Alienware Stuffs AMD Technology in Low-Budget Gaming Rigs

Boutique PC manufacturer has announced that it would introduce low-budget gaming systems based on AMD technology. According to the company, the first AMD-powered gaming rigs will hit the market within two weeks' time and will pack AMD quad-core processors and ATI graphics.

The system manufacturer announced that the cheapest system will sell for about $1,700. It will include 4GB of memory, two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics cards with CrossFireX technology and a quad-core Phenom X4 9550 running at stock frequencies of 2.2 GHz. According to the company's product marketing manager for desktops Marc Diana, the gaming platform will be built on top of an Asustek motherboard, powered by AMD's flagship 790FX chipset.

Despite the fact that AMD processors cannot quite keep up with Intel's quad-core counterparts, Alienware is confident that the new gaming offerings will raise the consumers' awareness towards AMD. "We're seeing huge demand from customers", Diana said. "AMD is a good entry point", he continued.

The news about a low-cost gaming system built around the AMD technology comes right after Dell announced that it would phase out its own gaming lineup in the XPS family. Dell will focus on delivering high-quality, affordable gaming products through its boutique PC division and the upcoming system might be the beginning of a wide range of gaming-oriented budget desktop PCs.

At the moment, Alienware is shipping a high-end AMD system (called Aurora), for about $3,000. It is built on AMD's Spider/ASUS 790FX-based motherboard and comes with a quad-core Phenom X4 9850 "Black Edition", two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics cards and 4 GB of DDR2-800 system memory.

Other PC manufacturers are still reluctant when it comes to using AMD technology for high-end gaming systems. For instance, Falcon Northwest, another boutique PC manufacturer, is exclusively using Intel quad-core processors. However, Diana claims that AMD is still a viable option in gaming and at the same time it keeps costs down. "It's not your granddaddy's AMD system. We're talking top-of-the-line quad core", he explained.