Gaming System Question

[Ryios]

Wattage alone isn't indicative of quality. There are a ton of bad quality PSUs that can't output even half of what their labels claim before frying.
It's not uncommon for new PC builders to skimp on the PSU because they don't know any better, so I feel like I should mention this at least.

True,

I generally buy everything on new egg. They have a really good review system. My basic process for filtering parts is filter only parts with 4 stars or above, then by lowest price. Then I find the pest part for the lowest price with the best rating. Then I read through some of the reviews to see the cons people listed, which is generally where you will see someone mention "Not correct wattage rating" then I move on to another one until I find one where no one has much bad to say about it.

The downside to that process is I generally stay away from brand new stuff, I buy things that have been tried and tested with the exception of processors, graphics cards and motherboards because I trust Intel and asus/asrock/gigabyte, nvidia etc. But for RAM, Power Supplies, Cases, Hard Drives, etc etc (tried and tested).

Very important to check review count to, 8 reviews isn't really a good indicator of quality, but 1500 is.

It's also worth mentioning that black friday is around the corner. In 2011 I built a 1800$ rig for $1100 with black friday specials.... New egg has some CRAZY black friday/cyber monday deals. For example, I got 2 22" monitors that were originally 140 for 89.99 each. I got two ssd's that were 149.99 for $90 each, I saved about 50$ on ram, 100$ on a case, and 50% on a motherboard, etc etc.

[CGMidlander]

It's also worth mentioning that black friday is around the corner. In 2011 I built a 1800$ rig for $1100 with black friday specials.... New egg has some CRAZY black friday/cyber monday deals. For example, I got 2 22" monitors that were originally 140 for 89.99 each. I got two ssd's that were 149.99 for $90 each, I saved about 50$ on ram, 100$ on a case, and 50% on a motherboard, etc etc.

Yeah Black Friday sales can be pretty good

[Fevelle]

I play FFXIV on a 860M on my notebook.

Maximum: 25 fps
Custom settings: 48 fps (I use this one capped to 30)
High (laptop): 50-60 fps

[CGMidlander]

Take everyone's advice and build yourself a computer. Alienware has gone downhill ever since Dell bought them.

Expensive prices for the price of building it yourself. (900-1k in parts, then another 1k for labor. lmao..)

The Alpha isn't really that bad.
It's $450 for the base model , $700 for the intermediate config, and $750 if you throw everything on.
Base model's compromises are
-500 GB HDD (As opposed to 1TB on top and intermediate config)
-i3 4170T (As opposed i7 4785T on the top config and i5 4590T on the intermediate config)
-4GB RAM (As opposed to 8GB on the top and intermediate config)
-Inferior Wifi module
All configs come with an Xbox 360 controller as well

Honestly, I'd be hard pressed to build something comparable to the base model for the same price. The upgraded configs have a poorer price/spec value though.

[Ryios]

I was curious what a Skylake MiniITX build would run, so I just pieced one out on new egg and made it public. I'll post the link when it shows up.

Case: Xigmatek Aquila White Steel Micro-Atx
MotherBoard: GAGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z7170N (mini itx, with wifi onboard)
CPU: Skylake I5-6600K
Cooler: Dynatron K5 (simple air fan cooler) "has to fit in case"
RAM: 2 * 8 GB (Total of 16 gig) GSkill Ripjaws Series DDR4 2133mhz
PSU: Enermax Revolution 530W Modular Gold Certified

Hard Drives-
Main Drive (OS): 250 GB Crucial Sata III SSD (solid state drive)
Data Drive: 1TB Hitachi HUA721010KLA330, Enterprise Drive

Total Price: 1098.39 without any black friday specials or promo codes.