as my main pc on my desk (keep it on the hutch). Figured I'd save electricity over using my main gaming pc when I'm not gaming
I'm using the 860m/i3 variant with 8gb ram right this second watching this video. I played Monster Hunter world, Civ 6 and Artifact on it today it works flawlessly for a budget box imo.
in 2011 I saw a mod called dayz arma 2 and pre Alpha game play for Escape from Tarkov and wanted to get one of these with a 1st gen i5 and so glad I did some research before doing so.
It's an interesting system, and may be worth it if it was cheaper and custom fans were installed. Another option would be the Intel Bean Canyon NUC since it has Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, new components and room to upgrade :) If you get the i3 barebones variant, it's under $300
What have you been doing in Aussieland for 1 month? :D I can give you one hint for dealing with jetlag. In fact it doesn't matter if you went to a country that is +X or -X hours of your local time zone. If you arrive back from your trip just stay up for one night + the next day until 10p.m. then go to bed. You need to set an alarm for 8a.m. Or set 5 alarms because it's essential to wake up at this time... No snooze. After getting up you're going to feel like shit but stay awake... Again until 10p.m. and wake up at 8p.m. the next day. Keep on doing this for at least 3 days. I know this tip might be a bit late and you're already jetlagged like shit but try it after your next trip ;-)
yeah, i think the 6700T is a very expensive part on its own, if you can find one at all. probably goes for 200+ EUR on the used market and much more for a new chip
These were originally designed to be a steam box running steam OS. When it became obvious that was not going to take of as at the time as there were not enough titles available they just removed the steam logo from the machine, and installed Windows.
I want one with a modern, decent CPU, like an i7 6600, with an entry level GPU like a 1050. I want to make it a emulation box for my TV. It's too bad they don't let you build your own. The one you got would be great. Suggestion: Build an affordable, console size box for this purpose. Or if you're anti-emulation, build it for another purpose, and I'll make my own adjustments, lol.
I still have mine hooked up in my gameroom. I have the i3 (4130t) version. I added another 4gb ram stick for a total of 8gb. It runs all tbe games i play at medium settings. It does the job for what it is.
960 version is a better value, great if you can get an i7 for under 600. There was an i7 960 model sold for 650ish on ebay, and that included the graphics amplifier. I wouldn't bother with an m470x version, unless you can get it under 250 or something. Remember, this is for those who want an extra tiny gaming pc. Miniaturization cost a lot of money. Comparing it a used custom pc is just silly.
Dub Monster Alienware is still huge in the market. If you stop looking at prebuilt ads and start looking at individual components, then the ads for prebuilt systems will not come up on your devices as much. However these machines are still very popular. Not this machine specifically but Alienware in general. Gaming wise there is Alienware, aorus, predator, nzxt, razor, omen, zotac, and krait. Those are basically the only companies that make their own gaming machines. Anything else is just aftermarket stuff like main gear and cyber power, overpowered, digitalstorm, Ibuypower, origin, xotic, etc. it’s still almost always better to build your own machine. During some sales you might find a machine that is slightly cheaper than what it might cost to build yourself, but typically these machines are a few hundred dollars more expensive than what it would cost to do yourself.
Kinda disappointed that they've never decided to continue the Alpha series given that even with the AMD configuration, the R2 much better than laptops designed for a comparable price point during the time this thing was new. I'm thinking i might do a retrospective for this system considering the next generation of consoles is next year.
These units make an awesome media center PC, especially if your main unit is using an Nvidia GPU. While I suppose getting an Nvidia Shield Android TV would be cheaper it just wouldn't have the same power and operating system to be competitive.
I have a coil whining GTX 670 and had a GTX 1080 Ti blower card so I can take anything in terms of noise so if the price moved to a better value definitely want to get one of these in the future.
I still have my R1. the main thimg that hurt it was the awful 5400 RPM drive. Once you upgrade it to an SSD or even a 7200 RPM drive, they're much better to play on.
@@teddyfastbear loading times affect how much I do play, especially with open world games. Some games would take up to a minute or more to load on those slower 5400 drives. Not fun 😨
Ya, the 5400rpm drive in the R1 is one of the slowest drives I ever used. Not sure if my tolerance had just gotten lower in later years, but it felt slower than the older 4300rpm laptop drives back in the day. Luckily I had a SSD and 16gb ram on hand when I bought mine, so was an early upgrade. I just upgraded to a 4770t in it this week and its still a workable 720p low-med to 1080p low gaming machine. Perfect for tossing in a suitcase or keeping in a spare room or using as a bedroom HTPC. Its pretty much on par with my Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build, but smaller, lighter, and even cheaper if I had to re-purchase.
