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One Week Ago at LTX 2017

One week ago at our first-ever LTX 2017, we previewed AMD Threadripper performance thanks to Alienware. But come on, Linus. That was just a preview! You only did one benchmark! You're such a tease...I know. But that was then and this is now.

Alienware has arranged for their system to be exclusively reviewed before the formal embargo lift for Ryzen Threadripper. So let's uh rip it open*side panel hits disk*♪ intro music ♪TunnelBear for teams makes it easy to secure your Wi-Fi on any network and comes with Priority support and easy team management. Try it for free at the link below.

Pre-built Desktop PCs

Now, we usually focus on Pre-built desktop PCs where there's something truly standout about them. Otherwise, we'd be reviewing every Best-Buy special that hit the shelves. Back in 2014, the cool thing about the all-new Area 51 was the rotated motherboard tray and the Triad design with RGB lighting.

Design-wise, not much has changed. If you liked it then, you'll like it now and vice versa. What stands out now though is the internals so let's pop the panel and show you around.

The irony of a DVD burner on something that's trying to look like Alien technology isn't lost on me. But the rest of the i/o is what I would describe as suitably Futuristic, we've got dual USB 3.0 audio, and a card reader at the front with lots more USB 3.0 at the back including a type C port.

Opening up the other side reveals that these aliens are the type to cram everything under the bed when their alien mom asks them to clean their room. We also find a trio of three-and-a-Half inch hard drive mounts and a companion dual two-and-a-half inch mount for SATA SSDs. Perfectly adequate for future upgrades.

The Chassis

What's not perfect about the case is its unwieldiness. The chassis itself makes generous use of steel, which makes it strong, sure, but also super heavy considering that there's only a single hard drive and a single 120 millimeter AIO cooler in there. And there aren't any obvious handholds making it quite difficult to get a grip on it.

A Combination That Totally Has No Relevance

Uh... Totally has no relevance whatsoever To instances in the past where in things may or may not have escaped my grip through no fault of my own. Anywho...

All of these systems come configured with AMD Ryzen Threadripper in the 1950X Variant. We're talking 16 cores and 32 threads on this CPU that also happens to have 40 megabytes of cache. Seriously, it has more cash than the 286 era hard drive that a fan brought to LTX for me to sign.

It also features 64 PCI Express lanes. Allowing it to run up to three graphics cards at full PCI Express 16x gen 3 speeds for 3-way crossfire or for workstation use with plenty of PCIe lanes to spare for the on-board Wi-Fi SATA controller for Hard Drive, and an m.2 slot that houses a 256 gig Sandisk A400 NVMe SSD.

The Challenge

So now then let's meet the challengers. Our X299 test bench with its Core i9 7900X Skylake X CPU is the most obvious competitor. But what about other systems?

The Power of Alienware

Alienware is the first place you can get your hands on a pre-built Thread Ripper system, but understand that the early adopter tax you'll be paying is in more than money. I am fully expecting boutique systems built around this platform for this price with better cooling and cable management in the coming months.

