Alienware X51: The Xbox With Teeth
by Dustin Sklavos on February 17, 2012 12:00 AM ESTConclusion: Gaming Made Fun Size
It's hard not to walk away from the Alienware X51 feeling at least a little impressed. While I have to wonder a why Dell and Alienware didn't opt to wait for Kepler and Ivy Bridge, at the same time we can probably be certain that a refresh with those technologies will be en route once they launch. In the meantime, Alienware has produced a system that wouldn't look at all out of place next to other gaming consoles or other home entertainment hardware.
What's inside counts just as much, though, if not more, and here Alienware again delivers. The internal design of the X51 is smart, consisting of standardized hardware that's assembled in such a way as to allow the end user a measure of freedom and configurability while also doing an excellent job of keeping the internals organized. More importantly, the system runs coolly and quietly. While the 150-watt limitation on the graphics card does hurt at least a little bit, 150-watt cards have been perfectly adequate for gaming at 1080p for a while now, and we're already on the eve of another refresh that should continue to push impressive performance into tighter and tighter thermal envelopes.
If we had to find fault with the X51, the glossy plastic front finish is definitely going to be prone to smudges (not to mention just looking cheap in general), and there's really no reason for the front USB ports not to be 3.0 capable. That front finish also seems to be at least a little bit on the fragile side. Understanding that SSDs are still on the expensive side, I also wish that Alienware had made an allowance for including a 2.5" drive inside the system; there should be at least a little space beneath the optical drive for one, and SSDs don't exactly throw off a lot of heat. Having to live with a single 3.5" hard drive really hampers performance and thus the user experience somewhat. An SSD doesn't need to be mandatory and it would drive the price up, but the option should exist.
Ultimately, though, the X51 is a heck of a product. It's essentially Alienware's "budget" PC, but it's also very capable, and the small form factor and low power consumption make it compelling in ways that transcend Alienware's target market. A visit to NewEgg reveals virtually nothing in the way of competition on price, either; only pre-built machines from CyberpowerPC compete, and those don't have the benefit of being small form factor, let alone everything else the X51 brings to the table. Were it not for the quibbles with the finish and connectivity, the X51 would be in the running for a silver or even gold Editor's Choice award. As it stands, though, it's certainly worth of a Bronze Editor's Choice Award and a place on the shortlist of anyone looking for a relatively inexpensive but powerful gaming desktop.
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Anonymous Blowhard - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
"With such a compact design one would expect the X51 to be both loud and hot, but surprisingly this isn't the case. Quite the opposite actually; the X51 is cooler and quieter at both idle and load than the first-generation Xbox 360 was."I'm pretty sure I've heard quieter power tools than a first-gen 360. That's not exactly shooting for the moon there.
How far away is that 40dB measurement being taken from? This makes the difference between "gaming capable HTPC" and "banned from the living room."
haukionkannel - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
This is something like a paragon of "the best you can get" when thinking next generation consoles.The consoles are most propably even more cripled by power consumption and this would be too expensive, so they would reguire allso cheaper parts...
Nice to see when xbox 720 comes out how it would compare to this...
A5 - Saturday, February 18, 2012 - link
Take this and replace the GPU with something with DX11.1 support and similar thermals (a 6850 with DX11.1 features added seems reasonable instead of a 7770), and you're probably in the ballpark.Good-looking console games come from the incredible amount of optimization possible due to a single hardware configuration, not from the power of the hardware.
A5 - Saturday, February 18, 2012 - link
You'd also replace the CPU with some kind of PPC variant if the rumors are to be believed.tipoo - Saturday, February 18, 2012 - link
The first revision 360 had a 200W maximum power draw, this has a 172W draw. I think they could do it, but I think Microsoft at least, and probably Sony too, will re-think the selling for a loss strategy this round as it took them a looong time to recoup losses. There's a rumor the Nextbox will use a 6670-like card, but I think (and hope) that is false, as the original 360 dev kits used an old x800 graphics card before they finally came with the x1900-like chip in the 360.Traciatim - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
It's really unfortunate that you couldn't have done the gaming benchmarks with the I3, i5, and i7 models to see how much of a difference each step makes in a variety of games.Wolfpup - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
The answer is power gating, not switchable graphics. Until we have that better, we need the GPU acting as a GPU.These articles keep acting like it's fine, and in practice, it's one person after another getting blue screens, driver weirdness, difficulty installing Nvidia or AMD's drivers, etc., that you just don't see on most systems without switchable graphics.
Articles like this that keep promoting it have casual users trying to buy stuff confused, when you've got 10 people on a forum trying to talk them out of it.
I'm used to Anandtech being dead on with everything, so this Optimus push of the last few years is BIZARRE.
TrackSmart - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
Switchable graphics makes a lot of sense for a mobile system, where an extra couple of watts of power draw can mean an extra hour or two of battery life. I'm already amazed at how little energy *very powerful* modern graphics cards use when idling. How much lower do you think they can realistically go? Until they can get within range of their mobile parts at idle, switchable graphics will continue to be a compelling feature for keeping laptops running longer.If you are talking specifically about desktop computers, then I agree that the benefits are minimal. Aside for access to Quick Sync for those few people who would use it.
JarredWalton - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
"...in practice, it's one person after another getting blue screens, driver weirdness, difficulty installing Nvidia or AMD's drivers, etc., that you just don't see on most systems without switchable graphics..."I disagree. I've had very few BSODs, taking all of the Optimus laptops I've tested/used together over the past few years. I'm sure there are probably exceptions, but certainly within the last 18 months I've had no complaints that I can think of with Optimus on my personal laptops.
I don't think Optimus fills a major need for a desktop, but posts like yours claiming that Optimus is essentially driver hell and problems are, in my experience, the rantings of someone who either had one bad experience or simply hasn't used it.
But let's put it another way: what specific laptops have you used/tested with Opitmus where there were clear problems with Optimus working properly, where drivers couldn't be updated, etc.?
TrackSmart - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
Gamers are the target audience, yet a marginally bigger case would have allowed for a more powerful GPU. Or a similarly powerful GPU for a lot less money. This is not a mobile system where every square cm of space counts, so why force the consumer to make such large compromises in price:performance?Obviously I'm not the target audience. Just like I will never own an "all in one" desktop computer that has the performance of a laptop. It just doesn't make sense unless you have absurd space limitations.