The brand new Alienware Area-51 has just got its first price cut - here's why I'm still hesitant to recommend it

Alienware Area-51 on blue background with price cut text overlay

(Image credit: Future)

Have you been eying up the new Alienware Area-51, waiting for a price cut? This stunning new gaming machine has just received its first-ever discount at the official Dell Store.

Right now, you can pick up an Area-51 with an RTX 5080 graphics card, Intel Ultra 9-285K chipset, 64GB of RAM, and 4TB SSD for just $4,649 (it was $5,049). That's a generous $400 off the brand's latest gaming PC, which features an absolutely stunning new case with non-proprietary parts.

If you're looking for a do-everything all-rounder for both productivity and gaming, then this could be a decent option. Not only do you get that future upgradability, but the Ultra 9-285K is a superb chipset in terms of productivity and power efficiency. With 64GB and 4TB, you're also getting some incredible headroom in terms of the other specs.

If you're strictly a gamer, however, then I think is a harder sell. Personally, I'd rather switch out the 64GB of RAM and 4TB SSD for something a little cheaper. The Ultra 9-285K isn't the best gaming chipset on the market either - which I'd expect if I was buying a gaming machine at this price point.

Alienware gaming PCs also have a really, really good track record when it comes to deals so I suspect that this one could be in store for an even bigger discount down the line. If you're patient, I'd be willing to bet that some of the cheaper configurations will also be on sale relatively soon, too.

The first price cut on the Alienware Area-51

Graphics card: RTX 5080
Processor: Intel Core Ultra 9-285K
RAM: 64GB
Storage: 4TB

Today's $400 price cut is the first deal I've seen on the brand-new Alienware Area-51 gaming desktop at the official site. It's for the slightly higher-end RTX 5080 configuration with a whopping 64GB of RAM and a 4TB SSD, so it could be a good option if you're looking for a powerful multi-tasking workstation with plenty of storage. Unfortunately, no price cuts are available on the slightly cheaper configurations right now!

See more: check out all of today's gaming PC deals at Dell

Other gaming PC deals to check out this week

Graphics card: AMD RX 9070 XT
Processor: Ryzen 7-9800X3D
RAM: 32GB
Storage: 2TB

If you're looking to save even more cash, you could consider this Skytech with the brand new RX 9070 XT graphics card from AMD. The RX 9070 XT is actually pretty close to the RTX 5080 in terms of outright performance, so this is a really good option if you're thinking about making the switch to team red. I'm also partial to this machine's gorgeous, almost all-glass case and all-in-one liquid cooler.

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Alex is TechRadar's deals editor, specializing in getting our readers the best bang for the buck on the tech that we know and love. He's a dab hand at covering retailer events like Black Friday and Amazon Prime Day having over seven years of e-commerce experience at Future PLC; including bylines at our sister sites T3 and GamesRadar. Alex's expertise touches on most areas of TechRadar but he has a particular love for phones, laptops, and cameras, being an avid photographer. Outside of work, you'll find him indulging his love for street and travel photography, at home working on music, or down at the local climbing gym.