Tools

These are some common tools used to work on this device. You might not need every tool for every procedure.

Background

The Alienware X51 is a small form factor prebuilt desktop system made by Alienware. This model has had 3 revisions over the years: The initial one (R1) in 2012, the first upgrade in 2014 (R2), and the current version was released in 2016 (R3). The system itself provides a high-quality gaming experience in a nicely designed and compact system. The system includes a high-power supply, providing a large power brick: 330W for the SKUs that carry the GTX 555, as well as a riser board allowing the orientation of the graphics card to change from vertical to horizontal.

The system was released in 2011, with only five years in the making, until being discontinued in 2016. A gaming system with a starting price of $699. The system is conveniently small, especially for how powerfully it can run.

Although it received many positive reviews, the system has been reported to have several failures. for example, reports indicate that the processor fails to keep up due to it not being properly cooled by the fan. Yet the reviews of the product are still relatively positive, with most of them being critiques of how the system runs, or how it can be hard to game in the first place. It’s fair to say since it is only the first of its generation, of which there are three in total, the later generations, such as the Alienware X51 R2 improved their graphics card which is now developed by Nvidia. Overall, a compact, powerful system used for running the best games at the time.

Identification

The Alienware X51 consists of a PC for gaming and runs at a pace for 1080p games or streaming. Most components in the X51 can be upgraded within the limitations of size and power it allows. The graphic cards used in this system are reference desktop models with blower-type fan. You can upgrade or downgrade the card for any model that fits the X51 and that is within the power limit of the PSU.

Technical Specifications

Chassis

Custom Alienware X51

Processor

Intel i7-2600 ⏎
(4x3.4GHz, Hyper-Threading, Turbo to 3.8GHz, 32nm, 8MB L3, 95W)

Intel Core i5-2320
(4x3GHz, No Hyper-Threading, Turbo to 3.3GHz, 32nm, 6MB L3, 95W)

Intel i3-2120⏎
(2x3.3GHz, Hyper-Threading, No Turbo, 32nm, 3MB L3, 65W)

Motherboard

Custom H61 Chipset Board

Memory

2x4GB Hynix DDR3-1333
2x2GB DDR3-1333

Graphics

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 555 1GB GDDR5 (OEM)
(288 CUDA Cores, 736/1472/3828MHz core/shaders/RAM, 192-bit memory bus)

NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 1GB GDDR5 (OEM)⏎
(144 CUDA Cores, 870/1740/3996MHz core/shaders/RAM, 128-bit memory bus)

Intel HD 2000 IGP
(6 EUs, 1100MHz core clock)

Hard Drive(s)

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gbps HDD

Optical Drive(s)

HL-DT-ST DVD+/-RW GA31N slot-loading drive⏎
Blu-ray/DVDRW Combo slot-loading drive

Power Supply

330W Custom
240W Custom

Networking

Dell Wireless 1502 802.11b/g/n (150Mbps 2.4GHz)⏎
Realtek PCIe Gigabit Ethernet

Audio

Realtek ALC892⏎
Speaker, mic/line-in, surround jacks, optical out and S/PDIF for 7.1 sound

Front Side

Optical drive⏎
2x USB 2.0⏎
Headphone and mic jacks

Back Side

Optical and S/PDIF⏎
HDMI (IGP)⏎
4x USB 2.0⏎
Ethernet⏎
2x USB 3.0⏎
Speaker, mic/line-in, surround jacks⏎
2x DVI-D (GeForce)⏎
1x Mini-HDMI (GeForce)

Operating System

Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit SP1

Dimensions

12.54"-13.5" (back-front) x 12.52" x 3.74"⏎
(318.5-343mm x 318mm x 95mm)

Weight

12.1 lbs. (5.49kg)

Extras

External PSU⏎
Integrated 802.11b/g/n⏎
User-configurable external lighting⏎
NVIDIA Optimus

Warranty

1-year parts, labor, and support

Pricing

Starts at $699⏎
Review system configured at $999

Additional Information

CNET Review

The Verge Review

Reddit Review

Hardware Corner Upgrade Options

AnandTech List of Technical Specifications