OHBOYOHBOYOHBOYOHBOY

Sorry to gloat, but this is exciting, and I need to share it (those who aren't technically inclined may feel free to disregard the following):

I have dreamed for years of getting an Alienware computer, and that dream will come true this weekend. I received an e-mail today with its tracking information, even though I wasn't expecting it until the beginning of August. I guess they didn't have to wait for parts as long as they estimated. I also paid the extra benjamins for a new monitor, as my current one is scratched and has one or two dead pixels, indicating that it's slowly dying. Even better, the new one is a widescreen Dell. More and more widescreen monitors are popping up, because the monitor industry has finally realized that human vision is better suited for horizontal vision than vertical. The gaming industry has also caught on in recent years, meaning most new games support widescreen monitors, making this an ideal time to take the plunge and switch.

And before any of you nerds ask, here are the specs:
Area-51® 7500
Chassis: Alienware® P2 Chassis with AlienIce™ 3.0 Video Cooling and 1000 Watt SLI Capable Power Supply - Saucer Silver
Chassis Customization : Alienware® Standard System Lighting - Astral Blue
High-Performance Liquid Cooling: The Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 Overclocked Processor already includes High-Performance Liquid Cooling.
Acoustic Dampening: Alienware® Acoustic Dampening
Graphics Processor: Single Graphics Processors - 768MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 Ultra
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB - Overclocked to 3.2GHz!
Memory: Extreme-Performance 800MHz Low-Latency DDR2 SDRAM - 2GB - 2 x 1024MB
Motherboard: Alienware® Approved NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 500GB Serial ATA 3Gb/s 7,200 RPM w/ 16MB Cache
Primary CD ROM/DVD ROM: 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Burner
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer High Definition 7.1 Audio
Monitor: 20" Dell 1600 x 1050 UltraSharp Widescreen Flat Panel

Yes, I pretty much copied-and-pasted that from my confirmation e-mail (thus all the trademark symbols). And yes, this system is outrageous for most people, but as someone who spends a significant amount of time playing games (albeit not as much as I did my freshman year), I believe it's a worthwhile investment, ensuring my computer will be running games with full (or nearly full) detail for at least the next couple of years. Plus, it's SLI-enabled, meaning I can easily add in a second graphics card at some point in the future to extend its lifespan (as long as the GeForce 8800 Ultra is still available then, because I think SLI only works when the two video cards are the same model). Oh, and regular applications will run faster too.

I took a risk by opting for a quad-core processor instead of a dual-core one. Right now, the quad-cores don't provide a significant boost to most games, but with the release of Vista and the development of multiple-core processors, future applications are expected to take greater advantage of multi-threading. I hope that will be the case, because I paid a significant premium for a quad-core processor over a dual-core one. I'm also concerned that the native resolution of my new monitor (1680x1050) will limit the lifespan of my computer somewhat, because running games at that resolution at smooth framerates requires a lot more rendering power than at my current native resolution (1280x1024). But with my current computer, I can run games at a resolution one or two notches below my monitor's native resolution without suffering too much of a visual penalty, so 1680x1050 (or anything close to that) is going to be luxurious compared to my current set-up. When my new computer does start falling behind at that resolution, I should be able to reduce the resolution without making games look too poor. And I'll be running these games with full anti-aliasing, anisoptric filtering, etc., which I can't do now, so even at lower resolutions, games will still look better than they do now.

Additionally, I'm really excited for this new computer, because I'll finally be able to put a flavor of Linux on my computer. Theoretically, I could have done that with my current one, but it would have required too much work. I will be reformatting my new computer shortly after I get it, so that I can set up a separate Linux partition from my Windows one. Do you think I'm crazy enough to rely on Vista alone? My new computer will come with a recovery disc, meaning that recreating the Windows partition should be fairly simple. Of course, I'll be verifying that the Windows install functions properly and verifying that the reinstall will go smoothly before temporarily scrapping it to repartition the drive. I may need to consult some of my more Linux-savvy friends to ensure that everything goes according to plan, but the prospect is still exciting.

And before any of you get on my case, yeah, I could have saved myself a lot of money by constructing this system from scratch, but I have a number of good reasons for ordering it pre-fabricated from Alienware:
1) This was a dream of mine: to get an Alienware PC as soon as I could afford it (and as soon as my current PC was showing its age). That time had come this summer, and who are you to deny me my dreams? Huh? Yeah, that's what I thought. Jerk.
2) While constructing a computer from scratch is something I've done before, I've only done it in supervised conditions. Plus, this system is significantly more complex, with water cooling and acoustic dampening, components I've never installed in a machine.
3) Buying a pre-fabricated computer from a company gives you access to that company's support, whereas building one from scratch requires you to contact the company associated with a particular component for support. And it's easier to deal with one company's warranty as opposed to a slew of warranties.
4) When building a custom PC, you may assemble everything correctly, and the computer still won't work because of various component conflicts. I expect no such issues with a pre-fabricated machine.
5) Alienware organizes the cables, inspects the system, and tests it thoroughly. When you make a machine, you have to do that stuff yourself.
6) Building a machine takes time out of my life, time I'd rather spend not building a computer that may not work.

Anyway, the point is, this computer is coming on Saturday, and I can't wait to start testing it out, seeing how games that my current computer can barely run (i.e. Oblivion, Neverwinter Nights 2) look at 1680x1050 with all options maxed out. After that, I'll be setting up the computer to dual-boot with Vista and Ubuntu (the flavor of Linux I'm interested in). Finally, the data transfer from old to new will begin. In preparation, over the next couple of days, I'll be going through my files and seeing which ones need to be backed up to my external drive, which'll smooth the data transfer process.

In other news, I saw Ratatouille today (fantastic, maybe my favorite Pixar movie, although I was biased towards it because of the French setting), and I plan on seeing Transformers this weekend, if I can make time for it in between all the drooling I'll be doing over my new computer.

You know, I should stop talking like that. Knowing my luck, the computer will show up DOA if I keep acting as if it's already safely arrived... oh God, that would suck. I'm going to go now and pretend like I never had that terrible, terrible thought. Expect to see pictures and some benchmarks this weekend, if all goes well.