Everyone is dead set on focusing on the fact that you can build better computers for the price or even buy them premade better, but the fact is these are not meant to be a desktop or a portable computer, these are meant to sit under your television next to the Blu-ray player and cable box. And compared to dealing with the endless restrictions of Sony and Microsoft not letting you do the simplest things like add mods or external assets to games when the publishers even allow it themselves, this is a perfect opportunity. If you can make a better one and have it in a console set top box of this size... then do it? It’s not hard, just not as common as it should be.
IMHO, i think we're overdue for an Alpha R3 tbh. When you consider the pricing on laptops in 2019, it's worth noting that the money expenditure can be mitigated with the omission of a battery, and the Alpha is certainly more lightweight than laptops i have used in the past. And chances are, if you're gonna be using a laptop to game, you're gonna be stationary 99% of the time, so it's better to get a mini-PC with specs capable for AAA gaming. Space Hulk Deathwing's Enhanced Edition also managed to get a solid 60FPS on medium settings @ 768p So yeah, between a "gaming" laptop and this thing, I think the Alpha R2 is the lesser of two evils.
AnotherTerrible ContentCreator so you could play online for free? Wtf? I have an r1 an I still use to this day it’s got the i7 n it plays gta mods smooth as butter if I don’t want the shadows to play in the detailed grass. I’m about to sell it an get my nzxt 2080 super beast but the r1 is dope they were just outrageously priced n still kinda are
Oddly enough, alpha's age well in an unexpected way. At least these days. The fact that they were fairly popular, they've gotten much cheaper if you're willing to look around a bit (buyers market rules here) and can be a great investment for someone looking for a compact PC with predictable performance Basically, if you keep your expectations in check and your eyes peeled, the alpha can be a great purchase for someone who is looking for a decent workhorse/home computer that can also do some gaming on the side. Don't expect to play a lot of modern AAA games, but AAA last get and Indies can serve you well
I got one of these a while ago for 114€. It was the i5 4570t, gtx 860m and 16gb ram model. Not a bad machine for drawing and stuff. Pretty cruddy for games tho and immensely loud.
@Randomgaminginhd Hi there long time watcher i am honestly surprised that your system is noisy i recently bought the r1 upgraded the cpu and got more fps and the noiselevels were acceptable i know you normally do this but did you change the thermal paste? Mine was dried up.
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [1/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLGjxFL6U_I/mqdefault.jpg)
Everyone is missing the point, this system is small and is easily thrown into a backpack to take on holiday or vacation. Build a small form factor build with an i7 and a graphics card. The power supply costs and arm, leg and first born. Small form factor is not for the cash strapped pc gamer
Ur better of just getting laptop then lol for same money you can get much better laptop
TYPICAL GHOST SNIPER my laptop is about exactly the same speed as this machine and it cost me about 300 dollars a couple years ago used. You can buy the same laptop on Craigslist for about 200-250 bucks now.
It's true, the premium really is the portability. I built a portable Mini ITX VR PC, and while I do love it, I probably spent a good 50% more than I needed to just due to the somewhat specialty parts.
A new comparable SFF build will run $500 or likely more. So if someone needs an SFF desktop an Alienware Alpha could be a good PC to get.
I think this definitely has it's uses. Seems more than adequate if you aren't as into the modern triple a titles but it can still run them at 30fps. And if you are traveling you could just pack this + a wireless mouse and keyboard and hook it into any tv for gaming or watching videos or streams.
there is Malware.... then there is Alienware
Zortec there is malware and there is bloatware. However bloatware=Alienware.
Hello everybody! Welcome to another video!
pc decrapifier?
@@jamescarrick1976 hello everyone and welcome to another video!
I remember Dell trying to defend these because they sounded like a Jet engine when hot... lol ridiculous.
LOL that was the best, but tbh the case is sexy, I made a form-factor build in this after gutting out the parts.
Woa Proto, you follow Steve?
They dont sounds loud at all mine is silent
@@ihzero Just what I was thinking
@@oldcracker3383 looks like a jank ass xbox lol
Oh Alienware. Thats a name i haven't heard in a while
Adrian ' yeah
That's a good thing
@@LocoMe4u yeah today everybody is building costom pc's
Cazi Abraham no I don't think so, I think people who arnt tech savvy probably don't need a new PC these days most PCs can play anything
frostedlambs yeah you go get a core 2 duo with integrated graphics and tell me you can even play knights of the old republic above 10 FPS. That game might be older than you. Lol
The reason why it's called Alienware is because the factory is on Saturn, and you have to pay shipping for 1.2 billion kilometers
haha
No, the things are actually sent from uranus!