Conclusion

So thanks for watching guys if you disliked this video, you can hit that button. But if you liked it, hit the like button get subscribed and maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we feature at the link in the video description also down there we have our t-shirt store where you can buy cool shirts like this one. And our community forum which you should totally join.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enone week ago at ourfirst-everLTX2017 We previewed, for real , AMD Threadripper performance thanks to AlienwareBut come on Linus. That was just a preview! You only did one benchmark! You're such a tease...I know.But that was then and this is nowAlienware has arranged for their system to beexclusively reviewed before the formal embargo lift for Ryzen ThreadripperSo let's uh rip it open*side panel hits disk*♪ intro music ♪TunnelBear for teams makes it easy to secure your wi-Fi on any network and comes withPriority support and easy team management. Try it for free at the link below.Now, we usually focus on Pre-built desktop PCs where there's something trulystandout about them. Otherwise, we'd be reviewing every Best-Buy special that hit the shelvesBack in 2014 the cool thing about the all-new Area 51 was the rotated motherboard tray and theTriad design with RGB lightingAnd design wise...Not much has changed. If you liked it then, you'll like it now and vice versa.What stands out now though is the internals so let's pop the panel and show you aroundThe irony of a DVD burner on something that's trying to look like Alien technology isn't lost on meBut the rest of the i/o is what I would describe as suitablyFuturistic, we've got dual USB 3.0audio, and a card reader at the front with lots more USB 3.0 at the back including a type C portOpening up the other side reveals that these aliens are the type toCram everything under the bed when their alien mom asks them to clean their roomAnd we also find a trio of three-and-a-Half inch hard drive mountsand a companion dual two-and-a-half inch mount for a SATA SSDsPerfectly adequate for future upgradesWhat's not perfect about the case is itsunwieldiness. The chassis itself makes generous use of steel. Which makes it strong, sure, but also super heavyconsidering that there's only a single hard drive and a single 120 millimeter AIO cooler in thereand there aren't any obvioushandholds making it quite difficult to get a grip on ita combination thatUh..Totally has no relevance whatsoeverTo instances in the past where in things may or may not have escaped my grip through no fault of my ownAnywho...All of these systems come configured with AMD Ryzen Threadripper in the1950XVariant. We're talking 16 coresand 32 threads on this CPU that also happens have 40 megabytes of cacheSeriously, it has more cash than the 286 era hard drive that a fan brought to LTX for me to signIt also features64 PCI Express lanes. Allowing it to run up to three graphics cards at full PCI Express16x gen 3 speeds for 3-way crossfire or for workstation usewith plenty of PCIe lanes to spare for the on-board Wi-FiSata controller for Hard DriveAnd an m.2 slot that houses a 256 gig Sandisk A400 NVMe SSDSo now then let's meet the challengersOur X299 test bench with its Core i9 7900X Skylake X CPU is the most obviousAnalog from the blue team given its similar pricebut we'll be including results from our mainstream platforms as wellKicking things off then our our gaming tests which should surprise no one this is an Alienware after all.With Rise of the Tomb Raider we're looking at pretty similarbut slightly worse performance overallWhile our synthetics put it pretty much on par with the Core I9We are planning to run more thread refer gaming benchmarks.But those will have to wait for the full reviewMoving on to productivity. We see pretty much what we expected to see. Major wins in multi-threaded workloadsthe biggest victories though come in Blenderit's time to render beats out the CoreI9 testbench by37 seconds in the BMW test and by over 2 minutes in the classroom sample.DAYUMN!I don't pull that off very well, do I?Anyway, we do have to note though that we found that our Centauri X CoolerReally struggled to keep Threadripper fully chilled and running its bestAnd after swapping in our own with a fresh application of thermal compoundSo then, who is the Area 51 Threadripper Edition 4?At 4,000 US dollars as specced, to be brutally honestWe're not quite sure. I mean there are actually a lot of exceptions to the conventionalwisdom that it would be cheaper to build your own gaming PCLike Dells own also AMD based Inspiron Gaming Desktop that we'll be reviewing soon.But the Area 51costs like a boutique system with some significant drawbacksAn unexceptional motherboard with only four DIMM slots rather than eight, and limited overclocking optionsUnsightly exposed PCBs on the RAMAnd exposed bare steel, on the to Alienware's credit, beefy and modular1500 Watt power supply along with, and this is by far the worst one frankly,inadequate cooling the area 51 runs almost as hot and loud as a laptop undersynthetic load and at this sizeAnd weight, there's no excuse for thatBottom line then. If you really want the Area 51 as a status symbolAlienware is the first place you can get your hands on apre-built thread Ripper system, but understand that the early adopter tax you'll be paying is in more than moneyI am fully expecting boutique systems built around this platform for this price with better cooling andcable management in the coming months.So thanks for watching guys if you disliked this video, you can hit that buttonBut if you liked it hit the like button get subscribed and maybe consider checking out where to buy the stuff we featuredat the link in the video description also down there we have our t-shirt store where you can buy cool shirts like this oneYeah, I'm wearing one and our community forum which you should totally join\n"