CES 2025 Brings Back the Area-51

I will do it for prof who has trouble

uhmm

uhm

Thanks for posting the photos!!

I see some nice improvements in this new Area-51.

Looks beautiful!!

do they?

At least they are going more towards how retail looks. No more aluminum heat sinks and color coded cables.

Everything black, sleeved.

Only issue is it will be OEM "standard" so you will be stuck with high replacement pricing, but at least it does not look like it was made in the 90's.

this am I read 23 comments on the site and most were negative or mixed praises.  a few are waiting for Steve B bashing Dell again.

the only thing I dislike is Dell's self promoting air "catering to the gaming community" and "go the root of area 51".  if you make a good pc you do not need those words and your product speak for itself to people who know.

For me it is a tragedy and a catastrophe.
The managers who are in charge of development and creation have no imagination and no technical mindset, which has been shown and confirmed for a long time.

If you build your own PC on this Intel 285K + RTX 5000 series platform, you will save a lot of money and save yourself a lot of nerves.

I agree. It's one thing to pay for the assembly, it's another thing to pay for assembly and OEM standards.

It would not be that bad if the OEM standards would go above and beyond regular retail standards, but they are often a step down.

Memory support is lacking, BIOS options missing, no upgradability for the CPU, have to use AWCC to control RGB, high price of OEM upgrades etc...

Going by the pictures, the CPU liquid cooler assembly is not a standard and it somehow covers part of the VRM section. You will be stuck with that option only, no retail parts will work if the pictures are correct.

It's just not worth the hassle and there are other options for those who are seeking plug and play.

@Real_Boy85​   where is the tragedy and catastrophe in the photo you posted?

@Vanadiel​   interestingly, only one photo shows the CPU cooler you describe . . . the others do not cover the VRM section.

@ProfessorW00d​ The first 2 pictures show the liquid cooler, which covers the second left row of caps on the VRM section.

The other picture I have no idea what that is. As there's no hoses visible I can only assume it's some kind of air cooler although I am not sure where the fan is located. I am thinking it's a visual illusion and it's actually a tower cooler rather than a flat unit.

If you look at the motherboard picture without the cooling unit, you will see the second row of VRM caps is right in line with the 2 left mounting holes for the cooler.

It will all depend on what standard they followed. I am assuming AM5 standard.

@Vanadiel​   . . . yes, no hoses would lead me to agree

I actually like the look of the new Area 51. I have no doubt there will be Dell microcode locks as to what you will be able to upgrade to but at least all the parts are standard. What I want to see is the real world results of Dell's new cooling system.

Alas, anyone wanting the RTX 5090 may find it difficult to find and i'm sure the prebuilt companies know that. One thing that disappoints me is the lack of AMD CPU's. I would have loved to see the new 9800X3D included in the build. But it's nice to see Dell listening to customer and reviewers feedback and making positive changes.