Discussion Now Looking At The New Alienware Area 51

[Heat_Fan89]

I purchased an Aurora R10 a few years ago and swore off the crap Alienware has been pushing since and doubling and tripling down on proprietary designs. Steve Burke has skewered Dell and Alienware for their crappy designs.

Have they been watching his reviews and listened? I ask because the Area 51 introduced at CES 2025 is a complete reversal from their previous designs.

The incoming Area 51 will NOW use standard ATX parts including motherboards, power supplies, etc. The Area 51 is now able to be fully upgradeable with every part inside the standard size ATX case. The lighting PCB is now separate which means you can replace the motherboard in the future and still use the Zone Lighting PCB and it will work 100%.

The case is now aluminum with a full side view glass and a new cooling system.

It also allows for GPU's up to 450mm in length. I swore off Alienware but now i'm having a rethink because my next system will have an RTX 5090 and those will be really hard to get and cost $2000.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQuRvcoU0c

 

[iTRiP]

I purchased an Aurora R10 a few years ago and swore off the crap Alienware has been pushing since and doubling and tripling down on proprietary designs. Steve Burke has skewered Dell and Alienware for their crappy designs.

Have they been watching his reviews and listened? I ask because the Area 51 introduced at CES 2025 is a complete reversal from their previous designs.

The incoming Area 51 will NOW use standard ATX parts including motherboards, power supplies, etc. The Area 51 is now able to be fully upgradeable with every part inside the standard size ATX case. The lighting PCB is now separate which means you can replace the motherboard in the future and still use the Zone Lighting PCB and it will work 100%.

The case is now aluminum with a full side view glass and a new cooling system.

It also allows for GPU's up to 450mm in length. I swore off Alienware but now i'm having a rethink because my next system will have an RTX 5090 and those will be really hard to get and cost $2000.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQuRvcoU0c

I always loved the Alienware brand, they got nice wallpapers or backgrounds too, but about the hardware I don't know much, Allways thought they had top notch specs in their lineup, I'd be surprising to read if they did not.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I always loved the Alienware brand, they got nice wallpapers or backgrounds too, but about the hardware I don't know much, Allways thought they had top notch specs in their lineup, I'd be surprising to read if they did not.

This is the first Alienware after my disappointment with their Aurora series that i'd consider. My only pause is the choice to go with the Ultra 9 instead of adding a configuration for the Ryzen 9X3D CPU's.

I also love the fact that it is 100% upgradeable in the future and the RGB lighting will work with a totally different motherboard. The other question I have is if the RGB-PCB daughterboard will only work with an Intel config and not a Ryzen setup? That said, I do love the look of the updated design.

 

[ARICH5]

This is the first Alienware after my disappointment with their Aurora series that i'd consider. My only pause is the choice to go with the Ultra 9 instead of adding a configuration for the Ryzen 9X3D CPU's.

I also love the fact that it is 100% upgradeable in the future and the RGB lighting will work with a totally different motherboard. The other question I have is if the RGB-PCB daughterboard will only work with an Intel config and not a Ryzen setup? That said, I do love the look of the updated design.

I know that most of the experts here are not recommending the ultra series for gaming. The CPU is not "proven" yet. Some say there's very little difference between a i9 and a ultra9.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I know that most of the experts here are not recommending the ultra series for gaming. The CPU is not "proven" yet. Some say there's very little difference between a i9 and a ultra9.

I much prefer a Ryzen 9 X3D. Intel had crashing problems with both the 13th/14th CPU's.

 

[LordVile]

I purchased an Aurora R10 a few years ago and swore off the crap Alienware has been pushing since and doubling and tripling down on proprietary designs. Steve Burke has skewered Dell and Alienware for their crappy designs.

Have they been watching his reviews and listened? I ask because the Area 51 introduced at CES 2025 is a complete reversal from their previous designs.

The incoming Area 51 will NOW use standard ATX parts including motherboards, power supplies, etc. The Area 51 is now able to be fully upgradeable with every part inside the standard size ATX case. The lighting PCB is now separate which means you can replace the motherboard in the future and still use the Zone Lighting PCB and it will work 100%.

The case is now aluminum with a full side view glass and a new cooling system.

It also allows for GPU's up to 450mm in length. I swore off Alienware but now i'm having a rethink because my next system will have an RTX 5090 and those will be really hard to get and cost $2000.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkQuRvcoU0c

I dunno I always thought the fun of Alienware was the design element. The triangle case was cool.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I dunno I always thought the fun of Alienware was the design element. The triangle case was cool.

Yeah the Area 51 R5 that looked like a triangle was pretty cool looking and i've been told that was a pretty upgradeable PC. I do like the new look of the minimalist design and it is all aluminum.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

I decided to build my own PC this time and I am going with the Ryzen 9800X3d.

 

[Zerk2012]

I decided to build my own PC this time and I am going with the Ryzen 9800X3d.

Good every time I look at one of what your were thinking of buying all I see is overheating problems.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

Good every time I look at one of what your were thinking of buying all I see is overheating problems.

Yeah, i'm not entirely sold on Alienware's "positive air flow tech" so that's why we (Alienware) decided not to use a rear fan. 🤓

 

[Zerk2012]

Yeah, i'm not entirely sold on Alienware's "positive air flow tech" so that's why we (Alienware) decided not to use a rear fan. 🤓

On some of them they downclock the processor and lock the BIOS to help with overheating problems.

 

[Heat_Fan89]

On some of them they downclock the processor and lock the BIOS to help with overheating problems.

That's all correct because they were skimping on the AIO cooling, the case was too small. But we really don't know if that will apply to the new Area 51. They now have 3 front fans pushing air forwards and a 360mm AIO cooling the CPU. And IIRC, there are fans on the bottom pushing air upwards.

We'll have to wait for reviews and temp benchmarks to see if Alienware has "finally" figured out how to do proper cooling. What does help this time around is the size of the case as it is a full size tower.

 

[dev_cyberpunk]

Yeah, i'm not entirely sold on Alienware's "positive air flow tech" so that's why we (Alienware) decided not to use a rear fan. 🤓

my god what armatures these ailenware people are. Are these trust fund people?
Their video with the air flow looks cool, however, I will point out the obvious:
Why pull air through a radiator that will heat up and push it inside the case. Are they thinking they need to preheat the motherboard?
Also the AIO solutions commercial people come up with are total garbage.
1. They use the wrong tubing.
2. Their hose fittings are total garbage that will leak.
3. They have no reservoir for thermal expansion, level monitoring and purging of air from the system if the coolant boils.
4. They integrate the pump on the heat sink so if any part fails, you have to replace it all.
5. The pump housing is usually made of plastic that over time reacts with the coolant and leak.

Liquid cooling is expensive, but most of them tried to make it as cheap as possible to yield the most profit out of something that was a specialised market that most of its parts were custom made and built for reliability.