Alienware Alpha vs PS4

[Manfish]

Hi, I recently been considering updating to a next gen console as most of my friends have got them now however I'm a bit sceptical of investing in one straight away when the games are so expensive and they lack versatility.

I currently have an Xbox 360 for most of my games and the laptop I am currently writing on for things I can't do on the Xbox such as modded Skyrim. Since most of my friends have PS4's that would be the logical thing to get (And Bloodborne is a PS4 exclusive) but a couple of days ago I considered the idea of a gaming PC. Having looked over many options I'm more confused than I was when buying my laptop so I have simply looked for popular cheap gaming computers.

Earlier today I stumbled across the Alienware Alpha and it looks perfect for what I want to do. A pc console hybrid that can play the latest games in 1080p with little problems, Its small and compact so I could plug it into our main TV downstairs and I could play modded Skyrim on that as well.

What I'm wondering now is whether it is actually worth it or should I just get the PS4, I watched a review where they gave it lots of praise but also said they were unhappy with 30fps on max settings. I'm happy to get 30fps on my laptop with low settings so that doesn't sound like a big issue. If I got the Alienware it would be the second cheapest model as it has 8gb of ram and 1TB of storage so I can keep plenty of games and stuff on it.

I'm rambling a lot so what I basically want to know is: Does the Alienware work like a normal computer with word and things like that? Can it handle games effectively? And could I run a heavily modded game of Skyrim on it?

Any help on this subject is much appreciated.

 

[TechyInAZ]

I highly suggest you get a PC based system like the alpha instead of a PS4. You have two options:

1. Get the $100+ of free games that comes with the alienware alpha.
2. Build your own very small PC that is 2x as powerful as the alpha for only $500.

A good example is this (this will be far more powerful than the alpha):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-4130 3.4GHz Dual-Core Processor ($113.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H81M-ITX Mini ITX LGA1150 Motherboard ($58.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($42.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.78 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 2GB OC Edition Video Card ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case ($38.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($73.99 @ B&H)
Total: $536.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-27 16:39 EDT-0400

Choice is up to you.

 

[Manfish]

Thanks for the opinion, I have only really just began playing modded Skyrim and I have decided I must have a good PC to play it in HD. While I think that putting together my own PC would be fun it sounds rather complicated and having opened up an old laptop yesterday I am ruling that option out. The only thing I'm interested in now is whether I should get the alpha or a pc I looked at before. The chillblast fusion spartacus, I'm fairly sure that the alpha is more powerful but I just need to check.