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Alienware, now part of Dell, is a company focused on high-end gaming systems and last week they released what they are calling “the most powerful 17” gaming laptop in the universe”. And they are not kidding: this laptop features three graphics processing units, a feature not found even on most desktops.

From these three GPUs, two are the high-end GeForce GTX 280M working under SLI mode, and one is the GeForce 9400M. This way if you are not playing games you can turn off the two GeForce GTX 280M and work on the more battery-friendly GeForce 9400M. This technology is called HybridPower. You can, however, order two GeForce GTX 260M or even a single GeForce GTX 260M if you think that having SLI on a laptop is too much.

This portable is equipped with an Intel mobile CPU and you can choose from a Core 2 Duo P8600 (2.4 GHz dual-core with 3 MB cache) all the way up to a Core 2 Extreme QX9300 (2.53 GHz quad-core with 12 MB cache).
You can order it with 4 GB, 6 GB or 8 GB of DDR3 memory, and you can choose between 1,067 MHz and 1,333 MHz clock rates.

For storage you can choose either 7,200 rpm hard disk drives (usually laptops come with 5,400 rpm models, which are slower but consume less power) or SSD’s and can even order your laptop with a RAID0 system to increase performance.

It comes with a 17”display and you can choose between a 1440 x 900 and a 1920 x 1200 model.

And of course it has all sorts of high-end gadgets, like an illuminated keyboard, Bluetooth, eSATA port, Firewire port, HDMI and DisplayPort video outputs, 5.1 surround audio, Gigabit Ethernet, IEEE 802.11n wireless networking, optional TV tuner and more.

The drawback is obviously weight and price. The most basic model weights 11.68 Lbs (5.3 Kg) and costs USD 1,800.

We built the most high-end model we could (two GeForce GTX 280M, Core 2 Extreme QX9300, 8 GB DDR3-1333, two 256 GB SSD’s in RAID0, 1920x1200 17” display, Blu-Ray player, TV tuner, Windows Vista Ultimate) and the price is obviously jaw-dropping: USD 5,600. OUCH!

Detailed information about this beast can be seen at http://www.allpowerful.com.