RSSAlienware counters HP's Blackbird with a quad-GPU monster
By Michael Hatamoto | Published March 6, 2008, 5:35 PM
Today, Dell division Alienware announced its Area-51 ALX CrossFireX gaming desktop, a pricey quad GPU gaming PC that utilizes so many bleeding edge hardware features that it actually requires Windows Vista.
So much for the theory that frequency is dead in computing. One of the big selling points for Alienware's new Area-51 ALX CFX system, which premiered just today and is available now, is that customers should feel free to experiment with the 4.0 GHz barrier.
Alienware actually suggests its users can and should try overclocking the 3.0 GHz Core 2 Extreme CPU all the way to 4.0 GHz, just to see what happens.
ATI created CrossFireX as a graphics processing platform specifically for gaming, enabling up to four GPUs on a Windows Vista system. The Alienware ALX CrossFireX uses two ATI Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics cards, for a total of four GPUs and 2 GB of GDDR memory. That said, it's not the first quad-GPU system; Alienware debuted one two years ago.
The ALX CFX is powered by an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 CPU, 2 GB of Patriot EP+ Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM (enabling 1.6 GHz on the front-side bus alone), and an "Alienware approved X38 motherboard."
Experienced computer users also have the ability to use the ATI Catalyst 8.3 driver to boost the performance of their GPUs through overclocking. Even though the driver provides a temperature display and safety recovery features, it is still advised only users with a strong understanding of computer hardware -- and a keen ability to smell smoke -- unlock and overclock the GPU.
ATI's latest Catalyst drivers allow users of the HD 3870, Radeon HD 3850, and Radeon HD 3870 X2 graphics cards to run their cards in CrossFireX Quad mode, which parent company AMD claims will offer visible increases in frames per second. Furthermore, AMD promises more CrossFireX modifications in future Catalyst releases.
An intriguing new removable drive option, called the "Duo Drive," enables slide-in installation of removable 320 GB small form factor drives. Once they slide out, they can be used elsewhere as external drives with USB 2.0 connectors. This is in addition to the maximum 4 TB (that's with a "T") of internal storage in the ALX's main array.
Windows Vista is also required due to the high level of memory available in this system: up to 4 GB, which is right at the limits of a 32-bit operating system.
Promoting it as "the world's fastest gaming desktop," Alienware offers a base MSRP of $5,149, although with custom configuration, you can drive the final price above $8,000 easily.
Boutique gaming PC makers have been battling over the past few years to push hardware from manufacturers ATI, NVidia, Intel and AMD, with companies forced to select what hardware it uses very carefully. While Nvidia chipsets are popular among regular PC enthusiasts and lower-budget gamers, the power of ATI's CrossFireX technology is evident, as the Hewlett-Packard Blackbird 002 gaming PC also offers dual ATI HD 3870 graphics cards with CrossFireX technology.
A check of Alienware's Web site this afternoon revealed its configurator was down, perhaps on account of popularity, or perhaps an overclocking experiment in the server room went awry.
$$$$!!!!! And did I mention I could still build something faster?
"Alienware actually suggests its users can and should try overclocking the 3.0 GHz Core 2 Extreme CPU all the way to 4.0 GHz, just to see what happens." They had better have good cooling and a good chipset. And what happens? I bet nothing good.
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for less $$$$, I could go 8GB of ram.
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AND Raid 0+1 1TB HDs.
And I could always only pay a couple thousand and still be screaming fast.
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|"A check of Alienware's Web site this afternoon revealed its configurator was down, perhaps on account of popularity, or perhaps an overclocking experiment in the server room went awry."
I like the humer!
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|LOL
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|I don't know what worse myself. Dell with alienware or HP with VodooPC LOL
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|Miss the old Alienware and it's Antec case. Haven't paid much attention to them though since Dell started financing them. As far as I know though, Dell doesn't own Alienware per se. It's more of a relationship like Sony and MGM. Sony doesn't actually own MGM.
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|That's incorrect. Dell *bought* Alienware in 2006 meaning Alienware is fully owned by Dell.
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|Haahaa, those specs are laughable.
This technology has been around for some time now, and with 1TB drives on the market, this system basically has 4 SATA ports... Last time I checked a motherboard with 4 SATA ports, Crossfire, and a quad-core Intel was far from a "monster."
This system for $5149 is a complete rip off...
Wait 'til piranhapc.com opens up... You'll see some "monsters..."
EDIT: So, fancy advertising bests us all...
$8,142.00... that's how much it's going to cost you for what they mention in the above article. But, in my opinion, you're paying for that cheesy "Alienware" emblem on the front of the tower... The eyes do glow, though...
Hoora for Dell advertising & crappy overpriced products.
/rant
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|Exactly!!!
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|For $8000.00 this rig needs to at least have hover capabilities, and bring me pizza. Man thats almost a down payment for a house, lol.
Anyway thats pretty impressive hardware.
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|"Windows Vista is also required due to the high level of memory available in this system: up to 4 GB, which is right at the limits of a 32-bit operating system."
?????
that makes no sense at all
also anyone with an internet connection could build a completely identical PC for probably under $3k and will perform exactly the same.
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|How does that not make sense?
Vista SP1 moved the limit from ~3.25GB to 4GB exactly... So, Vista is 'required' to run 4GB memory. True statement, but just a way to get more money out of you.... Like I said, Dell is a good advertising company.
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|Vista SP1 did NOT move the limit to 4gig. what they did was change it so that the computer would tell you it had 4 gig installed, even if it could still only use 3.25gigs of it.
thats a 32-bit limitation based on addressable memory space which is partially also taken up with firmware/BIOS from adding cards as well as resource control on the motherboard itself.
if you have 4 gigs or more of ram you HAVE to use a 64-bit operating system, doesnt matter whether its Vista, XP, BSD, or Linux.
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|Haahaa, I understand that, but that's my point.
They're saying you need Vista for it to say "4GB" ram, even though it only sees ~3.25... Dell advertising... Come on...
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