Qualcomm Atheros Inc., the networking and connectivity subsidiary of Qualcomm Incorporated, today announced that Alienware will be the first to launch the Killer Wireless-N 1202 high-performance Wi-Fi module with Bluetooth on the Alienware line of high-performance gaming laptop computers. The high-performance 2x2 802.11n MIMO Wi-Fi module with Bluetooth is designed to provide improved performance and advanced control by automatically classifying and prioritizing gaming, video and audio network data to provide a superior, uninterrupted online entertainment experience.

"Alienware continues to be the leader in performance laptops and we appreciate that its customers are used to getting the best gaming experience possible," said Mike Cubbage, director of business development, networking business unit, Qualcomm Atheros. "The Killer Wireless-N 1202 will continue the tradition of delivering a superior gaming and real-time communication experience for Alienware laptop users by providing the best in online application performance, intelligence and control to ensure that critical online applications get the bandwidth and priority they need, when they need it."

Alienware announced that outstanding (pending) orders of M14x, M17x, and M18x gaming notebooks, which were placed before last month's refresh to the Core "Ivy Bridge" processor platform, will be upgraded for free, to Ivy Bridge. Such customers with pending orders are being notified by email that their selected models with previous-generation Core "Sandy Bridge" processors will be upgraded to their "Ivy Bridge" equivalents, at no additional charge, and with no delay in their delivery dates. This offer applies only to the Alienware line, and not other Dell notebooks.

Alienware, Dell's high performance PC gaming brand, is taking the mobile gaming experience to a new level with its enhanced gaming laptop portfolio that lets gamers choose a system that best fits their mobile lifestyle. The enhanced systems include: the M14x, the most powerful 14-inch laptop in the universe, for the gamer who requires a balance between mobility and performance; the 3D-capablei M17x for an immersive high-definition, surround-sound sensory experience, and the M18x - also the most powerful 18-inch laptop in the universe - for gamers whose priority is performance above all else, but who also require the option to occasionally 'go mobile.'

The Alienware M14x, M17x, and M18x laptops deliver immersive sensory experiences, with each offering the latest NVIDIA GeForce and AMD Radeon HD graphics cards and the Creative Sound Blaster audio chipset with THX 7.1 digital surround sound and Klipsch-branded speakers.

Still not officially announced by Dell, the Alienware M18X R2 gaming laptop has once again found its way in the news thanks to a leak detailing its hardware. According to the latest scoop, the M18X R2 will pack a quad-core Intel (Ivy Bridge) processor - either the 2.3 GHz Core i7-3610QM, 2.6 GHz i7-3720QM or 2.7 GHz i7-3820QM, AMD (Radeon HD 7970M in CrossFire) or NVIDIA (GeForce GTX 660M or GTX 675M in SLI) graphics, up to 8 GB of RAM, and up to a 750 GB (7200 RPM) hard drive, and/or a solid state drive with a capacity of up to 512 GB.

The updated Alienware M18X will also feature an 18.4-inch (1920 x 1080) LED-backlit display, a Wireless HD card (optional), a 240 W or 330 W AC adapter, and two color choices - red and black.

Building on the information already revealed in January, a new Dell-flavored scoop says that the upcoming Alienware M17x R4 (17.4-inch) laptop will offer three display options, one HD+ (1600 x 900), one Full HD (1920 x 1080) and one Full HD 3D. Moreover, this gaming-ready machine is claimed to utilize eDP for LCD communication.

The Alienware M17x R4 will be powered by Ivy Bridge processors, feature both AMD (Radeon HD 7970M) and NVIDIA (GeForce GTX 660M, GTX 675M) discrete graphics, and will be available in two color schemes - black and red. Still no word on its release but it should arrive in Q2.

It looks like Roccat Studios' marketing department has sought to bring up the topic of the future of PC gaming, something Razer did, before going on to launch a $2,800 gaming laptop. Alienware asked the same question, but in contrast to Razer, went on to launch a much more sensible product that actually seeks to do something about the ailing PC gaming industry (a nice, cheap gaming PC that woos the console crowd). Roccat is known neither for fancy overpriced laptops, or desktops, but is a sizable player in the gaming peripherals industry.

