More Details On Alienware Area 51: ThreadRipper Exclusivity, Vega, Cooling

We reported earlier this week on a new version of Alienware's Area 51. The enthusiast desktop PC, originally launched in 2014, will get internal transplants in the form of AMD’s ThreadRipper or Intel's Skylake-X or Kaby Lake-X high-end desktop CPUs. We learned a few more details while visiting with Dell/Alienware during E3.

First, Area 51 will be an OEM exclusive for AMD's ThreadRipper for 2017. You’ll be able to build your own of course, or buy made-to-order PCs from builders or systems integrators, but among the primary system manufacturers--Dell, HP, Lenovo, Acer, Asus, etc.--Alienware will stand alone for this year. If it’s a feather in the cap of Dell to have this exclusively, it’s certainly a good sign for AMD, getting the whole-hearted support of a prominent OEM so early in the life of its new CPU. 

Area 51 is ultimately configurable. We saw a version with three AMD Radeon 580 GPUs, and we saw a version with AMD’s yet-to-be-released Vega GPU inside. A Dell representative opened the Area 51 so we could see, but we couldn’t touch, and we couldn’t take pictures. An AMD representative was on hand to condone the viewing.

We also pressed Alienware about cooling, given these new high-end desktop processors. The chassis hasn’t changed (it’s still that same trapezoid-ish shape, with no alterations for air intake or exhaust), but the system’s liquid cooling required for ThreadRipper and Skylake-X demanded fans spinning at higher RPM, a bigger radiator, and changes to the hoses. An Alienware representative at E3 couldn’t recite the exact details. 

Dell partners with Asetek on the cooler. The company designs and builds its own motherboard.

Alienware wouldn’t give us price ranges. You can guess that it’ll be expensive, given what’s going on inside and that you’re not building it yourself. However, Alienware said that the customer it's targeting with Area 51 is the so-called “mega-tasker,” a term onerously (criminally?) coined by Intel, and one that is sadly catching on. Don’t worry, though: you’re forgiven if you’re merely a multitasker. 

But Area 51 could also be favored by those conducting more high-end design work, and, yes, people with more money than sense. At least, that’s our interpretation of what Alienware said. What a representative actually said was that some people just want the fastest thing available, no matter if they need it and no matter the cost.

Fritz Nelson
Fritz Nelson is Editor-at-Large of Tom's Hardware US.
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  • Blas
    Rather than "trapezoid-ish", i'd describe it as hexagonal :)
    Reply
  • waltsmith
    Whatever term-ish is more correct, I think I would just go with "oddly shaped" and cut through all the hubbub-bub. lol
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    19824796 said:
    Rather than "trapezoid-ish", i'd describe it as hexagonal :)

    You are not the only one. :)

    A trapezoid has 4 sides so that doesn't fit to well. I think the term everyone is searching for is an irregular hexagon.
    Reply
  • JamesSneed
    I'm just glad Dell is on-board with AMD right off the bat. I wonder if this is Dells sorry we were jerks back in the Althon days and took Intel's money not to sell your stuff, kind of token to AMD.
    Reply
  • LORD_ORION
    Symmetrical convex irregular hexagon
    Reply
  • JakeWearingKhakis
    What I would give for a threadripper and Vega system :(
    Reply
  • DerekA_C
    Right just dreaming of hacking pentagon and then some lol just kidding but you sure could multitask with this thing could be a home entertainment virtual server system. I can see 16 rooms being utilized well with 2 threads peice or 4 rooms with plenty of cores and threads for gaming per station.
    Reply
  • tanjo
    Angle-ditrigon.

    How does the back look like?
    Reply