Tech Review: Alienware Area 51

This is one of the best gaming desktops on the market for those people interested in serious gaming.

Alienware Area 51 Desktop

Operating Systems

• Windows Vista^® Home Premium - 64 Bit
• Windows Vista^® Ultimate - 64 Bit

Processors, Chipset & Memory

• 45nm Intel "Bloomfield" Socket 1366 CPU architecture
  • Intel^® Core™ i7 920 2.66GHz 8MB Cache
  • Intel^® Core™ i7 940 2.93GHz 8MB Cache
  • Intel^® Core™ i7 Extreme 3.2GHz 8MB Cache
• Intel^® X58 Chipset "Nehalem" Processor Family Supported
• Up to 12GB Triple Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
• 6 dedicated DIMM slots for Triple Channel DDR3 Memory

Graphics & Video

• Standard Single GPU Graphics Cards
  • 512MB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4670
  • 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ 9800 GT
  • 896MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 260
  • 1GB NIVIDA® GeForce™ GTX 280
  • 2GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4870 X2
• Optional Dual GPU Graphics Cards
  • 512MB NVIDIA^® GeForce^™ 9800 GTX
  • 896MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 260
  • 1GB NIVIDA® GeForce™ GTX 280
  • 2GB ATI® Radeon™ HD 4870 X2

Storage

• Single Hard Drive
  • 7200 RPM – up to 32MB cache and 1TB storage
  • 10,000 RPM – up to 16MB cache and 300GB storage
• Dual RAID 0/1 Hard Drives
  • 7,200 RPM - up to 64MB cache and 2TB storage
  • 10,000 RPM - up to 16MB cache and 300GB storage
• Optical Drives
  • 20x Dual Layer DVD Burner (CD-RW/DVD±RW)
    • Lightscribe technology
  • Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
  • 4x Dual Layer Blu-ray Burner (BD-RE, DVD±RW, CD-RW)

Networking

• Wired Connectivity
  • Dual Integrated Gigabit Ethernet RJ-45

Audio

• Standard 7.1/5.1 Digital High-Definition Audio (8 Channel)
• Connectivity Front and Rear
  • 2x Auto-sensing headphone jack
  • 2x Auto-sensing microphone jack
• Optional Enthusiast Audio Options
  • Sound Blaster X-Fi High Definition Surround Sound Audio

Peripheral Connections

• 8 Hi-speed USB 2.0 ports
• 2 IEEE 1394a (9-pin) port – Powered
• 1 E-SATA port

Case & Chassis

• Exclusive Alienware chassis design
• AlienIce™ 3.0 high-performance cooling
• Standard system lighting
• Optional AlienFX System Lighting
• Standard 750-watt Multi-GPU-approved power supply
• Optional 1000-watt Multi-GPU-approved power supply
• Optional 1200-watt Multi-GPU-approved power supply
• Tool–less front and side panels
• Height: 19.01”
• Width: 9.97”
• Depth: 25.02”