Although Sony and Microsoft rule the roost as far as video gaming goes, players like Alienware are also entering the fray.
The Alienware Alpha is to be released into the market soon and so it makes sense to compare it with the PS4. Of particular interest is the way that each handles its graphics.
Here is a brief look at each:
Operating Systems
Alienware is introducing the Alpha later this year, even though SteamOS, which is the main OS for Steam Machines, is not ready to be shipped at the present date. This means that Alienware will be forced to ship the initial Alpha systems with Windows 8.1 and Steam as well as with a few features that have been developed in conjunction with Valve Corporation to ensure that many Steam features like Big Picture Mode will be fully functional.
The design specs of the Alienware Alpha vary from the ordinary to the very high end. The base model of the Alienware Alpha will be priced at approximately 550 dollars. The PS4 on the other hand is available for about one hundred and fifty dollars less. In addition, Alienware Alpha is loaded with a 2.9Ghz processor and it also has four Gigabytes of RAM. That’s not all, because the Alpha comes with five hundred gigabytes of hard disk storage and a nice GPU with two gigabytes of its own video memory.
Though the specs of the PS4 are rather modest, it is important to take a close look at how these specs compare to those of the Alienware Alpha.
What’s available?
The Alpha has a couple of USB2 ports, which are located at the front. There is one other USB2 port that is located on the bottom and there are a couple of USB3 ports that are also located on the rear. The Alpha is also compatible with wireless and comes equipped with a RJ45 Ethernet adapter. It also has one HDMI out as well as a single optical audio out. Then there is one more HDMI in port and the HDMI provides support for 4K resolutions and the latest in audio.
Graphics
As for graphics, the Alpha has a frame rate of about fifty-eight FPS, which is pretty good. Most gamers only look for things like how nice a game looks. Both the PS4 and Alpha have good frame rates though the PS4 slightly outperforms the Alpha on this factor.
However, the texture detail on the Alpha is very good and certainly much better than that of the PS4. All in all, the quality of image produced by the Alpha is excellent.
As for graphics memory then again the Alpha seems to be a good option because it makes the images look much sharper with nicer textures. The images on the Alpha are clearer and crisper than those produced by the PS4. The level of image detail produced by the Alpha also was more satisfactory than the ones produced by the PS4.
Conclusion
The Alienware Alpha is compact and can play most PC games and it can work with the regular Xbox 360 controller. The trouble is that the Alpha is built around a gaming platform that makes it hard to use for personal computer games that were bought elsewhere.
However, the Alpha does provide good graphics but not good enough to be called a real winner.
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