Maximum PC alienware RSS Feed

New Alienware Line Features Active Venting

Jason Barry — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:27:40 -0500

Alienware updated its Area-51 case for the new ALX line of desktop systems. The new ALX line itself features beefy specs for a micro-ATX system, but the craziness doesn’t end at a blazing fast GPU or speedy i7 processor. This machine features…fins. Not just any fins, motorized fins.

The new cooling technology in use in the ALX works in tandem with the Command Center to open and close the vents according to “thermal values.” Unfortunately, those are the only details listed on the site regarding Active Venting. As a part of the Command Center software, you can change the lighting styles on various parts of the case as well as tweak thermal controls.

Starting price is $2,299. You can check out the full specs on the Alienware ALX site

Ridiculous, or ridiculously awesome? What do you think?

Alienware Launches 21.5" 1920x1080 Monitor

Paul Lilly — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 10:00:49 -0500

Alienware, a boutique OEM vendor who made a name for itself building high end gaming PCs offered in distinct looking cases, has just released its first monitor, the OptX AW2210, and it doesn't have any tentacles or other alienesque features protruding from the side.

"The ultimate gaming experience requires more than just a great PC," explained Frank Azor, Dell Gaming. "Alienware is building an ecosystem around our machines to give gamers the complete gaming experience."

It's not too surprising to see Alienware release a monitor, considering that Dell, an active player in the LCD display market, now owns the OEM.

The 21.5-inch widescreen TN panel boasts 1920x1080 full HD resolution, a 2ms response time, 16.7 million colors, an 80,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, two HDMi ports, four USB ports, and a titl/swivel/height adjustable stand.

It's available now for $299 direct from Dell.

Image Credit: Dell

Alienware Defies Recession With a Monster Gaming Laptop

Justin Kerr — Sat, 30 May 2009 11:18:19 -0500

Alienware is set to debut it’s new “allpowerful” gaming notebook at E3 next week, but conveniently enough, the detailed specs have been broken early by Gizmodo and I forced myself to read this twice just to make sure I wasn’t mistakenly looking at a desktop. The m17x crams in two 1GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 280m graphics cards, along with the new Intel Core 2 Extreme Quad.

It can also optionally be configured with up to 8GB of DDR3-1333, a 1TB hard drive (or optional 512GB SSD), as well as blue ray. Another amazing feature is the crystal clear 1920x1200 17” display, a resolution that is still somewhat rare in the notebook category. Additionally, since we all know this type of graphics horsepower can be somewhat power hungry, if your looking to do non-gaming tasks, it also has a build in Nvidia 9400M to help with battery life if all you need is aero glass. As for input/outputs, it comes with an impressive load out of options which includes 4USB, eSATA, as well as Display Port & HDMI.

The pricing is expected to start at around $1,800, but don’t expect to get all the features listed above at that price point.

Alienware M17

Michael Brown — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 10:05:00 -0500

The Alienware brand conjures images of powerful and elite computing hardware—think of the nearly invincible antagonist from the 1987 action flick, Predator. Alienware’s M17 looks the part, but the unit we received for review was about as dangerous as E.T.

Our zero-point notebook is based on Intel’s Core 2 Duo E6700 and Nvidia’s GeForce Go 8600M, so we’ve grown accustomed to newer challengers gutting it. But for all its bulk and menacing looks, the M17 proved to be only slightly faster than that aging reference rig, and it was considerably slower in our nongaming benchmarks than the HP HDX 18 we reviewed in January.

Despite the presence of two ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs running in CrossFire X, the M17, which came equipped with 64-bit Vista Home Premium, turned in an anemic performance in our gaming benchmarks, with Quake 4 clocking in at 119.2fps and FEAR at just 26fps. Compare that to the Gateway P-7811 FX we examined in our October issue, which pumped out Quake 4 at 133fps and FEAR at 108fps.

We knocked the HDX 18 for its portly proportions, but the M17’s lap weight is more than half a pound heavier, despite having a single 160GB hard drive to the HP’s dual 320s, 3GB of DDR3 memory to the HP’s 4GB of DDR2, and a 17-inch screen compared to the HP’s monstrous 18.4-inch display. Could the extra GPU really weigh that much?

Outfitting this particular M17 with middle-of-the-road components—including an Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile P8400 and an 8x DVD burner—enabled Alienware to price this review unit at $1,750. You do get a long list of features for your dough, including a seven-in-one media card reader, an 802.11n Wi-Fi adapter, Blue-tooth, eSATA, a webcam, a fingerprint reader, and HDMI, but the aforementioned Gateway machine had all that (less the nominally useful fingerprint reader and
Bluetooth), delivered better gaming performance, and cost $350 less.

This being a desktop replacement, we didn’t have high expectations for the M17’s battery life, but we were surprised that its nine-cell crapped out after just one hour and 38 minutes. The six-cell battery in HP’s HDX 18 outlasted it by a full 10 minutes. And it’s a shame that the M17’s speakers sound so absolutely dreadful, because this system runs almost silently.

We do, however, dig the Alienware’s finish. The glossy piano black that’s so popular these days looks sexy—until you handle the device, and then every scratch, smudge, and fingerprint shows up like a cold sore. The M17 is wrapped in a matte black, rubberlike material that rejected our every attempt to muck it up; at least until we rummaged through a bag of greasy potato chips. Even then, it took nothing more than a dry tissue to restore its luster.

As configured, this Alienware M17 doesn’t serve any particular mission well: It’s too heavy for frequent road trips, it’s not powerful enough for hardcore gaming, and without a TV tuner or Blu-ray drive, it’s not much of a media system.

Ask the Doctor: Alien? Where?

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 18:15:58 -0500

I have an Alienware Area-51 m7700 laptop computer with 2GB of memory and an Nvidia GeForce 6800 Go with 256MB GDDR memory. It’s three years old and runs fine, but I would like to upgrade the graphics to get better video response. I play World of Warcraft and occasionally have problems with the video becoming a bit choppy. Plus, with the economy in its current poor state, I don’t really want to buy a new computer anytime soon, so upgrading my current computer seems like a good, relatively inexpensive way to go. The problem is, when I talked to a tech support person at Alienware, I was told a video upgrade isn’t available for my computer because the current videocards work with only the current bus configurations, not with my computer’s bus. Is there truly no way to upgrade my laptop’s video?

—Thomas Oglesby

The tech support guy is right, Thomas. Each new mobile GPU typically runs hotter and requires more power than the previous iterations, and there’s no universal laptop graphics hardware spec. You’ve already got the best videocard you can put in your rig. You can increase performance relatively inexpensively by upping your RAM to 4GB—you can get 1GB and 2GB SO-DIMMs for your machine for nearly nothing, and that’ll help with your game performance—but since the m7700 runs on a 32-bit Pentium 4 processor, you won’t be able to utilize the full 4GB. Other than that, you’re out of luck.

SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes.

Alienware Probes The Mainstream With $1049 Gaming PC

Andy Salisbury — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 17:13:12 -0600

The economy is in pretty rough shape, and it would appear that Alienware has taken notice. Their latest machine is a clear attempt to tap into the market of people that don’t have several grand to drop on frivolous pursuits, or simply put, everyone but Eliot Spitzer.

The Area-51 750i will be built off of an Nvidia nForce 750i SLI motherboard, a Core 2 Duo E8400 and an Nvidia GeForce 9800GT. To compliment the mothership, there’s also 2GB of DDR2 RAM to keep the random accesses as random as possible, and it’ll all come to you on Windows Vista 64-bit.

While the tech specs might not seem incredibly impressive, the price isn’t too bad. And plus, who wouldn’t want that wicked Alienware case?

Image Credit: Alienware

Alienware Announces CrossFireX Dual-3870 Gaming Notebook

Paul Lilly — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:20:44 -0600

In a first for Alienware, the company has introduced a CrossFireX-capable gaming notebook for mobile gamers looking to pack some added heat (figuratively, though likely literally as well) in time for the holiday gaming season. Wealthy fraggers can outfit the new M17 with a pair of ATI's Mobility Radeon HD 3870 videocards for plenty of pixel-pushing power on the notebook's 17-inch WXGA+ or optional WUXGA widescreen display.

"By incorporating the all-out performance of CrossFireX graphics and quad-core processing into Alienware's award-winning notebook lineup," says Frank Azor, executive vice-president for Alienware's Product and Marketing Group, "the M17 delivers an impressive feature set at a price point that doesn't break the bank."

Gamers can also double up on storage with up to 640GB of hard drive space in a RAID 0 array (2x320GB), or up to 1TB in RAID 0 for those willing to drop down to a 5400RPM spindle speed (2x500GB), enough to hold 250,000 songs according to Alienware. Other specs and options include Intel Core 2 Duo, Quad, and Extreme processor support, PM45 chipset, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, RAID 1 support, ATSC HDTV tuner, Blu-ray optical drive, three USB 2.0 ports, eSATA port, WiFi, and other goodies.

The hardware comes wrapped in a "Stealh Black" soft matte finish bearing Alienware's logo and trademark aesthetic flair. But the real surprise is in the price. A base configuration starts at a comparatively modest $1,400, with less than a $2,000 investment required for a configuration consisting of a Core 2 Duo processor, dual-videocards, and 3GB of DDR3 memory on a 1920x1200 HD display.

Surprised? Hit the jump and sound off.

Image Credit: Alienware

June 2008: Upgrade Your Old Retail PC!

The Maximum PC Staff — Fri, 06 Jun 2008 16:13:32 -0500

In the PDF archive of the June 2008 issue, you can find:

Upgrading your OEM Machine
The MaximumPC Guide to Home Automation
The Vista Defrag Challenge
How To: Create a Personal Internet Radio Station
Awesome Product Reviews, including the Alienware Area-51 m15x
Ask the Doctor
Rig of the Month
The Watchdog
And a whole lot more!

Click the big giant cover image to the right to download the PDF archive today!