Thursday 17 May 2012

Bridging the Gap Between Console and PC

PC gaming has taken somewhat of a back seat to console gaming over recent years. Consoles offer a simplicity and core services that aren't so easily available on a PC. Electronic manufacture giant Dell has recently released a new line of Alienware gaming computers to rival the console market.


The Alienware X51 gaming desktop has a smaller form factor than your standard PC and can be placed upright or on its side like all of the major home consoles.The Alienware logo on the front even rotates so it looks right in either orientation similar to the logo on the PS2. The whole design behind it is very reminiscent of the Xbox and PS3 designs and the slot loading disc drive gives it the look of a console rather than a PC. HDMI output is included to encourage the use of the PC with a TV for gaming.

The specs aren't as great as some of the other gaming PCs on the market but they are certainly enough to run any of the current generation of games with comparable or even better graphics than their console counterparts.

The only place where the X51 doesn't compete with the consoles is on price. The base model with Core i3 CPU and 4GB is £699. Other options are available with i5 and i7 CPUs, more RAM and better graphics cards and the units are highly customisable to the spec you want. It's important to remember that even though it is significantly more expensive than a console you get a fully functional Windows computer as well. If you plan on leaving it under the TV you could set it up as a highly capable HD media centre with software such as XBMC.

It's really not a bad package at all and when combined with a PC gaming service and store such as Steam you really can't go wrong. It remains to be seen whether gaming PCs will pull back the market share from consoles but this is a definite sign of things to come and a good effort from Dell.

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