Handy Computer Guide

If you desire a PC to run some of the resource-hogging gaming applications on the market you are most likely to come across the Alienware brand of machines in your search. There are of course several cheaper configurations than the Aurora ALX (GeForce 7900 GX2 Quad SLI), but hey, if you got $6,000 to spare why settle for less than the best. 'Alienware is one of 13 desktop manufacturers partnered with Nvidia to sell PCs with four discrete graphics chips inside, ostensibly to deliver the highest of high-end 3D gaming power. Nvidia first announced this technology, called Quad SLI, back in January at the Consumer Electronics Show, by way of Dell's limited-edition XPS 600 Renegade. Five months later, Quad SLI is finally available to the masses, at least the masses who can afford a gaming PC that costs $6,000 or more. Typical of Alienware's highest-end desktops, the Aurora ALX is large, well-built, and expensive--$6,752 for this exact configuration. But the real star of the show is supposed to be Quad SLI. And in its debut, we find that Nvidia's luxury gaming technology delivers on some of its promises but not to the extent we'd hoped.'