Boutique PC manufacturer Alienware has just announced a processor update for its Aurora gaming systems line-up. The new gaming rigs will come with AMD's Phenom 9850 flagship quad-core processor and will allow low-budget gamers get a professionally-built computing system for less than $1,000.

The new Aurora desktop PCs will be built on the AMD Spider/ASUS 790FX-based motherboard, that support up to 4 GB of DDR2 memory as well as up to an astonishing amount of 4 TB storage space on 7,200 or even 10,000 RPM hard-disk drives.

The systems are also customizable, to allow users built them in accordance with their computing requirements. The Aurora gaming rigs will come with a choice of ATI Radeon 3870 X2, HD3850, or HD3870 graphics cards, either as stand-alone versions, or set-up in a CrossFire X mode.

The basic model will come with an extremely modest 2.7GHz Athlon X2 processor and just 2GB of RAM. Such offerings are hardly worthy of the "gaming rig" qualification, yet it comes with a tiny price tag of just $999.

However, you can customize it with an AMD Phenom X4 9850 Black Edition and a Radeon HD 3870 X2 for a truly monstrous rig, but this would add up to the final price tag. All the AMD-based Aurora systems come with Alienware's traditional alien-head chassis, that supports the essential "Alienware AlienFX System Lighting".

More picky users can combine the overclockable Phenon 9850 Black Edition with a professional water-cooling solution and add some more RAM on board for a fully-fledged gaming desktop PC. The top configuration will leave you $5,896 short, but you'll get a lot happier when you start fragging on that 30-inch Samsung SyncMaster LCD display.

Alienware proved again that AMD's Phenom quad-cores processors are not to be overlooked when it comes to gaming, especially if you would like to spare a few hundred bucks at no performance loss.