Inside Alienware's Area-51m Killer Gaming Laptop With Modular GeForce RTX Graphics

Dell didn't just set out to build an incredibly fast gaming laptop with its latest Alienware offering -- it wanted to build the world's fastest mobile gaming rig and it has likely succeeded magnificently. Witness the Area-51m, which is a beastly machine that is factory overclocked and designed to handle pretty much any game that you throw its way.

More importantly, the Area-51m is immensely upgradable, with customers being able to swap out their GPUs and the onboard CPU. Speaking of the graphics card, the Area-51m can accommodate NVIDIA's new real-time ray-tracing graphics cards, topping out with the GeForce RTX 2080. These GPUs are affixed to a module which can be [relatively] easily removed and replaced in the future. We couldn't imagine purchasing a beastly rig like this and skimping out on the GPU, but you can also opt for the lesser GeForce RTX 2060 or GeForce RTX 2070.

When it comes to the upgradeable processors, customers have the choice of the Intel Core i7-8700, Core i7-9700K or the brawny Core i9-9900K (8 cores and 5GHz Turbo Boost). The processors can be paired with up to 64GB of DDR4-2400 memory (four SO-DIMM slots are available). Storage options are plentiful, as customers have three separate interfaces to add SSDs and hard drives. You can install one SATA HDD (up to 1TB) and two NVMe PCIe SSDs (1TB each).

Keeping everything cool is Alienware Cryo-Tech v2.0 which features dual intakes and a dual-exhaust design. There are dual fans and load-balancing heat pipes spread across the GPU and CPU along with copper fin stacks.

As for the display, the Area-51m is available with a large 17.3-inch display in no less than four configurations:

• FHD 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS
• FHD 60Hz Anti-Glare IPS w/NVIDIA G-SYNC
• FHD 144Hz Anti-Glare IPS w/ 5^thgeneration Tobii eye-tracking tech
• FHD 144Hz Anti-Glare IPS w/ NVIDIA G-SYNC + Tobii eye-tracking tech

The chassis is constructed of an aluminum alloy that is available in two colors: Lunar Light and Dark Side of the Moon. Given that this is a desktop replacement desktop, running desktop-class processors, it is incredibly beefy weighing in at 8.54 pounds despite its the lightweight material used in its construction. Feeding the beast (if you're unlucky to be away from a wall outlet) is a 90 WHr battery that is ExpressCharge capable.

The Area-51 uses Alienware's TactX keyboard which includes per-key RGB AlienFX lighting. It includes anti-ghosting technology and N-Key rollover tech. On the networking front, it comes with 2.5Gbps LAN and Killer Wireless 1550 (802.11ac + Bluetooth 5.0). As for available ports, you'll find three USB 3.1 ports, one Thunderbolt 3 port, one HDMI 2.0 port, mini DisplayPort 1.4 and an Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port.

The Alienware Area-51m will be available starting January 29^th priced from $2,549.