In this segment from CES 2026, Lisa Matrasko from Dell and Eddy Goyanes from Alienware join theCUBE's Savannah Peterson to showcase the latest innovations in high-performance gaming hardware. The discussion highlights the evolution of the Area-51 desktop, featuring a unique positive pressure airflow system designed for efficient thermal management and whisper-quiet operation. Matrasko and Goyanes also unveil exciting updates for the 2026 laptop lineup, including the return of OLED technology to the 16X Aurora and Area-51 models, boasting 240Hz refresh rates and 0.2-millisecond response times to meet the visual demands of modern gamers.
The conversation delves into Alienware’s rigorous customer feedback loop, explaining how insights from Discord, Twitch and live events drive engineering decisions, such as the integration of new AMD processors. Matrasko and Goyanes discuss the brand's strategy to expand its portfolio to welcome a broader range of users, from hardcore enthusiasts to first-time PC owners. Additionally, they detail the value of Alienware Elite Care, an award-winning support service staffed by fellow gamers, ensuring specialized, 24/7 assistance that addresses the specific nuances of maintaining high-end gaming systems.
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Lisa Matrasko, Dell Technologies & Eddy Goyanes, Alienware
In this segment from CES 2026, Lisa Matrasko from Dell and Eddy Goyanes from Alienware join theCUBE's Savannah Peterson to showcase the latest innovations in high-performance gaming hardware. The discussion highlights the evolution of the Area-51 desktop, featuring a unique positive pressure airflow system designed for efficient thermal management and whisper-quiet operation. Matrasko and Goyanes also unveil exciting updates for the 2026 laptop lineup, including the return of OLED technology to the 16X Aurora and Area-51 models, boasting 240Hz refresh rates and 0.2-millisecond response times to meet the visual demands of modern gamers.
The conversation delves into Alienware’s rigorous customer feedback loop, explaining how insights from Discord, Twitch and live events drive engineering decisions, such as the integration of new AMD processors. Matrasko and Goyanes discuss the brand's strategy to expand its portfolio to welcome a broader range of users, from hardcore enthusiasts to first-time PC owners. Additionally, they detail the value of Alienware Elite Care, an award-winning support service staffed by fellow gamers, ensuring specialized, 24/7 assistance that addresses the specific nuances of maintaining high-end gaming systems.
Global Product Marketer & Brand HistorianAlienware
Savannah Peterson
Principal Analyst & HostSiliconANGLE Media, Inc.
HOST
In this segment from CES 2026, Lisa Matrasko from Dell and Eddy Goyanes from Alienware join theCUBE's Savannah Peterson to showcase the latest innovations in high-performance gaming hardware. The discussion highlights the evolution of the Area-51 desktop, featuring a unique positive pressure airflow system designed for efficient thermal management and whisper-quiet operation. Matrasko and Goyanes also unveil exciting updates for the 2026 laptop lineup, including the return of OLED technology to the 16X Aurora and Area-51 models, boasting 240Hz refresh rates a...Read more
exploreKeep Exploring
What were some of the challenges in building PCs in the 1990s, and how did Alienware address the needs of gamers over the years?add
What advancements in technology can be expected for Alienware laptops in 2026?add
What considerations and features were prioritized in the design and performance of the Area-51?add
What service did Alienware debut in 2025 that provides support by trained gamers?add
Lisa Matrasko, Dell Technologies & Eddy Goyanes, Alienware
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Savannah Peterson
>> Hey, gamers. Welcome to our Dell CES preview in the most colorful spot of their showcase. We're here in the Alienware section. Very excited to be joined by two new faces on theCUBE. Lisa and Eddy, thank you so much for being here to hang out.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Hello.
Savannah Peterson
>> You must have one of the coolest jobs.
Eddy Goyanes
>> We love our jobs.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yes.
Eddy Goyanes
>> They're amazing.
Lisa Matrasko
>> They're pretty great.
Savannah Peterson
>> This section is just glowy and smiley and you can tell that everybody loves to have a great time. Big announcements with Area 51 last year. Very curious to catch up this year. See where we're going. Lisa, just because I know the audience is going to be distracted, can you talk us through what we're looking at here?
