Shiny New Computer
Fresh off the FedEx truck is Alienware’s latest update to their Area-51 7500 series of performance systems. I’ve been waiting for this system since CES 2007. Unfortunately Alienware didn’t want to ship it out due to some driver immaturity and a squable between the parties responsible. Those issues have yet to be cleared up, but Alienware still decided to send the system. This rig is now sitting on my test bench, just waiting to be poked and prodded in the most interesting ways.
This latest iteration comes bundled with you choice of Windows Vista flavour, DX10 compatible video card, top of the line CPU, and a host of customizations you expect from a boutique OEM like Alienware. The system shipped out to me was spec’ed out with the following.
- Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66GHz 8MB Cache 1066MHz FSB - Overclocked to 3.2GHz
- Windows® Vista Ultimate
- Alienware® P2 Chassis - Space Black
- AlienFX™ System Lighting - Astral Blue
- EVGA NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
- 2GB Low Latency DDR2 Performance SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 x 1024MB
- Western Digital Raptor 150GB Serial ATA 1.5Gb/s 10,000 RPM Hard Drive (x2 in RAID0)
- NEC 18X Dual Layer DVD±RW/CD-RW Burner w/ Nero Software
- EVGA NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8800 GTX 768MB PCIe Video Card
- Alienware® 700W Power Suppl
- Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer High Definition 7.1 Audio
- Logitech® G15 Gaming Keyboard
- Logitech® G5 Laser Gaming Mouse
- Free Alienware® T-Shirt - White
If you’re wondering why I’ve shown such a liberal use of “trademark” and “registered” symbols, well it wasn’t my fault. I stole these specs straight off the Alienware site when I priced out what I received using their online quote system.
If you’re wondering, the whole package you see above comes to $5,119.00 USD. Converted into loonies and toonies (the Canadian dollar for those not familiar with the local vernacular), that comes out to about $5,710 CDN depending on what day of the week it is (also known as the exchange rate).
Needless to say this system is sitting on my bench running as we speak…er….type. Once I clear up a few reviews for The Tech Zone, we’ll get down to some benchmarks. I’m also going to do some comparison screenshots to see how DX10 games look on DX10 hardware, verus my old DX9 SLI rig. Stay tuned.
The First Post…
Well, here we are. I’ve started a blog as an extension of my work with TheTechZone.com. After 6 years of doing reviews, and finally making my way down to Vegas for CES, I decided to make a second foray into the world of blogging. My first entry into the blogosphere was a short lived sub-atomic particle of a site on LiveJournal. For those that don’t know who I am, well my name IS the URL of this site. For more info you’ll have to check out the little write up I did.
The site itself is a work in progress, and if they didn’t look hideous I could easily hang "under construction" signs everywhere. You’ll see changes occurring regularly as I develop this blog into what I want it to be, and as an extension take a crash course in PHP. I used to do web design in the late nineties, so I’m rather picky.
So now that I’ve got my first post out, we can get things rolling. Check back soon as I’ll be previewing some new review products in my process of preparing them for the front page.