Alienware unveils X51 small form factor gaming PC

[Jos]

Alienware has announced a small form-factor PC designed to give consumers gaming power in a compact box that will fit nicely the living room. The X51 is about a third of the size of Alienware's Aurora desktop, measuring just 14.5 x 12.52 x 3.74 inches and weighing a mere 12 pounds. It's reminiscent of an Xbox 360 gaming console, but with Alienware’s trademark customizable lighting zones to add a little flair, and can also orient itself either vertically or horizontally -- with a logo that rotates accordingly so it's always the right way up.

The base model comes in at $699 and includes a 3.3GHz Intel Core i3 2120, Nvidia Geforce GT545 graphics card, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 1TB hard drive. According to the company, this setup is enough to deliver an average frame rate of 34fps in Battlefield 3 with high settings and HD 1080p resolution.

Those specs are upgradeable to an Intel Core i5 or i7 processor, an Nvidia Geforce GTX555 graphics card, up to 8GB of RAM and a slot-loading Blu-ray player to replace the standard DVD optical drive. The smallish desktop is supplied with an external 240W power supply but there's an optional 330W version as well.

Other specifications include Windows 7 Home Premium, on-board Wi-Fi, six USB 2.0 ports and a pair of USB 3.0 ports, HDMI 1.4 output to hook it up to a HDTV and high definition 7.1 audio. You also get Steam and Portal pre-installed to get you started, but mouse and keyboard peripherals are not included in the base model.

There's no support for multiple video cards or fancy cooling options, but unlike with many small form factor PCs, Alienware says the X51 will offer easy access to its internals for upgrades and general tinkering.

The Alienware X51 is available direct from Dell's website. Besides the $699 base model, $899, $949, and $1,149 configurations are also available.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/47091-alienware-unveils-x51-small-form-factor-gaming-pc.html

 

[Burty117]

That looks really cool! If anyone could pull this off it would be Alienware.

 

[tehbanz]

I agree burty, it can have multitudes of usage too!

 

[Guest]

Never ever purchase an Alienware... the service is pathetic, they don't have replacement parts, and Dell owns them.

 

[slh28]

That's actually a lot more reasonably priced than expected from Alienware... although they really should have included an SSD option to make it a bit more like a console.

 

[Guest]

Who cares. Why pay such a premium to play games in my living room when a console like xbox or ps are way cheaper? Why risk having to deal with unstable nvidia graphics drivers? Why pay so much for a crappy i3 processor? If you want this for media purposes beyond gaming, there are more reliable, more powerful options available for better value.

 

[Guest]

A Core i3 and gt545 for gaming?

 

[Guest]

"Who cares. Why pay such a premium to play games in my living room when a console like xbox or ps are way cheaper? "

Once you have a half decent pc you can upgrade it to a gaming pc for the cost of a console but with at least 4 times better, in framerate and quality, graphics. Oh, and you have a rocket of a pc. Of course, if you don't care to much about pc gaming and you want to sit in a couch, well, you don't care for gaming on your pc.

 

[Ranger12]

1.Because pc games are very different from console games.
2. "Crappy i3 processor" is better than any console processor out there.
3. What more reliable, powerful options are available? You can't really compare consoles with desktop as they serve different purposes to a degree. I find the price premium for a desktop well worth it. Kudos to Alienware for making a sharp looking product that seems to have good specs with a price that actually seems reasonable.

 

[Adhmuz]

Nothing special here, would of had a 560Ti version. I'd be surprised to see BF3 running on the base system at 34 FPS.

 

[Guest]

Works as a nice HTPC too I bet. Replace my Zino! See if I can sell mine! LOL Alienware is pretty decent. I do have their M11X and they had to replace the mobo but they came out right away to do it ...next day onsite service.

 

[Guest]

I wouldn't buy anything with an Intel processor and nothing that Dell had anything to do with. Remember the anti-trust underhanded deal Intel made with Dell to stiffle AMD? Yeah, that's why, plus AMD has always been better, faster and cheaper because they don't have the advertising budget that Intel does.

