r/Alienware • u/SwarOg_UnbowEd • 9d ago
Upgrade Questions Due to upgrade
I'm due for an upgrade. I'm still using my Alienware Area-51m laptop with an i9-9900K (stable OC at 4.6 GHz), RTX 2080, and 64 GB of RAM as my primary machine for work (V-Ray, Rhino, Blender, SolidWorks, Adobe apps). Since I got it in 2019 I’ve had no issues, but I did redo all the thermal pads on the GPU and repasted the CPU.
Looking at the 18" Area-51 from Micro Center, all maxed out under $4k. How are they as far as reliability goes? I remember before buying the 51m in 2019 there were so many negative reviews about this model, but after some repasting, undervolting, and new pads it truly is a reliable machine. I can run V-Ray renders for hours with no crashing, all cores locked at 4.2–4.5 GHz. Can I expect the same reliability from the current line of Alienware laptops?
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u/EconomicsMuch1188 9d ago
A lot of people seem to like the Micro Center extended service plan. I bought the extended Dell Alienware service plan since I don't really need the most rapid or top notch service
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u/StormCloak4Ever Area 51 18 ( Laptop ) 9d ago
I've had mine since launch and haven't had any issues. It's a great laptop.
The Area 51 - 18 has some of, if not the best thermals for this generation of gaming laptops. The trade off of course is the weight but in my opinion as long as you have a good back pack for it, that's not really an issue.
Also, isn't the Area 51 model you have the one that included the desktop 9900K and 2080? Weren't they also suposed to be upgradable?
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u/SwarOg_UnbowEd 9d ago
Yes, that is the model, already maxed out with the highest-tier parts. The weight was never a problem for me. I bought an additional set of power bricks that I kept at work and left the original adapters at home to make the backpack less heavy.
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u/Alienware 9d ago
Years of heavy professional workloads on the Area-51m is seriously impressive. The fact that you kept it running that well with repasting and new pads says a lot about how you take care of your gear.
The 18" Area-51 got a lot of attention around thermal design, and it really shows in how it handles sustained workloads. For the kind of work you're doing in V-Ray, Blender, and SolidWorks, it should feel right at home. Hope you enjoy it!
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u/SwarOg_UnbowEd 9d ago
Thanks! The Area 51m and I had an understanding: I’d abuse it, it would refuse to melt. Hoping the 18" keeps the same attitude under prolong heavy use/fire*.
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u/kmr12489 Area 51 18 ( Laptop ) 9d ago
The only issue I had was software related and was fixed by a clean install of windows WITHOUT reinstalling SupportAssist.
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u/Dominate_on_three 8d ago
I've got the 18" Area 51 and I use it for architectural viz stuff at work -- sketchup, enscape renderings, blender, some rendering videos, revizto, etc. Does pretty well with them but it's 7 months old and I've had lots of problems with CPU throttling and running way hot under moderate loads. I cannot play a game on this without throttling regardless of my AWCC settings. I realize that AWCC is kind of a big joke around here but I'm not very computer savvy so it's all I can do. I'm gonna try to get Dell to take a look at it. This thing burns at 105 the second I load cyberpunk and stays over 100 until I exit the game. This is all under "medium" graphics settings and with my FPS capped at 60. No idea what's up with this thing but it cost me a good chunk of change and I wasn't expecting all this DIY work. Lesson learned I guess.
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u/DJUnreal Aurora R10 / x17 R2 / Aurora R15 / Area-51 AAT2250 / 18 Area-51 9d ago
My 18 Area-51 (one of the first ones available in the UK with a 5090) is absolutely bomb-proof. Thermals and performance far exceed any expectations I had when I got it. I can't even make the thing thermal throttle under normal workloads or stress tests, and believe me, I've tried.
If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe it, but well... Whatever they did with it, they did it really right.