SuperChickenLips lol
Damn shipping is pretty cheap for being so far away
Alienware has to be worth buying to begin with in order to ''still'' be worth buying.
Not Cross I mean who can argue with that logic? A 24k gold Apple Watch has to be worth buying in order to still be worth buying.
A gtx titan z has to be worth buying to begin with in order to still be worth buying.
A hooker has to be worth buying to begin with in order to still be worth buying.
It was not worth it at new retail price. At a good price used it could be worth it.
Alienwares are expensive because they use premium material
@@itsShiftless As the owner of a few Dell products, one of which is an Alpha R1, I can say that the full retail price of a new Alpha was way out of line with the product and quality, which is why I bought one used. The Alpha is decent quality but I would not call it premium. As an example the majority of them shipped with a 5400 rpm HDD which is damned slow, especially for a desktop.
@@itsShiftless I mean they will tell you that i guess. It really isn't a "premium", it is more like buying an Iphone you buy it for the name usually.
It was probably better value than the new Mac minis.
😂
As far as gaming, then yes
No?
XD nice burn
He's not wrong, my work picked up a few Mac mini's, they have far worse cpu and gpu parts and for what we use them for honestly this alienware would have been a way better bang for buck
I had the original one and it was what got me into PC gaming, have my own build now. Not a great PC IMO, but happy I could get it on sale and that it sparked an interest in a hobby.
Alienware... overpriced since... it was called dell. X)
Dell brought the prices down for Alienware the computers used to cost two grand for the bottom of the barrel version keep that in mind
Can't believe there are 100+ clueless people agree with the OP.
Dell gaming is actually pretty cheap. Yes there's a separate Dell gaming, not talking about alienware.
Alienware is like the apple of the pc world. Way overpriced for what you get.
@@brentsta thays razor.
@@yufanchen6072 nah,Razer make pretty good products. Remember the price goes up more for what you get as the product is better as it takes more money to improve something that is expensive. Same could not be said for Apple.
Rebranded 260X?
Man, I really hate how prebuilt pc companies decide specs for their "Gaming" lineup where they use i7s as a marketing method instead of the graphics. :(
I want to know why most laptops with a 1050 ti have an i7
Nathan Hamman because people like having 4 or more cores and the cpu is the brains of a computer. Laptops with an i7 and a 1050ti are literally some of the best builds they make because they can be made very thin and light due to the thermal constraints being so lax. Same thing goes with a 1060. The thing is these graphics cards are not only gaming cards. The world doesn’t revolve around gaming. The 1050ti is a decently powerful card that can blaze through spreadsheets, photo editing, cad work, etc. when people buy business class laptops they usually always have an i7. Would you rather see i7 laptops with only integrated graphics? Do you think a normal person needs an i7 and a gtx 1080 or Vega 56 mobile?
It’s all about money. These cards are rebranded specifically to sell off old stock and pcbs that are left over when a new line of cards come out. Also some programs or certain tasks people do specifically require a certain cpu or gpu. These machines can be customized most of the time so I really don’t see what the problem is. There are so many different makes and models.
An 8th or 9th get i5 is enough for a 1050ti since they have six cores and are much faster. The older generations I would not want an i5 even with a 1050ti too many games can max out those CPUs. I do agree that these GPU rebrands are kind of anti consumer.
@@nathanhamman418 until very recently, almost all mobile i5s if not all were dual cores. Heck even some i7s were dual cores, up until ryzen showed up.
Nathan Hamman . Usually the i7 are mobile CPUs so they don't perform the same as their desktop counterparts.
I was using radeon 7790 since 2 weeks ago. A card is similar as this one and i was more than happy with performance. Now i have gtx 1060 6gb zotac mini
More than happy? Why did you upgrade then?
@@genau14zeichen i had some issues with overheating but performance of the gpu was decent
Still better than "Over Powerd" Walmart crappy PC's and the even more crappier Chinese knock-off consoles that Soulja is selling.
I've used my base alienware alpha as a more experimental PC for what has to be 5 years now. I doubled the ram and swapped to a 500gb SSD. Honestly it runs everything i want it too. No complaints. I picked it up used for under $400 back then, so it was a steal.
