Alienware's latest is packed with the latest kit and all kinds of cool features.
It's easy to dis Alienware sometimes. Their systems are fiendishly expensive, use some often odd proprietary parts, and can be real chore to upgrade. But, when the company's builders get it right, it can be magic - and the new Area-51 ALX, launched last week and on loan to us for a very quick first look, is pretty damn magical.
It also weighs something like a tonne. This pasty journo type had to get some muscly help just to lift it up onto the photo table! But for all that weight you get a water-cooled Core i7 975, with dual 5870s, a terabyte of storage and 6GB of RAM. And the chassis? Yeah, there's a few bells and whistles in there, too. Check out our gallery for that.
The whole setup we scored also comes with LCD monitor, keyboard, mouse and headphones, all sporting the mysterious Alienware logo. It's a pretty compelling package, though just the PC itself is starting to set you back $5499, so it'll be more with the bells and whistles. You're paying a premium, but you're also ending up with a gaming setup that is unsurpassed in terms of power-to-style ratio.
So browse through our pics of all the gear, the funky internals, and neat touches that scads of cash can get you.
Issue: 107 | December, 2009