Alienware

A few days ago I ran across an interesting thread on notebookreview.com, where Alienware customers noted some confusion regarding the graphics memory on the ATI HD 4870 in the Alienware M17x. Some folks were reporting that their invoices listed the memory as GDDR5 instead of GDDR3, and were wondering which memory was actually on the card.

Just to clear up any remaining confusion, the card definitely has GDDR3, *not* GDDR5.  While we’ve taken steps to correct the invoicing error, I hit up some folks from our engineering team to provide more detailed information on the subject.

The Alienware engineering team evaluated both GDDR5 and GDDR3 with the 4870 card.  Because of specific design constraints associated with notebooks and the 4870, they found that the GDDR3 memory provided the better overall user experience for gamers.  There are no current plans to offer GDDR5 in combination with a 4870 in the M17x.

Alienware will honor full refund requests for customers with incorrect invoices. I do recommend testing the cards for yourself before opting to return your M17x, though.  I think you may be pleased with the results

Unless you’ve been living in a cave, you’ve probably heard the hype surrounding the latest Alienware releases, the M15x and the Aurora. But not much has been circulated about their big brother, the Area-51 and the Area-51 ALX.

Gizmodo recently did an Area-51 ALX Alienware Autopsy (read: photo shoot), their intro paragraph summing up the machine fairly nicely:

It takes two people to lift. The Predator fins flare up as soon you mash the silver diamond on its head. Alienware's Area 51 ALX is a monster, and we've dissected it…

CNet UK also did a fairly complete write up on this beautiful machine, albeit without benchmarks, though they did a good job of listing out the specs and features available… save one.

Not only can you order this beast today, you can order it with Windows 7 factory installed… and as I noted in my last blog, Windows 7 is a must-have for gamers who want to squeeze every drop of performance from a high-end gaming system.

If you DO order it today, feel free to drop me a line. I’ll try to come out for a spontaneous LAN party. Heck… I’ll even bring the snacks.