Roccat's latest marketing campaign revolves around the question "Isn't PC gaming dead?", a cleverly worded question that asks why PC gaming isn't dead already, instead of a more inquisitive "Is PC gaming dead?", or an exclamatory "PC gaming isn't dead!". Roccat is seeking answers to this burning question on a specially set-up microsite. Roccat's campaign isn't just market research, but also leading up to something, a product launch, perhaps. The question site goes on to state "soon we'll tell you what we think is the smartest way forward." By 'soon', they mean about 13 days from now. The shoutbox in the microsite is nested in a frame shaped like an iPhone. Could this mean something? A gamepad-dock for iPhone that enhances gaming? Time will tell if Roccat does a Razer or an Alienware.

Still not officially announced by Dell, the Alienware-branded M18x R2 gaming laptop is rumored to come with some fresh and powerful graphics options from both NVIDIA and AMD. The Santa Clara team (NVIDIA) is said to be supplying two cards for the M18x R2 - the GeForce GTX 660M and GTX 675M (the latter will be available in a SLI configuration), while the Sunnyvale squad (AMD) will deliver the Radeon HD 7970M, in a CrossFireX setup.

Beside the GPU goodies mentioned, the M18x R2 (18.4-inch) laptop is expected to feature an Intel Ivy Bridge CPU, black and red color choices, an optional Wireless HD card, and more. Stay tuned (and save up?).

According to dell-lab.posterous.com (a site known for accurate tips on future Dell products), a trio of updated Alienware laptops are currently in plan, the M14x R2 (14-inch), M17x R4 (17.3-inch) and M18x R2 (18.4-inch).

There's not much info on the M18x R2 except for the fact that it will be available in both red and black, while the M14x R2 is said to come with the same colors and have 1 GB and 2 GB graphics options.

The M17x R4 is claimed to feature at least three new GPU choices, including the yet-unannounced AMD Radeon HD 7970M, Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M and GTX 675M. All three laptops should also adopt Intel's upcoming 22 nm processors (Ivy Bridge). No word on when they'll be released.

If gaming-console manufacturers want to stifle innovation in the gaming industry with old, archaic hardware, it's time for game PC vendors to do something to woo the console crowd. Dell's flagship gaming PC brand, Alienware, announced the X51, a gaming desktop built around the size of a typical gaming console, but packing today's computing technologies that PC gamers have access to. It starts at US $699. Its chassis measures 343 x 95 x 318 mm (HxWxD), and can be oriented vertically, or horizontally. It features cutting-edge styling by Alienware with dashes of piano black, matte black, and lime. Its front features audio, USB ports, and a slot-in DVD-RW / Blu-ray ROM (optional).

The $699 base model is driven by an Intel Core i3 dual-core processor, though more powerful Core i5 and Core i7 processors can be opted for. Graphics is handled by NVIDIA GeForce GT 545, though GT 555 can be opted for. 4 GB of dual-channel DDR3 memory comes standard, up to 8 GB can be opted for. 1 TB 7200rpm HDD storage comes out of the box, faster SSDs can be opted for. Connectivity includes 7.1-channel HD audio with Waves MAXX Audio Software, gigabit Ethernet, Wireless b/g/n, optical and coaxial SPDIF audio outputs. The graphics card gives out HDMI and DVI outputs. Yes, it can run Crysis.

The U.S. Army might be financing one of the most epic videos games ever made that very few people may ever play. The "game" is called Dismounted Soldier Training System and was commissioned by the U.S. government back in May for a staggering cost of 57 million dollars. The contract was awarded to RealTime Immersive Inc. All of this according to PC Gamer. Everything about this simulator is said to be cutting edge but the hardware it runs on. In a GamePro interview with the director of strategic programs at Intelligent Decisions, Floyd West is said to have stated, "With CryEngine 3 being used for Crysis 2 and the capabilities that game engine provides, it allows us to make the most realistic simulation possible. We're able to transport soldiers to accurately recreated locales like Afghanistan and Iraq, where we can simulate everything from visuals to 360-degree sound."

