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Dell's New Alienware Case Goes to Extremes To Prevent Overheating
MojoKid writes Dell's enthusiast Alienware brand has always stood out for its unique, other-worldly looks (sometimes good, sometimes, not so good) and there's such a thing as taking things to the next level, this might be it. However, there's more to this refresh than just shock value. It's actually a futuristic aesthetic with a rather purposeful design behind it. Today Alienware gave a sneak peek at their completely redesigned Alienware Area 51 desktop system. This refreshed system is unlike any previous Alienware rig you've seen. With a trapezoidal shape to its chassis, Dell-Alienware says you can place the Area-51 against a wall and not have to worry about thermals getting out of the control. That's because there's a controlled gap and a sharp angle to the chassis that ensures only a small part of the system actually rests near the wall, leaving extra room for hot air to escape up and away. This design also offers users easy access to rear IO ports. Despite the unique design, there's plenty of room for high end components inside. The retooled chassis can swallow up to three 300W double-wide full-length graphics cards. It also brings to the table Intel's latest and greatest Haswell-E in six-core or eight-core options, liquid cooled and nestled into Intel's X99 chipset. No word from Dell on the price but the new Area-51 is slated to start shipping in October.
The only way this could have been more blatant of an advertisement is if they had put in a preorder link. Even if it wasn't, their "controlled gap" is just a corner that juts out so you can't push it up against the wall properly. It's just not very impressive in terms of, well, anything.
Besides, I'm pretty sure the slashdot crowd builds their own rigs anyway.
Hello,
Dell didn't pay anything for it, as far as I can tell.
This is a post by MojoKid, who operates the HotHardware.Com site. I'm guessing he submitted the article to Slashdot in order to get some ad revenue from people visiting his site as a result.
I'm guessing that blocking
googletagservices.com
googleusercontent.com
tru.am
before visiting his site will make that a little more difficult.
I do not know if he is a Slashdot or a Dice Holdings, Inc., employee, but it would be nice if there was some sort of transparency statement, if that's the case.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Dexter is a good dog.
In other words, it's ok to place this directly agains the wall, because the shape ensures it cannot be placed agains the wall. Well done.
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Before clicking the link I was trying to imagine how a trapezoidal shape could help and I could not. Well, that's because it is a hexagon. Sure, not a regular one, as the article says "like a triangle but with twice as many sides", and even more complicated than that (half the sides are hexagonal themselves, the other half rectangular), but I would not call it "trapezoidal" unless I did not know what that meant.
That said, yes, you can push it to the wall, but due to its shape it is actually longer (at its lower part) than a rectangular case would be, so you would be able to leave enough space behind with a rectangular case if you set it so that its front is at the same place where this hexagon reaches when it is all the way back to the wall. If they wanted to actually save space perhaps they could get air from the sides and out from the top on a rectangular shape (along with ports etc)? I don't know, I'm just saying.
Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent. Polar Scope Align for iOS
I bought one of these, and between it and the Corsair H110, i don't even have any case fans on... the case has good ventilation at the top, and front... the case will be a fair bit cheaper than the premium alienware would be charging too
I don't know why there's so much hatred about this being a slashvertisement. I actually like articles about new hardware - it's one of the reasons I still visit sites like this.
I dig the new machine, and totally support people looking into alternative and hopefully improved/innovative designs. This thing looks cool.
You guys will figure that out when you calm down a bit.
If this were Usenet, I'd killfile the lot of you.
I'm guessing that blocking
googletagservices.com googleusercontent.com tru.am
before visiting his site will make that a little more difficult.
I do not know if he is a Slashdot or a Dice Holdings, Inc., employee, but it would be nice if there was some sort of transparency statement, if that's the case.
Regards,
Aryeh Goretsky
Seriously? Why do people that read a legitimate news story always try to assume something is advertising. This was a press coordinated announcement by Dell-Alienware. It's a VERY cool case and system design I think, so I submitted our story on it. Yes, I run HotHardware.com and no it's not even close to an advertisement. It's just our usual news coverage on a variety of topics around the computing space. Alienware had a press release on this new system design and we covered it, along with many other Tech news outlets I'm sure.
And ad blocking. Don't even get me started. So many ad blockers are so proud of what they do, like it's some badge of honor to block. If everyone blocked ads, many quality web sites would likely cease to exist, including Slashdot. Just because you can block, doesn't mean you should. The internet is no different than any other media, where ads pay the bills to keep the lights on and people employed to serve up news, reviews and other content you enjoy every day, essentially for free.
And good sites (like Slashdot and HotHardware) know how to separate church and state, where advertising does not affect editorial opinion.
Anecdote: I knew a student who had a self-built computer, with a top fan exhaust (and a very high CFM fan, a Delta I think!). He had a bit too much to drink one night, and threw up in exactly the wrong direction, straight on top of his PC...
Extra comedy: His PC survived, because the Delta threw the vomit right back in his face.
Perhaps this is why.
Seriously? Why do people that read a legitimate news story always try to assume something is advertising
It helps to increase that assumption when in the next paragraph you defend ad-block passionately.
If ads were guaranteed to be malware free, then I wouldn't block them, but ad-tech companies are more interested in vetting inventory than advertisers (because advertiser are the ones who pay, so ad-tech companies put a lot of effort into making sure they get a good product).
FWIW I thought your post was interesting.
"First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
And ad blocking. Don't even get me started. So many ad blockers are so proud of what they do, like it's some badge of honor to block. If everyone blocked ads, many quality web sites would likely cease to exist, including Slashdot.
