Right. I've been meaning to do this for a while now
Just went to Alienware dot com and got this.
Software & Services
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz (8MB Cache) Quad Core Processor
Single 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ HD 5870
3GB Triple Channel 1333MHz DDR3
500GB - SATA-II, 3Gb/s, 7,200RPM, 16MB Cache HDD
Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability
No Monitor
Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
Alienware basic keyboard
Alienware basic Mouse
Personalize
1 Year Basic Service Plan
My Software & Accessories
Cosmic Black, Alienware Aurora Chassis
AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
Alien Cyborg
Alienhead Chrome Red
Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
My Accessories
Also Includes
Alienware Aurora Desktop
Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Automatic Updates: Enabled
Price - $1,449.00 free delivery & MD state tax. Let's do some working out.
1. Micro ATX Crossfire/SLI X58 board - $199 (closest comparisson).
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...51&cm_re=micro_atx_x58-_-13-188-051-_-Product
1. Intel I7 920 - $200 min. Can't find any ATM, but the 930 is $250.
1. ATI Radeon 5870 - $359 (cheapest I could find)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125316&cm_re=5870-_-14-125-316-_-Product
1. 500 GB Seagate Baracuda - $54.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...5&cm_re=500gb_baracuda-_-22-148-395-_-Product
1. 3gb triple channel 1333mhz DDR3 - $72.99 again, cheapest I could find.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...0148245&cm_re=3gb_ddr3-_-20-148-245-_-Product
1. Corsair H50 (asetek, same as the Alienware has) - $79.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835181010&Tpk=corsair h50
1. Windows 7 home premium - $180.93
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...ws_7_home_premium_full-_-32-116-716-_-Product
1. 24X CD\DVDRW - $17.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...106289&cm_re=24x_dvdrq-_-27-106-289-_-Product
1. Expensive, solid case with a few fans and some lighting ETC. - $99.99. Now bear in mind that this is very basic compared to the Alienware, so I should be pricing in at least $200 for the AW case.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...&cm_re=silverstone_mid-_-11-163-058-_-Product
1.half decent keyboard and mouse - $18.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...6&cm_re=keyboard_mouse-_-23-575-006-_-Product
1. Gaming mouse mat - $14.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...cm_re=gaming_mouse_mat-_-26-999-070-_-Product
1. 750w PSU - $89.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...7182069&cm_re=750w_psu-_-17-182-069-_-Product
OK I don't think I missed anything. Now, that comes to $1388.85. That's without delivery or build or pretty much of anything. I could also add all of the extra fans into that (few 120mm etc) but I won't because there is no point. So by the time you add tax on Newegg for (example the state of MD 6%) which comes to 83.33. Add it up? $1472.18 without shipping.
Still think Alienware are expensive?