Most of the gaming-aimed PC’s out there have the looks that grab you at just first sight. The future like design, sophisticated exterior LED lights and see-through panels scream “gaming” right ahead. Most of them are ergonomic and light, others are big and space-ship looking, and just a few are like 2016’s addition to the Alienware series – Alienware Alpha.
An Xbox controller also comes with the purchase of the Alpha desktop.
This gaming machine is really small and has the size of a book, which you shouldn’t judge by the cover at all. It is a desktop computer, that’s really practical and hides a true beast inside, that you won’t believe until you see it. Packing a dual-core Intel Core i3-4170T processor, clocked at up to 3.2 GHz, and Nvidia GeForce graphics, its perfect for any occasion and almost any game up there on the market. It’s perfect for people who happen to move often, or for indoor spaces with not much room available for a big desktop set.
Design
The design is really nice and it’s actually smaller than an Xbox One. It literally has the size of a book, with the exact measures of 55 x 200 x 200 mm and weighs less than a laptop – just 1.8kg. Despite the size, it still has the gaming look. On the upper, there’s not much happening, it is mostly on the front and rear side of the device. The front has two USB ports, for mouse and keyboard, and the LED glowing Alienware logo on their right. The backside is where the wired connections happen, with ports for power supply, HDMI-in, HDMI-out, optical audio out, one USB 3.0, one USB 2.0 and Ethernet.
You power the Alpha by pressing the glowing Alienware logo on the front and the only other LED light is placed in the corner, making a glowing triangle, so it won’t look ordinary and add to the design of the Alienware series.The airflow happens from the front to the back and efficiently cools the hardware inside. It may have been an obstacle for the engineers to find out how to position the components to make it the smallest and most portable desktop PC. It is divided into four quarters, with all the same size but different mission.
Performance and hardware
This small console-like computer could run almost any beginner/advanced game out there. It offers three readily built options and the feature to build one of your own and preferred specs. The generic version has a dual-core Intel Core i3-4170T processor, clocked at up to 3.2 GHz and 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX.
The internal storage of 500 GB 7200RPM is not that much but it is upgradable up to 1TB, while the RAM storage is 4GB DDR3L and is also upgradable up to 16GB but you have to spend a little more cash. An Alienware Multi-Media Keyboard and gaming mouse are also included in the packaging, so you won’t have to spend time and money on searching for a new one but get a ready gaming set that starts at $549.
You can also expand your PC gaming and entertainment experience with the new HiveMind Interface by Alienware. You can now access your Steam games, videos, images, and favorite programs all from one place with a controller. Kick back, relax and enjoy the plethora of functionalities offered by the new HiveMind Interface in a fully-customizable environment.
AlienFX uses 20 different colors to create 400 unique themes to give your machine a more personalized look. Supported by over 130 titles, lighting zones can be customized to react to things like in-game actions, powering on and off, and notifications by pulsing, morphing or simply holding a solid color.
Once you’ve finished your theme, you can save and upload it to where you can share your custom creation with others and download any you find. And for times when you want a little less visual stimulation, AlienFX allows you to “Go Dark” by disabling all lighting effects until you’re ready to turn them back on.
Click on the following link to direct yourself right to the product webpage on Alienware website.