Lisa Matrasko
>> Well, Eddy can tell you more about the Area 51 desktop that's back here with AMD, but we also are showing our 27 inch OLED 4K monitors, which are absolutely gorgeous. We have some of our fantastic peripherals as well, the Pro keyboard and Pro mouse and Pro headset. So, that's just some of the stuff that we get to enjoy that's in front of you. And the chair, which is-
Savannah Peterson
>> Which is so comfortable....
Lisa Matrasko
>> very, very comfortable. Yes, I do love it. But the desktop is something that Eddy can speak to and it's really great-
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah, tell us Eddy-...
Lisa Matrasko
>> for getting a little bit of an update.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Sure. So, we're super excited. So in 2025, like you mentioned, we debuted the Area 51 gaming desktop. And we're really proud about it because it took a lot of energy to develop something so unique. The way that we manage heat in there is, I'm sure you've heard, we use the positive pressure airflow system.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Where actually all the fans blow air in and none of them are blowing air outward.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's so much more efficient.
Eddy Goyanes
>> It really is because we have a natural exhaust and it's all very airtight.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> So, we're able to be very, very quiet, still deliver performance and get rid of heat in a very efficient way.
Savannah Peterson
>> Y'all are the best at that. You have some of the coolest thermodynamic patents on all of your cooling, whether it be in gaming or in large compute, your AI factory, whatever it might be. That's kind of your thing.
Eddy Goyanes
>> You just got me to forward this link to all of our engineers because they're going to love that you just said that. They're going to love that you just said that.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's true, guys. I pay attention and it's very impressive. No, it is. And it makes a really big difference. I mean, everyone's heard loud machines. They've had things get too hot. You don't realize it's a problem until it is, to a degree.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Absolutely. Yeah, yeah.
Savannah Peterson
>> Or you don't realize how yucky it can be until you've had something absolutely magnificent.
Eddy Goyanes
>> So, this Area-51 desktop is actually the quietest desktop we've ever made.
Savannah Peterson
>> Wow.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And don't get me wrong, we can make it be very loud, but it won't ever need to be loud because it manages thermals that well.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Now what's new, in November of '25, which just passed, we debuted AMD Rising Processors. And then in 2026, we're also going to be launching new AMD processors as well. So, this is all about our efforts in delivering to our customers what they ask us for. And that's pretty much the narrative for all of our products today, which we're really excited about. But that's the short and sweet for everything.
Savannah Peterson
>> Well, actually you mentioned the customer feedback loop. What does that process look like for y'all? How are you getting your feedback?
Lisa Matrasko
>> Well, there's a number of ways that we get feedback. We get it from our community. So, we have some different ways that people can give us feedback through Alienware Arena, through our Discord, sometimes on our Twitch channel and our social handles. We always get that kind of feedback, but then we also go to events and have the opportunity to talk to actual gamers in person.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Face to face, yeah.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah, which is great feedback. We do focus groups and surveys as well. And like Eddy said, I think some of the feedback we've heard is, why does my PC sound like it's ready to take off? Why is it... Right. And then the AMD thing came up a lot. People were like, "If I prefer AMD, how can I get a system like this that's top of the line with AMD?" And we've listened.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yep. Yeah, yeah. And that's what it's been about for us for our entire career.
Savannah Peterson
>> And you would know.
Eddy Goyanes
>> For the whole brand's career, right?
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Paying attention, paying attention. And that feedback loop has changed over the years, but however that changes, we also make ourselves be present in all these instances. So, definitely in the community and definitely in social, but also our partners, right? Our external partners, members of the press like yourselves, are we talking to you guys? We get a sense for the things that you guys want to see as well, our analyst community, and like you mentioned, also hiring studies as well. And making sure that we get feedback not just from one country, but from various countries throughout, to make sure that we're getting the right feedback everywhere.
Savannah Peterson
>> That's a really good point. I can imagine gaming culture varies quite a bit.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Sure.
