Alienware Area 51 Gaming Desktop Review - The Beast is Back
For as long as I can remember, Alienware has been a PC company that promised two things regarding their computers. The first is that it would be the latest and greatest technology, along with a price to match. Their reputation for giving PC gamers the best gear possible and never compromising their builds is well earned and something that has become just a fact of life. The second thing is that the computer itself would be big, bold, and bright. Alienware practically created the “gamer aesthetic”, and despite moving away from some of the more visually obnoxious design ideas that are out there these days, they still make striking and visually interesting systems. Well, I am pleased to say, with the return of their Area 51 Gaming Desktop, they have kept both of these truths intact. In fact, I can confidently say that this is the “most Alienware” system I have seen in quite some time, and frankly, that is a positive in my eyes.
The first thing to talk about is the elephant in the room. I mean that literally because the Area 51 is huge. I am not just talking about a big case, I am talking about a massive one, a case that should use fridges and Volkswagen Beetles for size comparisons, not other desktop PCs. I have never had a bigger PC in my house, and I don’t expect to have one bigger in the future. It isn’t only big, but it is heavy too, so that makes this less of a desktop and more of a floortop, lest your desk be crushed under the weight of this behemoth. This makes the Area 51 immediately out of bounds for the space-conscious folks out there. Buying this bad boy is a commitment to both your desk space and your floor’s weight rating.
That said, boy the size comes with some advantages. Up until now, my hands-on experience with Alienware desktops has been limited to the Aurora series. Great systems, but much smaller and less practical for the power user. You see that small size meant everything inside the case was engineered within an inch of its life, so making any changes or upgrades was a nightmare. Not so with the Area 51. There is tonnes of space to get in and stuff around to your heart’s content (not that I recommend that, but you do you.) Adding things that need to be added later in the desktop’s life should be a breeze with plenty of room to get your hands into to add a bigger HDD, upgrade your video card, or, if you are a millionaire, put in some more RAM. The entire case is finished off with some, dare I say, tasteful RGB. Nothing that is going to mean friends will mistake your office for an 80s’ disco, just some soft, subtle neon that can, of course, be adjusted to your personal style using the pre-installed Alienware software.
Speaking of pre-installed software, there is quite a bit here, but none of it seems to be shovelware. The support software offers easy-to-use driver and bios updates, while the lighting, sound and customisation suite all make fiddly tasks fairly easy to manage. It is nice to see, because in so many instances, this sort of software feels like an afterthought from the manufacturer. Of course, the system comes pre-installed with Windows 11 (groan), so I am not going to go into too much detail there, but the software actually made by Alienware ticks all the boxes for usability while still giving those who want to tinker with overclocking, deeper settings and other such inner workings, the power to do so.
Now, performance-wise, as you would expect, this thing is a beast. The system I reviewed came with a GeForce 5090 and a Core Ultra 7 Intel processor. That means there isn’t really a game alive that can choke it. Recent graphically intensive games like Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Dying Light: The Beast and Indiana Jones all ran smoother than silk, easily getting 90+ FPS without the use of DLSS. I dare say, should you part with your hard-earned for the Area 51, you will be well served for many years, which is something that is becoming increasingly more important as the costs of computer components are becoming excessive at an alarming pace.
About the only negative thing I have to say about the Area 51 is that it only comes with a 1TB SSD for storage as standard. I find that a bit of a rough pill to swallow, considering after Windows and all its associated bloatware, users are only left with roughly 850 GB. In this day and age, that is just not enough. Some games use upwards of 160gig so it really restricts users who don’t spring for more space. I feel like a 2TB drive should be standard, and if not, a secondary 5TB (or higher) mechanical drive. It is a little disappointing that when the whole PC is built to premium specs, the team cut corners with storage. Luckily, it is an easy fix (if money isn’t an issue), thanks to the massive case, and I feel like HDDs are still the one piece of computer hardware that you can still get some reasonable deals on.
Along with the Alienware Area 51 PC, I was also sent an AW2725D QD-OLED Monitor to use with the system, along with the Alienware Wireless Pro 75% Gaming Keyboard and the Alienware Wireless Pro Gaming Mouse. I won’t talk about the monitor in too much detail here because I have reviewed it in the past, but suffice to say, it is a fantastic bang-for-buck monitor that will suit almost everyone. The Keyboard was something I didn’t like personally, simply because of its size and cramped keys. For someone who has hands the size of dinner plates (that someone is me), the use of such a small keyboard is a nightmare. That said, the product itself was well built, easy to use and had fantastic battery life. So if you are of a mind to get a 75% keyboard, this would easily do the trick.
The gaming mouse, however, was a fantastic fit in my hands and felt wonderful to use. It had a nice tactile click to all the buttons, the side buttons were smartly placed to avoid accidental activation, and motion was smooth and stutter-free. Once again, this USB-C-charged device had excellent battery life and never let me down, even in the fastest of fast FPS titles. A great mouse that I could happily make my primary gaming pointer of choice.
Overall, the Area 51 is an absolute beast of a PC. Alienware’s “if it’s worth doing, it’s worth overdoing” attitude has never been more evident than in this PC. Sure, it is a massive commitment to both your space and your wallet (The range starts from $5200 and tops out at about $8100 before adding things like extra HDD space), but it is well designed, will tackle any game you can throw at it and should last well into the increasingly uncertain (as far as hardware is concerned) future. There is room to grow, speed to burn, and fun to be had with the Area 51, and really, it is hard to be upset with anything it has to offer.
The Alienware Area 51 is available directly from the Dell Website.