Is it worth getting now ? I'm about to get one pretty cheap and I just wanna stream like 2 games and play
@@hardworq2630 Its not great for new games. Idk how cheap are you getting it for? To put in perspective. I tried Cyberpunk 2077 at 60% resolution (1080p) on all low settings and could only manage 22fps.
I love my little r2 with the i7 and 960. you can plug in the external gpu enclosure to the 960 version of the r2 to use any gpu you want.
Bought one 2019.... It's not bad I can play all my games on high/medium graphics no issue that I see with default hardware hmm might be the games I play on it I guess
I'm watching this on my alpha! i still love this thing to death.
Funny you choose now to cover this, I was just starting to consider getting one to leave at my parents' house for when I visit, so I have a small gaming PC of some kind.
Great vid as always. I'm surprised by the performance of this, considering the relatively new age. I've challenged myself to build an equal performance machine in a same size wooden build.
Cheers for including fallout 4, much appreciated to see the creation engine tested on older machines - especially with FO 76 out now on the same engine.
Just a heads up for anyone who for whatever reason would want to buy one, or has one, the yellow ring of death can often be fixed with a simple CMOS battery change
Thanks, good to know
Been here since 10k subs and i still love the content 💕
Hello from the Philippines! Been watching you for a while now. Keep up the good work!
Justin Amor FVK STOP ANNOUNCING WHERE YOU'RE FROM. IT'S CANCEROUS
Oooofff
Putang ina mo bobo
I'd never heard of these things before. If you're going to go for a mini ITX, it's best to have a standard mini itx case so you can upgrade in the future. A mini AMD APU based system would be great in the future, but this thing looks like it has to have the ports in a specific place, so you have to have the same motherboard if it goes wrong, so no upgradability.
Still have it, since 2016 and its running like a champ🎉
first time viewer, thank you for saving me a few hundred dollars. sure was wanting to convince myself it would be good enough. Nice review :D
Awesomeness is located here. Great work.
I had no idea these things existed, but it's a perfect comparison to the build I'm working on so thanks! I'm building a small form factor PC inside a Dreamcast case, and I'm using a 6700T...6gb ram...and a 750ti. I'll upgrade the card if i can fit a better one though
I use the older Alienware Alpha R1 as a TV machine for multimedia and light games. I don't play newer titles so it works out.
I really enjoy your content, thanks for continuing to upload fun videos based around quirky ideas like this alienware.
While I do enjoy your channel, I think it's time to upgrade your microphone and lighting. Even a cheap daylight lamp and fluffy mic cover would make a huge difference. Another thing is scripting on some of your more impromptu videos has been clunky, and I worry that people viewing those as a first time viewer might be put off of your other more consistent content.
All that said I'm really pleased for you and all the subscribers your channel has gotten, you're offering something unique, and that shows in the thoughtfulness of your content! Keep up the excellent work!
The original one had a major retail push by Alienware. Actually had big displays in Walmarts and Best Buys. When Walmart began clearing them out, the i3/4GB RAM/500 GB HDD model was going for $175 in-store 😎👍
I got one of these 3.5 years ago, it's an amazing bit of kit really once you put an SSD in. I upgraded the memory to 12 GB and it's really quiet, very small and performs well especially in less demanding games. The GTX 860M was very good for the time, as was the i5-4590T. For the money it was a steal
Yeah I got mine for $450 same tier model as yours on eBay for basically brand new back around 2015.
Omg I still have one of those, I use it for a media PC. That was my very first pc ever, without those dirt cheap little boxes I doubt I would have ever gotten into PC gaming. Damn that brings back some FO4 modding disasters. The poor little thing had a hard time running it without 15 gigs of mods on top lol.
You should have re pasted the cpu and gpu, that might have brought the temps down and in turn make the fans spin slower.
Depending on price and expectations I would say the R2 GTX 960 model is still worth buying. You get a tiny little computer with a speedy processor AND a graphics card still capable of playing all titles, be it with reduced settings and frame-rate for heavy ones. If you're an avid gamer it may not be for you, but for the casual user who still wish to game from time to time as well as saving quite a bit space on the desk it should work well enough. It will also be fully comparable in price to a mITX system since these tend to be rather popular on the used market as well as far smaller.
Im using it now still as my main pc it still runs great and I'm happy with it. It takes up virtually no space. It still runs anything I throw at it.Mine has a 4gb GTX 960 in it though and that handles games a lot better so 60fps no problem on more games. Also with the R2 model you can get the alienware amplifier that allows to hook up any graphics card you want.
