Alienware doubles up, twice

Gaming PC manufacturer introduces world’s first consumer dual-CPU, dual-GPU system. First systems to appear in new “luxury” Alienware ALX line.

Today at E3, desktop, mobile, and professional PC manufacturer Alienware has unveiled a new desktop system capable of supporting two processors and two video cards. The new system will debut under Alienware’s new ALX, “Alienware Luxury Experience” line of high-performance PC systems.

Almost three years ago, back in 2001, Alienware started work on producing an AGP dual video card system. The company developed a working prototype in 2003 but decided to update the technology to support the upcoming PCI Express interface since video cards will switch over from AGP to the new PCI-E interface later this year. Alienware demonstrated the fruits of its labor at E3, where CEO Nelson Gonzales and CTO Humberto Organvidez demonstrated an alpha test system running two PCI-E Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra graphics cards.

Reminiscent of 3dfx’s Voodoo2 scan-line interleave (SLI) technology, Alienware’s “Video Array” technology allows two video cards to work together while running a game. Unlike 3dfx’s SLI, where the two video cards shared the workload by drawing alternating lines on the screen, the video cards in Alienware’s Video Array split the screen in two, with one card working on the top half and the second card working on the bottom. Load balancing software ensures that the workload is evenly split between the two cards in cases where graphics complexity in one half of the screen is greater than the other. Alienware isn’t ready to release benchmark numbers since the hardware is still in alpha, but the company expects a “50-percent-plus performance gain over traditional graphics solutions” when the system is ready for release.

Alienware’s Video Array technology will make its debut in a specially designed Alienware X2 motherboard. Manufactured by motherboard company Iwill Corporation, the X2 will feature dual PCI Express graphics ports, compatible with both Nvidia and ATI hardware, and will also have support for dual next-generation Intel Xeon processors and up to 8GB of DDR2 ECC memory. Alienware currently has no plans to license its technology to third-party manufacturers, and the X2 motherboard will not be available for purchase as a single component. The only way to get your hands on an X2 system will be to purchase a fully loaded X2 Alienware ALX PC.

Alienware's new ALX line of systems will be the first to feature X2 based systems. Unique features of the new ALX line include factory overclocked hardware; personal one-on-one attention from sales, support, and manufacturing; factory tours; games preinstalled, tweaked, and tested; aluminum briefcase; chrome-plated WASD keyboard keys; 24/7 tech support; and discounts on system upgrades.

ALX systems will also feature an “ultraquiet water-cooling solution.” The system we saw had water-cooling blocks for both CPUs and both video cards. Since the power requirements for a dual-CPU, dual-GPU system will be very high, expect X2 based ALX systems to ship with a massive power supply in the 800W range. Initial ALX systems available this June will be single-CPU, single-video-card solutions, but Alienware expects to offer X2-based systems in Q3 or Q4 of this year, with pricing yet to be determined.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/2004/05...s_6098040.html

Dual GPU's = Waste of money. I feel sorry for anyone that buys into the hype of a video array. Comparing it to 3dfx's SLI technology is a joke.

I got into their booth to watch the presentation by appointment and asked questions afterwards. They seem to have developed a pretty kick-ass system here. It's gonna cost at least 4000 bucks - which is pretty reasonable for what you get. The case is beautiful and the entire rig is silent. I think the motherboard is a clever design. They tried to do something similar to this briefly back several years ago in a partnership with Metabyte I think... it quickly disappeared when it looked like it wasn't going to do what they wanted. I think this is going to work though. They are trying to make themselves stand out above other companies that simply put a nice graphics card in one of their standard PCs and call it a "gaming computer" - like Dell or HP or whatever... I think they have done that.

Dell's XPS gaming rig is a real gaming rig, it's got a better power supply, top-of-the-line parts, great cooling, etc. Same goes for their XPS notebook.

Well - any company can make such a thing... they are trying to innovate and make the words "gaming pc" mean more than they do currently. I'm not trying to hype up Alienware - I kinda hate them, but I think what they have here is pretty cool. I'd like to see some real-world benchmarks. The demo they showed us wasn't uber-impressive... just mildly.

I like Alienware trying to do something innovative to make them standout. Pretty much all the the pre-built gaming systems are the same now, unlike say 4 or 5 years ago when it was only Alienware and like, Falcon NW targeting gamers.

As for the dual GPU idea... i'll wait for benchmarks. With X800 and GeForce 6800 cards performing so much better then the previous generation and leaving many games CPU limited, i'm not sure how big of a boost dual PCI Express cards will make.

In theory, video cards having to push half the polygons will be able to perform at higher frame rates... I think it's a pretty simple and innovative idea. Seeing it in action, the split was seamless and I can only imagine how good this will perform with the new X800 or 6800 cards.

Interesting, can't wait to see the benchmarks. Its good they are trying to do something different, to set themselves apart. Currenly, besides the style, most systems aren't much different when it comes to parts.

it's weird in a way b/c you could spend $4000 and get the super graphics/performance, but if it's a bad game, it's still a bad game (just better looking).

on the other hand, you could buy a gameboy and fire emblem, and get tons of fun (well, for me at least ).

sounds like a nice rig; if i were a millionaire, i guess i'd get it.

trigger, why the hate for alienware?

Fixed.

long story actually. The short of it is, I bought one and had problems with it from day 1 and tech support kept putting me off. Then my 30 days expired over the christmas/new years holidays and the thing died completely on me right before christmas. I had other shit to do and couldn't call until after new years. I call to have this lemon replaced because it was broken from day 1 and now it simply fried. They refused because it was 31 or 32 days and that's past the return or exchange warranty period. After several months and dozens of hours on the phone with everyone in the company, they finally agreed to send me a replacement with a few "upgrades" since what I bought and haven't been able to use for 3 or 4 months is now outdated compared to what I paid for it. The unit arrives a month and a half later with the video card and memory unseated, in the same case I had before (I had requested a better case since the paint on mine was shit), the same mouse with bad paint (also requested a replacement), and totally different hardware than what was agreed upon - brand of optical and hard drives. Not to mention, they didn't even set up the BIOS at all so my processor was recognized as being way slower than it actually was... in any case, they didn't upgrade the processor either like they had agreed.

I was furious and a month and a half later (after more phone calls and waiting for callbacks that never happened), they finally agreed to take back just the computer so I could build my own with the cash. I had to keep the speakers and monitor which worked fine. The Alienware was a gift from my father (who was ill with cancer and died the following year) who I had been taking care of for 7 years. They didn't really care. I'll say this about them - they have an excellent sales staff and support, but once you own the machine - once they get your money, they don't give a shit about you. I've read this elsewhere and I don't know if they improved this or not, but they made me jump through hoops when it would've been cheaper for them just to honor my request in the first place since it was only 2 days past the 30 days (and anyway, I had several calls on record asking for a replacement or just troubleshooting problems starting the first day it arrived and up to the 30 day mark). They are a great company as long as you never have a problem with your PC.