 

[Vrmithrax]

This is a decent spec for a low-end gaming/HTPC niche, which is smart for Alienware. They take care of the top end gamers, but the casual crowd has been largely ignored (except for with the laptops, they are more universal). I'm sure it's no coincidence that it has a console look and feel to it, and the price point is actually pretty decent for appealing to a much wider audience.

And, as Ranger12 was pointing out, the hardware isn't pathetic... Unless you are a hardcore gamer, in which case I'm sure you scoffed and turned up your nose immediately. This isn't built for upgrading, overclocking, modding... It's aimed at more of a "just a plug it in, play on it, buy a new one when you need to upgrade" consumer crowd... Just like consoles... May be one of the smartest moves the Alienware brand has made in a while, if they market it right.

 

[amstech]

Dell bought Alienware out years ago. Their products have been subpar and overpriced since.

What's left of the real Alienware is now Origin PC.

 

[Cota]

Alienware used to be good, until they took a Dell in their guts. and looking from the experience side, the only good things from Alienware are their cases...

 

[LinkedKube]

Dell bought Alienware out years ago. Their products have been subpar and overpriced since.

What's left of the real Alienware is now Origin PC.

oh they weren't overpriced before?

 

[blueskull85]

That is nice ... would be great addition to there line of computers

 

[tonylukac]

I find my new AMD Athlon 2 core processor to exhibit far better performance, especially in startup where it counts, (seems like it has an ssd, but doesn't), than my 2 core Intel dual core and it's only 0.6 Ghz faster. Is it the DDR3 compared to DDR2, because it's just like lightening!? I will be using it for gaming, but use it as an htpc now.

 

[Guest]

You are right. Those who say that an AMD solution is not up to the task, either are stubborn people, or they haven't tested a machine with an AMD processor. I, for example, use at work a system with an Intel E5300 processor at 2.6Ghz, and have at home a PC with an AMD Athlon X2 240 at 2.8Ghz. I seriously haven't seen any sort of difference in stability, performance or something that would make Intel better than AMD.
The same can be said for higher-end configurations, of course, until one point, where Intel doesn't have competition.

 

[DanUK]

Guest said:
plus AMD has always been better, faster and cheaper because they don't have the advertising budget that Intel does.

Nonsense. Sure they have more budget chips but if you have a bit more cash then intel completely blow AMD chips out of the water (even the mid range cheaper ones..)

 

[AlienOverlord]

I like the size of this. I currently have a huge tower that is mostly empty. I want to make a middle of the road PC with a small case like this that is hopefully quiet and keeps dust out but looking at the choices in the product finder they all seem huge and designed for high end dual GPU set ups. Any suggestions on a ~$100 case?

 

[Guest]

"... mouse and keyboard peripherals are not included in the base model." This is true, although you can add the "Alienware multi-media keyboard" and the "Alienware optical mouse, MG100" for free, you just have to select them, as no keyboard and no mouse are the defaults.

 

[jester376]

Cota said:
Alienware used to be good, until they took a Dell in their guts. and looking from the experience side, the only good things from Alienware are their cases...

While I would love to see Dell get wiped off the face of the computer world with you, you need to let your ego go and realize the brilliance here in Alienware's creation.

 

[jester376]

DanUK said:

Guest said:
plus AMD has always been better, faster and cheaper because they don't have the advertising budget that Intel does.

Nonsense. Sure they have more budget chips but if you have a bit more cash then intel completely blow AMD chips out of the water (even the mid range cheaper ones..)

Agreed, Nonsense. While AMD has been the first on the ball for making multi-core processors before most other companies, companies like Intel took the extra time to try to perfect those processors. If you don't notice any difference, then one of the two things, either your a ***** or you just haven't tested enough of either of them to know. Don't get me wrong, there are some AMD creations that I enjoy, like the Phenom II Quad-Core Series and the FX Series, and how I seen them smoke some of Intel's processors. However, most of their processors aren't really head to know with Intel's processors on an average basis.