What is the best desktop?

Question

[1] ALX® X58

Processor: Overclocked Intel® Core™ i7-965 Extreme 3.86 GHz 8MB Cache
Alienware P2 Chassis: Alienware® P2 ALX Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling - Space Black
AlienFX®: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Terra Green
Alienware P2 Chassis Upgrades: Alienware® High-Performance Liquid Cooling + Acoustic Dampening
Power Supply: Alienware® 1200 Watt Multi-GPU Approved Power Supply
Graphics Processor: Dual 1,792 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 295
Video Optimizer: AlienAdrenaline v1.0: Video Performance Optimizer - More Info
Memory: 12GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 6 x 2048MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved Intel® X-58 Motherboard- Socket 1366 Core i7 Ready, Dual Triple Channel DDR3 Memory
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 2TB (2 x 1TB) SATA 3Gb/s 7,200RPM 2 x 32MB Cache
Optical Drives : Single Drive Configuration - 4x Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BD-RE, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Enthusiast Essentials: Killer K1 Gaming Network Interface Card
Dedicated Network Processing Unit (NPU) bypasses the Windows network stack to offload gaming network traffic from the CPU, giving you better frame rates and less latency.
Sound Card: High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio
Monitor: 30" 3008WFP
2560 x 1600p (8ms)
Speakers: Razer Mako™ 2.1 300-Watt THX®-Designed Gaming Speaker System
Keyboard: Wireless Keyboard - Logitech® diNovo Edge Keyboard
Mouse: Gaming Mouse - Razer Lachesis™ 4000dpi Laser Gaming Mouse - Phantom White
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support with Onsite Service
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Security Software: Norton Internet Security 2009 - Retail Boxed Edition
Microsoft Office Suites: Microsoft® Office 2007 Small Business – Factory Installed!
Includes Basic + PowerPoint, Accounting Express and Publisher!
Digital Editing Software: Adobe® Photoshop® CS4
Power: CyberPower® Intelligent LCD 1500VA GreenPower™ UPS
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Mousepad
Exclusive ALX Extras: Alienware® ALX Desktop Binder
Exclusive ALX Extras: Owner Identification Card
Exclusive ALX Extras: Internal Wire Management
Exclusive ALX Extras: Exclusive Alienware® ALX Items
Avatar: Alien Schematic
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Wallpaper: Redefining Your Standards
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
RSS Feeds: Alienware News:
Get the latest Alienware news delivered directly to your desktop!
Time Zones: (GMT - 8.00) Pacific Time (US & Canada)

Mac Pro
Two 2.93GHz Quad-Core Intel Xeon
32GB (8x4GB)
Mac Pro RAID Card
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
1TB 7200-rpm Serial ATA 3Gb/s
4x NVIDIA GeForce GT 120 512MB
One 18x SuperDrive
Apple Cinema HD Display (30" flat panel)
Apple Wireless Mighty Mouse
Apple Wireless Keyboard (English) and User's Guide
AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi Card with 802.11n

Answer 1

Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

If you are asking this question I believe that you would be more suited to a windows PC. So forget about the Mac Pro. The Mac Pro is a hardcore work machine used to run lengthy code, work with huge matrices and blah blah...

The i7 is by far one of the best processors available today. If I may ask why are you buying a PC? If you want the best PC on the market that will not become obsolete in a couple of years than i m sorry to say that the PC you are looking for is not on the market yet.

If you are a gamer, than I strongly suggest the Alienware PC. If you are not a hardcore gamer and are rather looking for a fast PC that will not give you any problems in terms of compatibility etc. I suggest you look for a high-end Dell or HP.

To save you some cost, I suggest downgrading from the 12GB to about 4-6GB. I use a 4GB PC and have only 3 programs (Matlab, TurbSim and AutoCAD) that actually use all that memory.

I personally prefer Windows XP Pro. If there is a downgrade to that I suggest you take it. If it happens that Windows 7 is released by the time you buy your PC, I suggest you take Windows 7 Ultimate.

I notice that you have a Blue-ray Burner! I haven't seen any individual with so much data that they needed to start using Blue Ray Disc's to transfer/store data. If you feel you have alot of movies songs pictures etc, buy a couple of external HDs. I like the ones that apple provides since its wireless back up. You don't have to even press a button and all your files will be backed up.

Oh ya. And as far as processor speed goes. 2.1 - 2.6 GHz should be good unless ofcourse you are an engineering student or something and need that kind of processing power.

It might be worthy to note that most of your programs (Internet Browsers, Messengers, Some games, are not set up to use a 64-bit configuration and therefore cannot use more than 2 GB ram even if you have 12GB ram on your computer. So Again I suggest that you could downgrade your ram too.

Best of luck. I wish I could afford one of these PCs.

Source(s):

knowledge developed over years of spending time on the internet. I build my own PCs (You could try this too, It's really easy).

Answer 2

You need to ask a more specific question if you wish a better answer.

If you mean "Do I want a MAC or PC???", or "Which costs more, a MAC or PC?", or "Which is a more COOL mahine?"... then ask that!
8-)
The answers to these questions are also someone emotional, and a matter of personal choice. The MAC WILL COST MORE than a similiar sized PC. The rest of the decision is a personal, emotional choice.

Answer 3

Pgggh! The ALIENWARE without a SINGLE doubt!

Nvidia GeForce GT 120? That's a Nvidia GeForce 9550!

If the Nvidia GeForce GTX295 were a car, it would be a Lamborghini Countach, and the Nvidia GeForce GT 120 would be a Volkswagon Beetle!

NO exaggeration at all!! None! Nada! Nyet!

You are NEVER for the next few years, going to use 12GB's of ram!

There isn't ANYTHING out there that requires, OR CAN USE, 4GB's of ram!

Present technology for the programming of programs, plus how the technology of the present hardware components in a computer, WILL NOT even touch the full capability of 4GB's of ram. Much less 12GB's!

Now MAC offers 32GB's?

It's just Ludicrous, and nothing but a marketing sales pitch!
So is 12GB's!

Xeon?
Xeon processors aren't worth a Cr@p for a gamer computer! Plus comparing a Xeon to a Core i7 is just nut's!
And it's even more crazy comparing it to the top of the line Core i7 Extreme Edition 965!

The Intel Core i7 Extreme Edition 965 has a UNLOCKED MULTIPLIER!
This means you can overclock this puppy so much, that it would scare a seasoned computer gamer!

I mean like UNREAL overclocking!
See that 3.86GHz frequency rate they have listed?

THAT'S FOUR processor cores operating at 3.86GHz EACH!

Yeah, I know, the Xeon listed has Four processor cores operating at 2.93GHz EACH.

THAT'S NOTHING!

Intel brought back HT for the Intel Core i7. HT is Hyperthreading Technology.

The last time it was used, was for the Intel Pentium 4's. You had One physical processor core, and one Virtual core.
The Operating System, saw that Pentium 4 as being TWO processors.

Now you have a quad core Intel Core i7. EACH processor core can run two threads simultaneously.

This means the Operating System, sees the Intel Core i7 as being EIGHT processors!

The Intel Core i7 doesn't use a Front Side Bus anymore. (FSB) It has the QuickPath Interconnect, (QPI), instead.
The Xeon still uses an FSB!

The Intel Core i7 has an On-Die memory controller.
Here. Here is more info about the Intel Core i7,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intel_Core_…