s quality standards . the specific problem is fix references please help improve this article if you can . august 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message alienware corporation alienware headquarters in the hammocks florida type subsidiary of dell industry computer hardware founded 1996 ; 20 years ago 1996 founders nelson gonzalez alex aguila frank azor headquarters 14591 sw 120th st miami florida key people michael dell ceo frank azor general manager arthur lewis former ceo general manager products desktops notebooks peripherals number of employees 490 1 parent dell website alienware.com alienware is an american computer hardware subsidiary of dell . their products are designed for gaming and can be identified by their alien themed designs . 2 alienware was founded in 1996 by nelson gonzalez and alex aguila . the company s corporate headquarters is located in the hammocks in miami florida . 3 contents 1 history 1.1 overview 1.2 acquisition and current status 2 computer systems models after acquisition by dell 2.1 windows os based consoles 2.2 graphics amplifier 2.3 laptops 2.4 desktops 2.5 video game console hybrids 3 see also 4 competitors 5 references 6 external links history edit overview edit established in 1996 by nelson gonzalez and alex aguila alienware assembles desktops notebooks workstations and pc gaming consoles . 4 5 6 according to employees the name alienware was chosen because of the founders fondness for the hit television series the x files which also inspired the science fiction themed names of product lines such as area 51 hangar 18 and aurora . 7 acquisition and current status edit dell had considered buying the alienware company since 2002 but did not agree to purchase the company until march 22 2006 . 8 9 the new subsidiary retains control of its design and marketing while benefiting from dell s purchasing power economies of scale and supply chain which lowered its operating costs . 9 initially dell maintained its competing xps line of gaming pcs often selling computers with similar specifications which may have hurt alienware s market share within its market segment . 10 11 due to corporate restructuring in the spring of 2008 the xps brand was scaled down and the desktop line was eliminated leaving only the xps notebooks . 11 product development of gaming pcs was consolidated with dell s gaming division with alienware becoming dell s premier gaming brand . 12 13 on june 2 2009 the m17x was introduced as the first alienware dell branded system . this launch also expanded alienware s global reach from 6 to 35 countries while supporting 17 different languages . 14 computer systems models after acquisition by dell edit windows os based consoles edit alienware announced that it will be releasing a series of video game consoles starting in 2014 aiming to compete with the sony playstation nintendo wii u and the microsoft xbox . 15 the first version in this series the alpha will run windows 8.1 . 16 the operating system and ability to play pc games is what separates the alpha from the eighth generation of video game consoles . at e3 2016 alienware announced the second rendition of the alpha the alpha r2 . the r2 adds 6th generation intel processors a choice of either the amd radeon r9 m470x or nvidia geforce 960 graphics cards and support for alienware s proprietary graphics amplifier . it also ships with windows 10 . 17 graphics amplifier edit the graphics amplifier allows an alienware laptop to run most full length or smaller non hybrid desktop gpus . 18 laptops edit 18 inch m18x discontinued introduced in 2011 it is considered a replacement for the original m17x design but with a bigger chassis a screen up to 18.4 inches dual mxm 3.0 b gpu support special keyboard macros and up to 32 gb of ddr3 1600 mhz ram . shipped with intel sandy bridge processors and the option of single or dual amd radeon 6870m 6970m 6990m radeon hd 6000 series gpu s single or dual nvidia geforce 500 series gpu s . factory cpu overclocking was also an available option . m18x r2 discontinued 2012 revision of the m18x ; originally shipped with intel sandy bridge processors later shipped with updated with intel ivy bridge processors single or dual nvidia geforce 600 series gpu s single or dual amd radeon hd 7970m radeon hd 7000 series gpu s up to 32 gb of ddr3 1600 mhz and optional factory overclock . alienware 18 discontinued 2013 refresh of the m18x ; updated with intel haswell processors single or dual nvidia geforce 700 series gpu s single or dual amd radeon r9 m290x gpu s and up to 32 gb of ddr3l 1600 mhz ram and 1tb raid0 configured ssd along with facelift with new design . marketed as alienware 18 but listed in some countries as m18xr3 viking . 19 alienware 18 2014 discontinued 2014 updated version of the alienware 18 or m18x r3 ; updated with intel haswell micro architecture processors single or dual nvidia geforce 800 series gpu s up to 32 gb of ddr3 1600 mhz and optional overclock . alienware 18 2015 discontinued 2015 version was a limited re release of the previous alienware 18 with updated dual nvidia geforce 900 series gpus and up to 32 gb of ddr3l 1600 mhz . 