Saturday, 1 September 2012

Alienware Area 51

Pros
 
This system is easy to upgrade and has top-notch Dell support.

Cons
 
Area 51 is a very large system, so it's not a great choice for someone with a small computer desk.
 
The Verdict: 6.05/10

This unit comes from a trusted company and works really well, just don't expect it to be dainty.


In true Alienware fashion, Alienware Area 51 is a futuristic vision of gaming computer beauty. Its alien-like spikes and sleek exterior will have any gamer salivating, but is this looker all aesthetics and no substance? In some ways, yes; in some ways, no.

If you are crazy about Alienware computers, this is the one to get. It is the most upgradable computer the company has put out to date. It also has amazing graphics that are hard to beat. However, the components that come standard in the base model lack the power necessary for today's most complex gaming software. However, if you're willing to upgrade, there are a variety of options that will give you more gaming power.

It has capacity for six hard drives that all have their own cooling system, and they are all cased in a storage bay that doesn't require tools to access. This means that the gamer can easily tinker with upgrades, quickly clean the inner-workings of the system and check to make sure the cooling system is working properly.

The cooling system is an Active Venting Thermal Management System, which is a fancy way of saying this gaming computer has fans that keep the inside of the system cool. This cooling system is often highly inefficient for gaming computers. Computers tend to overheat quickly when doing tasks that require massive amounts of memory, like gaming, and fans just can't keep systems cool enough. Thankfully, though, the processors feature a liquid cooling system. This type of cooling will keep the temperature down enough to prevent system lag.
One of the major drawbacks with this unit is its size. It weighs in at a massive 84 pounds and is almost two feet long and two feet deep. If you have a small area for gaming, this definitely isn't the computer for you.

Another drawback is the quality of some peripheral components. The keyboard and mouse that comes standard with this unit are low quality. For the price of this unit, most gamers will be sorely disappointed with the shoddy equipment. Some users have also reported that the lights and other items on the system quickly short out or just stop working. While these problems are rare, they are something to consider before you spend money on a gaming computer.

Of course one of the best reasons to go with an Alienware product is the fact that they have Dell customer support. Dell has one of the best customer support systems in the computer industry. No matter which way you would like to solve a computer problem, Dell has it all; from live chat support to a community forum, you will get an answer to your question quickly.

Specifications:

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 960 Quad Core Processor (3.2GHz, 8MB Cache)

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64Bit, English

CHASSIS COLOR Cosmic Black, Alienware Area-51 Chassis

MEMORY 6GB DDR3 1333MHz (3x 2GB) Triple Channel Memory

VIDEO CARD Dual 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 460 - SLI Enabled

HARD DRIVE 1TB - SATA 3Gb/s, 7200RPM, 32MB Cache HDD

SOUND CARD Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio

OPTICAL DRIVE Single Drive: 24X CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) w/double layer write capability

ALIENFX AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue

PRE-INSTALLED SOFTWARE Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed

SUPPORT 1 Year Basic Service Plan




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