Up close with the mini gaming PC desktopPC News By Dan Grabham 6 hours ago | Tell us what you think [ 0 comments ]
Tweet-218-85.jpg)
We had a play with a Core i7-toting X51 Gaming PC vendor Alienware recently took the wraps off its X51 - a smaller form factor desktop to go alongside its not-so-dainty Aurora line of gaming desktop behemoths.
We got up close with the Core i7 variant of the new mini gaming PC at a demo event yesterday.
The first thing that strikes you is the size - it isn't that much taller than an Xbox 360 - 32cm high at its shortest point and less than 10cm in thickness.
The box has been designed to either sit horizontally or stand vertically, and Alienware is expecting a reasonable number to find homes underneath HDTVs in living rooms.
So what we're looking at here is a couple of the £999 units each boasting a 3.4Ghz Intel Core i7-2600, Nvidia Geforce GTX 555 graphics and 8GB of memory.
Alienware is keen to stress that there's a market for a performance gaming system without the bulk - it believes people are looking for smaller machines, but that gamers still want a desktop PC rather than a laptop. The company is keen to stress it wanted to sit the X51 above traditional small form factor (SFF) systems that don't have a great deal of power or graphics capabilities.
As you can see, there's a slot-loading optical drive on the front (24x dual-layer DVD), as well as a couple of USB 2.0 ports. There are a couple of USB 3.0 ports on the back as well as three more USB 2.0 ports, HDMI, Ethernet, full complement of audio outputs including SPDIF and two DVIs. 802.11n Wi-Fi is also integrated.
Sadly, there's no Blu-ray option for the optical drive. Booo.
Alienware was keen to demonstrate that the lower end £699 is also very capable - it packs a 3.3GHz Intel Core i3-2120, Nvidia Geforce GT545 graphics, 4GB of DDR3 RAM and a 1TB HDD. All models sport Windows 7 Home Premium.
There's also a 3GHz Core i5-2320 mid-range variant available.
We love the look of the thing (and yes, you can customise the colours of those LEDs - there are 8,000 different combinations) but we'll be honest - the X51 is a lot of money for what it is, especially since Alienware believes it occupies a mainstream rather than enthusiast segment of the market.
The unit's weigh clocks in at 5.5Kg - Alienware says it occupies only around 15 per cent of the space of one of its traditional desktops. The components inside are user upgradeable.
You also get a Alienware backlit keyboard and mouse in the box. We'll run our benchmarking rule over it when we hold of one in our TechRadar test lab, though Alienware has posted its on basic benchies for the Core i3 and i7 models, which you can see below - click here for a bigger version.
Submit Explore News PCApple Related News How to set up your PC for great surround soundAlienware explains move to small form-factorAlienware X51 announcedXbox took 40 per cent of US gaming pot in 2011Gartner figures reveal weak festive PC demand Related Reviews Corsair Vengeance M60 gaming mouseCorsair Vengeance K60 gaming keyboardCorsair Vengeance 1300 gaming headset 
Alienware explains move to small form-factor PC gaming for those with limited time and space
Should Microsoft save the Start button? Gary Marshall: Are Windows 8's UI changes bold, or just bonkers?
WHDI: what it is and why you should care Wireless, uncompressed HD streaming? Don't mind if we do
Windows 8 beta: more personalisation coming Change the look of Metro, kill apps plus better mouse support
In pictures and video: Razer Project Fiona PC gaming tablet could appear in the wild in 2012
NEWESTMOST READMOST COMMENTED TECH NEWS HEADLINESPentax unveils tough compact duoSamsung reveals voice-controlled universal remoteKinect Star Wars bundle coming April 3rdGoogle Chrome browser launches for AndroidMicrosoft set to sell $899 Nokia Lumia 800 bundleApple intern outs Mac OS X's ARM ambitionsSamsung to take OLED display tech in-house?More TECH NEWS HEADLINES20 best mobile phones in the world todayBest TV 2012: what TV should you buy this year?The 10 most hated programs of all timeHands on: Nikon D800 reviewTop 50 best free iPhone apps 201250 best free Android apps 2012Top 50 best free iPad apps 2012 TECH NEWS HEADLINESThe 10 most hated programs of all time (27)Crass Steve Jobs ad used to promote Android tab (10)Apple overturns German online sales ban on iPhone, iPad (9)HTC riding its luck with next-gen handsets (8)Samsung set to reboot Galaxy S2 for MWC 2012 (7)Nokia: Windows Phone project needs more time (7)Windows Phone Apollo details leaked (7)Find a review
Do you subscribe to a film streaming service?
YesNo, not enough contentNo, I love physical mediaNo, too expensiveWhat's film streaming?Vote Results Where am I?Technology NewsTech newsApple newsMobile phone newsTablet newsTV newsCamera newsPC component newsPC newsLaptop newsInternet newsGadget newsGaming newsHome cinema newsHi-fi newsTechnology ReviewsDigital camera reviewsCamcorder reviewsMobile phone reviewsMP3 and iPod reviewsNetworking reviewsPC reviewsPC component reviewsLaptop reviewsTablet reviewsTV reviewsBlu-ray reviewsHi-fi reviewsTechRadarAbout usContact usSitemapReport this pageAccessibilityMedia enquiriesTerms and conditionsPrivacy policyAdvertising enquiriesJobsMore from TechRadarRegister & email newsletterFacebookTwitterYouTubeRSS feedsForumsPhone dealsSell your old mobileTechRadar Network3D RadarTap! magazineMacFormat magazinePC Format magazinePC Plus magazineLinux Format magazine
Copyright 2006 - 2011 Future Publishing Limited,
30 Monmouth Street, Bath, BA1 2BW, United Kingdom
England and Wales company registration number 2008885
Posts
1 comments:
Film streaming ITA
Post a Comment