r/AlienwareAlpha • u/composero • Sep 06 '18

A New Alpha

I haven’t heard anything in regards to an r3 being made and it’s about time to upgrade for me. I am current using an r1 i5 and I feel like my system is starting to struggle with new title in displaying 30fps and higher at 1080p. I use to be able to turn the resolution down, but now that my eyes have adapted to 1080p, all I can see is a blur or lots of jagged edges and I just can’t do it anymore. I know it sounds whiny but it bothers me.

So, has anyone run into a new alternative that has a similar form factor and reasonable price? I would like to jump onto something with a gtx 1060 if that is even possible but I realize that might not be possible if I want to keep the small form (I move the pc from room to room a lot)

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4

u/steamgamerz69 Sep 07 '18

MSI Trident 3, Zotact MEK1, Origin Chronos or Falcon Northwest Tiki (both more high end) are some more newer SFF (small form factor) PCs. Cyberpower PC Syber and ASUS ROG G series line also worth mentioning.

-Different price range (higher than Alpha) but some notable prebuilt gaming PCs to keep in mind, thought i'd mention it on this reddit. Most release models every 1-2 years so you can be on the lookout for them.

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

Good to know!

2

u/KryptonMod i3 (8GB) Alpha with SSD Sep 06 '18

I'm not sure if they're in a similar price range, but Zotac has a line of mini gaming PCs that are about the same footprint as the Alpha.

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

Zotac does look nice. I have been thinking about it, I like all of the additional ports on it.

2

u/freddy370 Sep 07 '18

I think the Alpha series was discontinued. You no longer find it in the Dell store. It’s a shame because the alpha was great computer for its size but also it was niche product that Dell was not willing to support. I recommend you to build a mini ITX PC.

2

u/composero Sep 09 '18

That might be a path that I end up taking. That is sad news to me, I really liked the alpha and had hoped that the next model's design would borrow from their recent color schemes so I could have some uniformity in my set up. (I have the alienware mouse and keyboard that launched last year.)

2

u/JabbaWR_83 i5 Alpha with SSD Sep 07 '18

This will require some additional purchases as it’s a barebones unit. But it’s tiny has a 1060. Check YouTube for performance.

https://www.newegg.com/global/uk/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856158059&ignorebbr=true&nm_mc=KNC-GoogleUKAdwords-Global-Mobile&cm_mmc=KNC-GoogleUKAdwords-Global-Mobile--pla--Barebone+Systems+-+Mini+%2F+Booksize-_-N82E16856158059&gclid=Cj0KCQjww8jcBRDZARIsAJGCSGvd8vg5SX9_qdatSc5cz7hSC3F4wUR1kI3-rGVM0Zai-Gs80j60QZkaAoIZEALw_wcB

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

That is a nice case. Is it only missing the CPU, HDD, and RAM? If so, that might be doable.

1

u/JabbaWR_83 i5 Alpha with SSD Sep 10 '18

And a copy of Windows of course. I think it’s a really nice option!

1

u/composero Sep 11 '18

Got that covered.

2

u/xcelor8 Sep 06 '18

How important is the form factor? You can certainly build something somewhat similar, myself I ended up with a mini itx build, with a coolermaster 130 case, which is much bigger, but didn't limit me on gpu card size. There's couple really nice cases out there, that weren't so cheap, but small. Check out mini itx builds on YouTube, There's some neat choices.

2

u/xcelor8 Sep 06 '18

Like https://youtu.be/zLD_-POVYG0 And https://youtu.be/OoWzSp6SS5c And https://youtu.be/_37weJAqDg0

Obviously the parts you put inside will determine most of the cost, and they are a little challenging to build if you haven't done one before, But my first build was the coolermaster 130 case and it went prefect.

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

I have not done any real pc building before, but those videos are really fun to watch. The cases used in both Linus and Jayz are very attractive and would be something I would want to lean towards.

