Review of the Alienware Area51 R2

 Bluetooth, Bluetooth, Consumerism, Demonstrations, Desktop, Entertainment, Gaming, Geeky, PC, PC Game Reviews, reviews, Social Media, Software, Technology, Windows10  Add comments
Mar 082016
 

Intro



Review of the Alienware Area51 R2
  • Review of the Alienware Area51 R2
  • Rating: 5
  • High End Computer: Alienware
  • Price: $4,499.99 as Configured
  • Reviewed by:
  • On March 8, 2016
  • Last modified:March 7, 2016

Review Summary:

Many know Alienware to be the King of King's of PC's and other know them to be just another high cost standard PC. I will take you step by step into everything that is the Alienware Area51 R2 and you can make the final decision on which of the 2 choices is yours.

Review of the Alienware Area51 R2

Hey guys, so I am sure in your searches for the perfect gaming PC, you have at one point come across one flavor of an OEM or boutique PC builder and well, this review is about one of them.  Now I know there are quite a few different boutiques and OEM builders out there, but this is review is based on one, Alienware.

This review will have full system performance and benchmarks against my own machine.  This will include benches from all sorts of benchmarks, games and even power consumption, I know many of you wonder how much power a machine like this will take, and it is so much less than you would think though it is ready to take TON’s if needed.

There is a little story on how I got this machine though and because of it, there was no formal unboxing, but you can check it out here.

It was truly an experience, but I got it just so that I can show you guys those secret’s, and now that it’s out, please feel free to do your own exposition and share it, the people must know.

1

All joking aside, let me provide the specs of this machine.

Specifications

  • Case: Custom Alienware Area51
  • Lighting: Alienware Custom Case Lighting
  • CPU Cooling: Alienware CPU Liquid Cooling
  • Motherboard: Custom Alienware 0XJKKD X99
  • Processor: Intel Core i7 5930K
  • Memory: 16GB 4 x 4GB DDR4 Quad Channel 2133MHz RAM Hynix HMA451U6MFR8N
  • Video Card: 3 x NVIDIA GTX980 Backplate Customized (TRI SLI)
  • Power Supply: Custom 1500Watt Fully Modular 1500Watt
  • Hard Drive: Samsung SM841N 2.5 256MB SSD (OS Drive)
  • Hard Drive: Western Digital WD40EZRX-75SPEB0 4TB Green 5400RPM (Data Drive)
  • Optical Drive: Matshita Slot Loading DVDRWBD UJ167AM (Blu-Ray Reader/DVD-RW/CD-RW)
  • Intel 7260 802.11AC Wireless card with Bluetooth 4.0
  • Ethernet: KillerNic Killer e2200 Gigabit Ethernet Controller
  • OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home
  • SD Card Reader

Awesome specs, this is a powerful machine, but just how powerful is powerful and what does it mean to you and your games and everyday task, well…. Let’s find out.

I will be comparing the system with my own, here are the specs

I know that the configurations are not similar, I personally do not own such a high powered machine, but this comparison is to give you a bit of an example of what you can expect.  Maybe also to help you decide what components you want to purchase if you wanted to build your own or potentially justify buying an Alienware if all stacks up well.

The games I will be benching as usual are Metro Last Light, Thief and Tomb Raider and I will be running 3DMark as well.  Now these will be mainly running video test, but I will go throughout the entire system so I will be performing more tests, so please continue to check out the review after the initial benchmarks.

By the way, I will also be recording power consumption throughout these test using “P3 International’s” “Kill A Watt”

2

Ok, let’s get to the benches.

Many know Alienware to be the King of King's of PC's and other know them to be just another high cost standard PC. I will take you step by step into everything that is the Alienware Area51 R2 and you can make the final decision on which of the 2 choices is yours.
Iggy Castillo

Iggy Castillo

I have spent many years in the PC boutique name space as Product Development Engineer for Alienware and Dell through their acquisition and finally Velocity Micro. During these years I spent my time developing new configurations, products and technologies with companies such as Microsoft, Intel, AMD, NVIDIA, Asus and more. The Arts, Gaming and New & Old technologies drive my interests and passion.
Iggy Castillo

@zangza

I love the arts and technology. CRM/CTI Specialist by day at http://t.co/uNoMzVfAkN and Reviewer by night at http://t.co/eYqx0uJofz
Support NCIX PC and win a free Intel SSD! Check this out. https://t.co/xGRtWuQDO4 - 13 hours ago
Iggy Castillo
Continue:
  • James Braga

    Killer Review AWESOME COMPONITNTES but sill on the fence with that case. and the price scares me

    • Iggy

      Yeah the case is scary if it’s not in front of you, same could be said for many other cases, just not photogenic if anything but when you have it right in front of you the story is different. As for price you can configure on their site a much more suitable system for your needs at a much better price, check it out

  • Bjørnar Berntsen

    Great review but i prefer to build myself than buy e prebuidt one

    • Iggy

      Yeah I know what you mean but there is something to be said about the price vs performance and the support. Alienware has gone leaps and bounds to provide the best at such a tiny markup far from days of the old where you 1or 2k vesus building it on you own plus the support us there. People not as tech savvy will definitely benefit from it, even tech savvy people I think would benefit from it

  • Felipe Hassey

    Great review iggy! Big master! I like and I want one lol but the price it’s way to high

    • Iggy

      thanks Felipe, well the one configured might be too high, but if you click the link, a system almost as powerful for a lot less, also on the last page I think the link takes you to a more powerful one cheaper too

  • Another great review! Looks like the Alienware Area51 R2 is a solid machine! I prefer building my own and you mentioned the pros and cons of that. I understand the rhetoric… some people might not want to take the time and effort to build their own PC… and if they have the disposable income then buying from Alienware makes sense! 🙂

    • Iggy

      as I mentioned in the conclusion, an Alienware used to mean disposable income, I broke down the parts, it doesn’t anymore, its more affordable than ever before

      • Agreed! Nicely done on the break down of the cost per parts comparison.

    • Iggy

      and thank you so much for the compliments, I truly appreciate it and I thank you for stopping by and checking it out.