[trinibwoy]

Does anyone have feedback on Alienware's attempt at a HTPC? It's getting decent reviews and I'm really tempted to jump on it to avoid the hassle, time and energy required to build my own. Figure I could toss out the GTX-555 and put in something ~7870 levels and call it a day.

Usage: Playing controller enabled PC games from the couch in the living room.



Question is whether this is a waste of money and are there better and equally living room friendly alternatives out there? I don't know if there are cases available that are this nice or that a custom build is even much cheaper.

[AlphaWolf]

I don't think there's any doubt you could build something cheaper. As for the case, how handy are you with a dremel?

[trinibwoy]

My old Lian-Li case says "not very" I'm way past that stage though, don't have enough time to muck around with modding etc. I'm sure you can do custom for cheaper but there are probably size and aesthetic tradeoffs in doing so.

It's more of a curiosity anyway, not sure if any amount of cash is worth doling out for the few good controller enabled games out there.

[AlphaWolf]

Well there's also the option of finding a box you like and fitting a micro board in it. I've seen people use ps3 and xbox360 as cases for PCs as they have a lot of the ports ready. There's plenty of custom places that will do a build for you, but I doubt it would wind up cheaper than the x51.

[Dr Evil]

Sounds like a good solution for you, although a 7870 might be pushing it a little with that PSU and case? 7850 might be more appropriate and still quite fast.

[AlphaWolf]

Originally Posted by Dr Evil

Sounds like a good solution for you, although a 7870 might be pushing it a little with that PSU and case? 7850 might be more appropriate and still quite fast.

The difference between a gtx555 and a 7870 in power consumption is negligible (and in the average case the 7870 is probably even lower) so I doubt it would cause any issues.

[Dr Evil]

I'm pretty sure there is a clear difference between those cards. GTX 555 should be under GTX 460 1GB in power usage and 460 is about the same as the 7850, at least in games. GTX 555 is already at the upper limit of what that case wants to take in and some people who have installed GTX 560 in there are getting pretty crazy temps. 7870 might be possible, but is pushing it.

[AlphaWolf]

Not according to techpowerup.com

http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/A...D_7870/24.html

The 7870 is barely above the 550 (and below the 460), It's not easy to find actual numbers for the 555 as it's an OEM only part, but I wouldn't expect it would be less than the 550. (perhaps you're being fooled by the different ways in which AMD and Nvidia report TDP? (AMD parts rarely seem to hit it outside of furmark, and nvidia parts often exceed it in normal usage)) Anyway there's a reviewer that stuck a 560ti in the x51 and said it ran fine, the 7870 is well below that parts consumption.

[Dr Evil]

I was just looking at that Anandtech chart, but perhaps that techpowerup chart is better.



I saw some guy getting 100c on furmark with a 560 ti at full fan speed, but yeah maybe 7870 could work. Perhaps Trini can horry up and tell us.

[trinibwoy]

Originally Posted by AlphaWolf

The difference between a gtx555 and a 7870 in power consumption is negligible (and in the average case the 7870 is probably even lower) so I doubt it would cause any issues.

Yep, I'm sure it would be fine. It's a 330w PSU and all the other parts aren't power hungry at all.

Originally Posted by Dr Evil

Perhaps Trini can horry up and tell us.

I will if I get the X51 Will be a few weeks/months away though, still looking for a couch!

[AlphaWolf]

Can't have a console without a couch.