Non laptop cards run at about 300w when going hard
I wouldn’t touch an Alienware or a Dell for gaming purposes with a ten foot pole after watching some of Gamers Nexus reviews on youtube recently. Bad cooling and cheap parts. My last computer was a Dell and it was fine for normal stuff but it was built with way too many proprietary parts to upgrade later. Last year I decided to buy a new rig for FS2020. I do not like the looks of the new Alienware cases. I ordered the most powerful Dell XPS they had, then I found out the power supply is some weird non standard form factor. I was worried that if I ever tried to upgrade to a 30xx gpu I wouldn’t be able to upgrade the PS. A normal shaped PS would not fit in the case. The Dell PS was a long skinny PS. I cancelled my order from Dell before they shipped and looked for something else. I wanted to build one from scratch but by then prices were already going up and the 30xx series weren’t even out yet. My wife talked me into buying a prebuilt so I went with the HP Omen 3.0l. The specs are I9 10900k, 2080ti, 32g ram, ssd drive. It has worked great so far and I run everything on ultra with a 2k 27inch monitor. At least the Omen is using mostly non proprietary parts and standard parts you’ve heard of. It has a gigibyte gpu, cooler master PS, hyper x fury ram. The mother board is still proprietary and lacks the extra empty slots you get with brand name MB’s, but so far that is the only downside I’ve noticed about it.
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Thanks for heads up on Alienware/Dell. I have previously owned two Dells - an XPS laptop and XPS desktop. The Laptop needed multiple service calls, was relegated to backup duty after 4 years, and currently no longer works (it is 12 years old). The XPS Desktop, which is also 12 years old, worked great for the first 4 years (much better than my attempt to build my own), but it currently does not turn on. FWIW Dell provided really good in-person service within the warranty. I heard HP does as well, but haven’t had to use it.
My current laptops and PC are HP. HP Envy and HP Omen. Have been very happy with them so far. So HP Omen 30L superior to Alienware Aurora R12? The specialty PC builders look like they have really good parts (I remember those brands from when I attempted to build), but they are like $1000 more expensive than HP or Alienware for top of the line (they do have better RAM, SSD, and cooling), but I have no interests in other AAA gaming, just MSFS, so wondering if the custom PC is overkill, and if I’m on my own if parts break, which is a concern.
To all those recommending “build your own”. I get it, but I’m not comfortable building my own. I have a somewhat demanding job/career and a family and do not have the time to take on the level of troubleshooting needed to build my own. I have previously built 2 machines. One when I was in college when parts were much cheaper and had access to free Microsoft. It went OK. I also built another machine after I started working, and it did not go well. I could never get it to work right, and I was on my own for technical support. I don’t have the bandwidth to take that on with my current responsibilities.
I have Alienware m15 r4
It’s heavy, loud and runs hot.
… but gives me desktop performance out of MSFS. That’s where I got my 150W RTX 3080 from.
Right. For laptops, they max out at only 150W. They get down as low as 40W, like in some of the slimline gaming laptops. If seeking a laptop and wanting max performance, OP will want to make sure he gets 100+W minimum.
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I thought some laptops could go up to 200W (Alienware Area 51m). In any case 150W is more than many desktop gaming GPUs 4-5 years ago.
Quite possible.
I spoke to the technical ppl at Alienware to ensure that the laptop was not a lower powered GPU. They told me for laptop, RTX 3080 maxed at 150W, which is what they were installing in m15 R4.
For laptop, Alienware looks very good, especially M17 R4 and X17 R1. Those will probably play MSFS great at 1080p. No need for higher resolution if only using a 17" screen or less. They seem reasonably priced, given current part scarcity, but their warranty prices are borderline extortion, and are required given the proprietary components.
However, definitely want a desktop to sim at anything above 1080p, such as 1440p or 4K for a 27".
I have a big monitor attached to the PC. So I get away with 15in that I used for other stuff like navigraph, simbrief, instructor station for XP11, etc.
LG 34" wide-screen for $400 suits my needs. You can probably add a curved monitor for a little more.
Another big advantage of the Alienware is the RTX wires up to the video out ports. There are some laptops out there where the RTX only controls built in monitor. Intel built in controls some video outs for these other machines.
Does anyone have any views on IBUYPOWER, CYBERPOWER or IRONSIDE ?
Are they legit (not scams), and do they provide real support if something goes wrong?
Yes, they’re legit. I just would like to know if anyone had any dealings with them.
