other gamers here?

[PipenSnus]

Lol, a pesimist is in our midst! I still think the model you have will be adequate for most games, even if you don't play them on the highest possible resolution. Alienware makes great gaming computers. When you get it let us know how it runs in case others are looking at buying the same model.

I'd characterize myself as a skeptic rather than a pessimist, but I don't particularly object to the latter classification, either. You are correct that maxing out the settings is not as important to me as simply being able to play whatever game I choose without worrying whether my rig will run it. I figure the X51 will not only handle any of the current crop of games, but will likely have no problem with future releases for quite a while to come.

I'll be only too glad to post my opinion of the X51, once I've had the chance to try it out. I've got an estimated delivery date of 21 February, however, so it will be a few weeks yet, unless Dell ships it early. (unlikely)

[sgreger1]

Actually, the model I will be getting has an I3 3.3 GHz processor, 4 GB of RAM, and an nVidia GeForce GTX 545. You were probably looking at the specs for the high-end model of the X51 series. I had to settle for the cheapest one. Nevertheless, it should be adequate for my gaming needs. If it turns out to be better than adequate, great, but I'd prefer to keep my expectations low -- it's better to be pleasantly surprised than to be disappointed.

Lol, a pesimist is in our midst! I still think the model you have will be adequate for most games, even if you don't play them on the highest possible resolution. Alienware makes great gaming computers. When you get it let us know how it runs in case others are looking at buying the same model.

[PipenSnus]

Dude, it's got an I5 3GHZ processor which is more than you will likely use during any game. It has a nVidia GeForce GTX 555 which has 1GB of dedicated video memory. And 8 GB of RAM...

Actually, the model I will be getting has an I3 3.3 GHz processor, 4 GB of RAM, and an nVidia GeForce GTX 545. You were probably looking at the specs for the high-end model of the X51 series. I had to settle for the cheapest one. Nevertheless, it should be adequate for my gaming needs. If it turns out to be better than adequate, great, but I'd prefer to keep my expectations low -- it's better to be pleasantly surprised than to be disappointed.

[sgreger1]

HELL Yeah populous! I played http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populous:_The_Beginning when I was a kid and had a blast at it. Almost forgot about that game.

Mostly playing Eve Online now and some flight sims (IL2, F 4.0, DCS:A10)

Hey is Eve online any good? I've been looking into it and was thinking about picking it up but wasn't sure since I had never played it myself.

[sgreger1]

Thanks. I don't know about "blazing," since the X51 is aimed at the casual gamer rather than the hardcore crowd, but in looking over the specs, it seemed very likely that it would outperform a general-purpose high-performance PC in the same price range. Not to mention I've dreamed of owning an Alienware rig for years [high coolness factor], and was overjoyed to discover they finally released an affordable product line. Far from cheap, but affordable.

Dude, it's got an I5 3GHZ processor which is more than you will likely use during any game. It has a nVidia GeForce GTX 555 which has 1GB of dedicated video memory. And 8 GB of RAM. You are going to be able to play everything on very high graphics settings. My computer is just a slight notch up from yours, I have the I7 3.4ghz but never get anywhere even remotely close to using all of the processor, I have 2GB of ram more than you but no game takes 8 GB of RAM, and I have an ATI graphics card that has the same 1GB dedicated memory as your nVidia one, but it should be noted that nVidia are better for gamin imo.

So your experience should be almost identical to mine and I play on the highest settings on every game, never with any drop in framerate. You should have the same. I installed FarCry2 last night and have the settings maxed out, smoooth ass framerate with HDR, bloom etc turned on and it looks beautifull. Skyrim looks amazing too on ultra high. I don't see any reason why you could call it anything but "blazing".

I never understood why people get the top of the line Alienware computers since even lower line ones will max out graphics settings, maybe I am just missing something.

Edit: Also I play everything on the max resolution of 1920x1080 ( maybe it was 1920x1200, i forget, it's whichever the highest setting is). So you should be able to play everything on high detail with no loss in performance. I play mine with photoshop and firefox open with 20 browser tabs, outlook open etc and never experience performance issues and you won't either.

[PipenSnus]

Sorry to hear about your computer, but man you're going to be blazing with that Alienware rig! Nothing feels better than starting every game by going to Options>Display>Graphics>ULTRA HIGH!

Thanks. I don't know about "blazing," since the X51 is aimed at the casual gamer rather than the hardcore crowd, but in looking over the specs, it seemed very likely that it would outperform a general-purpose high-performance PC in the same price range. Not to mention I've dreamed of owning an Alienware rig for years [high coolness factor], and was overjoyed to discover they finally released an affordable product line. Far from cheap, but affordable.

[Los ßnus]

Was playing Popolous the other day. Such a great game for it's time and still enjoyable today.

HELL Yeah populous! I played http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Populous:_The_Beginning when I was a kid and had a blast at it. Almost forgot about that game.

Mostly playing Eve Online now and some flight sims (IL2, F 4.0, DCS:A10)

[sgreger1]

I'm on my work PC now... my home PC crashed just before the New Year. Had to scrape the money together, and I'll be skint for a few weeks, but I decided to go big and replace the home PC with one of the new Alienware X51's. It won't arrive for a few weeks, and already I'm champing at the bit. Should be sweet for gaming.

Sorry to hear about your computer, but man you're going to be blazing with that Alienware rig! Nothing feels better than starting every game by going to Options>Display>Graphics>ULTRA HIGH!

[PipenSnus]

I'm on my work PC now... my home PC crashed just before the New Year. Had to scrape the money together, and I'll be skint for a few weeks, but I decided to go big and replace the home PC with one of the new Alienware X51's. It won't arrive for a few weeks, and already I'm champing at the bit. Should be sweet for gaming.

[AtreyuKun]

Was playing Popolous the other day. Such a great game for it's time and still enjoyable today.

I used to build my land as high as the screen would permit, then flood the shit out of the enemy while leaving my guys high and dry. Good times....

[sgreger1]

Oh I don't know. Wizard's and Warrior's, Excitebike, Populous, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound. Stuff like that.

Was playing Popolous the other day. Such a great game for it's time and still enjoyable today.

[AtreyuKun]

Oh I don't know. Wizard's and Warrior's, Excitebike, Populous, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound. Stuff like that.

[sgreger1]

I think I must be the only retro player here.

In what way? i play mad retro games, more often than I play newer ones in fact. Been playing Age of Empires II a lot lately in particular, I love old RTS games.

Last night I got MechWarrior which was my favorite game back in the day. Nostalgia explosion to the face right there.

[AtreyuKun]

I think I must be the only retro player here.

[Nuusku]

! ! ! ! !