The virtual reality headsets the trainees wear will run from a backpack unit similar to a top of the range gaming laptop, called the 'Man Wearable Unit'. "While the man wearable units aren't running on an off-the-shelf Alienware, the internal components themselves are commercial off-the-shelf CPUs and GPUs like NVIDIA graphic cards and whatnot."

As this is an internal military training simulator we the public may never play it. However that doesn't mean we cannot watch the trailers in awe and wonder if our own rigs could render thousands of kilometers in such massive detail.

Trailer 1 | Trailer 2

Dell's Alienware team has today launched an updated version of the Aurora gaming desktop which is based on Intel's Sandy Bridge-E platform. Known as model R4, the upgraded Aurora makes use of a head-turning ALX mid-tower chassis, and features a liquid-cooled Core i7-3930K or i7-3960X processor, up to 32 GB of RAM, up to a 2 TB hard drive and/or up to a 512 GB solid state drive, and up to an Nvidia GeForce GTX 590 card or two AMD Radeon HD 6950s.

Dell's desktop can also be equipped with one or two optical drives, a Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio or Titanium audio card, and runs Windows 7. The Alienware Aurora R4 starts at $2,199 and can be found here.

Seagate has shipped its one millionth solid state hybrid drive for laptop PCs after launching the product - Momentus XT - in spring 2010. Major computer makers including Alienware, ASUS, Dell, Sony and Toshiba now offer laptops powered by the 2.5-inch drive that blends performance rivaling solid state drives with the enormous capacity and much lower cost of hard disk drives.

The Momentus XT solid state hybrid drive, a 7200RPM drive with up to 500GB of capacity, boots up to 50 percent faster than traditional 5400RPM drives and sets new benchmarks for real-world system performance for laptops and gaming systems. Seagate's Adaptive Memory technology is key to the drive's speed, optimizing its performance by moving frequently used information into the 4GB of onboard solid state memory for faster bootup and application access.

NVIDIA today announced the world's fastest notebook graphics processing unit (GPU), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M. Available now in the Alienware M18x, the new GPU sets new standards in industry leading benchmarks and games. It will also be available soon in the Alienware M17x notebook along with NVIDIA Optimus technology.

"The best game support. The best gaming features. The best gaming performance available anywhere. That's the essence of the GeForce GTX 580M," said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook products at NVIDIA. "With power like this, you can turn all the knobs to 11."

NVIDIA today unveiled the first gaming notebook graphics processing unit (GPU) in its award-winning GeForce 500M Series of notebook GPUs. The GeForce GTX 560M graphics processor hits the "sweet spot" for gaming notebooks by delivering a no-compromise gaming experience at full 1080p resolution in the hottest new DirectX 11 titles. For the first time, leading OEMs will also be offering GeForce GTX gaming GPUs with NVIDIA Optimus technology.

"The GeForce GTX 560M and NVIDIA Optimus mean gamers get 50 frames per second in Duke Nukem Forever and five hours of battery life in Microsoft Office," said Rene Haas, general manager of notebook products at NVIDIA. "That's real power and real portability." Available only with NVIDIA GPUs, NVIDIA Optimus technology enables extra-long battery life by automatically switching on and off the GPU so that it runs only when needed. The smart convenience of NVIDIA Optimus technology is designed into over 80 percent of GeForce 500M Series notebooks and is used by every major notebook OEM.

Alienware is redefining mobile gaming - again - with three new, all-powerful laptops, including the soon to be released M18x, which lays claim to the title of "most powerful 18-inch gaming laptop in the universe;" the M14x, which delivers unprecedented performance and portability; and an enhanced M11x, already a favorite among gaming enthusiasts, and the most-powerful sub-14-inch notebook in the universe.

The two new faces in the Alienware laptop family, the upcoming M18x and the M14x, along with the new M11x, deliver unprecedented power to the gamer on the go. All three platforms offer the latest in gaming technology, and feature second-generation Intel Core i processors to deliver the most immersive high-performance gaming experience imaginable.

AMD today announced the flagship installment in the award-winning line of graphics cards, the ATI Radeon HD 5970, the fastest card ever created. The new ultra high-end model joins a growing list of the world's first and only graphics cards to fully support Microsoft DirectX 11 technology and ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology.

