Company Updates

Alienware Heads Into Fall with Crisp New Portfolio

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“Pax” may mean “peace” in Latin, but it’s been anything but peaceful since PAX Prime in Seattle little more than a month ago. I can understand the excitement around launching our new portfolio of products: the next-generation Alienware X51 gaming desktop, updated Alienware 13, 15 and 17 notebooks, and, back for a limited time, the powerful Alienware 18 notebook. At PAX Prime, gamers also got a first peek at the new Dell 27 Gaming Monitor, launching in late October.

Since the show, Intel’s Skylake processors were made available and we decided to give every customer who bought a new Alienware 13, 15, or 17 system between the launch on August 27th and now an automatic upgrade to the 6th generation Intel CPUs. As I posted early this month, the upgrade offer is nothing short of “badass.”  According to Intel, the redesign brings greater performance and reduced power consumption. What this means is that the gameplay experience will be even more immersive, every game will look awesome and you’re able to play longer while on the go.

Our goal is pretty straightforward: to create the most advanced, high-performance desktops and notebooks that make screen time amazing.  In light of our push to constantly innovate new features, including those that give players an in-game edge over their competitors, the new Alienware X51 now offers a custom liquid cooling system, as well as support for 4k gaming with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier.

What are some other performance advancements? Glad you asked…

  • The new Alienware X51 featuring the 6th generation Intel Core i7-6700K processor provides up to a 20% increase in performance compared to the previous generation X51, with an Intel Core i7-4790 in 3DMark for Windows Fire Strike benchmark testing.
  • When using the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, the new Alienware X51 can deliver a 2.2x increase on the graphics score over the highest end X51 configuration.
  • The Alienware X51 offers a broad range of performance in its own right – when graphics power is maximized with the Graphics Amplifier, using the Nvidia Titan X, performance can scale up to 7.5x over the base graphics.

The Alienware 13, 15 and 17 are all built with a strong focus on performance, reliability and iconic design. The notebooks offer over 20 updates including patent-pending Dynamic Overclocking created specifically to push maximum CPU performance on the new Intel Skylake processors. Alienware 15 is first-to-market with the new AMD Radeon R9 M395X graphics card and you can check out all its glory in our product walkthrough. And let’s not forget about battery life – Alienware 13 delivers up to 10.5 hours.

For our Alienware fans, head over to the Alienware Arena; the Intel Skylake Scavenger Hunt has kicked off and it’s a great place for information and a chance to win one of these new systems.

All these new products ship with Windows 10 as well as compatibility with the Alienware Graphics Amplifier which enables gamers to play in UltraHD 4k. Connectivity is an equal focus, which is why we’ve integrated Killer Wireless-AC 1535 and Killer E2400 High-Performance Gigabit Ethernet controllers for improved speed and reliability whether you’re gaming or streaming media.

The limited-edition Alienware 18 is back and optionally available with either dual NVIDIA 970M GPUs or dual NVIDIA 980M GPUs. Hands-down, it’s the most powerful gaming notebook we’ve ever created – with a brilliant 18-inch display, onboard dual graphics options, plus an overclocked and upgradeable CPU. This is the ultimate gaming notebook, built by gamers for gamers.

As the air gets crisper and the days shorter, we’re already thinking about what our customers really want this holiday season. Nearly two decades of experience says we’ve got a good idea.

About the Author: Frank Azor

Frank Azor, an Alienware co-founder, now oversees XPS, Dell’s premium consumer brand and Dell gaming, which includes Alienware and Inspiron Gaming. Celebrating 20 years as the leader in PC gaming systems, Alienware sets the standard for premium gaming PCs and innovation, and Inspiron Gaming provides high performance gaming systems at an affordable cost that give gamers a competitive advantage at every level of play. Under his leadership, Dell’s XPS brand has risen to the top in innovation, design and performance, while becoming the most-award winning product-line in Dell history. Frank joined Alienware as a quality engineer and later held executive roles in sales and marketing before creating the Alienware Product Group organization in 2003-after helping to pioneer the industry’s first high-performance gaming notebook, the Area-51M. Later that year, he was credited with the successful launch of Alienware’s first self-designed desktop case (Predator) which immediately made industry headlines and has defined the look of Alienware’s products ever since. Prior to Dell’s acquisition of Alienware in 2006, Frank held the positions of Senior Vice-President of Product Group and Marketing and Executive Vice-President managing the global executive leadership team and reporting directly to the President and CEO. Shortly after helping lead Alienware’s successful integration into Dell, Frank assumed the role of worldwide general manager for the Alienware business unit. Under Frank’s leadership, Alienware’s brand has become the worldwide leader in its industry and has earned hundreds of awards for its products including multiple best of CES product awards. As of 2017, Frank holds 16 patents granted under his name and has been named a milestone inventor by Dell. In 2014, Frank’s role was expanded to include global responsibility for Dell’s XPS business unit, one of the company’s most innovative and valued brands. Since assuming responsibility for the XPS business unit for Dell, Frank instituted a new product and business strategy that led to the successful introduction of the highly acclaimed XPS 13 notebook which has won more than 300 awards since its introduction at CES 2015 and has been deemed the best notebook on the market from numerous outlets including Forbes, Wall Street Journal and CNET. On top of the product accomplishments, Frank’s leadership has reinstated rapid growth for Dell’s XPS business. In 2017, Frank assumed responsibility for launching and managing Dell’s Inspiron Gaming line of powerful yet budget friendly gaming PCs. Inspiron Gaming systems have quickly become a favorite among players and reviewers desiring top graphics performance under $1000 USD. The systems have received many awards including a Computex d&i Gold winner and several Best Gaming PCs of CES awards. Frank sits on the advisory board for Miami Dade College’s MAGIC program where he has led the creation of a Dell-backed scholarship fund to help both high school and college students learn skills and earn degrees in computer graphics design, animation and game development. Frank has also served as a volunteer judge for the FIRST robotics south Florida regional competition since 2013 (www.usfirst.org) an organization founded by Dean Kamen that has provided students with more than $50 million in college scholarships in 2017 alone. Frank lives in Palmetto Bay, FL USA near Alienware’s headquarters with his wife, their 2 sons and their pet dachshund. Frank is currently playing Overwatch with his oldest son who is also an avid Minecraft player. Frank’s most anticipated games for 2017 exist in Virtual Reality where Frank has been immersed for years – and of course – powered by award-winning VR-ready PCs from Alienware and XPS.
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