Savannah Peterson
>> Sure. Yeah. And so, okay. I'll say this. This will actually make your team happy as well. When I think of Alienware, I think of cool. One of the first words that come to mind is cool, and I think that anyone in gaming associates it with being premium and cool. And you've somehow managed to do this for three decades now, maintaining brand relevance with the kind of, and I'll say it, borderline cult-like obsession that people have with Alienware products, in a great way. I mean, it's a thing. It's a whole energy. How do you keep that up?
Eddy Goyanes
>> Oh, man. So many ways to answer this question.
Lisa Matrasko
>> I would say, number one, going back to, we listen to what people have to say and what they tell us. We want to know how they're using their systems and what's important to them. I would also say our ever evolving designs too. Our engineering design group does a fantastic job of coming up with what you see today, the design of the desktop, our laptops.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's always been a bit like that.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Right. We're trying to keep it cool and interesting. Blending in when you want to, but standing out when you are ready to scream, "Hey, I'm a gamer." Right? Everybody wants to let their little gamer flag fly. So yeah, it's great.
Eddy Goyanes
>> I couldn't agree more. That's so true. So, things have changed over the years. I mean, in the '90s, it was hard to build a PC. You had to be really intelligent to know how to piece things together.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yes.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And that was part of the mission for Alienware at its early roots is, hey, how do we make this real easy for gamers and figure it out for them, and then give them an experience that we would want built for ourselves? And then over the years, just how do we solve the problems that gamers are facing with each new product launch, right? So, we tackle different ideas along the way and there were a lot of firsts along the way, right? So, we were the first to have upgradable components on a laptop. We were the first to have liquid cooling on a desktop that could be shipped. There's so many firsts along the way.
Savannah Peterson
>> Which is so impressive, just a sidebar. Yeah. The level of innovation that has to happen to make that possible is crazy.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Keep pushing. Keep pushing that bar all the time. I mean, and then today's laptops, the ones that we have now, I would say feel the best, right? So, the team did a lot of work around the ergonomics. So, everything from what it feels like to open the lid, to holding the system, to having your palm set on it, all these things matter because they're part of your whole experience. So, there's innovation not only from a performance side, but in the ergonomics and the usage, in the lights, in the paint job, there's so much.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's a holistic experience, I think, too. You've thought about it all from even from the chair to the mouse to the headset, to the laptop, to the desktop, to whatever it might be. You've considered your gamer every step of the way, and it shows. It really does show. So, where are we going in 2026? I know there's some exciting stuff. I know some of it we can't talk about a lot, but can you give us a little bit of the vision direction?
Lisa Matrasko
>> I would say definitely leaning into, again, we've heard what people have had to say. So, on the 2026 laptops, you'll see on the 16X Aurora and the 16 Area-51 laptops, a new OLED panel that is anti-glare, anti-reflective, fast refresh rate, 240 hertz with a 0.2 millisecond versus our LCDs that was three milliseconds. It's just a really beautiful experience. We haven't had OLED on an Alienware laptop in a while. So it's been, I think nine or 10 years, I think, was what we were calculating.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Oh my gosh. I'd have to go back and look at my yearbook.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Is the 13 inch, right?
Eddy Goyanes
>> That sounds accurate to me.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah. So, it's been a while.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah. I have a few slides back on my work system that have the anthology of all the laptops we've ever had.
Savannah Peterson
>> Oh, I love that.
Eddy Goyanes
>> I call it the yearbook, but yeah.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's a little museum. It's an archive. That's cool.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Eddy's kind of our Alienware archive is when it comes to what was that system and Eddy remembers all of those things.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Thanks. Yeah.
Savannah Peterson
>> Well no, it can be cool. Y'all had that old computer from the early days at the showcase last year that was really fun.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah. It's clearly you cherish your history.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yes, yes, because that was for the debut of the Area 51. So, we wanted to show how much Area-51 has evolved.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Where we started.
