AlienWare X51 System Review (Core i7)

No felt bag for our X51, although it ships from the factory with thick sheets of protective plastic on all the surfaces. This helps to ensure that it won't get scuffed during shipping.

The X51 is a svelte design, around the same size as the Xbox 360, but much more attractively designed.

The side panels have a sculpted textured plastic panel in the center. These light up when the system is powered up.

The colour schemes can be controlled via the proprietary software. Similar to the Alienware laptop systems we have reviewed in the past.

The front of the X51 has two USB ports and a headphone and microphone jack. To the left is the optical drive, a slimline unit. Underneath is an embossed Alienware logo.

The power button is the silver strip down the center at the front of the chassis. Easily missed!

The top and bottom of the case is plastic and completely vented to allow for a high level of airflow across the components inside.

The ‘X51' is engraved at the top of the rear panel. Next to this are the digital audio connectors. Underneath is an HDMI port, 4 USB 2.0 ports, a GB lan connector and two USB 3.0 ports (blue). Underneath are the 7:1 audio connectors. At the bottom of the case is the nVidia dual slot GTX555 with dual DVI ports. The external power adapter connects to the plug on the left of the case, next to the graphics card.

There is a pull out panel on the right, next to the power section which contains the machine information. Opening the side panel is straightforward, simply remove a single screw and pull forward on the side panel. The graphics card is installed on a riser card and placed in parallel to the micro motherboard. You need to remove the graphics card to get access to the hard drive underneath.

There is a fan at the front of the case which sucks in cool air and pushes backwards across the components. Thankfully moving the power supply to an external unit, will help reduce internal temperatures.

Sadly (yet again) Alienware are using memory without headspreaders, however parent company Dell buy memory in bulk and use them across their full range of machines. That said, we do wish they would buy gaming grade memory for these higher end systems.

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