Alienware MJ12
Posted on January 22nd, 2005 by JTkPosted in Geek |
I’ve been using an Alienware MJ12 at work for the past few months, so I thought that now would be a good time to write the obligatory review. Before we get into the particulars, I am not a gamer, I got the Alienware to work, and I haven’t been disappointed.
The machine is packed into a metal frame case inside of a large plastic shell that looks like something between the mothership and a 1950’s Buick. My co-workers didn’t care for the plastic case, but I think that it is well done, I especially like the low-slung grille. The unique integrated cable management system was great until I tries to plug a second monitor in with the adapter, and then it wouldn’t work. The thermal management system keeps the internals nice and cool - overheating is not a problem. The secured front panel is a perk too as are the four front-accessible USB 2.0 ports.
The first time we took the case off to examine the interior we almost ripped the fan off that is connected to the exterior of the inner shell… Once we got inside we found quick-release hard drive and 5.25” Drive Bays Cages - nice touch. As you would expect all of the wiring is neat, well organized, and out of the way - another reason why cooling is not a problem. One of my co-workers didn’t like the way two of the USB’s cables run around to the back in between the internal and external cases. There is a lot of room to get around inside, should be easy to upgrade when the time comes. The cardkeeper retention devices are a nice touch to help protect expansion slots from being damaged during transport - another nice touch.
This particular machine shipped with an American Megatrends bios, has a 64 bit Opteron 244, 2 120 GB Seagate Barracuda Serial ATA drives running in Raid 0, and 2 GB of PC3200 DDR memory. To say that this is the fastest PC that I have ever used would be an understatement. I am running Windows XP on it and can have a dozen big apps ( photoshop, premiere, dreamweaver, etc. ) all open at the same time and notice very little reduction in performance. The NVIDIA Quadro FX 500 that this unit shipped with is very impressive - suffice to say that the advantage of going with NVIDIA Quadro instead of the consumer line is readily apparent. Rounding out the major hardware: Creative SB Audigy 2, Plextor DVDR, and a Lite-On CDR. Adding to the list of nice touches is that it comes with a gigabit Ethernet adapter.
On the software side it shipped with a half dozen restore disks, for windows, drivers, etc. I haven’t needed to try the re-install yet, but will follow up when I do. Also included was Nero Express, some Soundblaster software, and some other similar, expected bundled packages. The Accessories were better than expected, the IntelliMouse Explorer optical mouse is the best input device I have ever used.
As far as just how fast the machine is - I always wanted a machine that could run all of the software I use all of the time and still run as fast as I could think. That is not make me wait while it tries to apply a gradient blend and I am already trying to decrease the opacity. This Alienware passes this admittedly subjective test. If you want some benchmark type numbers :
CPU Dhrystone=6621 MIPS
CPU Whetstone=2678 MFLOPS
Quake3 FPS=162.1 FPS
Overall this is a superior machine. Is it worth the $3k price tag? Well that is up to each individual to decide for themselves, but in my case I would say that it is. Being able to get done what I need to in a timely manner and never having to wait for my computer is almost priceless - in fact the only negative is that it is difficult for me to use any other machine - I now expect a computer to be able to perform as fast as I do.