Savannah Peterson
>> It's cool.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And there are a few consistent features along the way. So, we always made sure that we were able to deliver the highest end performance to make sure that whatever game you play, you could play them to the best of its ability, right? To the highest caliber that the developer ever intended. And that was always true for every Area-51. Thermals were also always a big deal. So, along the way, we had innovative approaches to thermal. So, the previous Area-51, I'm not sure if you recall, was in that triangular, it was called the Triad Chassis, and that chassis had air coming in diagonally, and then it would exhaust in the other, it was kind of like a V, air in and then air out. So, thermals was always a deep consideration, performance was a deep consideration, and upgradability has also been a deep consideration for Area-51. And then last but not least, the iconic design, right? Something that really stands out that is easily identifiable as Alienware has always been part of that Area-51 mission. So, we're really proud then. We're still proud. And 2026, like Lisa mentioned, we're bringing these proof points like A&D and OLED, which were things that gamers have been asking us for. And then, you're going to see our portfolio offer more options that are going to attract even more gamers from different walks of life. So, I'm not sure....
Savannah Peterson
>> Bringing up a new class of gamer into the Alienware fold. Is that what I'm hearing?
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah. We're really excited to expand the offering, right?
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Lisa Matrasko
>> And being able to appeal to different types of gamers, gamers of different levels, different key focuses, things like that. People prioritize different things when it comes to their gaming system. And so, we're excited to be able to expand our offering to include everybody.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah, I love that.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And then, there's also like first time gamers.
Savannah Peterson
>> Right.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Or first time PC owners, and they need a starting point.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> So, you'll see a new starting point from Alienware, right, which is pretty exciting as well.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah. It is super exciting. I'm curious, for both of you, because you just brought it up, Lisa, what are your priorities as a gamer? What do you need from your system? Lisa, I'll start with you and then we'll go to Eddy.
Lisa Matrasko
>> I would say, I am not a super hardcore gamer. I play games like Diablo Four, but I also...
Eddy Goyanes
>> She is totally a hardcore gamer.
Lisa Matrasko
>> I am not. But I also, I like to-
Eddy Goyanes
>> Wow....
Lisa Matrasko
>> play games like Stardew Valley, right? Give me something nice and cozy. I like games where I can go beat up some monsters, but then I can go farm my cute little town farm and relax and chill out. So, I play kind of a diverse offering of games. So, I'm definitely kind of the more middle ground. And I mean, I love it. It's an escape. And I think that's what people really love about gaming is like, it's a fun place to just kind of get away from all of this stuff and lose yourself for a while.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah, absolutely. Eddy, what about you? What style game are you?
Eddy Goyanes
>> Well, I'm not sure if I could... Can I start riffing games with the two?
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah. Yeah, yeah. I'm asking you personal preference.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Well yeah, sure. Doom Darkest is playing. It's running on my personal account, which is fine. But yeah, I beat that game to completion. I 100% did that game in nightmare mode. I'm a big Doom fan. Basically anything that comes from the Id family is amazing to me. So, Quake and Doom are awesome. Right now I'm playing Battlefield 6 and I love it.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah, good times. Yes.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah. So, I guess I do engage in the first person experience a whole lot more. I recently picked up ARC Raiders, but I don't have too much time in it yet, so I'm checking that out a little bit.
Lisa Matrasko
>> It's a fun game.
Eddy Goyanes
>> But for me, I like to get immersed in the game and I find... And I also played at Diablo Four.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes, we did. We actually played together on our stream.
Eddy Goyanes
>> That was fun.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> So, Diablo Four is great. And yeah, those are the games I've been playing in the most recent timeframe. I played Indiana Jones a little bit as well.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes.
Eddy Goyanes
>> That was really cool.
Lisa Matrasko
>> It's so good.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah. I mean, I'm a big Indiana Jones fan. Gen X, what's up? So it's, yeah, a lot of the franchises that take me deep. And then Battlefield 6 is just, I guess, different for me because actually I remember when I started working at Alienware, a lot of the team members that existed there, they were all kind of battlefield fans at the time. I forget which battlefield was, I think it was Battlefield 2042, something like that. I forget.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Back in the day.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And we would all play after hours, after work.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes.
