Alienware's 2014 Triangular Area 51 Gaming PC Now Available, Starts At $1699

[N.Broekhuijsen]

Alienware's new 2014 Area 51 gaming PC takes a very interesting approach to a boutique system.

Alienware's 2014 Triangular Area 51 Gaming PC Now Available, Starts At $1699 : Read more

 

[dovah-chan]

Area 51 ≈ Mac Pro

 

[saywhut]

Case is awesome, very innovative. The one starting at $1699 has a weak video card (R9 270x), and should have more upgradability options.

 

[nicodemus_mm]

Area 51 ? Mac Pro

Let us know the next time you see a X99-based, 8-core, 32 GB Mac Pro with three GTX 980's. Not liking pre-built is one thing, but your comment is thoughtless bias against OEMs. Attitudes like that are why people hate PC elitists.

 

[Junz8924]

Too bad you can't buy just the case.

 

[drapacioli]

Area 51 ≈ Mac Pro

Umm...not by a long shot, they don't even compete in the same markets. The Mac Pro is a professional desktop meant to be used as a server or a workstation for high-power production and editing, whereas the Area 51 is a pure gaming machine. The difference is Mac Pro has server-oriented parts like Xenon processors and workstation graphics while the Alienware has high-end desktop processors and gaming graphics.

If you're talking about design, well a triangular (-ish?) shape is definitely not a cylinder, so nope not similar on that front either. Obviously the OS is different The only thing they might be similar about could be pricing, both are very expensive for their specs, instead relying on brand name and reputation to get sales.

 

[hotwire_downunder]

It does look like some design ques are common with the internal structure of the Mac Pro. But where this design would win over the Mac Pro is user 'upgradability'. While some might call this copying, I love the fact that one engineer sees an existing design and sees how to improve it.Hats off to both the original design of the Mac Pro and this improved design from Alienware!

 

[alextheblue]

Too bad you can't buy just the case.

If they sold it separately it would probably run about $500.

 

[Samer1970]

waste of space , if you want to do special Case , make a non standard motherboard like Apple did . and DELL is huge and can make special motherboards.

I was expecting Tri-Angular motherboard , not a standard motherboard inside a case with wasted space inside ..

whats next ? a BALL ?

 

[Samer1970]

waste of space , if you want to do special Case , make a non standard motherboard like Apple did . and DELL is huge and can make special motherboards.

I was expecting Tri-Angular motherboard , not a standard motherboard inside a case with wasted space inside ..

whats next ? a BALL ?

 

[iam2thecrowe]

the best thing about alienware is the cases. if only they just sold the case.

 

[Haravikk]

Aside from the double-post I'm not sure why Samer1970's posts have been down-voted as I kind of agree; the thing that has me most interested in the Alienware Alpha is that it's made up of bespoke components, like the Dell laptops are. I was kind of hoping that with its unusual design the Area 51 might be following suit.

It's still an interesting concept, I just can't help but feel that they could have done more with it by slimming it down further. I mean, systems with two graphics cards aren't exactly the normal, so I'm not sure why this one needs three. Also, with a focus on liquid cooling they could have gone further and use other liquid cooled parts for the GPUs. For example, a case with a liquid cooled CPU and two liquid cooled GPUs, each using an all-in-one single radiator cooler could be sweet, and also wouldn't need to be especially big, especially if you stay lean on things like internal drives, no optical drive etc. In fact, you can now get SFX power supplies that could handle even a dual GPU system now.

I dunno, it just seems like such a premium price for the system could pay for a lot more savings on space and cooling than it does. It's like what they wanted to make was the case, which is flexible enough for anyone to pick up and use, but they don't want to sell it on its own, so they're kind of at cross-purposes; you either sell a general purpose case, or you build a focused system, you can't really mix both.

 

[dovah-chan]

And that is why I said they were similar instead of calling them the same.

Irregularly shaped PCs made by high profile companies with a starting price that includes mid tier parts which could be price matched with higher end components while still being cheaper or around the same cost.

I understand boutique PC manufacturers have their place in the industry and I respect a few of them. You can actually configure a system on ibuypower with quality components and have it built for you while still being only a little bit more costly than just building it yourself.

But stuff like this is neat to see as a proof of concept although I'm not one known to be fond of Alienware's aesthetics.

On a side note concerning special cases, I remember people reacting negatively to Origins specially made chassis that was able to switch between a mid and full tower as well as having many modular features.

Also this chassis reminds me of the recycle symbol. :x

 

[husker]

"According to Alienware, the triangular design aids cooling, as neither the front nor the rear of the case can be placed parallel to a wall, so airflow inwards or outwards is not restricted as much."

It is misleading for them to claim the case design aids in cooling. It only prevents people from improperly blocking ventilation. A competent case review would apparently reveal no cooling advantage with this case because the reviewer would not block ventilation in a normal rectangular case.

 

[ChrisNH]

They successfully installed a computer in a urinal.

 

[Tim Gueguen]

So, will we see details on its level of stealth when it's tested?

 

[nicodemus_mm]

I just realized that with the right paint and a light in the center this would look like Dog's head from Half-Life.

 

[iam2thecrowe]

Irregularly shaped PCs made by high profile companies with a starting price that includes mid tier parts which could be price matched with higher end components while still being cheaper or around the same cost.

I just thought I'd clarify why alienware may be more expensive, beyond the aesthetic look. I used to work in a place that was contracted to build/repair Alienware PC's for our region quite a few years ago. Although i was not directly involved with the project, I saw how rigorously the pc's are tested, bench tested with various programs/games/professional hardware test suites etc. for days before being released to the customer. And if there was a problem, even a game crash, blue screen, SLI incompatibility etc, they will look into it and sort it. Don't know if Dell does the same now they have taken over, but you did get something extra for your money. Weather its worth it or not to you that's for you to decide, of course many of us prefer to build our own rigs.

 

[JJ56]

I am bored of all my builds... as dum as it sounds... the case is the issue. They look fine at first but then you get bored of it quick, ama have to end up buying alienware just because of its case.

 

[Samer1970]

I am bored of all my builds... as dum as it sounds... the case is the issue. They look fine at first but then you get bored of it quick, ama have to end up buying alienware just because of its case.

make your own case using 3D printing. and if you cant afford the printer , send the files to some one to print it for you and pay for the print out.