Alienware’s Cooler, Faster Area-51 Gaming Laptops With RTX 50 Go Up For Sale
In case you missed it, Dell unveiled some beastly upgrades to its Alienware lineup back at the Consumer Electronics Show, including a new QD-OLED monitor, refreshed desktop configurations, and the return of its Area-51 gaming laptop lineup. As it applies to the latter, both the Alienware 18 Area-51 and Alienware 16 Area-51 are now available to order.
We saw these in person at CES. Have a look...
They're not cheap by any stretch of the imagination, but they are rocking the latest generation hardware from Intel (Arrow Lake-HX processors) and NVIDIA (GeForce RTX 50 series GPUs), along with a redesign to run cooler and quieter. Despite the design tweaks, the retooled Area-51 gaming laptops are still distinctly Alienware systems, blending a futuristic aesthetic with a touch (or three) of intentional gaudiness.
An LED light bar encircles the rear bumper. There's also a thermal bump on the bottom, protected with Gorilla glass, to facilitate more airflow. According to Alienware, the design change enables 37% more airflow while reducing noise by up to 15%. It also enables up to 17% more power, according to Alienware.
Alienware also says the latest Area-51 laptops sport a new hidden hinge design for a cleaner and sleeker appearance, along with a simplified interior layout and smoother opening of the lid.
The Alienware 18 Area-51 is available to order now starting at $3,399.99, which gets you a Core Ultra 9 275HX processor, GeForce RTX 5080 GPU, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 1TB SSD. There's also a config starting at $3,799.99 that doubles the RAM (64GB DDR5) and storage (2TB). Both sport an 18-inch QHD+ display with a 300Hz refresh rate, 3ms response time, 500 nits brightness, and G-SYNC support.
The Alienware 16 Area-51 is also available to order now, but starting at $3,199.99. Hardware configurations mirror its bigger sibling, but with a 16-inch QHD+ display. Likewise, there's a config starting that $3,599.99 that doubles the RAM and storage.
Both are somewhat configuration, albeit the only real option is swap the stock keyboard with per-key AlienFX RGB lighting, to a Cherry MX ultra low-profile mechanical keyboard, also with per-key AlienFX RGB lighting. Additionally, Alienware says GeForce RTX 5090 and GeForce RTX 5070 Ti configs are "coming soon."
