It's still not clear if the alienware is a 64bit o/s, if it's not the 4gigs of ram is not usuable, windows will not see all the memory so youd be wasting cash on it. Of the 2 the alienware is more powerful gaming wise, but the real question is how much of a gamer are you? The Hp seems a nice all around comp, but the alienware is packing more muscle. I just don't like the 19in monitors on both.