Alienware for Post Processing

[Shannon_A_S]

Has anyone used an Alienware computer for their post processing? They're designed for gaming but I figured they would do well for photography as well because of the great graphics, memory and processor. I want to order today or tomorrow so any feedback soon would be very helpful. Thanks.

[CelticOrigins]

Can't say I have used an Alienware PCs and its hard to say with out knowing the spec your looking at, I do have a mate who will not use anything else for gaming but that's gaming not photography. What spec you looking at?

[Axys32]

I have an Alienware computer actually, and I must say that it is a great PC. It has plenty of power to play most games and its lightning fast with many other applications, including anything I need for post processing. Really as long as you are getting a quality CPU and plenty of RAM, you will be fine with any computer. The video card, Ive found, isn't as heavily used when in Lightroom as compared to Photoshop. If you are planning on actually editing a lot of you pictures, such as removing objects, changing people's features, and creative designs there, I would recommend beefing up the video card as well, but overall CPU and RAM are most important.
Considering that Alienware emphasizes pretty much on those three areas, I can assure you that it will be a good choice, and I would personally recommend them, after having almost 6 years experience with their computers. Let me know your specs once you order it! (or if you need any help picking specs, Id be happy to point you in the right direction!)

[ddr]

as mike_e mentioned, it'd help greatly if you mentioned the spec to us

i'm 100% sure you can have a local store build you the exact same specs + install w7 for you and it'd still be cheaper.

the thing to consider, though, is that alienware tweaks their systems to the customer's liking and a lot of their systems come overclocked. if you're not technically inclined and need the speed beyond what most users can afford, (i.e. i7-860, but you need something faster that would dig into the extreme models), then the overclocked models might be for you.

just an aside, seeing how the new macbook pro's advertise that its discrete graphics card is used in lightroom or PS, a good graphics card may help in rendering. i haven't gotten a straight answer about how LR or PS utilizes the GPU though.