- Strong 3D Graphics Card
- Extrenal Serial ATA Port
- Lower End Dual Core Processor
- Smaller Hard Drive
- Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 Dual Core Processor
- 2GB PC2-6400 DDR2 Memory
- 250GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
- 20x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer
- NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Graphics Card with 512MB Memory
- Intel HDA 7.1 Audio
- Dual Gigabit Ethernet
- Eight USB 2.0, Two FireWire, One eSATA
- Vista Home Premium
8/4/08 - Alienware's Area-51 7500 looks nearly the same as the Area-51 desktop because it uses the same base chassis. In fact, it shares many of the same components, but comes with lower grade components to make the system more affordable. For the Area-51 7500, they use a relatively low end Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 dual core processor. Most mainstream desktops are moving towards quad core processors. The dual core still performs extremely well for games that don't take advantage of multiple cores though. Still, it is below many similarly priced systems.
Another area where Alienware tries to save is in the storage. Most desktop systems, even budget systems, tend to come with 500GB hard drives these days. Alienware has opted to use a 250GB drive on the Area-51 7500 base configuration. This provides limited space for storage applications and data. At least Alienware has included an eSATA port on the system for easy installation of high performance external hard drives.
One area that Alienware did not economize the Area-51 7500 is in the graphics. Since gamers are their target market, performance is quite important. They included a GeForce 9800 GT card with 512MB that provides very respectable performance. The system also has a 750W power supply that makes future upgrades of a second card for SLI and increased performance.
Of course, all of the various components within the Area-51 7500 can be upgrades, but this will quickly raise the price well above the majority of mainstream desktop PCs. The end result is a good base platform for a PC gaming looking for potential future graphics upgrades but a slightly below average system for those looking for something more general purpose.