I got the R1 back in 2015 on Amazon Prime day for $330 I believe. Upgraded the ram to 16gb I had on hand from a laptop I got rid of, and put in a SSD. A year later, upgraded the 4130t to a 4170 and it was great for what it was (a console PC similar in performance to the PS4/XB1, but much smaller). I just upgraded the 4170 to a 4770t this week and it runs even better. The GPU is an 860m (between a 750 and 750ti in performance), and it still can handle 1080p low or 720p low-medium on newer games (30fps of course). So if you want something that you can toss in a suitcase when you are out of town for a bit, its not a bad little machine given you will be gaming at 720p or 1080p, low to medium settings and 30fps (many hotel and bedroom tv's are still 720p anyway and rarely above 1080p). So if you can get it for $150-200 for a base model, and drop another $150 or so in upgrading ram to 8gb, a ssd, putting in a 4770t/4790t and selling the original cpu, its worth ~$300 for the size. I have AC Origins running on my 1440p monitor at 70% resolution scaling, medium settings, and a solid 30fps.
Compared to the Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build I have in an InWin BQ656 case (one of the smaller ones on the market), the Alpha is smaller, lighter, and comparable in performance with the i7 in it at $50-100 less, though if the rumored Ryzen 3300g is real... that will be a significant upgrade.
So the R2, while more expensive, should be even better performance. However, it is interesting those are holding higher prices than the R1's have, maybe because of the ability to use an external graphics unit?
I have a similar setup. R1 with i5, upgraded with 16gb RAM and a mini SSD. Everyone shits on Alienware, but this is actually a cool little OEM system. I've had it since 2015 and the only thing to fail was the front right USB port circa 2017. The Kodi OS for console mode occasionally bugs out and won't respond to your bluetooth controller (but can be navigated with keyboard/mouse). It wont run graphically demanding games on high/ultra, yet so far I havent encountered anything it couldnt make playable on low-medium settings. I mainly use mine with an external CD ROM to run old disc games on emulators.
@@manpotion Ya, its a great little machine. I eventually stopped using the front end for similar issues and now just have it load to big picture mode and I add all my games to launch from Steam so I can just load from that. Between my other builds, I really don't have a place for mine anymore but I just can't get myself to sell it and still use it from time to time even though a more powerful PC is connected to that TV. Keeping it for the few times a year I am out of town for a bit and want to play something on PC instead of Switch. Part of me wants to get a small ~15" LCD travel monitor to sit on top of it... or a 7" 720p monitor to connect to a DualShock 4 using one of those phone/tablet clips made for the DS4 to use as a "handheld" PC... but that's just blowing money away at that point. Plus I'd be too tempted to play it in bed and not sure how much that would be appreciated, haha.
The R1 can use and external GPU via a serial port theres a video on TH-cam to that shows how to do it he used a GTX 1070.
neosrt10 ya, I had considered doing that a couple years ago when people started trying it out, but losing the WiFi card and only having PCIE 1x was a deterrent for me. Also it’s not the most aesthetic look having an external psu, cables coming out of the Alpha and the external PCIE unit. But ya, definitely something people can do to extend the life of their Alpha if the don’t mind the extra stuff. Will get more performance even when not at 8x or 16x, and I think you can use the internal gpu for physX as well.
Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for all the amazing content. You’ve inspired me to build my first budget gaming pc, which is also my first build. I still really enjoy your content a lot, so keep it up man!
From memory steam machines has different components depending on the manufacturer. GPU, CPU, ram etc.
The GTX 960 version has a Alienware Graphics Amplifier port to plug up the Alienware Graphics Amplifier. Basically you put a GPU into it and you get most of that cards performance. You just need the Alienware Graphics Amplifier and the graphics card of your choosing. I think it is worth a look.
Its price might not be the best but heck if it doesn't look sexy. Also it has a m.2 slot, I did not know that. Good video, hope you get better soon
I've been following your channel for quiet long time, love you and your channel, and today when I paused the video to get a coffee and discovered that you really look like John Kramer The Jigsaw when paused (Super young version), no offensive :D
I have an R1. It was my first "proper" PC. It's graphics card performs slightly better than a 750 TI. I've had it for the past 3 years and it's still been good for me. That being said, I plan on building a new PC next time I need a new computer.
