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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ranilus - Monday, February 20, 2012 - link
The advantage is the flexibility of where you can put the system. On the desk, right beside/behind the monitor, on the floor, in an entertainment center, etc.I had an Aurora. I was happy with the stock CPU and GPU, didn't feel the need to upgrade or overclock, or add SLI/CF or RAID 0. But that case, on man it wasn't just HUGE. It was HEAVY. I think it was 60lbs. I couldn't put it on the desktop. I couldn't fit it in my computer desk which had space for a computer tower, I could only put it beside the desk, and it was sort of in the way the whole time.
There's always the want for simplicity, a neat desk-area, a clutter-free Feng-shui, and/or an aesthetically pleasing gaming room. The X51 achieves that, while also being relatively powerful.
It is indeed just as you've said, you are obviously not the target audience. Really the system, and All-In-Ones, are for those who appreciates a holistic Chi.
Coup27 - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
Nice review and a neat little system. What sets this apart is the custom design and build. On that front it is a shame there is only one photo of inside the unit itself and even that you cannot see past the side.Death666Angel - Friday, February 17, 2012 - link
I like the clean built and the form factor and the relative power it packs. However, I'm a PC nerd and would never buy a complete PC unless I can save 100-200 bucks compared to the components used (which is impossible).Leyawiin - Saturday, February 18, 2012 - link
I'm kind of intrigued by this tiny form factor and the relative power it has. I'm sure it would perform better than my mid-range PC (GTX 460 OC'd and X4 955 OC'd). Interesting...JarredWalton - Saturday, February 18, 2012 - link
CPU would be faster in some cases, yes, but the GPU? Overclocked GTX 460 is almost certainly going to outperform the GTX 555 (OEM). 460 has 336 cores at 1350MHz (stock), which works out to 907.2 GFLOPS (theoretical), and the 256-bit GDDR5 memory interface at 3600MHz (effective) gives you 115.2 GB/s of bandwidth -- that's assuming you have the 1GB version of the GTX 460; if not, you'd be sitting down at 86.4 GB/s.In comparison, the GTX 555 has 288 cores at 1553 MHz, which yields a theoretical 894.5 GFLOPS. It has a 192-bit memory interface running at 3828MHz, for 91.9GB/s of bandwidth. So, at stock the GTX 460 1GB card would have 1-2% more computations power and 25% more bandwidth, but you say your card is overclocked which would mean that however far you've overclocked basically translates directly into more computational power.
Leyawiin - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
Ah, I'm not that familiar with the GTX 555 since its OEM and there are no reviews anywhere. I am playing Skyrim almost exclusively right now and its so CPU bound I was thinking that stronger CPU would have more of an impact.JarredWalton - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
The 1.4 update should have alleviated a lot of the CPU-bound issues. At least, it seems to have done so on my PC. Plus you can also use the high resolution texture packs -- though with a 1GB card that might be asking too much.TareX - Sunday, February 19, 2012 - link
Extremely irrelevant, but I'm wondering when Anandtech will be reviewing the world's latest, fastest, most impressive handheld gaming machine coming out this week...AndySocial - Tuesday, February 21, 2012 - link
I find it interesting that no reviewers ever seem to review the base model. It seems that would be enlightening. Many people are probably intrigued by the idea of a small system with ostensibly enough power to play current games on their HDTV (gotta love HDMI standardization across PC and TV usage). But, this review, like every other I've seen so far, won't tell them if the most-affordable system is worth buying. This is especially true when the X51 is using OEM-only video cards, so a typical user is not going to be able to find a lot of comparisons of other systems with the same specs.