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Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed vs Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α)

The Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed ($7,599, 98/100 gaming score) goes head-to-head with the Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α) ($9,799, 97/100). On raw performance, the Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed leads, scoring 98 versus 97. For the money, the Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed is the better value at $7,599, delivering more performance per dollar than the Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α).

★ Best performanceBest value
Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed

Alienware

Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed

Price$7,599
Gaming98/100
View full listing
Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α)

Maingear

Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α)

Price$9,799
Gaming97/100
View full listing
Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxedMaingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α)
Price$7,599$9,799▲
Gaming Score98/100▲97/100
Productivity Score96/10096/100
Content Creation Score99/100▲97/100
CPUamd ryzen 9 9950x3damd ryzen 9 9950x3d
GPUnvidia rtx 5090nvidia rtx 5090
RAM64GB DDR5 XMP64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 6000 (Kingston FURY Beast)
Storage8TB NVMe SSD (non RAID)4TB Gen4 NVMe SSD (Kingston FURY Renegade)
PSU1500W PSU—
CaseAlienware Area 51 chassis (tempered glass door)SilverStone FLP02 (beige tower)
Cooler360mm liquid CPU coolerCustom open loop liquid cooling (dual radiators)
MotherboardAlienware X870E—

Which should you buy?

The Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed is both the faster and the cheaper system here, which makes it the straightforward pick unless a specific spec on the Maingear Retro98 Alpha (Retro98α) matters to you. On specs, the Alienware Area-51 (AAT2265, AMD) RTX 5090 maxed has 8TB of storage against 4TB — RAM and storage are the cheapest things to upgrade later, so weigh them last.

Want more options? Browse all prebuilt gaming PCs or read how to choose a prebuilt gaming PC.