Alienware Area51 Threadripper

Comparing AMdD’s 16-core Ryzen Theadripper Central Processing Unit with a pair of Nvidia’s fastest graphics cards should to result in a multitasking gamer’s dream PC. Alienware Area51 Threadripper edition is so equipped, tackles multimedia tasks quickly, and delivers smooth 4K gameplay. Wrapped in an unconventional triangular tower, it’s priced and positioned as a high-end gaming desktop. The problem is, it’s very pricey as configured, and aside from one very specific test, it’s not the fastest PC we’ve tested. Competitors like the Velocity Micro Raptor Z95 and the Origin Neuron are better for multimedia projects and gaming, respectively, and the Neuron is significantly less expensive.

An Imposing Aesthetic

The Alienware Area51 Threadripper Edition frame is metal, and it’s clad in molded plastic panels. The design in unchanged from its 2016 version, Instead of the classic rectangular box of most desktop Personal computer, the system is an irregular hexagon, with 3 short sides and 3 longer sides. The domed left and right side panels are silver, while the back and front panels are black plastic with slats for cooling.

It measures 22.4 by 10.75 by 25 inches Height Width Depth, dwarfing towers like the Origin Neuron (17.8 by 9 by 15.7 inches) and Velocity Micro Raptor Z95 (17.5 by 7.25 by 20.5) in all dimensions. The gargantuan Asus is a hair taller, but slightly slimmer and shallower (23.1by 10.31 by 23) and the blocky HP Omen X is almost twice as wide (20.3 by 19.9 by 16). In the end: You’ll have to make some room for this irregularly shaped monolith. Thankfully, there’s a handle built into each corner of the chassis to help you reposition its 62-pound bulk.

Alienware Area-51 Threadipper usual multi-zone lighting effects let you customize RED, GREEN, BLUE, lighting in nine areas over most of the Area-51’s surface, and the overall effects is less gaudy and ostentatious than the MSI aegis Ti3. You can control the lighting effects in the Alienware Control Center utility. A set of lights turn on inside the case when you open the left-side door, so you can see the motherboard and components while tinkering, and a similar row of lights shines on the rear ports for visibility when plugging and unplugging cables.

What can you do with 16 Cores?

Aside from the Central Processing Unit and a pair of Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 TI graphics cards. The Area-51 I reviewed also has 32GB of RAM. And 3TB of storage divided between a 1TB SSD and 2TB hard drive. The Solid State Drives, graphics cards, and processor contributr to majority of the purchase price. The basic version starts at $2,699 and comes with. A 12-core Ryzen Threadripper 1920X CPU, 8GB of RAM, a 2TB hard drive, and one Nvidia GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card.

The linchpin of this iteration of the Area-51 is its Advanced Micro Devices Ryzen Threadripper 1950X processor. We’ve installed one in a home-built Personal Computer. And our sister site Computer Shopper (opens in a new window) calls it “a no-brainer for. Serious contest creators and uncompromising multi-taskers. “Consequently, this desktop garnerd our highest-ever score of 3,047 points on the Cinebench test.

That’s 657 points over the Velocity Micro Raptor Z95. Which has a 10-core overclocked Intel Core i7-7900X CPU, and 1,973 points better than the Origin Neuron. Animators and other Computer Generated Imagery artists will certainly br interested in this result. Likewise, it took a scant 28 sec to complete our Handbrake video-encoding test, just behind the Raptor Z95 (0:25). Any Handbrake time below a min is excellent. And most Core-i7-equipped high-end gaming Personal Computer will take about 45 seconds on the same test.

Massive Multitasking, but at a Price

The Alienware Area-51 Threadripper edition is certainly at processing multimedia tasks in a short amount of time. Plus you won’t have to quit the game you’re playing while your project renders in the background. I like the concept of sharing multiple task on a single Personal Computer. But in this case, you’ll have to contend with an eye-popping price tag.