I suspect in reality that the best sites would continue, but there would be a lot more paywalls around, probably less editorial integrity on open sites as things like product placements and affiliate referral fees became more reliable revenue streams, and maybe over time we'd eventually get somewhere with micropayments. In some ways, moving to more "honest" funding via paywalls and/or micropayments might be a better long-term model for the people who do produce good content and run valuable sites than what we have today, though no doubt it would be a painful transition with many casualties.
The thing that makes me a little sad inside is that the aggressive, irresponsible advertisers have spoiled the model for the moderate, responsible ones. Because of the former group, I do block very aggressively when I'm browsing, and I don't feel any guilt about it because my motivations are security, privacy and performance. However, I also have no problem with people who just want to make a bit of money from running a decent site, and I wouldn't block their ads if there were a reliable way to allow those while still eliminating the rest. Unfortunately, I don't see that being possible any time soon, which is why none of the commercial sites I've ever run myself has relied on ads as a business model.
If you disagree, post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like.
Why do people that read a legitimate news story always try to assume something is advertising.
Because there is a large number of the tinfoil hat crowd here. Unfortunately they aren't always wrong. There are sometimes stories that really are just PR in disguise. I've certainly seen a few of them slip through here on slashdot. I agree that this particular instance probably isn't PR but I can see that it might be hard to be sure.
If everyone blocked ads, many quality web sites would likely cease to exist, including Slashdot. Just because you can block, doesn't mean you should.
It also doesn't mean that I have some obligation to watch the ads, particularly given the privacy baggage that tends to come with them. I come to slashdot to read the content, not to watch ads or let companies track my every move. Your bad business model is not my problem. If I value what you have then I will pay for it. I pay for several magazines as well as subscriptions to several online media services I find valuable to me. Frankly most online ad services are invasive to the point of being creepy as hell. Why on earth would I support that in any way? Advertising companies are generally invasive and seem to have no clue about when they've crossed the line. If they had any ethical compass I might be more lenient but I regularly see interviews with people involved in the online ad industry and they regard website viewers like a rancher views a side of beef. No respect whatsoever.
The internet is no different than any other media, where ads pay the bills to keep the lights on and people employed to serve up news, reviews and other content you enjoy every day, essentially for free.
Media funds through ads because it is easy but it is hardly the only means available. If you want to take advantage of the easy money don't be shocked when you get pushback. Newspapers are shriveling up because they built a business model based on a distribution monopoly and easy advertising dollars. Now that the distribution monopoly is broken by the internet their business model no longer allows monopoly profits. Your business is no different and if your business model is based on people being dumb enough to not block advertising that has a blatant disregard for privacy then I have no sympathy for you.
And good sites (like Slashdot and HotHardware) know how to separate church and state, where advertising does not affect editorial opinion.
The problem is that it sometimes is hard to tell the difference. Given that fact I would be a fool not to take control of my own privacy given that I have the means.
but when I am, I buy Alienware.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
False. Very few Application use more then a few gigs.
Some do, and that's great, but for 95+% of users, it would just be wasted.
This isn't 1993
It's math.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
Um "press coordinated announcement by Dell-Alienware" == advertisement
and making a press release appear to be a review [also known as "branded content"] is a violation of church and state
but it's the new thing to get a few extra sheckles these days
Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
Perhaps because it's utterly and totally devoid of valuable information on the subject? When your copy is just "Ooh, look... Shiny!" and uncritically copying bits of info out of the manufacturer's press release... you are doing nothing more than advertising a product.
Adblock Plus allows non-annoying advertisements through the filter, to be displayed by default...
If every site used non-annoying ads, ad-blockers "would likely cease to exist."
Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
Why do people that read a legitimate news story always try to assume something is advertising. This was a press coordinated announcement by Dell-Alienware.
I know you are right in the middle of it since that is your website and that makes it difficult to see things from any other perspective, but you should take a step back and try to see it as an uninvolved bystander would because those two statements are fundamentally contradictory. They can not both be simultaneously true, press-release journalism is not legitimate news, if for no other reason than coordination reduces your ability to critically report a story.
I have a cooler master haf-x. It breathes out the top. Works great, and I can put it right up against a wall, because the intlet fan is on the other side, unless I am an idiot and put the fan side against the wall. Even then there are two other fans, one in front and one in back to try to limit the damage if I am an idiot.
I can't speak enough praise about this case. From the access points, to cable grommets, to incredible airflow, to built in sdata and usb frontside.
I priced an alienware to a homebuilt with this case, and went homebuilt. I'll never look back. Alienware was probably 50-75% more and with them you don't get to pick the top of the line brand new components, if that is your choosing.
This is not a slashvertisement, as I don't have any ad links for you to click, just my opinion and I hope you are able to use it to some benefit.
If you are not allowed to question your government then the government has answered your question.
And ad blocking. Don't even get me started. So many ad blockers are so proud of what they do, like it's some badge of honor to block.
Of course we're proud. What do you think we are, stupid? Who wants to sacrifice bandwidth so as to have a gaping security hole that occasionally installs malware directly via exploits, frequently contains deceptive warnings which actually link to malware, and at best are noisy or flashy distractions from the page itself? And then the pop-ups, pop-unders, redirects, phishing scams, etc. Things have gotten so nasty that Adblock Plus more effective for securing your computer than the so called "security software", and as a bonus it doesn't even eat all your processor and blocks ads besides.
And the worst is that the advent of ad-supported web pages has slowly pushed people away from producing quality content as a contribution to the world, and towards producing SEO or clickbait content (or perhaps the latter hides the former).
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways