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.

Comments

Ineffective advertising

[rebelwarlock]

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.

Re:Ineffective advertising

[asylumx]

I'm anything BUT an Apple fan, but I think their new design for the Mac Pro is better looking and probably more functional from a shape perspective than this idea from Alienware. Glad to see manufacturers trying new things, but I hope they keep looking.

Re:Ineffective advertising

[LookIntoTheFuture]

I'm anything BUT an Apple fan, but I think their new design for the Mac Pro is better looking and probably more functional from a shape perspective than this idea from Alienware. Glad to see manufacturers trying new things, but I hope they keep looking.

That thing makes me want to start smoking again so I could ash in it.

Re:Ineffective advertising

[goarilla]

4. The PSU is at the bottom, heat rises, and directly above it they have the SLI video cards. This is a terrible design.

The PSU at the bottom is pretty much the standard these days.
It makes room for top vents or a radiator that way. And the heath output of the PSU is so minimal
compared to other parts that it's probably the best place for the PSU.

Re: Ineffective advertising

[goarilla]

Oh really CM 690 III (it's a popular case -- they made three versions of it):
http://www.coolermaster.com/ca...

Antec 280:
http://www.antec.com/product.p...

Same deal with a high end Lian Li PC-A79:
http://www.lian-li.com/en/dt_p...

Re:Ineffective advertising

[fa2k]

So we should compare this announcement with the Mac Pro one. Apple had to share a slashdot article between the MacBook and the Mac Pro. There's not many complaints about slashvertisement on the mac post.

The post about the Mac appears just as positive, but it packs a lot more facts in fewer sentences, so it's arguably better. Both have their share of marketing language and fluff, but the Alienware has a lot more of it.

"Against a wall"

[Noughmad]

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.

Re:"Against a wall"

[v1]

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.

That's actually completely accurate. Towers do tend to get placed under desks, or more commonly, in a corner where the desk meets the wall. Ventillatoin back there is crap, and the system overheats. So rather than make another case that will just generate a lot more support calls and broken harware in warranty, they just made it physically impossible to keep installing it like retard.

y'know... for their retarded customers ;)

Knowing your customer is key to a successful business.

But all sarcasm aside, I do like the new design. I'm a mac fan but I can see some thought went into this both for functionality and for original and interesting design. Even if they fail at both, at least they're trying. It's not just another boring beige / black box.

I think the biggest concern for me though would be how much floor space this is going to take up, plus how little or zero space there is to set anything on it. I don't even think you could set the keyboard aside on it without risking it falling over. And imagine the users setting drinks on top of it! At least with a box, if you knock your drink over, it's on the floor. HERE.... it can drain your entire soda into the mobo ports (back) or fan intake. (front) I think that will be the biggest problem this case has, getting users out of the habbit of setting things on top of their case.

Chill out - I dig it

[water-and-sewer]

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.

Re:How much?

[MojoKid]

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.

I'm not always stupid and rich ...

[geekoid]

but when I am, I buy Alienware.

Re:How much?

[davester666]

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

Re:How much?

[evilviper]

Why do people that read a legitimate news story always try to assume something is advertising.

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.

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.

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."