Alienware’s Area 51 PCs, with AMD Threadripper and Intel Core i9, are out of this world

Before moving on to the specifications, we need to point out that the Threadripper model is expected to arrive on July 27, but Alienware didn’t provide a starting price at the time of this publication. We also don’t know when exactly the Intel model will arrive outside Alienware’s “late summer” window, or the system’s starting price. But, for the record, AMD hasn’t released any pricing regarding its new Threadripper chips. However, the Core X-Series chips offered in Intel-based model are priced between $390 and $1,000.

Alienware Area-51 Threadripper Edition

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For the Threadripper Edition, Alienware is offering the 12-core and 16-core variants of AMD’s freshly-baked Ryzen Threadripper CPU. Surprisingly, Alienware didn’t wait for AMD to release its upcoming Radeon RX Vega graphics cards, slated to launch at the end of July. Instead, the options include Radeon RX 500 Series graphics cards along with Nvidia’s more powerful family of GeForce GTX 10-Series cards. Dual-GPU options consist of only GeForce solutions (SLI), while the triple-GPU setups are based on Radeon graphics (CrossFire).

Out of the box, every Ryzen Threadripper processor core will be overclocked. Alienware doesn’t provide any numbers regarding speed, but states that the Area-51 Threadripper Edition is ideal for “customers who explore the world of mega-tasking.” Bottom line, this machine will have no problem powering high-end virtual reality experiences and Ultra HD PC gaming with super-smooth visuals. Adding to that, Alienware is introducing M.2 storage options to the Area-51 line too for super-fast storage access.

This alien-inspired desktop includes nine unique lighting zones that are customized through Alienware’s Alienware Command Center software. It also sports an illuminated I/O panel on the back, and “theater” lighting on the inside to showcase all the pretty, high-end hardware. Powering this beast is an 850-watt 80 Plus Bronze power supply, or a 1,500-watt 80 Plus Gold power supply. Both power supplies are modular and built for multi-graphics chip setups.

Behold, here are the mighty specifications:

Alienware Area-51 Core X-Series

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On a whole, the options for this Intel-based Area-51 PC is the same as the Threadripper Edition model. Obviously, this version sports a motherboard supporting Intel’s X299 chipset and Intel’s new Core X-Series chips. You won’t find Intel’s crazy-massive 18-core i9-7980XE chip on the menu, but instead three options ranging from six cores to ten cores.

However, because this Area-51 PC is based on Intel’s “Kaby Lake-X” platform, it supports the company’s Optane memory technology. Sold in 16GB and 32GB capacities, these “cache” sticks don’t replace the PC’s system memory, but serve as a place for the operating system to store highly-used files typically parked on a hard drive. In essence, these sticks have the speed of system memory but the storage capability of a solid state drive, speeding up the PC if it relies on a mechanical hard drive.

That said, the specifications call for 16GB and 32GB stick options paired with a 1TB hard drive, the latter of which appears to only be an option if customers choose to configure this Intel-based PC with Optane memory. Even if customers configure the machine with a dual storage option (SSD + HDD), the Optane stick should still be useful when Windows 10 accesses the hard drive.

Here are the Intel-specific options: