FreedomEclipseThat desktop pc looks like its going to be an overheaters nightmare.

wolarNot so sure it will overheat, both cpu and gpu are liquid cooled so if there is some opening below and on top then it will be fine

dyonoctisWhen I was a teenager I used to crave alienware desktop. Now I'm just thinking: "that's a lot of expensive plastic". They can't even bother to paint the steel in black for that "premium" pc.

AnimalpakLook at the desktop one... Coooompletely proprietary hardware, you buy that thing and do not even dare to open it for ANY upgrade.

I mean they are pushing hard the fact : " Do not touch my interiors ".


I imagine they are tired of people who opened and did damage and then demanded the replacement by guarantee.

ValantarProprietary? That's an mATX motherboard, a (short, likely standard length) ATX PSU mounted internally, an Asetek 120mm AIO, and regular old PCIe slots. What's proprietary about that?

KnightStormSo the Area 51m that's already available can't use Super cards...which likely means the Area 51 r2 won't be able to use Ampere cards next year...necessitating an r3. Interesting definition of "upgradable".

SeyumiYou have to admit though, interesting take on the GPU liquid cooling which hasn't been done by anyone else before. It's definitely better than nothing and most likely better than a stock blower since Alienwares only use oldschool blower fans on their GPU's and not 2 or 3 fan solutions as those dump heat into the case. It's sad though that they have to design something so odd and unique around their bad case design. Just 1 more freaking 120mm fan slot would have allowed them to use a normal regular AIO GPU solution that's been around for several years now. It's not possible on the current chassis design.

I also wonder why they only option it for the 2080 Super and not the 2080 Ti even though the Ti could actually use AIO cooler more.

SeyumiI've owned multiple Alienware Aurora & Area 51 towers so I can speak from experience. The only proprietary thing are some headers on the motherboard that connects to the daughterboard that controls all the case lighting & features . Unfortunately this is the most important part of your PC as everything plugs into it. You will definitely be limited on memory selections & speeds. You may not be able to overclock your CPU & GPU as much due to limited power connections & circuity. You may also have compatibility issues with future M.2 hard drives.

The Alienware motherboard is also one of the weakest parts as well. I know it's technically an MSI motherboard but the overall looks & design, circuity, heat sinks, power phases, and just overall lack of usage of the PCB is worse than the CHEAPEST motherboards being sold on Newegg (comparing same chipset of course), while the Alienware motherboard costs more than some of the MOST EXPENSIVE ones on Newegg.

Note edit: Alienware towers are sold with the same thought process as a console. They don’t expect nor want their customers to open up the machines. Absolutely no attention to detail is given when it comes to INTERNAL looks or even performance. EVERYTHING including the graphics cards, PSU's, motherboards, etc. are bare-bone OEM made-in China items. You can’t even buy a motherboard nor a GPU as barebone looking as the ones that comes in Alienware towers (yes even high end Nvidia GPU’s, they have like green PCB’s and plastic shrouds – you can’t even buy a worse looking RTX card in America even if you tried). Their primary market is probably China and internet gaming cafes. Don’t buy Alienware unless looks are more important to you than performance, price, noise, heat, and upgradeability (I’m speaking from experience, unfortunately I am a sucker for their looks).