[CES 2025] Alienware Area-51 Lineup Returns, New QD-OLED Monitor Announced

Dell’s gaming subsidiary Alienware has come to CES 2025 with its own set of new announcements, but to clear things up first: the whole branding reset happening over at Dell is not translating to Alienware lineups, so names like the iconic Area-51 will continue to stay. Speaking of which…

Area-51 Returns

The legendary nameplate – named after America’s secretive military testing facility and the origin of many UFO and alien lore – is back after some hiatus, and as usual it will be donned to the brand’s flagship desktops and laptops. For the desktop, you get the latest silicon from Intel and NVIDIA, and the redesign is now significantly more DIY-friendly to mend its rather notorious reputation with over-engineered, proprietary components that often were incompatible with future components down the line.

Alienware says the new design now supports all common chassis and component standards, with a small catch: the default motherboard comes with a rather uncommon ATX12VO standard that uses the 10-pin connector to feed the power, though the company says an ATX 24-pin adapter will be offered for upgrades to standard ATX motherboards down the line. While adhering to the standards, the new chassis still offer some creature comforts, like the integrated GPU support bracket that be adjusted or entirely removed depending on the card’s size.

The chassis now adopts the positive pressure approach with no exhaust fans, though all the airflow are now squarely focused to expel through the rear which accounts for 25% more air, 13% cooler temps and 45% less noise in gaming; AIOs now support up to 360mm, though larger 420mm models are also compatible. The PSU, meanwhile, is either a 1500W 80+ Platinum unit or the 850W 80+ Gold version, both using ATX12VO standard. RGB controllers has also been offloaded to a dedicated daughterboard so AlienFX lighting functions remain even with third-party motherboards.

Meanwhile, the laptop Area-51 comes in 18-inch and 16-inch variants, both feature up to Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX processor with NVIDIA RTX 5090 Laptop GPUs, capable of combined 105+175W output; new thermal system now delivers 35% more airflow with 15% less noise. The rear overhang, or “thermal shelf” as Alienware refers, is given a fresh look with RGB shining through translucent covers, and down at the bottom the laptops are equipped with Gorilla Glass windows to see the innards.

As a side note, Alienware also announced its existing Aurora desktop gaming PCs will now feature updated hardware, like the new RTX 50 series GPUs and Intel Core Ultra 200S processors.

Alienware 27 4K QD-OLED Gaming Monitor

Also introduced is the new Alienware 27 4K QD-OLED gaming monitor, and as the model name says – this is a 4K QD-OLED panel packed inside a 27-inch frame to provide 166 pixels per inches’ worth of density. Specs is further bolstered with 240Hz refresh rate, 0.03ms response time, 99% DCI-P3 gamut coverage, Delta-E less than 2, plus Dolby Vision HDR and VESA DisplayHDR True Black 400 certifications. For burn-in protection, Alienware says it employs “enhanced AI algorithm” and graphite sheet increase the panel’s longevity.

Pokdepinion: Genuinely impressed with the new Area-51 desktop redesign.