Dell is stepping up its gaming system lineup with the introduction of the Alienware 13 laptop, the Alienware graphics amplifier and the Area 51 gaming desktop.
The Alienware 13 laptop, which has a starting price of $999, features and Intel Core i5 4210U processor, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M graphics card, 8GB worth of RAM, and a hard drive with a memory of 1 TB. It comes in three different kinds depending on resolution, namely 1366x768, 1920x1080 and touchscreen 2560x1440.
The Alienware 13 laptop also includes a connector at the rear where gamers can plug in the latest graphics cards from AMD and Nvidia.
Dell is one of the first manufacturers to include such a feature in a laptop, which would greatly enhance the gaming capabilities of a laptop so that gamers will not have to heavily invest in a high-powered desktop computer for gaming.
The graphics capabilities of laptops are not able to support the most graphically-advanced games because of the limitations of the laptops in terms of performance and power. There are external desktop graphics cards, but they are too big and consume too much power to be placed in laptops.
The Alienware 13 laptop comes with the dedicated Alienware graphics amplifier, which will be sold separately for the price of $299.
The Alienware graphics amplifier, which looks like a separate desktop computer on its own, connects to the laptop through a proprietary cable. Gamers can connect an external graphics card to the amplifier, which also contains an integrated power supply and a cooling fan.
What the amplifier does is that it makes the laptop work as a high-end gaming desktop equipped with high-powered graphics cards that will never be able to fit into the frame of a laptop. It supports a wide range of graphics cards that includes AMD's Raedon HD 5000 series and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 600 series.
The Alienware graphics amplifier currently only works the Alienware 13, but Dell has hinted that it could be compatible with Alienware laptops to be released in the future.
The Alienware 13, along with the Alienware graphics amplifier, is for gamers that want to experience high-powered gaming with additional mobility.
However, for gamers that are looking for a high-end gaming desktop, Dell is also releasing the Area 51.
The Area 51 is a massive tower in the shape of a hexagon which comes with the new Intel Haswell E 6-core and 8-core processors. It is equipped to give gamers access to all kinds of customization options, and comes at a starting price of $1,699.
Customization options include the capability of including five SSD or HDD hard drives and up to three double-wide 300W graphics cards. Users can also set up nine different lighting schemes.
The design of Area 51 is not just for aesthetic purposes, as it allows users to easily get around the tower with several handles to makes it easy to access all the ports and plugs. The design also allows hot air vented out by the tower to come out at an upwards angle, instead of straight back to a wall.
The Alienware 13 laptop, the Alienware graphics amplifier and the Area 51 gaming desktop are all now available.
