Alienware may have just upgraded its Aurora gaming rig, but that's not to keep the company from giving more diminutive form factors some love. Just this evening, the subsidiary of Dell announced the X51, a slim gaming PC that's designed to orient itself either vertically or horizontally on the desktop -- complete with an Alienware logo that properly rotates depending on positioning. The system includes both Core i3 and i5 options, and features a slot-loading optical drive with an option for Blu-ray. While it's no shocker, the X51 can be upgraded to 8GB of RAM and a full 1TB of storage. Further, the case accommodates a single, full size NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 graphics card, (with the GTX 555 available as an upgrade), and features an external power supply that's available in 240W or 330W versions. Users can also expect HDMI 1.4, on-board WiFi, USB 3.0 and digital 7.1 surround sound. As a nifty trick, the computer's accent colors can be conveniently modified with the Alienware Command Center software. Touting immediate availability, customers can place orders for the X51 right away, with configurations starting as low as $699. For the complete set of specs that make up this Mini-ITX gamer, just follow the break.

Alienware X51 Product Specifications:

• Intel Core i3 Dual Core (standard) and Intel Core i5 and i7 Quad Core Processor Options
• Intel H61 Express Chipset Architecture
• Mini-ITX Motherboard
• Powerful NVIDIA Graphics Card Options
  • 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GT 545 (Standard)
  • 1GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 555
• Configure with up to 8GB of DDR3 Memory (4GB Standard); 2x 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM Slots
• Fast 7,200RPM 1TB Hard Drive
• Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
• Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (Standard) or optional Blu-ray Disc Reader
• Internal High-Definition 7.1 Performance Audio with Waves MAXX Audio Software
• Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet NIC and Integrated 802.11 a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Wireless LAN (standard)
• USB 2.0 (6x); USB 3.0 (2x); Microphone In; Headphone/Speaker Out; HDMI 1.4 Output; RJ-45 Gigabit Ethernet; Front, Rear and Center Speaker Ports; SPDIF Digital Output (TOSLINK); SPDIF Digital Output (Coax)
• Alienware 240 Watt Power Supply (Standard) or optional 330 Watt Power Supply
• Dual-orientation tower system dimensions: h: 13.5" (343mm) x w: 3.74" (95mm) x d: 12.52" (318mm)
• Starting Weight: 12.1 lbs. (5.49 Kg.)

Check out IBM's 305 RAMAC (Random Access Method of Accounting and Control) hard disk and those gripes about dragging around that USB thumb drive soon evaporate. This 1956 HDD was composed of 50 24-inch discs, stacked together and taking up 16 sq ft of real estate. The once-cutting-edge monstrosity was capable of commanding an annual fee of $35,000 and stored up to 5MB of data. Sure, by modern standards it's a pretty modest capacity, but the RAMAC still weighed in at just shy of a ton. Our technological forefathers could have done with that exoskeleton prototype.

What better way to combine your geeky and rhythmic sides than with a PC / amp fusion? We first spotted the OPC back in 2010, and although it preserves its glamorous outer shell, internally it's seen quite the overhaul. Aside from a visit to the specs doctor, the new OPC variants also come with lighter price tags. Essentially, you'll still have access to all expected traits: playing, recording, multi-tracking and mixing. The British company says it was able to slash prices by cutting out the middlemen, so what's the cores-to-cash ratio? $1300 will get you a dual-core i3 OPC, about $200 more for a quad-core i5 and the premium quad-core i7 will run you around $1600. One thing the company isn't promising is a record deal, but it's not like record deals have been all that promising of late. A video showing the machine in action is after the break.

Now that we're officially in the throes of holiday shopping season, NVIDIA's rolling out a promotion of its own, though sadly it doesn't involve any steep discounts. The outfit just announced a special edition GPU: the GTX 560 Ti with 448 CUDA cores, running at 1.46GHz, a 732MHz graphics clock and 1.25GB of GDDR5 memory charging ahead at an effective rate of 3.8GHz. Other features include support for three-way SLI, DisplayPort, HDMI and DVI. Those specs place it snugly between the current GTX 560 Ti with 384 CUDA cores, and the higher-end GTX 570, which packs 480. If this seems like a puzzling move, it is indeed the first time NVIDIA's bothered with a limited holiday edition card, though in conversations with reporters the company made it clear its new hardware is meant to dovetail with the arrival of games like The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Battlefield 3 and Batman: Arkham City. If you're shopping for a gamer (or, you know, yourself), it's available now for $289 in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany Russia and Nordic countries through companies like ASUS, MSI and Gigabyte, among others.

