Alienware Bumps Area-51 ALX to 4 GHz

Alienware has revamped its high-end Area-51 ALX desktop system to include an Intel Core 2 Extreme CPU overclocked to 4 GHz.

Dell subsidiary Alienware is known for offering high-performance rigs of particular interest to way-too-serious gamers and PC enthusiasts: today, the company has rolled out a revision to its high-end Area-51 ALX desktop rig that goes where no PC has gone before: it features an Intel Core 2 Extreme processor overclocked to an "industry-first" 4 GHz.

"The performance packed into the Area-51 ALX desktop is flat-out unheard-of," says Alienware product marketing manager Marc Diana, in a statement. "Alienware has always been committed to building only the fastest, most powerful systems available, and that’s exactly what we’ve done with the new ALX."

Area-51 ALX customers have no lack of other high-end features to select, including a choice between Nvidia Quad SLI (with dual GeForce 9800 GX2 cards) or AT CrossFireX (with dual Radeon HD 3870 X2 cards). The system also ships with 4 GB of RAM, and is available with single or dual hard drives (RAID O capable), DVD±RW or (for the high-def crowd) either a Blu-ray player or 4× burner. The ALX also features 8 USB 2.0 ports, 2 FireWire ports, one eSATA port, dual gigabit Ethernet, 7.1 surround sound output, and—of course—the Alienware chassis design with AlienIce high-performance liquid cooling.

Thinking of picking up a couple systems to put around the home? Pricing for Area-51 ALX starts at $4,599.