Apparently the first thing that struck me when looking at the exterior case is that it's just the Alienware Steam Machine with no Steam branding on it. The corner that was cut looking is what gave it away.
I run the Alpha R1 as a office PC and part time gaming machine. For $150 it was a very good buy. I recommend re-pasting the cpu/gpu to reduce the fan noise, mine runs very quiet after i did so. i5 version.
The lack of upgrade options and the high prices put me off buying these. I always thought they was at least £200 over priced when new.
The audio is good keep up the good content
Wowzer, Australia huh? I'm impressed you even uploaded in a jetlag condition :o
Anywho, just wanted to say that I like your content. Keep up the good work! (And get some sleep while your at it)
i have the i7 alienware alpha 1, its my daily pc and gaming pc = medium settings 1080p AND I LOVE IT
Amazing bruv to see how far you have come. Went from gtx 1060 3gb to a 1070 6gb free lol Thx man cause your the reason I went to buy a 1060. Man that card over clocks so well. Anyways thanks and keep up the vids bruv.
RandomGaming, You don't look half dead, you look half alive!! Its all a matter of perspective :D Seriously though, great job on your vids m8
I got the grx 960 one. Still use it til this day. Great little box
Been waiting for something like this, this little thing is so mobile but the price are so wow
Keep up the good work. Love your videos.
Love your videos, you have such a wonderful personality!
These are good little machines if you know what you are getting. Currently rocking two at home myself.
R1 for the other half as a general use machine. i7, 16gb ram, GTX 860M and 500gb SSD.
R2 for me as a gaming/steam streaming/emulation machine in the lounge attached to the TV. With the I7, GTX 960, 16gb ram, 1tb m.2 and a 2tb SSHD. Also got the Graphics amplifier. Only run it once with a 1080ti in it, that a mate was having problems with to test it. Will be getting something to go in it at some point.
R1 cost sub £250, R2 cost £350. Both boxed and complete with the Xbox controllers and so on. Spent some cash with the SSD's and memory upgrades. But really don't owe me that much.
How did you know I was looking at this one!
I still have one of these.
It still works great!
The person I got it from used way too much thermal paste, it had to be re-done.
Bought it in 2015, really like it, it can ran most games at high graphic, and it’s so small to put into backpack, because I travel between home and university dormitory, and I prefer to play games and watch videos on a larger monitor rather than on a laptop screen. And I don’t see it more expensive than good gaming laptops either
Picked up r1 and 2014 blackwidow ultimate for $140. Good deal?
if it's an i3 ok, i5 good, i7 great deal
Yes, OC the GPU using MSI Afterburner. I've had one since 2015 (got it for $330 back then), had a i3 4130t, replaced that with a 4170 and used that for years. Still capable for 720p low-med and some 1080p low in newer titles. Just this week, I got a i7 4770t and put that in it and it opened it up even more. Went from 720p low 30fps in AC Origins to 720p medium and even more stable 30fps. Right now have it at 1440p 70% resolution scaling, medium settings and a stable 30fps. DQ11 is the newest game I have tried on it, and the i3 I had in it struggled on 720p low/off everything, but I imagine the i7 will be a stable 720p low/medium.
About the same performance as making a Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build, but spending $350-400 (have one as well and compare the two). Plus its smaller and lighter still.
However, the stock hdd is the slowest drive I used in years, put a cheap ssd in it and make sure it has at least 8gb ram. Shouldn't need to spend more than $50 between the two. If yours is the 4130t model, look into upgrading to an i7. If its the later 4170 update they did, thats the best single core speed you'll get outside a 4770t or 4790t, so just use that until you cant and try to find a cheap 4770t or 4790t and sell the stock cpu. If it is the stock i5 or i7, just stick with that.
These are awesome. I bought a 2nd hand Alienware Amplifier for £40 and put a GTX 980ti in it and its awesome (if a trifle loud)
I only bought one to add to my collection cause I found it unique and liked the size and design.
Since I own it and don't intend to sell it, I use it as my main pc on my desk (keep it on the hutch). Figured I'd save electricity over using my main gaming pc when I'm not gaming
I'm using the 860m/i3 variant with 8gb ram right this second watching this video. I played Monster Hunter world, Civ 6 and Artifact on it today it works flawlessly for a budget box imo.
in 2011 I saw a mod called dayz arma 2 and pre Alpha game play for Escape from Tarkov and wanted to get one of these with a 1st gen i5 and so glad I did some research before doing so.
