Digital Trends contacted Alienware to find out why that’s the case. Alienware responded by informing us that “a configuration option” will be available sometime in the “near future.”
Related: Alienware Area 51 hands on, impressions, features
What’s unclear to us at this point is whether the GTX 980 and 970 will be available with Alienware’s Aurora and X51 desktops, along with the upcoming Area 51, once that update occurs. The new Area 51 should begin shipping sometime this fall. If we hear anything from Alienware that clarifies the situation further, we’ll be sure to update this piece accordingly.
Related: Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 review
To this point, multiple boutique PC makers, including Origin PC, Maingear, and Digital Storm, have added both the GTX 980 and GTX 970 to its respective PC configuration pages. Though Alienware is not quite there yet (for reasons unknown, so far), it’s only a matter of time before they follow suit.
Hopefully, that change happens sooner than later.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 980 and GeForce GTX 970 launched on September 18. The GTX 980 carries an MSRP of $549. That’s roughly $150 – 250 less than what GTX 780 Ti cards typically cost. The GTX 980 replaced the 780 Ti and 780 once Nvidia released it. Alienware continues to offer the GTX 780 with its Aurora desktop.
Related: Alienware X51 (2013) review
Meanwhile, the GTX 970 costs $329, and replaces the GTX 770. Prior to the release of the GTX 980 and 970, the GTX 780 Ti, 780, and 770 were at the top of Nvidia’s single-GPU graphics card food chain.
