Alienware Area-51 Gaming PC Overview

Twenty-five years in the past, Alienware was mainly synonymous with “gaming PCs.” It was actually the one firm that was making high-end gaming PCs and mainly created the sort of RGB-heavy aesthetic that everyone knows and love (or hate) at the moment. So much has modified since then, and now that there are dozens of firms on the market making high-end gaming towers, Alienware PCs appear rather less out of this world than they used to.

That’s sort of the medal Alienware needs to win again with the Area-51 – a reputation that evokes the corporate’s wild previous. This new Area-51 tower is definitely extra adventurous than a number of the conservative designs the corporate has had in the previous few years, and it’s full of a number of the strongest {hardware} you should buy proper now. But I can’t shake the sensation that this factor was designed in a boardroom to look cool in a post-Jony Ive world.

Design and Build Quality

The new Alienware Area-51 is enormous. It’s practically as tall as my desk, and weighs sufficient that I used to be severely contemplating hiring somebody to hold it as much as my third-floor walkup (fortunately, I managed). This big tower measures 22.4 inches tall, 24 inches deep, and 9 inches vast, and may weigh as much as 76lbs. I didn’t weigh the unit Alienware despatched me, however it was most likely near that max weight.

Quite a lot of that weight is because of the supplies. This is a principally metallic PC case with an enormous glass aspect panel and a mechanical system that permits you to twist a little bit dial to unlock the PC, adopted by buttons on both aspect that’ll open it up, quite than arguing with some thumbscrews like a standard PC. This is in service of creating upgrades to the system toolless, however that locking dial is secured by a Philips-head screw, so that you’re nonetheless going to have to interrupt out some instruments to open the PC. At least the primary time.

I’ll admit, although, that popping open this PC to get the little foam insert that secures the graphics card for delivery was immensely satisfying, even when I used to be a little bit confused about tips on how to get into the system for a couple of seconds. You merely eliminate the retaining screw, twist the locking dial, after which push one of many buttons on both aspect to gracefully pop open the glass aspect panel or the again panel, supplying you with entry to the innards. That’s superior for anybody that likes to tinker with their system, and even simply to wash the factor.

Once you’re inside, Alienware has included little QR codes for just about each element, which, when scanned, will lead you to a information on tips on how to swap out that half. Given that lots of the people who find themselves going to purchase a PC like this most likely aren’t acquainted with constructing their very own PC, it is a nice method to demystify the system.

The prime of the chassis has air flow holes drilled into the case itself in a cool honeycomb-esque design. On the other aspect of those holes is the radiator, which, within the entry-level mannequin I reviewed, hosts a 360mm AIO. There are loads of different followers on provide too, with two 120mm followers mounted above the facility provide and two 240mm followers on the entrance of the case, all serving as consumption.

In entrance of the air flow are the entrance ports. You get two USB-A and two USB-C, together with two 3.5mm audio jacks, one for headphones and the opposite for a microphone. Of course, as a result of it is a big gaming PC with a full-sized motherboard, there are additionally a wealth of ports across the again, so you shouldn’t have any drawback plugging in all of your peripherals and units.

Unlike lots of conventional PC instances, the entrance case followers are hidden behind a bizarre alcove within the entrance of the PC. This is surrounded by an RGB lighting strip, and it seems cool, however actually, it serves the aim of not letting the metallic entrance panel impede airflow an excessive amount of. That entrance panel does look cool, although, with the one ornament being an RGB Alienware brand that doubles as an influence button.

Of course, it’s not simply the facility button and the bizarre oval-shaped alcove that’s bedecked in RGB lighting. Alienware has strapped rainbow lighting to the followers, the graphics card, and the CPU block as properly. Out of the field, these have a pleasant blue-ish colour to them that may’t cease reminding me of Glacier Freeze Gatorade. You can change this within the Alienware Control Center, however the default lighting profile is fairly candy.

Software and Features

Because Alienware is owned by Dell, the Area-51 comes with some degree of pre-installed software program that you just’re simply going to must make peace with or uninstall on day one. However, they’re not essentially the most bloat-y I’ve seen in a mainstream prebuilt like this.

The Alienware Command Center is sort of flashy, however it’s merely there that will help you handle efficiency profiles and lighting configurations. However, this app does throw up notifications continually, so I’d advise muting them and simply manually checking in often to see if there are any updates. This software program does additionally offer you entry to some library administration instruments and Alienware Arena, however so long as you could have Steam or GOG Galaxy, it’s fairly secure to only fake these options don’t exist – they’re not superb.

This gaming PC additionally comes with a RAID configuration software by default, despite the fact that the mannequin I reviewed solely got here with a single SSD. That’s a pleasant utility to have, however for many people who find themselves shopping for an Alienware PC are most likely finest served by ignoring this or simply uninstalling it. Luckily, it does offer you a little bit warning once you open it that it might break shit.

Beyond that, there’s the usual Dell suite of replace instruments and assist applications. These don’t run within the background or something, so that they’re secure to only go away alone. They’re there for those who want them.

Performance and Gaming

Alienware despatched me an Area-51 with an RTX 5080, 32GB of RAM, and a Ryzen 7 9850X3D, so it’s little shock that this factor rips. This is completely the sort of gaming PC that may play any recreation in the marketplace at 4K with cranked settings and nonetheless clear 60 fps, particularly when body era and DLSS upscaling are thrown into the equation.

In 3DMark, the Alienware Area-51 performs simply as I’d anticipate out of a rig with an RTX 5080, getting 9,080 factors in Speed Way and eight,685 in Steel Nomad. This is definitely a little bit higher than what I acquired out of the Founders Edition once I reviewed it final yr, however it’s nonetheless inside the margin of error.

I examined Black Ops 7 at 4K with the intense preset, with DLSS set to ‘performance’ and ray tracing disabled, and I used to be capable of get a stable 145 fps. Then, in Cyberpunk, with the Ray Tracing Ultra preset on the identical decision, the Area-51 scored an 88fps common. From there, you’ll be able to allow body era when you’ve got a high-refresh show, which upped the body fee to 143 and 247 fps for 2x and 4x FG, respectively.

The solely recreation the place the Area-51 struggled even a little bit bit was in Metro Exodus. Here at IGN, we check this recreation with RT enabled, however with no upscaling, as a result of it solely helps DLSS. But even at a local 4K, this Alienware machine was capable of squeak by with a 62 fps common at 4K.

Pretty a lot irrespective of the way you spec it out, the Area-51 goes to be highly effective sufficient to run most AAA video games with maxed out settings for a couple of years. And, even as soon as the RTX 5080 begins to point out its age, it’s straightforward sufficient to improve this method that you just gained’t really feel like that you must exit and spend one other $3-4,000. Hell, this machine has sufficient overhead for inventive workloads too, which could assist soften the monetary blow a bit.

Jackie Thomas is the Hardware and Buying Guides Editor at IGN and the PC elements queen. You can observe her @Jackiecobra