Just a word of caution on these: I bought one of the 4gb i3's from Amazon when they dropped to £249 just before Christmas. After a very short amount of time it developed the "yellow flashing light of death" (google it). When I entered the service code on the Dell website it showed as out of warranty, and Dell themselves said it had been shipped out by them 15 months previous to me getting it, so it had clearly been sat around in a warehouse somewhere for a long time. I had to send them my proof of purchase to get them to reset the warranty. Had Amazon had any more in stock I would have just sent it back for a replacement, but because these sell out quickly I had to send it to Dell for repair instead, so will be waiting a few weeks to get it back.
All comments (64)
Rubisco
16 Jan 17#1
towan
16 Jan 17#2
Good price and I'm tempted, what sort of purposes are people using this for since it only has an 860m (correct me if I'm wrong) and that is a bit dated.
Scottc123 to towan
17 Jan 17#8
Indeed, the GPU has about the same performance as on-board Iris 550 graphics found in Skylake (5th gen) i5 and i7 CPU. Will probably run games like BioShock Infinite OK, but otherwise, yes, weak.
basergorkobal to towan
17 Jan 17#12
It's an overpriced HTPC. If you like vintage gaming then a gaming machine also.
Crazygooner1
16 Jan 17#3
What are these like in comparison to a ps4 pro? Can you still use steam the same way as a PC? Chat, game with people., edit settings for graphics like a PC etc?
geebeegooner to Crazygooner1
16 Jan 171#4
Read that the ps4 pro is somewhat between a gtx 970 and 980 which are still to this day very good cards in the pc world.
Can't comment on mobile gpu though as my knowledge is limited but I'd take a guess and say not in the ball park.
vulcanproject to Crazygooner1
17 Jan 172#7
PS4 Pro annihilates these. They have a couple generation old mobile GPU in them that wasn't high end when it was new. PS4 Pro's GPU is akin to a £175 RX 470, multiple times more powerful.
This steam machine will have it's clock thoroughly cleaned by a £100 GTX1050 in a desktop machine. If you put windows on it, then it functions as a gaming PC. But a pish one.
bisoner to Crazygooner1
17 Jan 171#9
PC gaming is more flexible but you will probably need a Windows 10 license and an SSD for the OS for one of these boxes. As a Windows machine it's will offer all the usual benefits over console gaming. It will push the total cost up to around £350 depending on size of ssd.
The Pro will outperform this graphically.
Yes to Steam but will work best under Windows 10.
Yes to adjusting graphics options.
Chat not a problem with the right headset /mic.
JC2MULTIPLAYER000
16 Jan 1711#5
That does not sound like a very legitimate comparison
I think that's generous for a PS4 pro, its specs put it around an RX470 or an RX480 if being generous (RX480 is similar to a GTX 970) although directly comparing PC to console hardware is rarely possible because both use their hardware in quite different ways. Also and more fundamentally no spec of PC will play a PS4 exclusive.
The GPU in the AW machine hasn't changed as far as I'm aware, it's an older Nvidia 860m or something similar which is a weaker card compared to the PS4 pro and an older card now which isn't upgradeable. I'm not convinced these machines are a great buy for that reason unless they're not going to be used for gaming.
John
kye1987
17 Jan 17#11
For the price the 960m isn't so bad. My brother has 1 in his hp omen and plays most new games on medium/high dependant on game. Does the job. Yeah building your own 1060 pc would be faster but would cost a lot more too
cantonbean
17 Jan 17#13
Can only speak from experience but I've actually found that I can play GTA 5 on medium settings on 1440p ok! The HDD is also 7200 rpm so it's not too bad. Guess you have to bear in mind that you're getting a full PC with a dedicated GPU for the price of the newest cards alone. I'm running a dual boot of CentOS and Windows 7 on it. Great little machine for testing!
Opening post
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alienware-Machine-Generation-Processor-Electronic/dp/B0185R5DUQ
i5 and i7 models at new historical lows of £349.99 and £449.99 respectively.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alienware-Machine-Generation-Processor-Electronic/dp/B0185R5D6A
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Alienware-Machine-Generation-Processor-Electronic/dp/B0185R5E7I
i3 4GB 500GB out of stock unfortunately.
Links to December's deal threads for reference:
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-steam-machine-4th-generation-intel-core-i3-processor-steamos-4gb-memory-2566441
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-steam-machine-intel-i3-gtx-860m-amazon-249-99-2579083
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-steam-machine-steamos-8gb-memory-1tb-hard-drive-4th-gen-intel-core-i3-2582964
http://www.hotukdeals.com/deals/alienware-steam-machine-4th-generation-intel-core-i3-processor-steamos-4gb-memory-2581992
Top comments
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3180987/ps4-pro-equivalent-gpu.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/691087-playstation-4/74264896
https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/5fgwqb/what_is_the_nvidia_equivalent_of_ps4_pros_graphic/
All comments (64)
Can't comment on mobile gpu though as my knowledge is limited but I'd take a guess and say not in the ball park.
This steam machine will have it's clock thoroughly cleaned by a £100 GTX1050 in a desktop machine. If you put windows on it, then it functions as a gaming PC. But a pish one.
The Pro will outperform this graphically.
Yes to Steam but will work best under Windows 10.
Yes to adjusting graphics options.
Chat not a problem with the right headset /mic.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3180987/ps4-pro-equivalent-gpu.html
http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/691087-playstation-4/74264896
https://www.reddit.com/r/PS4/comments/5fgwqb/what_is_the_nvidia_equivalent_of_ps4_pros_graphic/
The GPU in the AW machine hasn't changed as far as I'm aware, it's an older Nvidia 860m or something similar which is a weaker card compared to the PS4 pro and an older card now which isn't upgradeable. I'm not convinced these machines are a great buy for that reason unless they're not going to be used for gaming.
John