Designed to support the most demanding PC games at ultra-high resolutions and image quality settings, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 has unlocked overclocking potential, granting access to every bit of power the card has to offer through ATI Overdrive technology. Now shipping from retailers and available in the channel, the ATI Radeon HD 5970 also launches today in new Alienware Area-51, Area-51 ALX and Aurora desktop PCs.

Gaming PC specialist Alienware took its first step into the gaming peripherals market with the TactX keyboard and mouse. Packed with a number of macro and multimedia keys, the TactX keyboard supports unlimited customizable user profiles. Its AlienFX lighting system illuminates not only the label of each key, but also its boundary. The lighting has 20 colors that can be user-selected. The TactX mouse has a 5000 dpi laser sensor, nine buttons that are up for customization, scrolling along both axes, and a 6 foot long (~1.8 m) cable. Both products are priced at US $99 each.

Alienware on Friday took the wraps off it refreshed Aurora M17x gaming laptop. With a new chassis, the M17x can't be mistaken, its new shape is one of a kind. Inside the beast lie low a pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M 1 GB graphics cards, an integrated NVIDIA GeForce 9400M GPU with HybridPower technology, up to 8 GB of DDR3-1333 RAM, dual-hard drives, an Intel Core 2 Extreme quad-core CPU and all the stuff a top gaming laptop should have. The M17x comes with a 17-inch WUXGA display with 1920x1200 native resolution. It weights 11.68 pounds or 5.3 kg, and has a 9-cell battery. Other standard features include custom backlit keyboard, touchpad and trim lighting. Base price for this model is $1,799 and it gives you a single GTX 280M, 2.4 GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4 GB of RAM, and a 250 GB hard drive. The Alienware M17x will start shipping to customers next week.

Bigfoot Networks is perhaps the first company that gave the network interface card (NIC) a high-end consumer take. The Killer N1 and K1 PCI NICs were known to come with some very innovative features that, as our review showed, did impact positively on networked gaming performance. After close to two and a half years since its previous NIC, Bigfoot Networks Killer is back. In the making is the Killer Xeno NIC.

With near identical features and more, this NIC takes the advantage of the newer leaner components in the market, such as the NPU which may be using a newer manufacturing process, NPU-accelerated audio that provides audio-chat with zero system-overhead, and up to 256 MB of onboard memory to drive this mini "PC inside PC". The ASIC is done away with, a newer gigabit Ethernet transceiver made by Broadcom is present. The card uses a native PCI-Express x1 interface. It comes in two variants: the 128 MB "Pro", and 256 MB "Ultra". Apart from selling these cards under its own banner, Bigfoot Networks has struck an OEM deal with Alienware. Also, the company has an AIB partner (a-la graphics cards), and guess who it is - EVGA. The Xeno Ultra will be priced at US $179.99, and the Xeno Pro at $129.99.

Alienware introduced its fleet of high-performance gaming PCs based on Intel's newest Core i7 processors. The range is branded as Area 51 X-58. Its range starts from US $1,349, with the base model using the Core i7 920 processor, which is configurable to Core i7 940 and the Core i7 965 Extreme Edition. Memory options go up to 12 GB of DDR3 1066 MHz memory, and base graphics card being the ATI Radeon HD 4870, configurable up to NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280 SLI or Radeon HD 4870 X2 CrossFireX.

There are options for up to 2 TB of storage, or the option to pick performance over storage, with two WD VelociRaptor 300 GB drives in RAID 0. Parallel to this brand is Alienware's other brand, the ALX X-58. The ALX comes with the same base CPU and memory, but ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 or two GeForce 9800 GTX, 2 TB of storage, along with the option of a Blu-Ray burner. The ALX X-58 starts at $3,699. These systems come equipped with 700, 1000 or 1200W power supplies depending on the hardware opted for.

