It seems like only yesterday when Intel annoucned its new 45nm Penryn CPUs (oh, wait, it was only yesterday) but now Dell‘s boutique computer subsidiary Alienware has announced its new Area-51 ALX desktop system build around the new CPUs. And the Penryn chip isn’t the only oomph the ALX brings to the table: as one would expect from an Alienware desktop, the system features top-flight components all the way through…and a price tag to match.
"Rather than be content with the incredible performance benchmarks the Area-51 ALX has already established, Alienware decided to up the ante even more by implementing remarkable advancements in both CPU overclocking and dual GPU technology," said Alienware product marketing manager Marc Diana, in a statement. "With the Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 overclocked to 4.0 GHz and ATI CrossFire, Area-51 ALX owners are introduced to unprecedented gaming and media capabilities without ever being restricted by the energy, temperature, and graphics limitations of other solutions."
The Area-51 ALX comes with an 45nm Penryn Intel Core 2 Extreme processors overclocked to 4 GHz, support for up to 4 GB of RAM, an ATI Dual Radeon HD 3870 graphics controller with 2 × 256 MB of video memory and Crossfire technology as a standard option (with a 2×1GB HD2900XT as an upgrade), four DVI outputs, two S-Video outputs, RAID 0 and 1 options with drives starting at 160 GB, option 4× and 6× Blu-ray writers, an optional 28-in-1 media card reader, dual gigabit Ethernet ports, 7.1 audio support, two external SATA ports, one IEEE 1394 port, six USB 2.0 ports, and 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi wireless networking.
The Alienware Area-51 ALX systems are scheduled to start shipping by the end of 2007; prices start at $5,499 for a standard configuration, but quickly climbs towards $6,500 with a Blu-ray burner and additional storage and memory—and that’s without a monitor. But if you have to have the latest and greatest, right now the Area-51 is the only announced Penryn-based system.
