Earlier this September, Alienware announced that it would be updating its Aurora desktop, Area-51 laptop and monitor lineup to make room for 360Hz displays and new Ampere cards like the RTX 3080, 3090 and 3070. Now, the company has dropped release dates and pricing info for these beefy new products. And while its monitors have yet to launch, you can buy new RTX-equipped systems from Alienware starting right now, which should be a boon to anyone who’s having trouble buying an Ampere card and can’t wait for supply to become more readily available.
The Alienware Aurora R11 desktop (Intel) and Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 desktop (AMD), which will be keeping their current cases, are now expanding GPU options to include custom-built GeForce RTX 3080 and GeForce RTX 3090 graphics cards. The R11 will also continue to offer 10th gen Intel CPU options ranging from the Intel Core i5-10400F to the Intel Core i9-10900F, while the R10 will instead maintain its CPU options that range from the Ryzen 5 3500 to the Ryzen 9 3950X. Memory options range from 8GB to 128GB, and storage can range anywhere from a single 256GB SSD to a combination of a 2TB SSD and a 2TB HDD.
The key draw here is the access to RTX 3000 series GPUs, which are still almost impossible to find on their own. Alienware’s custom versions of these cards use 10mm copper heat pipes and dual axial fans for cooling. They also measure an advertised 10.5 inches long, but that’s all we know for now.
The other draw is that these new RTX 3000 series Aurora desktops are available now on Alienware’s website. Because there’s so many customization options available, though, price will depend on your configuration.
If you’re more interested in a laptop, Alienware is also today updating its Area 51-m laptop to include a 360 Hz FHD display. That’s a faster refresh rate than pretty much any other laptop on the market, and even the current best gaming monitors for desktops. 360 Hz is the big new frontier in displays, with the ROG Swift PG259QN being the first of this Fall’s three new 360 Hz monitors to make it to market when it launched late this August. Of course, like the RTX 3000 cards that the monitor was made to take advantage of, it quickly sold out, leaving machines like this laptop to be one of the only remaining ways to snag a 360 Hz display right now.
Alienware didn’t give us specifics as to the inside of this laptop prior to launch, so while it’s upgrading its display over last year’s model, there may not be a ton of other changes. It’s launching today at the Alienware website and it starts at $2,719.99.
That 360 Hz display technology isn’t limited to pre-built machines, however. While the ROG Swift PG259QN is currently sold out across stores, Alienware will soon be launching its own 360 Hz monitor- the Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor (model number AW2521H).
Set to release in China later this October and in other regions this November, the Alienware 25 will be either the second or third 360 Hz monitor to release this year (we don’t yet know when Acer’s Predator X25 will drop). It will have a 24.5 inch IPS screen, a 1ms response time and will max out at an FHD resolution. It will also be G-Sync compatible and uses Nvidia Reflex to lower latency, which also hints at its primary purpose- to take advantage of your new RTX 3000 series cards. All of this will come at a starting price of $899.99.
If you don’t quite need to hit 360 Hz, Alienware will also be releasing its Alienware 27 Gaming Monitor (model number AW2721D) and Alienware 38 gaming monitor (model number AW3821DW) on the same time table. The former will use a 1440p @ 240 Hz IPS display and will start at $1,099.99, while the latter will incorporate an ultrawide 1440p @ 144 Hz IPS display and will start at $1,899.99.