I used to want one of those and great video
Always loved the cases on these
Hope you enjoyed Australia bro, where did you visit? Come back soon🇦🇺
It's an interesting system, and may be worth it if it was cheaper and custom fans were installed. Another option would be the Intel Bean Canyon NUC since it has Thunderbolt 3 connectivity, new components and room to upgrade :) If you get the i3 barebones variant, it's under $300
What have you been doing in Aussieland for 1 month? :D I can give you one hint for dealing with jetlag. In fact it doesn't matter if you went to a country that is +X or -X hours of your local time zone. If you arrive back from your trip just stay up for one night + the next day until 10p.m. then go to bed. You need to set an alarm for 8a.m. Or set 5 alarms because it's essential to wake up at this time... No snooze. After getting up you're going to feel like shit but stay awake... Again until 10p.m. and wake up at 8p.m. the next day. Keep on doing this for at least 3 days. I know this tip might be a bit late and you're already jetlagged like shit but try it after your next trip ;-)
yeah, i think the 6700T is a very expensive part on its own, if you can find one at all. probably goes for 200+ EUR on the used market and much more for a new chip
I have a first generation one and it makes a great living room pc
These were originally designed to be a steam box running steam OS. When it became obvious that was not going to take of as at the time as there were not enough titles available they just removed the steam logo from the machine, and installed Windows.
I want one with a modern, decent CPU, like an i7 6600, with an entry level GPU like a 1050. I want to make it a emulation box for my TV. It's too bad they don't let you build your own. The one you got would be great. Suggestion: Build an affordable, console size box for this purpose. Or if you're anti-emulation, build it for another purpose, and I'll make my own adjustments, lol.
Is a fun emulation machine for Dolphin, Cemu, PCSX2
Great video, I think it would have been more appropriate to play games in 720 or 900p.
I still have mine hooked up in my gameroom. I have the i3 (4130t) version. I added another 4gb ram stick for a total of 8gb. It runs all tbe games i play at medium settings. It does the job for what it is.
Steam + Windows 10 + GeForce Now + Plex
Desktop computer
Games consoles
Media player \ TV
300
Well worth the price
The Golden Radio for real this would be one hell of an emulation machine
960 version is a better value, great if you can get an i7 for under 600. There was an i7 960 model sold for 650ish on ebay, and that included the graphics amplifier. I wouldn't bother with an m470x version, unless you can get it under 250 or something.
Remember, this is for those who want an extra tiny gaming pc. Miniaturization cost a lot of money. Comparing it a used custom pc is just silly.
No wonder why Alienware has sunk so deep. I haven't seen their ads, or even any kind of speech about Alienware
Dub Monster Alienware is still huge in the market. If you stop looking at prebuilt ads and start looking at individual components, then the ads for prebuilt systems will not come up on your devices as much. However these machines are still very popular. Not this machine specifically but Alienware in general. Gaming wise there is Alienware, aorus, predator, nzxt, razor, omen, zotac, and krait. Those are basically the only companies that make their own gaming machines. Anything else is just aftermarket stuff like main gear and cyber power, overpowered, digitalstorm, Ibuypower, origin, xotic, etc.
it’s still almost always better to build your own machine. During some sales you might find a machine that is slightly cheaper than what it might cost to build yourself, but typically these machines are a few hundred dollars more expensive than what it would cost to do yourself.
The alpha form factor is beautiful, I really want buy one, but the 750ti edition
Kinda disappointed that they've never decided to continue the Alpha series given that even with the AMD configuration, the R2 much better than laptops designed for a comparable price point during the time this thing was new. I'm thinking i might do a retrospective for this system considering the next generation of consoles is next year.
These units make an awesome media center PC, especially if your main unit is using an Nvidia GPU. While I suppose getting an Nvidia Shield Android TV would be cheaper it just wouldn't have the same power and operating system to be competitive.
I have a coil whining GTX 670 and had a GTX 1080 Ti blower card so I can take anything in terms of noise so if the price moved to a better value definitely want to get one of these in the future.
My high school S.T.E.M (Science Technology Engineering and Mathmatics) pathways have these computers but with the GTX 960.
I got my for $150 used letgo lol. it was I7 model may be 4th gen but hey for the price cant bet it.
I still have my R1. the main thimg that hurt it was the awful 5400 RPM drive. Once you upgrade it to an SSD or even a 7200 RPM drive, they're much better to play on.
@@teddyfastbear Im talking about booting and loading times 🙃
@@teddyfastbear loading times affect how much I do play, especially with open world games. Some games would take up to a minute or more to load on those slower 5400 drives. Not fun 😨
@@teddyfastbear And SSD can help with pop in and texture loading in some games which can effect fps a little but mostly frame times spikes
@@a.c.n9076 My laptop has a 5400RPM HDD, never seen load times higher then 30 seconds, even in recent open world games.
Ya, the 5400rpm drive in the R1 is one of the slowest drives I ever used. Not sure if my tolerance had just gotten lower in later years, but it felt slower than the older 4300rpm laptop drives back in the day. Luckily I had a SSD and 16gb ram on hand when I bought mine, so was an early upgrade. I just upgraded to a 4770t in it this week and its still a workable 720p low-med to 1080p low gaming machine. Perfect for tossing in a suitcase or keeping in a spare room or using as a bedroom HTPC. Its pretty much on par with my Ryzen 2200g mini-ITX build, but smaller, lighter, and even cheaper if I had to re-purchase.
Everyone is dead set on focusing on the fact that you can build better computers for the price or even buy them premade better, but the fact is these are not meant to be a desktop or a portable computer, these are meant to sit under your television next to the Blu-ray player and cable box. And compared to dealing with the endless restrictions of Sony and Microsoft not letting you do the simplest things like add mods or external assets to games when the publishers even allow it themselves, this is a perfect opportunity.
If you can make a better one and have it in a console set top box of this size... then do it? It’s not hard, just not as common as it should be.
Good video
IMHO, i think we're overdue for an Alpha R3 tbh.
When you consider the pricing on laptops in 2019, it's worth noting that the money expenditure can be mitigated with the omission of a battery, and the Alpha is certainly more lightweight than laptops i have used in the past.
And chances are, if you're gonna be using a laptop to game, you're gonna be stationary 99% of the time, so it's better to get a mini-PC with specs capable for AAA gaming. Space Hulk Deathwing's Enhanced Edition also managed to get a solid 60FPS on medium settings @ 768p
So yeah, between a "gaming" laptop and this thing, I think the Alpha R2 is the lesser of two evils.
I remember when I was 11 I wanted to get these soo badly so I could play online for free. Ahh feelsbadman
AnotherTerrible ContentCreator so you could play online for free? Wtf? I have an r1 an I still use to this day it’s got the i7 n it plays gta mods smooth as butter if I don’t want the shadows to play in the detailed grass. I’m about to sell it an get my nzxt 2080 super beast but the r1 is dope they were just outrageously priced n still kinda are
@@schill3833 yeah I agree that they are over priced and if you're on a tight budget you should get a rx580
Wouldn't be so bad if it was an MXM based GPU you could upgrade.
Alienware... Alienware. Now that is a name I haven't heard in a long time.
Oddly enough, alpha's age well in an unexpected way. At least these days. The fact that they were fairly popular, they've gotten much cheaper if you're willing to look around a bit (buyers market rules here) and can be a great investment for someone looking for a compact PC with predictable performance
Basically, if you keep your expectations in check and your eyes peeled, the alpha can be a great purchase for someone who is looking for a decent workhorse/home computer that can also do some gaming on the side. Don't expect to play a lot of modern AAA games, but AAA last get and Indies can serve you well
@RandomGaminginHD - Do you still have it ? Can you use it properly using Steam's "in-house stream" or whatever it's called ?
Press F for the people who don't have a signal on their phone because O2 is down
F
O2? Oxygen molecule??
J Vilander it’s a phone carrier in the UK
*laughs in EE*
Well, I have no signal on my phone but my WiFi works tho
I have that model but with 16gb of ram and the 960 but I have the amplifier with a 1080 so I have no problem running everything at high at 1080p
obscured mirage what does the amplifier do? Does it compliment or over-ride?
I used my Alpha R1 right up until August of this year
Wow didn’t expect a video about the Alpha! Well if any one wants to see how the R1 performs I have videos on my channel! Great video bud!
I'd like to think I had a hand in this as I kept suggesting it like every other video in the comments
I got one of these a while ago for 114€. It was the i5 4570t, gtx 860m and 16gb ram model. Not a bad machine for drawing and stuff. Pretty cruddy for games tho and immensely loud.
@Randomgaminginhd Hi there long time watcher i am honestly surprised that your system is noisy i recently bought the r1 upgraded the cpu and got more fps and the noiselevels were acceptable i know you normally do this but did you change the thermal paste? Mine was dried up.
and i am really happy with my system
I would to see "Is FM2+ socket still worth buying?" :)