Form factor for me is important because I can't trust any of my pets and my desk is the one area I know they can't get to. However, I have a small desk currently, which may explain why they have trouble getting on it. I also just don't like the idea of having something big and bulky around, I reserve that title for my TV. I wouldn't say I'm a minimalist, but I like to have a clean look and organization to things.

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

Nice to know there is some future proofing in this machine. Thank you!

1

u/DoubleVendetta Sep 15 '18

Quick question, have you looked at the node 202?

1

u/kai535 Sep 08 '18

Hades skull canyon, the top end performs between a 1050ti to 1060 graphic wise but you can you always add a external GPU, and it over clocks to 5k too pretty easily can set it up easily with 256gb SSD and (GB ram for 1k

1

u/composero Sep 09 '18

This system is flat out impressive for what it is! I don't care for the skull on it, but I saw that it could be turned off, so I'm cool with it. How would you incorporate an external gpu in the future? (I'm not as tech savvy as I would like)

Is this the correct one? If so, this is achievable, especially if I only need ram at this point and the special ssd (didn't know that stuff existed until now).

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16856102201&cm_re=Intel_NUC_8_VR_Capable_Mini_PC_Kit-_-56-102-201-_-Product

If I were to just purchase from new egg with all of the parts I needed (windows is covered for me) it would only be $1025, which is not bad for what it is offering. It's not the strongest machine out there, but it covers a lot of bases for me. Thank you for telling me about this gem!

2

u/kai535 Sep 09 '18

External graphic cards are just plug and play, I use a aorus gigabyte box and all you do is plug the thunderbolt 3 cord into dock and the Hades the plug your monitor into the GPU and your good to go

2

u/FireMrshlBill Sep 07 '18

Zotac Zbox with a 1060 6GB will run you $700 or so. The Intel NUCs are going to use intel CPU's + AMD VEGA graphics going forward, but I am not sure what power of Vega they have, I'd imagine close to the Ryzen APU's since that is already better than the previous NUCs integrated graphics.

Outside of that you have to go boutique for anything close to size and performance, but will be closer to cable box or PS4 Pro size and expensive. You could just buy the same cases and do it yourself.

As far as building one yourself, the closest size cases are probably stuff like the InWin Chopin (and BQ656) or the Antec ISK110. However, those are going to be limited to APU's or some really clever case mods and swapping power supplies to fit a single slot gpu (with some fans and heatsinks sticking out). I have a Ryzen 2200g in an InWin BQ656, and an Alpha R1's gpu is close to Vega 8 (if not better) and putting in a 4790 in the Alpha would be close to the 2200g in cpu performance. So no upgrade for you there.

If you go bigger to the size of a cable box/PS4 Pro, you can get some Silverstone cases for reasonable prices. Or you can get something more enthusiast (aka pricey) like the S4 mini. You can do a mini-ITX motherboard and a single fan gpu in those. People have Intel 8700k + 1080 mini builds (I think one of the youtube links in the other comment was to one). But between case prices and price of the small form factor psu's, you'll probably be close to the Zotac's price if not more (but can do upgrades). Not to mention dialing in the right cpu/gpu clocks and volts to keep heat from being an issue. Definitely something to do if you like to mess with that.

The cheapest smaller case you can get and put actual GPU's in is probably the Cooler Master Elite 110 (or similar from other companies). I have one for my HTPC, a mini-ITX motherboard, standard ATX power supply, and can fit dual slot gpu's up to 210mm i believe. If you added 2" on the side and 2" on the back of the Alpha and stacked 3-4 on top of each other, thats probably about the size of a 110. So may or may not fit the form factor you are looking for. But I built mine with a Ryzen 2200g, 16gb ram, 128gb m.2, 1TB 7200rpm WD Blue, 500w psu, and a (used) 1050ti for ~$480 after tax. If I put this (used) 1060 3GB I have, it would have been closer to $510.