Alienware

[esieens]

Has anybody got experience with alienware noise dampening and liquid cooling system? Is it good and reliable?

Thanks

[armystud0911]

A buddy of mine bought a watercooled alienware, it was nothing close to silent, not to mention grossly overpriced. Sad to say cuz you would expect better from a high end pc builder like them, but unfortunately, their reputation is horrible. If you have money to burn and want a quiet high end oem machine, look into a brand like voodoopc, I have heard that falcon northwest is good too but I haven't had any personal experiance with them.

[jjr]

This is a test of an alienware published today.
http://www.matbe.com/articles/lire/295/ ... page15.php

It is not about an LC product but the main grief against it is noise ....
It mainly comes from the PSU, so the LC is not likely to change this.
Furthermore, the case is judged "average" which is not that good for silence.

[bobheddle]

Well - my Alienware ALX just arrived. Because I have more money than time, I didn't do much research - I thought Alienware had a good rep as being the best computers tho with a high price tag so I just went with them. I ordered the "silent liquid cooling" and I expected the result to be very quiet.

In fact, it is the loudest computer I've ever met, and I literally don't want to go into my office when it is on. It is tiring just to listen to it.

So now I'm wondering what I should do. I doubt they will take it back, each is custom made. Has anyone been in this situation? Should i just read the articles up here and start tweaking things? I am going to call Alienware but I am rather expecting them to refuse to take it back.

Any advice would be appriected. I wish I'd known about this forum earlier!

[Shadowknight]

Here's some complaints I found regarding Alienware, when using google to try to find their return policy http://www.consumeraffairs.com/computers/alienware.html

Specifically, here's a quote from someone else not happy about their "whisper quiet" machine:

Dennis of Los Angeles (10/9/05)
On September 21 of 2005, I ordered an Alienware Aurora 7500 PC. I had heard good things about their machines, but the real selling point for me was their website's claim that this machine, configured with their liquid-cooling system, was only slightly louder than a whisper, and was quieter than a mosquito's buzz - this is literally their claim.

I eagerly awaited the arrival of this machine, and made my friends envious with descriptions of its anticipated power and quiet-running noise level. With great excitement I powered the thing up, only to find that the noise generated by its cooling system was more on the level of a leaf blower than a "mosquito buzz". It was INSANELY loud. No one could be comfortable working next to a machine like this.

I called the company the next morning, requesting that they cancel the order, since the machine was not as advertised. They insisted that the machine had passed their "200-point inspection", and that there should be nothing wrong with it. My claim that the website engaged in false advertising was met with counter-claims that they did not promise that the machine would be mosquito-quiet. I directed them to the places on their website where this was indeed claimed, but they still would not allow me to cancel with a full refund.

Damages: They are charging me a 15% ($700) "restocking fee" plus I am out $200 in shipping fees.

More complaints: http://forums.pcworld.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=14475

My guess is that even if they let you return it, they'll probably try to charge a 15% restocking fee, in addition to making you pay for return shipping. If you do decide to get rid of the system (by way of returning it or selling it), I'd recommend getting a system from endpcnoise.com. They're a smaller company, but have a good reputation for making quiet computers and have recently started a joint venture with Mike Chin to offer SPCR-branded computers.

[jaganath]

First of all, what sh1tty behaviour from Alienware; this is CLEARLY false advertising, although long-time SPCRers know to treat claims of quietness with scepticism, because of many bad experiences like this. Basically, all companies lie about how quiet their products are, and the only way to know for sure is if there is an SPCR review of it.

If you are forced to keep it, then we can help you to quiet the thing down; but obviously it is rather galling to spend even more money silencing a rig which was supposed to be quiet in the first place. Maybe try and sell it on Ebay?

[shades_of_blue]

All companies? As an employee of a small OEM, I somewhat take offence to that. Granted, our standard spec computers don’t meet my near silent mark, we’re always willing to custom tailor a system around an individuals needs. Which can be somewhat expensive, as our normal distributors don’t carry brands such as Scythe and even Samsung these days.

As for Alienware, if you are foolish enough to buy into all that hype, you pretty much got what you had coming. I’m not trying to sound like an ass, but come on, they’re still using cases based off Cheiftec’s SOHO server line. Oh it’s got a pretty design, so what, it still suffers from removable hard mounted drive cages and aluminum side panels. No way in hell is that going to be close to silent. And that’s not even touching the cost, Alienware charges around 1.75-2.5 times more than the value of hardware. I can’t belieave that people are willing to pay it, for what exactly? A fancy DFU manual, the custom case or just the prestige owning one seems to bring.