Alienware Area 51 shipping with GTX Nvidia 980ti?

That's a good qwestion. I don't work for Dell or Alienware, perhaps someone official can weigh-in soon on your concern here. What happened with TitanX, is it launched here in the States around April 1st but did not find its way onto the UK sales-page until about June 9, where it was not found on the Aussie sales-page until June either:

If we pretend it will launch in the States 1st - which is likely but not certain - but if it does, then I would say yes, inevitable to the point of certainty the UK will follow. To know if it will be available in the UK, carefully watch the US market for a launch as I've been doing. To then know 'when', the example above might be germane to that concern, while knowing that whatever TX did might not be applicable or even be a 'trend'.

Now a word on price. TX can be purchased starting around £819.99. Most online reviews say Ti is 9/10th's the performance of TX; having just visited A-51 UK sales-page, having just seen TX's price:

• pay for then drop the estimated £75 GTX 960, now add £1,200 more
• oh my
• I would not bank on the ability to buy Ti from Alienware anywhere near the UK manufacturer's suggested retail price or MSRP of £549 (inc VAT)

Given that TitanX has an estimated cost of £1,275, difficult to predict what Ti, 9/10th's the performance & now arguably £725 less {1275 - 549 MSRP} might be priced at. I dare say much more than £549; my guess is £850 or right in the middle of TitanX {£1275} & standard 980 {est £425 each}. Note that £549 each may become meaningless. Triple-Ti's? You might reqwire more qwid than the House of Windsor. Word of advice? Be careful what you wish for ...

• http://www.geforce.co.uk/hardware/desktop-gpus/geforce-gtx-980-ti/buy-gpu

Will it launch - and if so - will it launch with realistic or un-realistic / friendly or unpleasant prices; those are qwestions we've been asking across-the-pond ever since June 1st as well. Cheers

I just dug this old thread up; a delay in the UK getting standard 980's, 'months' after A-51 debuted. Why? Too busy pawning off old / unwanted high-priced cards, basically a replay here with 980Ti:

http://na.alienwarearena.com/forums/thread/82519/technical-support-1/is-everyone-avoiding-this-question

Thanks so much for the detailed answer, I really appreciate it.

They are shipping with triple 980's right now or a single Titan but I am not sure if I should wait.

To be honest I probably sound really stupid but I have been away from PC gaming for a few years now, I have the money to really spec something good out and I would like to future proof myself for at least 2 years. ;)

Would it be worth picking the triple 980 or single Titan?

I think I read that a pair of 980's eqwal or best a solo-TX's performance (where triple-980's will not best dual-TX's); in that scenario, dual-980 is a winner over solo-TX, triples you can about guess.

However tri-Ti's? Ti is 9/10th's of a TX, we're being loose here, online reviews tell the story, but Ti is the best bang-for-the-buck.

You have to factor in depreciation on standard 980's which launched last September, so the prospect of paying full price on a card which nVidia just dropped the MSRP on June 1st (here in the US, the MSRP dropped from $550 each to $500, but Alienware did not reflect that price drop on the sales-page). Here we pay 650 each for a 980 - full retail plus what we'd know as a $150 installation fee - on a card who's worth in the market has depreciated & will continue to do so. You have to weigh the UK MSRP of standard 980, basically 'guess' what Alienware UK wants for triple-980 installed, then do your price comparison. I do not know if they are a good price there or not. Here, uh, triple 980's are priced $350 over MSRP, so it is for the buyer to decide - not just me - if this is a good price here or not on a card who's now 'showing its age' &'s just been bested by Ti in all configs.

With Ti so close in price, & knowing that a forum member here was successful in installing triple-Ti's in his rig, my advice: opt for the base GTX 960, install one or two or three Ti's from your online source at £549 each w/warranty. From there, keep your 960 as a working spare or sell it as 'new' to recover your initial investment in that card. The reality is I do not make card recommendations, as it is a matter of personal taste & finances. I can't say which is best for you, be it tri-sli 980, TX, or 'store-bought' Ti. Ti is the best card for the money is what I'm hearing online. I myself install my own grafix & encourage others to do so in the interest of saving money & learning the DIY process, so I'm not the one to pass judgment on what cards to buy or order from system builders like Alienware. I'm a fan of the product, but no fan of the prices, I'm sure you understand; you Brits just had an Anti-Austerity Protest this past weekend did you not? ... whether Alien grafix-card prices are austere in their nature, it is one of many factors / metrics resident in the calculus of the buyer's final decisions.

