Alienware Area-51 Gaming Desktop (2025)

This behemoth of a gaming PC oozes class while extracting the most from its expensive components

- TONY POLANCO

The Alienware Area-51 is easily the heaviest gaming PC I've tested: 34kg. I couldn't even lift it up onto the desk on my own. And its giant size isn't merely for show, as it packs equally powerful components inside its futuristic frame.

Photos don't do this all-aluminium chassis justice, with elegant curves, hexagonal vents and a side-to-side transparent panel. With RGB lighting on its front sides, and an Alienware logo-shaped power button, this PC makes a statement.

But Dell is making you pay. Its starting price of £3,799 only includes a GeForce RTX 5080; if you want the 5090, you'll pay a minimum of £4,849. That price is discounted from £5,499: if you want to customise the spec to your exact requirements the price starts at £4,999, with the maxed-out configuration costing an epic £6,299.

Fortunately, the supplied selection is largely excellent: who can argue with a Core 9 Ultra 285K processor, 64GB of DDR5 RAM and a GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card? The only bum note – and calling it that is a stretch is the inclusion of a 2TB Gen 4 SSD rather than Gen 5. But the main M.2 socket is Gen 5, so you can swap the supplied SSD into one of the two vacant M.2 sockets, or pay the premium for a Gen 5 SSD at the time of purchase.