alienware x51 PC Perspective en E3 2013: Dell Alienware X51 Gaming Desktop Refresh <p>The launch of Haswell led to many new product launches, and so did E3. The overlap? The Alienware X51 gaming desktop has been refreshed with some very compelling components at a surprisingly compelling price.</p> <p class="rtecenter"><div class = "center-article-image"><a href="/news/General-Tech/E3-2013-Dell-Alienware-X51-Gaming-Desktop-Refresh" class="inline-image-link" title="View: dell-alienware-x51.jpg"><img src="" alt="dell-alienware-x51.jpg" title="dell-alienware-x51.jpg" class="pcper-inline" width="589" height="267" /></a></div></p> <p>Unfortunately, there is a slight difference between <a href=";cs=cadhs1&amp;l=en&amp;s=dhs&amp;~ck=mn">the Canadian</a> and <a href="">the American</a> offerings; it is not a case of one citizen paying more than the another, however, as things are more shuffled around than outright better. Our Canadian readers start with a base price of $1499.99, and Americans start out at $1449.99. Americans can spend an extra $100 to upgrade their DVD reader to a Blu-Ray drive, Canadians get Blu-Ray by default. Therefore, if you desire a Blu-Ray drive, it is $50 cheaper to be Canadian; otherwise, it is $50 cheaper to be American.</p> <p>Whether you are Canadian or American, I would personally recommend spending the extra $100 upgrading your RAM from 8GB to 16 GB. Sure, 8GB is a lot, but the extra can go a long way especially with the direction that web browsers have been heading. You each, also, have the option of spending $300 and receiving a 256GB SSD albeit also at the expense of, beyond the $300, reducing your 2TB HDD down to a slower, 5400RPM 1TB drive.</p> <p>In all, this actually looks quite compelling for someone who wishes to have a console-esque form-factor near their TV. Unfortunately there are currently no Ubuntu-based options for this X51, although you may freely ($0) choose between Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit and Windows 8 64-bit.</p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">read more</a></p> General Tech Systems Shows and Expos alienware alienware x51 dell E3 E3 13 Thu, 13 Jun 2013 08:17:10 +0000 Scott Michaud 57604 at Dell Launches Cheaper Alienware X51 With Ubuntu 12.04 LTS <p>Dell has been one of the biggest (major OEM) supporter of the open source Ubuntu Linux operating system, and it seems the Linux love is trickling down to the company&#39;s boutique Alienware PC lineup as well. A <a href="">new version of the Alienware X51</a>, a small form factor gaming PC, is now available with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS pre-installed. Quite possibly the closest thing (so far) to a Steam Box, the Alienware X51 can run the <a href="">Steam for Linux client</a> along with all of the Linux games available on Valve&#39;s digital distribution service. Granted, the Ubuntu version cannot tap into the relatively-massive Windows game library out of the box, but it is also $100 cheaper than the X51 pre-installed with Windows due to Linux being free, and thus costing Dell less.</p> <p>The Alienware X51 hardware is decent for a small form factor system, though it maxes out at a NVIDIA GTX 660 in the highest-end SKU. For $600, you can get an X51 will a dual-core Intel Core i3-3220 processor clocked at 3.3GHz, a NVIDIA GTX 645 1GB graphics card, 6GB of DDR3 1600MHz RAM, and a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive. On the other end fo the part configuration is the highest-end $1049 option, with a quad-core Core i7-3770 CPU clocked at 3.4GHz, a NVIDIA GTX 660 1.5GB GPU, 8GB of DDR3 1600MHz memory, and a 1TB 7200RPM hard drive.</p> <p><div class = "center-article-image"><a href="/news/Systems/Dell-Launches-Cheaper-Alienware-X51-Ubuntu-1204-LTS" class="inline-image-link" title="View: gallery-shot_desktops_x51_01.jpg"><img src="" alt="gallery-shot_desktops_x51_01.jpg" title="gallery-shot_desktops_x51_01.jpg" class="pcper-inline" width="602" height="412" /></a></div></p> <p>The Alienware X51 chassis measures 12.5&quot; x 12.5&quot; x 3.74&quot; and should fit into most entertainment centers (if you can get past the significant-other approval factor, that is). The PC comes equipped with Dell&#39;s 1506 802.11g/n Wi-Fi card as well, for situations where Ethernet or Powerline Ethernet is not an option.</p> <p>It is nice to see Dell continuing to support Linux in some small way. Hopefully as Valve pushes for further Steam for Linux adoption, we will see more Linux-compatible games and OEMs will take notice and support the open source OS more openly in consumer lineups (a geek can dream...)!</p> <p>You can find more information on the Alienware X51 at <a href=""></a>.</p> <p><em>Does the inclusion of Ubuntu sway you towards the Alienware X51 (at least it&#39;s <a href="">cheaper than the PISTON</a>...), or will you be building your own custom <a href="">Steam Box</a>?</em></p> <p><a href="" target="_blank">read more</a></p> Systems alienware x51 dell linux ubuntu ubuntu 12.04 lts Tue, 09 Apr 2013 07:37:15 +0000 Tim Verry 56931 at