I looked them up. While they look like high quality builds, they all seem to be ~$1000 more expensive than the Alienware/Dell and HP Omen for a maxed out machine (11th gen Core i9, RTX 3090, 64GB RAM). If I needed support, I would not be comfortable shipping a machine back for service, being without it for weeks, and having personal info on the SSD exposed in transit.
Interestingly some of those custom builders also offer custom laptops, that are even thicker and heavier than the Alienware Area 51m, and more expensive. But they are limited by mobile 150W RTX 3080, which is the same GPU offered in relatively less expensive Alienware laptops. So that seems a waste of money and computer power for a beast that will clearly be GPU limited and have wasted desktop grade CPU horsepower.
Just did a Google Maps search for Origin PC home office and looked up reviews. No way in heck would I touch that with a ten foot pole. My suspicions were confirmed. Alienware and HP/Omen may have slightly “less quality parts”, but at least they are mainstream companies that will support if you buy the warranties.
I 've considered Alienware, but I don’t like to be locked into proprietary hardware. Faced that in the past with Dell. Did they just buy the brand or are the machines Dell in disguise?
I like the look of HP Omen better than the modern Alienware, but I don’t know what the heck they were thinking by offering only one fan in the back of the case. I would consider getting the HP Omen and opening the case while gaming, potentially directing a fan at the machine with the door off, if that would make a difference, and then putting the case door back on when not gaming. Thoughts?
I did that several years ago. The problem was I’d leave to do something and forget to replace the panel. You have to develop a new habit. I’d have to use a blower to clean out the accumulated dust. It doesn’t take long for the magnetism to draw the dust.
Have looked into this a bit. The current Alienware seems to have gotten better reviews than the current HP Omen. Even though I like the look of the HP Omen better than the Alienware, HP Omen 30L has gotten terrible reviews. I think it is due to HP Omen only having 1 fan with Alienware having at least 3 fans. The Alienware runs hot but still performs, but going off reviews, the HP has worse thermals and runs even hotter, such that it throttles.
Looked up Origin PC. No Way. While the parts are quality, the support is practically non-existent if something goes wrong or needs replacing. iBuyPower looks promising, but the builds are considerably more expensive than Alienware or HP Omen - but then it’s better parts. Not sure on longevity or how good they are if support is actually needed.
I’m thinking I’ll wait until at least Win 11 released and 12900/12700 can be regularly had in pre-builds before pulling the trigger on “something”. The latest I’ll wait is after the RTX 40X0 cards are regularly available in pre-builds with good reviews, if they move the needle.
The most I’ll ever want from the sim is to play 4K Ultra maxed out everything with 27" monitor at least 60fps. No interest in VR. Not sure I need to wait until RTX 4000 series to do that, especially if RTX 3000 Supers are coming just after the 12th gen intel.
Wow. I take back my last post. iBuyPower looks like they artificially inflate their reviews and the “real” reviews are even worse than Origin PC. Support is nonexistant. That is what I fear. Unfortunately building is impossible, as I’m not comfortable doing it myself with such expensive components and the video cards I want aren’t even available without paying as much as a complete prebuild. I’ve dealt with Dell/Alienware support before and they actually respond. Perhaps the others have better parts, but when looking at actual reviews, the parts frequently don’t seem to work and/or the QC is worse than HP/Dell. That is extremely disappointing that it is SO HARD to find a PC maker that actually seems to care. For Alienware to be the best prebuilt is sad, with all things considered (a machine that actually works and actually can get support). That’s the way it is looking.
I had a Dell r11 that I bought for the 3090. Ran hot, loud and with no upgrade path on anything due to their parts as discussed here. I had never built a PC before and took the plunge to buy a case, PSU, Mobo and AIO cooler and then swapped many of the parts from the Dell over to the new build (the CPU, ram, SSDs, and GPU). I just took my time and watched several YouTube videos on how to build a PC. It wasn’t hard at all and I’m very happy I did it and won’t go back to a pre-built from Dell. I also owned an HP before that. I researched the parts on PC parts picker where it has tons of other builds from real folks so you can see reviews of parts, compatibility, pictures, etc. yes a prebuilt has a warranty and that’s by far the biggest thing I gave up (although there are warranties on the major parts I bought) but now I have great parts throughout the machine, an upgrade path, and it runs a great temps even when overclocked (cpu sits at 50C and GPU at 65C when running MSFS in VR on. G2 with all CPUs cores OC’d to 5.1). Building your own isn’t for everyone but it’s possible, I’m a 50-something year old guy who figured it out and would do it again now that I see how it’s done. YouTube, google etc and there’s tons of articles and posts to help answer questions.