High-end laptop maker Alienware is now offering a new M17 laptop model that is not to be mistaken with the mighty M17x from the same company. Like most of its siblings, the new M17 is highly customizable. Starting at $1399, this 17-incher is the very first CrossFire X-enabled notebook, that can be outfitted with a Core 2 Quad / Extreme CPU, up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, two ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 GPUs, a WXGA+ (1440x900) or WUXGA panel with Clearview (1920x1200), an optional ATSC HDTV tuner, up to 1TB of HDD space in a RAID 0 array, a dual-layer DVD writer / optional Blu-ray reader, WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1, gigabit Ethernet and a AlienSense facial recognition sensor or a biometric fingerprint reader. Of course, with all the goodies your're looking at around $4000 price tag. The Alienware M17 is available now, for the full list of features or the purchase page please click here.

NVIDIA Corporation today announced that the world's preeminent motherboard manufacturers, ASUS, EVGA, MSI, Gigabyte, and DFI, have all licensed NVIDIA SLI technology for their new lineup of motherboards designed to work with Intel Bloomfield CPUs and X58 chipsets. The addition of SLI to these motherboards and adoption by major OEMs including Dell and others means consumers will be able to harness the power of award-winning GeForce GPUs in single, SLI, or 3-way SLI configurations for the fastest visual computing experience on upcoming Intel Bloomfield platforms.

"Dell Gaming is known for industry-leading graphics and unparalleled performance," said Patrick Cooper, Director of Product Planning for Dell Gaming. "With the marriage of NVIDIA SLI and the latest generation of Intel chipsets, we will continue to offer hardcore gamers the opportunity to push their Alienware systems beyond the limits of today's hottest titles."

It was earlier reported (as early as yesterday), that Diamond Multimedia may have sold thousands of defective graphics cards through OEM / OEI channels. Diamond, on its part has responded to the original report, saying that only 188 units were defective in reality, not thousands, as alleged.

Bruce Zaman, CEO for Diamond responded to the TG Daily article, saying that only 188 units out of the thousands shipped were found with defects, and that the figures put up by an engineer at Alienware were incorrect as it was later found. Those were the figures and data the original report on this whole controversy was built on. Zaman said that not the hardware problem in itself, but the time it took the engineer to fix the issue was the reason why it lost Alienware as a customer. Zaman added, that the engineer was fired, for not only playing a key role in the whole controversy, but also for allegedly providing the company with false credentials.

There are two ways you get a gaming PC. You either shop for all its components and build it yourself, or buy one pre-buit from a company in the business of selling them. Alienware is one such company. One of the differences between the two modes of getting a gaming PC is that if you find that a component is faulty, within a period, you could return the faulty part to the retailer for a replacement. With pre-built PCs, the whole unit has to be sent to a service center, for them to diagnose the fault and replace parts.

Diamond Multimedia, popular for its ATI graphics accelerators have allegedly pumped anywhere between 15,000 and 20,000 defective graphics cards using the Radeon HD 3800 series SKUs between the months of January and July, 2008, through OEM channels. As as a report from TG Daily finds out, it may be more of a case specific to Diamond and its manufacturing sources, particularly Info-Tek Corporation (ITC). Alienware has alleged that a disturbingly high amount of graphics card related failures have been noticed with its products. The system builder found failure rates of more than 10% with HD 3870 X2 cards, more than 2% with 3870 models and almost 8% for 3850 versions. Problems included random crashes and artifacts. These problems may have been caused because of the cards lacking power-management features (for the HD 3850), resistors with wrong values (for HD 3870). The source of the problems may have been traced to ITC, one of the manufacturers that has contracts with Diamond. Diamond itself is also to blame, since clearly its product testing, quality assurance teams have been sleeping on the job. This just might cost Diamond its supply contract with Alienware.

Following the launch of the flagship graphics card from AMD, the Radeon HD 4870 X2 (codenamed R700 Spartan), Alienware has begun offering its Aurora series high-performance gaming desktops with this card. It lists as a US $550 upgrade over the base model that comes with the GeForce 9600 GT accelerator, buyers can customize their desktops with these cards. When configuring, buyers might incur costs such as $1100 for two cards in Crossfire X plus $350 for the required 1,200 Watt power supply that (Alienware finds) is required when configuring Aurora desktops with two cards.

The Radeon HD 4800 series micro-site can be reached here