IUPAC naming help: 1-ethyl-3,3-dimethylpentane or 3,3-dimethyl-1-ethylpentane

I know that the IUPAC names for organic compounds require the substituents to be in alphabetical order, no matter where they are project out from the longest chain. By this logic, ethyl comes before methyl, since alphabetically "e" is before " m". But if I had ethyl and dimethyl, would dimethyl be placed first because it begins with a "d", that comes before " e" (with which ethyl begins)? Or should I treat dimethyl the same way as methyl without caring about the alphabetical position of the prefix "di"?
I am confused. Please help.

disregard the di. prefixes such as di, tri, etc, just come along for the ride. Look at the name that prefix is attached to in order to see where the word should go in the name

you dont use prefixes when naming, so di-,tri-,etc. you dont use the naming order for them. Only if it is iso-propane/butane etc. will you use the "i". so the first name 1-ethyl...is right!!!!!

The flaw in your question is that the correct name is 3,3-dimethylheptane.