Update: Looks like the reviews are rolling in! We've linked a handful of 'em below. HotHardware, Tom's Hardware, AnandTech, PC Perspective, Hexus

SEAGATE SOUPS UP LAPTOP PC PERFORMANCE WITH FAST SOLID STATE HYBRID DRIVE

Cupertino, Calif. - November 29, 2011 - Tip for revving up the speed of your laptop PC: Slip in a new Seagate (NASDAQ:STX) Momentus XT drive for faster computing, snappier gaming and lickety-split boot-up!

Seagate is now shipping the second generation of Momentus XT, its groundbreaking solid state hybrid drive for consumer and commercial laptop personal computers. With a simple drive installation, users can boost boot-up speed and overall performance to transform the use of an ordinary laptop or desktop computer into a high-performance computing experience. Momentus XT is available at online retailers Amazon, Canada Computers, CDW, Memory Systems, NCIX, Newegg, and TigerDirect, and seven original equipment manufacturers are gearing up to ship laptops powered by Seagate's fastest laptop drive ever.

Ah, the venerable Pentium CPU. Few chips are as recognizable but, these days, the brand is relegated to the low-end of the desktop and laptop market. Now Intel is looking to broaden its appeal, by pushing the classic line into servers, though, again targeting the bottom of the spectrum. The Pentium 350 is a 1.2GHz dual-core CPU with 3MB of cache and no integrated GPU, which most servers have no need for -- especially in low-power machines dedicated to file sharing or low-traffic web hosting. While the 15W part is already shipping, we couldn't find any pricing information. Then again, Intel has no intention of selling these to consumers and they're likely only available to OEMs in bulk. Check out the more coverage link for the full specs.

More Coverage

The early brunt of a hard-drive shortage resulting from widespread flooding in Thailand is falling on small PC makers, who are raising computer prices to stem losses.

Hard-drive prices have skyrocketed since October, and shortages have forced independent computer makers to raise PC prices by up to 20 percent. Analysts expect PC prices to continue rising as the severity of the floods are assessed, with prices expected to stabilize as shortages end by the first half next year.

FXI DEMONSTRATES ANY SCREEN CONNECTED COMPUTING

USB Companion Adapter Enables Screens to Access the Cloud and Mobile Content

New York, NY and Trondheim, Norway – November 17, 2012 - FXI Technologies, a hardware and software startup based in Trondheim Norway, demonstrated today the world's first any screen, connected computing USB device. Codenamed "Cotton Candy", this sweet little device serves as a technology bridge between any display, the Cloud, and any input peripheral.

Generally, the combination of microchips, electricity and fluids is usually considered an incredibly bad thing. IBM, however, thinks it can combine those three to make super small and super powerful computers in the future. The idea is to stack hundreds of silicon wafers and utilize dual fluidic networks between them to create 3D processors. In such a setup, one network carries in charged fluid to power the chip, while the second carries away the same fluid after it has picked up heat from the active transistors. Of course, 3D chips are already on the way, and liquid cooled components are nothing new, but powering a PC by fluids instead of wires has never been done before. Bruno Michel, who's leading Big Blue's research team, has high hopes for the technology, because future processors will need the extra cooling and reduced power consumption it can provide. Michel says he and his colleagues have demonstrated that it's possible to use a liquid to transfer power via a network of fluidic channels, and they to plan build a working prototype chip by 2014. If successful, your smartphone could eventually contain the power of the Watson supercomputer. Chop, chop, fellas, those futuristic fluidic networks aren't going to build themselves.

NEW PLEXTOR M3S SSD IS THE IDEAL COMBINATION OF SPEED & RELIABILITY

M3S SSD Series Features True Speed Technology and Five Year Warranty

Fremont, CA, November 16, 2011- Plextor LLC (www.goplextor.com), leading developer and manufacturer of high-performance digital media and storage equipment, announces the release of its latest Solid State Drive, the M3S Series. The M3S is a 2.5" form factor SSD featuring True Speed technology and an extended five-year ironclad warranty.