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Alienware Area-51 (2003)

2003 · desktop

Specifications

Cpu: AMD Athlon XP or Athlon 64, or Intel Pentium 4, configurable to order; the Athlon 64 FX became available as a build-to-order option later in the model's run
Gpu: Nvidia GeForce FX 5900 or ATI Radeon 9800 Pro AGP card, configurable to order; later builds offered early Nvidia SLI dual-card options as the platform matured
Ram: max: 2 GB (4 x 512 MB DIMMs), motherboard dependent · base: 512 MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM
Ports: USB 2.0 x6 · FireWire (IEEE 1394) x1 · 10/100 Ethernet · PS/2 keyboard · PS/2 mouse · Parallel · Line in/out, mic in, headphone · Digital S/PDIF audio out
Display: No integrated monitor; sold with Alienware-branded CRT or early flat panel displays as a bundle option
Storage: base: 80 GB 7200 RPM ATA/133 HDD · options: Second HDD in RAID 0 (striped) configuration · CD-RW/DVD combo or DVD-RW optical drive, up to two bays
Os Support: latest: Windows XP (Service Pack updates); not officially sold with Vista on this chassis generation · shipped: Windows XP Home or Professional, depending on configuration ordered
Release Price: $1,999 and up depending on configuration

Variants

Colors

Cosmic BlackAlienware's signature custom paint finish for the angled tower, the most common configuration seen in period marketing.

Lunar SilverAlternate factory paint option on the same chassis and internals.

Upgrade paths

RAM

2 GB PC3200 DDR across 4 DIMM slots · Standard DDR DIMMs, tool-free side panel on the angled tower gives clear access to the slots.

~$40

EASY

GPU

Any AGP 4x/8x card the BIOS supports; period-correct ceiling is a Radeon X800 or GeForce 6800 series card · Case was built around the alien-head chassis with real airflow clearance for long cards, a genuine selling point over off-the-shelf OEM towers of the era.

~$80-$200 on the used market

MODERATE

storage

Any ATA/133 or early SATA HDD the motherboard addresses, plus a second drive bay for RAID 0 · No proprietary Dell/Alienware connectors on this generation, standard IDE or SATA depending on board revision.

~$15 for a cable, drive cost varies

EASY

CPU

Fastest Socket 754/939 Athlon 64 or Socket 478 Pentium 4 the motherboard's chipset and BIOS support · Multiple motherboard revisions shipped under the same Area-51 name across its run, check the socket and chipset before sourcing a replacement chip.

~$30-$100 for a used chip

HARD