Hotwired: Alienware

There's only one reason to upgrade your PC: games. Word processors, spreadsheets, web browsers - these things do not need the latest and greatest. You don't need a faster graphics card, louder sound card, bigger speakers, quieter fans or weirder cases for your average desktop but if you're into games then weird is probably your middle name.

Enter Alienware which builds PCs for the hardcore at heart and makes them look the part and you can get any colour you want as long as it's garish and bright.

ALIENWARE AREA 51 XTREME

It's loud, it's nasty. It's probably phat as well. The Area 51 Xtreme has the top-of-the-range Intel processor, 1 GB (gigabyte) of dual channel DDR RAM (that's the fast stuff in case you were wondering), not one but two 160 GB hard drives in a RAID array (so if one fails you're automatically backed up on the other) and boasts an ATI Radeon X800 graphics card.

You know that thing that sticks out of the bonnet of boy racers' cars? That's this in the PC world.

Once you've added in the flat panel monitor, keyboard and mouse and gone for the super sound system with speakers bigger than your head, the price could get a bit high but just remember: you're worth it.

Price: up to $7000 depending on your configuration

ALIENWARE AURORA

If your wife-acceptance factor is running low, or mum just won't come up with the readies, you can always sell your car or aim a little lower.

Even the entry-level Aurora is nothing to be sniffed at.

Some of the specs are half the Xtreme's ratings, like the 512 KB (kilobytes) of RAM or the single 80 GB hard drive, but even so you'll be more than a match for any dullard with a regular box in a LAN frag. And if you don't know what a LAN frag is, ask your teenage cousins. They'll know.

Price: from $2000 for the basic model.

ALIENWARE AREA-51M 7700

Not every game-player sits still to play. Not every game-player needs to have the flashiest looking kit around. Not every game-player plays fair. The aliens also make laptops - laptops for hired killers, by the look of them. This beast is available only in Xeno Grey and boasts the latest Intel Pentium notebook processor.

Laptop players are usually scorned when they turn up without the full desktop to play with. The Area-51m comes equipped with an NVIDIA GeForce FX Go 6800 256MB graphics card. They won't be sneering for long.

And if you're a gamer by night but run a smart, professional business by day you'll be able to claim it as a business expense. So long as you're employed by the MIB that is.

Price: from $5000