Although the Alienware Area 51 has always been a massive gaming desktop, it will be the first pre-built computer this year to use AMD’s latest Threadripper processors. This practically means that AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X and all of the company’s other high-core count CPUs will only be available to Alienware, the sole significant hardware manufacturer.
Not Lenovo, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, Apple or some other major computer company. Alienware alone.
Naturally, you’ll still be able to purchase a Threadripper processor from a retailer, and this deal excludes specialized system builders like Origin PC in the US and Overclockers in the UK. Despite its exclusivity, Threadripper is the best upgrade for the Alienware Area 51 for both gamers and content makers. Nevertheless, all this powerful performance will come at a high price.
Performance
The Ryzen Threadripper 1950X is without a doubt the Alienware’s star component. The top-tier CPU from AMD’s 2017 Barnstorming design sports a massive 16 cores and 32 concurrent threads.
The 1950X provides much more than simply a large core count. Its stock speed of 3.4GHz is good, and it jumps to 4.2GHz with Turbo boosting. It boasts a core Threadripper architecture and 32MB of cache, enabling quad-channel memory support and improved Precision Boost turbo performance.
There aren’t any games available that call for a 16-core processor. The 1950X, on the other hand, is designed for difficult labor activities including video production, CAD design, content development, and databases. The Alienware includes 64GB of 2,666MHz memory to boost productivity, which is again a generous quantity that only the most demanding apps will need.
The 1950X is faster than any other similar PC I’ve previously seen. The Core i7-8700K, which has six Hyper-Threaded cores, was used in the Corsair One Elite. But Threadripper isn’t made to compete with those CPUs. Instead, it’s meant to compete with the Intel Core i9 lineup. These components range from the 10-core i9-7900X to the top-of-the-line 18-core i9-7980XE.
The 1950X seems fantastic on paper, but in reality, it’s not that impressive. Consider its record-breaking multi-core Geekbench score of 26,353: it is just about 3000 points more than the Corsair One Elite with its i7-8700K CPU.
Because Threadripper is focused on having a high core count, its single-core performance suffers. Its single-threaded Geekbench score of 4024 places it about on par with the Ryzen 7 1800X and more than 1000 points behind the Corsair. On the PCMark 8 test, the Alienware came in at 4184, which is also below its less expensive competitors.
Design
As was already said, the innovative area51 PC’s design is not just for aesthetic purposes. This enormous gaming machine is really intelligent.
The Alienware area51 Threadripper’s parts are all tilted at a 45-degree angle. This is done abundantly to improve airflow within the system. As a result, the system can effectively push air to the GPU blower fan as well as the CPU’s liquid cooler.
The system may be installed almost anyplace, which is what makes this concept really clever. Typically, you would want to keep it off the ground, especially if the floor is carpeted. But, you can stop worrying about ground clearance because the system’s power supply and all of the fans are at the bottom.
Also, the area51 PC’s internal cavity has more room than is possible for all upgrade possibilities. For instance, there is space for three additional graphics cards, additional PCIe x16 and PCIe x4 slots, and 32GB of Memory for all four DIMM slots.
Price and accessibility
After you’ve had a chance to process that, we can attest that this is a very, very expensive desktop. Even after subtracting the $999 (£999, AU$1,439) Threadripper 1950X and $699 (£689, AU$1,099) Nvidia GTX 1080 Ti Founders Edition prices, the cost of the fundamental chassis and other parts would be close to $2,000, which should seem absurd to anyone who has experience putting together systems themselves.
Of course, the cost is influenced by the labor, engineering, and materials used to build the Alienware Area 51. We advise using the same parameters as our test unit if you want to maximize the power of AMD’s top enthusiast processor.
The Area 51 Threadripper Edition’s base setup is genuinely subpar for its $2,999 (about £2,310, AU$3,795) cost. The system at this level has the same CPU, but the other components are limited to an Nvidia GTX 1060 with 6GB of VRAM, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB hard drive.
If you’re determined to stick with Intel, configurations with an Intel Core i7-6800K, AMD Radeon RX 560 2GB of VRAM, 8GB of RAM, and a 2TB HDD start at $1,699 or £1,499. The Nvidia GTX 1050 Ti with 2GB of VRAM is the graphics card used in Australia’s $2,999 basic model. Users can then upgrade to Broadwell Extreme CPUs from the previous generation, but Alienware has declared that it will soon release machines with Intel Core X processors.
There aren’t any pre-built systems we can compare prices on because Alienware has the sole rights to Threadripper. Nonetheless, you may anticipate paying around the same price for a custom PC from system builders as you would for the Area 51.
Upgradability
Similar to the Alienware Aurora R5, updating the Area 51 requires almost no tools. Users only need to release the lock on the expansion slots and turn a few thumbscrews on the GPU support bracket to update the graphics card or install a second one. Memory and storage devices are simply plugged in, and even the water-cooling bracket has thumbscrews.
Just replacing the power supply will actually require a screwdriver, which shouldn’t be a problem for those who splurged on the exorbitant 1,500-watt PSU.
Conclusion
The most potent gaming computer we’ve ever examined is without a doubt the Alienware Area 51 Threadripper Edition. This PC isn’t for everyone, though, due to the cost and complexity of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 1950X.
A rig like this will be most helpful to gamers who want to break through on YouTube or Twitch, especially if they don’t feel they have the skills to create one themselves. Whether you’re playing, filming, streaming, or encoding video, this system can do all of these tasks at once since Threadripper was built for the most intensive mega-tasking.
With the exception of the Threadripper Edition, the Area 51 is an extremely flexible and well-designed Computer platform, albeit a pricey one. This pre-built gaming PC is unique in that it’s neither as cool nor as flexible as many others, so it’s definitely worth looking into.
