From the ‘Dude, You Want this Dell’ files:
Gamers are the people that push PC hardware forward. Now for the first time a major Gamer PC vendor is offering Linux and it’s loaded for max fragging.
Dell’s Alienware division is now out with its X51 Ubuntu PC and it’s the sweetest Linux rig we’ve ever seen from Dell (or any other major tier 1 PC vendor).
The top-end system is loaded with Intel Core i7-3770 3.4GHz Quad Core and 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2 DIMMS) with a 1.5GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 660. All running Ubuntu.
The main gaming capability that Alienware is highlighting is by of Steam for Linux – which now has over 25 big name games on its platform and growing by the week. Lot of people (myself included) have long blamed a lack of gaming on Linux as being a barrier to Linux desktop adoption. While not every title is available on Steam for Linux, there is a healthy list.
Hey if there is a game that you still need/want, you could always still try and run it under WINE too. (I’m assuming that the GTX 660 will work in either case cause it’s always the graphics driver that are the hangup right?).
Too early to tell if this is the beginning of a real market for Linux and Dell Alienware, but it sure looks like it’s off to good start.
Sean Michael Kerner is a senior editor at InternetNews.com, the news service of the IT Business Edge Network, the network for technology professionals Follow him on Twitter @TechJournalist.
