Just ordered all the parts for my upgrade build the weekend before I got canned. Great way to blow part of your savings when it turns out you need it more for something else. Hehe.

Asus M3A78-EMH Motherboard (780g chipset)
AMD Phenom Agena 9600 Quad Core stock 2.3ghz mine is currently at 2.8ghz (B3 stepping post errata issues chip)
8gb Corsair XMS2 PC6400
Asus 8800GT 512mb DDR3 Vid card
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS 5.1 sound card
2x 250gb Seagate Barracuda 32mb cache 7200 rpm SATA drives in RAID 0
1x 500gb Maxtor Diamond 32mb cache 7200 rpm IDE storage/backup drive
Lite-on 20x DVD-RW/DL with Lightscribe
Lite-on DVD-ROM drive
8 in 1 internal card reader
PC Power and Cooling 750w "silent" PSU
Alienware Aurora case
2 120mm case fans
1 80mm case fan
2 cold cathode tubes in front of case behind the intake grill (blue)
4 high output LEDs throughout the case for lighting
Running XP x64 w/ early release SP3

3DMark06 - 13654


I ordered an Asus 8500GT overclocked when I first placed my order but decided to go with the 8800GT instead...now i have an 8500GT if you know anyone that wants it for $60. ;-)

Old pictures of the case before the upgrades...

thanks to a program at work which chips in up to 2000.00 for a family computer i just ordered this from dell it will arrive next week. i had no choice in the matter other than what i wanted to spend on my part they would match me 2000.00. the pc had to come from dell, which im not complaining about but from talking to freinds at work i could have went in better directions had i gotten the pc somewhere else. i wanted to get the windows xp but got talked into vista.

i also chose no support or extended warrantys, heck they wanted a ton of money for it. and i definately wanted no security packages from them, i own a dell now and i remember what a sham the last security package i got from them turned out to be. i also wanted to get the blue ray drives but couldnt afford it.

ill get 50 a week deducted from my check and thats not so bad, so i said what the heck im goin for it.


PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Extreme QX6850 (8MB,3.67GHz Factory overclocked)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 4 DIMMs
HARD DRIVE 500GB - Seagate 7200RPM, SATA 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Cache
OPTICAL DRIVE Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW w/ dbl layer write capable
MONITOR 22 inch SP2208WFP Wide Flat Panel with Webcam and Mic
VIDEO CARD Dual nVidia GeForce 8800 GT 512MB
SOUND CARD Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer (D) Sound Card
SPEAKERS No speakers (Speakers are required to hear audio from your system)
KEYBOARD Logitech G15 Gaming Keyboard (ships separately)
MOUSE Razer DeathAdder Gaming Mouse (ships separately)
FLOPPY & MEDIA READER Dell Media Card Reader included in Dell Bluetooth Package
MODEM No Modem Requested
My Software & Accessories
ANTI-VIRUS & SECURITY No Security
PRODUCTIVITY Microsoft Works 9.0
My Service
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support
DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
BLUETOOTH OPTIONS Dell 19 in 1 Media Card Reader
System Details 2.5MM aluminum thickness Midnight Black Chassis with front & back custo
System Details 7-slot, BTX design motherboard
System Details 1 kilowatt Power Supply
System Details Dell H2C Cooling Unit
System Details Two 120mm x 38mm front fans
Adobe Software Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1
Labels Windows Vistaâ„¢ Premium
XPS Specialized Support XPS, Specialized Support
Miscellaneous Award Winning Service and Support
PHOTOS, MUSIC & MORE! No Entertainment software pre-installed
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS No ISP requested

Actually, since Dell picked up Alienware, their high end gaming systems have gotten a real shot in the arm. Those XPS systems are nothing to spit at. The ONLY problem I have with manufacturers like Dell is the OEm versions of the operating systems that force you back to Dell for any kind of tech support. Personally, I would have gone with Vista Ultimate if I was having to take Vista but then that's just me.

Nice rig. And those Extreme CPUs are bulletproof.

As much as Vista sucks, it does one good thing and that's handle games better than any OS today.Â