Alienware announces X51 mini-ITX gaming PC

Update : Dell has finally launched the X51 gaming desktop in India for a starting price Rs.49,900. For this price, you get a Core i5-2320, 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive and Nvidia GT 545. You also get a keyboard and mouse, but no monitor. In India, you get a choice between three configurations and the flagship model will set you back Rs.69,900 for which you get a Core i7-2600, 8GB RAM, 1TB hard drive and a Nvidia GTX 555. Also included in the price is the ST2320L Full HD monitor. Check out the entire line-up here.

Alienware desktops have always been outlandish and flamboyant machines, which are appealing to gamers. What if you wanted something a little more compact, without forfeiting the gaming pedigree? Well, they’ve just announced the X51 gaming desktop, a miniature version of the standard Aurora desktops. The X51 is based on a mini-ITX motherboard, but despite that it accommodates a standard desktop Sandy Bridge CPU and graphics card. Prices start at US $699 and for this you get a Core i3-2120 CPU, 4GB RAM, 1TB hard drive and Nvidia GT 545 graphics card. You also get a slot-loading DVD burner and built-in Wi-Fi. The cost does not include a keyboard, mouse or even a monitor. It’s not available in India yet, but we expect to see it pretty soon.

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The configurations are entirely configurable and you have a choice up to a Core i7-2600, up to 8GB of RAM and a GTX 555. While we are perfectly fine with the CPU and memory, the graphics card is a bit weak even in the highest configuration. The GTX 555 is an OEM only card which features 288 CUDA cores and a weak 192-bit memory bus. If we compare this to the commercial desktop cards, it turns out to be even slower than the GTX 460 or the HD 6870, so it is not really ideal for Full HD gaming. If you pair this desktop with a 20-inch monitor then newer games should run smoothly, but I wouldn’t push my luck. We would have liked to see a custom version of the GTX 560 Ti as an option, so that one doesn’t have to compromise too much on gaming performance. Let’s see how Dell handles the pricing, once it lands on our shores.