17 inch m17x discontinued introduced in 2009 it is the first laptop released by alienware after the company was bought by dell . the name and some of the design is based on the alienware 17 inch laptop the alienware m17 . m17x r2 discontinued 2010 revision of the m17x adding support for intel i5 and i7 processors dual mxm 3.0 b graphic cards . m17x r3 discontinued 2011 revision of the m17x changes from aluminium chassis to a simplified plastic design 3d ready through a 120 hz screen . removes dual gpu capability . m17x r4 discontinued 2012 revision of the m17x updated with windows 8 intel ivybridge processors and nvidia geforce 600 series or the amd radeon hd 7970m . alienware 17 discontinued 2013 refresh of the m17x updated with intel haswell processors and nvidia geforce 700 series gpus or the amd r9 m290x with new facelift and body design . marketed as alienware 17 but listed in some countries and order details as m17xr5 ranger . updated with nvidia geforce 800 series in 2014 alienware 17 r2 discontinued 2015 revision of the alienware 17 updated with nvidia geforce 900 series . features fhd matte display or fhd touch display . a port on the rear for graphics amplifier . this model introduced bga mounted cpu and gpu removing the ability to replace the cpu or gpu without changing the entire motherboard . alienware 17 r3 2015 refresh of the alienware 17 windows 10 available . features fhd overclocking display . ultra hd igzo display also available as well as a nvidia geforce 900 series with 4gb gddr5 . 15 inch m15x discontinued introduced in 2009 m15x r2 discontinued 2010 revision of the m15x with nvidia geforce 200 series and adding support for intel i5 and i7 processors . alienware 15 2015 revision of the m15x updated with intel haswell processors and nvidia geforce 900 series . features fhd matte display or uhd touch display . features a port on the rear for graphics amplifier . alienware 15 r2 2015 refresh of the alienware 15 updated with intel skylake processors and using the same nvidia graphics chipsets . uses same fhd and uhd screens and graphics amplifier port on the rear . 14 inch m14x discontinued introduced in 2011 as a replacement for the m15x with nvidia geforce 500 series and support for intel i5 and i7 processors . m14x r2 discontinued 2012 revision of the m14x updated with intel ivybridge processors and nvidia geforce 600 series and blu ray slot drive . alienware 14 discontinued 2013 refresh of the m14x updated with intel haswell processors and nvidia geforce 700 series and blu ray slot drive with new facelift and body design . it also features an ips display . marketed as alienware 14 but listed in some countries and order details as m14xr3 . 13 inch alienware 13 introduced in 2014 as a replacement for the m11x with nvidia geforce gtx 860m and ulv intel i5 or i7 processors . features hd or fhd matte display s or qhd touch display . alienware s thinnest gaming laptop to date . updated with nvidia geforce gtx 960m in 2015 . a port on the rear for graphics amplifier . 11.6 inch m11x discontinued first introduced in early 2010 it is the smallest size gaming laptop from alienware . it came equipped with two penryn core processors a pentium su4100 at the entry level and a core 2 duo su7300 at the high end . driving the 11.6 inch screen are two video processors a gma 4500mhd integrated and nvidia s discrete geforce gt 335m with its own 1gb of ddr3 ram . m11x r2 discontinued late 2010 revision of the m11x ; the first to use intel s ultra low voltage arrandale core i5 and i7 processors . the revision also added a rubberized soft touch exterior to the design . the same gt 335m is used for video ; however nvidia s optimus technology has been added to automatically switch between it and the still used gma 4500mhd . m11x r3 discontinued 2011 revision of the m11x ; added support for the second generation of intel s mobility series core i5 and i7 processors and was the first to include an i3 in its lineup . it also received a standardized 500gb 7200rpm hard drive as well as the standard for m11x line dual gpu setup combining nvidia s discrete geforce gt 540m for higher end gaming and intel s integrated hd graphics 3000 for older gaming and application use . by the end of 2011 a second revision of the motherboard design used on the r3 series was made available on a limited amount of laptops . this second version used the more powerful nvidia gf108 chipset the nvidia geforce gt 550m with 1gb video memory . in 2012 alienware announced that the m11x model would be discontinued due to decreasing consumer interest in small form factor gaming laptops . 20 the company went on to offer refreshed models for the rest of their laptop range the m14x m17x and m18x . 21 desktops edit aurora the aurora r1 discontinued this model was based on the intel s x58 platform lga 1366 socket . it shared identical hardware with the aurora alx r1 . processors included core i7 only first generation nehelam quad core and hexacore . in order of model number 920 930 940 950 960 965 975 quad core 980x six core 990x six core . sealed liquid cooling units for the processors came factory installed . the x58 platform also uses intel xeon processors but none were used in the aurora . the r1 used triple channel memory and had dedicated graphics card options from amd s hd 5000 series line as well as nvidia geforce 400 series and nvidia geforce 500 series line . power supply options included a 525 watt power supply unit 875 watt power supply unit and a 1000w power supply unit . power supply and motherboard supports both sli and crossfirex . the aurora r2 discontinued this was the second revision of the aurora and the first alienware desktop to be sold in retail chains such as best buy . it was based on intel s p55 platform lga 1156 socket . processors included core i5 and i7 first generation lynnfield quad core only . in order of model number i5 750 i5 760 i7 860 i7 870 i7 875 and i7 880 . sealed liquid cooling units for the processors came factory installed . the r2 used dual channel memory and had