Alienware's beastly Area-51m gaming laptop just got even more powerful

(Image credit: Alienware)

The Alienware Area-51m R2 is official, and it has the potential to make one of the best gaming laptops even better. Alienware took the world's first fully upgradable gaming laptop and added the latest 10th-gen Intel processors and an optional 4K screen — a first for the Area-51 lineup.

This expensive gaming rig seeks to justify its price (the absolute cheapest model costs $3,050) with incredibly capable hardware, a gorgeous design and enough ports for even the most demanding on-the-go gaming enthusiast. While not everyone is going to want to shell out the money for the Area-51m R2, those who do will be able to play some of the most demanding games on the market with high resolutions and fast frame rates.

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Here's everything we know about the Area-51m R2 so far, including its release date, price and possible configurations.

Alienware Area-51m R2 release date

The Alienware Area-51m R2 has a release date of June 9, in all possible configurations. This means you’ll be able to customize your preferred model right from the get-go. (Some other machines in Alienware’s lineup will roll out different configurations in phases, for contrast.) Tom’s Guide should have a model in for review around that time.

Alienware Area-51m R2 price

You may want to sit down before you read on. The Alienware Area-51m R2 starts at $3,050 — and it can go a lot higher, depending on your options. While Dell didn’t lay out exactly how much any specific configuration would cost, the Area-51m R2 has options for 32 GB RAM, a 2 TB SSD, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super GPU and a 4K 60 Hz display.

These things are probably not going to come cheap. If you want every available bell and whistle on the Area-51m R2, expect to pay more than $5,000 (the most expensive Area-51m on the market right now costs $5,500, for comparison).

Alienware Area-51m R2 specs

Like most Alienware gear, the Alienware Area-51m R2 has a ton of customization options. This is good for inveterate tweakers. Here’s the range of options you’ll have when selecting processor, memory, storage, GPU and more:

Processor: 10th Gen Intel Core i7 10700 to 10th Gen Intel Core i9 10900K
Memory: 8 GB DDR4 at 2933 MHz to 32 GB DDR4 XMP at 3200 MHz
Storage: 256 GB NVMe SSD to 2 TB PCIe SSD (Boot) + 2 TB PCIe SSD (Storage)
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB GDDR6 to Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Super 8GB GDDR6
Display: 17.3”, 1920 x 1080 resolution at 144 Hz to 17.3”, 3840 x 2160 resolution at 60 Hz

Alienware Area-51m R2 design and ports

If you’re familiar with the Alienware Area-51m, then the R2 doesn’t look too different. It’s a 17-inch laptop with a silver plastic chassis and blue backlit keys. There are vents on the back, sides and front, and the whole package can weigh up to 10.4 pounds. It’s a large laptop that’s not for the faint of heart — or of back muscle.

The Alienware Aea-51m R2 also features a number of different ports: an Ethernet port, three USB-A ports, an SD card reader, a Thunderbolt port, an Alienware graphics amp port (in case you want to hook the machine into a desktop setup), an HDMI port, a mini-Display Port, 3.5 mm ports for audio and mic, a lock slot and a microSD card reader.

Marshall Honorof was a senior editor for Tom's Guide, overseeing the site's coverage of gaming hardware and software. He comes from a science writing background, having studied paleomammalogy, biological anthropology, and the history of science and technology. After hours, you can find him practicing taekwondo or doing deep dives on classic sci-fi.