Were it me, I'd install my own Ti's. Perhaps wait for others to weigh-in here, or just as well start a new thread asking whether tri-980 or TX is the best move when picking from the Alien grafix-menu.

AMD will lift their review embargo tomorrow on their new Fury cards & hit retail. We will know how they perform compared to Ti, & it is possible the aliens are waiting on AMD benchmark results b4 making their Ti launch; perhaps give it another week, see if Ti doesn't launch soon after the AMD benchmarks come out & the AMD cards launch also. All system builders offer Ti right now accept this one, & we can't be sure why that is, maybe AMD & their new launch has something to do with it. Best of luck.  

Thanks so much for the detailed answer again.

I think I will wait for a few weeks and see what happens.

Thanks again!

Almost two months now since the 980ti released and still no availability from Alienware. Wondering what is the hold up? and how long does it usually take for them to stock new cards? 2, 3 extra months?

It is now showing up on their website. The base system costs $1,699 and comes with a R9 370. Upgrade to GTX 980ti costs $700. However you have to upgrade the power supply to 1,500 watts which costs another $200. I think the base power supply of 850 watts is fine so this is another way to get money out of you.  So you are probably better off buying the second system That system that costs $2,668.99 (previously $2,499 I believe) comes with a GTX 980. Upgrade to GTX 980ti costs $150.  Also comes with a 128 SSD.

Probably going to buy a Maingear system as they say they can get me financing and they have more options. 

It's a glitch; if you drop a Titan in your options-config you do not get the warning. A US buyer would have to call or chat their order in to get the 850w. If someone wants to make an Arena post, the moderators there can pass the glitch on to whomever controls the sales-page for a fix.

Even the $2,668.99 system comes with 850 watts, so it has to be upgraded to 1,500 watts. I'm not sure why the system would need that much power though, since the same configuration should work with 600w just fine, so 850w would be more than enough for just one 980ti?

Yup, it's the same on the Canadian website, seems more like a website bug than a ridiculous way to charge more :p

It's a glitch; if you drop a Titan in your options-config you do not get the warning. A US buyer would have to call or chat their order in to get the 850w. If someone wants to make an Arena post, the moderators there can pass the glitch on to whomever controls the sales-page for a fix.

Tried twice now to get the an Area 51 system with just one 980ti and a 850w power source and they say it won't work (using online chat and call). Are they pushing 1500w just to get more $$$? or is there some flaw in the system design that makes it require so much power. 

I don't know what their problem is; here's a guy with 980Ti - SLI on his 850w. Not just one card, but two work on that psu; doesn't make sense why they can't over-ride the site & sell it with an 850: solo TitanX & 980-SLI don't get the psu warning --> if anything, ask for a discount if they make you upgrade to the 1500 for no good reason ... 1500watts just to run one low-power card ??? The 850 has a 48amp pci-e rail, that's rated for 575watts ... doesn't make sense.

http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19624762/20801434#20801434

I don't know what their problem is; here's a guy with 980Ti - SLI on his 850w. Not just one card, but two work on that psu, doesn't make sense why they can't over-ride the sight & sell it with an 850. Solo TitanX & 980-SLI don't get the psu warning. If anything, ask for a discount if they make you upgrade to the 1500 for no good reason ...   http://en.community.dell.com/owners-club/alienware/f/3746/p/19624762/20801434#20801434

If that post is true then it seems they are just using false advertising to recover their loses from all the titan x stock they have and can't sell. Pretty shady business.

OK after a day of testing and thinking it through i came up with a solution guys and these are the step by steps 

1. uninstall all nvidia drivers for your gtx 980ti manually or using ddu

2.restart and download the latest drivers for nvidia drivers  however do not perform a clean instal im using the newest one with you amplifier pluged in and card in

3.do not launch geforce expirience  and do not restart

4.delete your intel integrated graphics card  amazingly intel launched a driver today as well for the 4600 intel cards 

5. download the driver from communities.intel.com/thread/77726 

6. do not install. but place on desktop

7.shutdown your pc 

8. turn it on 

9. install. the intel driver.

10. do not attempt to launce any programs or the intel comand center  

11. install the latest nvidia driver again you previously downloaded and installed 

12.run ge force expirience 

13. play any game using yout gtx980ti 

my name iz izo