Savannah Peterson
>> I was going to ask. That was literally my next question, .
Lisa Matrasko
>> Although you will let... Now, I mean, Alienware's made up of gamers, a majority of us game. So sometimes, especially when we're at events, sometimes after the event closes, we'll hang out in our Alienware Mobile Gaming Lounge and some of us will play League of Legends together, right? Yeah. It's just-
Savannah Peterson
>> Because why not?...
Lisa Matrasko
>> Because yeah, we get together and we have fun. We have a great team. We enjoy what we do.
Eddy Goyanes
>> It's true.
Lisa Matrasko
>> We enjoy each other. We all get along really well and it's gaming that brings us together.
Eddy Goyanes
>> We have our own Discord. We have a private Discord just for our employees.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yep.
Savannah Peterson
>> Y'all really are, you're a little .
Eddy Goyanes
>> We meet up for games.
Lisa Matrasko
>> I like to think we're cool.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah, yeah. So, it's really cool because even teams, we have our own separate chats as well. So, yeah, actually we're really happy about the way that... And I'm very happy about the way Dell has handled Alienware over the past more than a decade now, actually, because we've been able to continue developing and growing our brand and growing our products, and that's really cool. So, I'm really, really proud about it. And the people, right, the people in our team, like Lisa's talking about, make a huge difference.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yeah. I feel like we also, when we get together, we can challenge each other and talk about what would be great on a new product and challenge those ideas like, "Why would we do that? Why not do this? Or what about this thing that I keep hearing from people?" And it's great because everybody's... You can have these passionate conversations and they can-
Eddy Goyanes
>> Lots of passion....
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes. But in the end, it's all about the end result, like, what does the customer want? What does the gamer want? The person who's going to sit in front of this computer, we talked before, who's the end user for this and how are they going to experience it? And trying to figure out ways to do that. And I feel like we are doing that with the evolution of these products that we're going to be offering in 2026 that I'm really excited that we can't really talk about right now, but I'm really excited to talk about more next year.
Savannah Peterson
>> What's one thing, if someone is just waking up today and has never heard of Alienware, what's one thing you wish the world knew about Alienware that they might not?
Eddy Goyanes
>> Oh, I got to answer.
Savannah Peterson
>> Go for it. Eddy, no...
Lisa Matrasko
>> I was going to say breadth of products, but something for everybody, but you, please.
Eddy Goyanes
>> So, in 2025, we debuted something called Alienware Elite Care.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Oh, yes.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And that is a very unique service offering where you have access to support folks, which are, they're gamers themselves. They're trained in gaming, and so you're being handled by professionals that know how to repair and address your issues that are also gamers. And doing that at the scale of Dell? Yeah, I think a lot of people don't realize how hard that is, but we got it down and that's probably my favorite thing in the last two years.
Lisa Matrasko
>> I would say Elite Care is amazing. It is award-winning. A lot of people have spent
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah, they win awards.
Savannah Peterson
>> I don't think I knew about that, so I'm glad you said it, genuinely.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Yeah, it did. It did.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Yes. So it's, like Eddy said, having people who are gamers, who understand these systems and what the expectations of the end user are, I think that's really important. Having that is, I think, a step-up and helpful for customers that they can reach out and get gaming specific like, "Hey, this is my gaming PC." It's not a standard consumer PC. I have a different level of issue because we have discrete graphics because of the thermals that we have packed in there and all of the nuances that go with the gaming system versus your standard consumer system.
Eddy Goyanes
>> And with Elite Care, you get 24/7 support, you get onsite service, you get even accidental coverage, right? So, there's so many perks that are part of that package that are just meant to reassure you.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Because it's an investment. When you buy one of these PCs-
Savannah Peterson
>> It absolutely is....
Eddy Goyanes
>> It's...
Savannah Peterson
>> Well, and it's great to know someone who, not just understanding the hardware inside, but understanding the use case or where you might be driving with your intended outcome so that they can troubleshoot it even if you're not quite sure how to describe what's going on or whatever's happening. Wow. Eddy, Lisa, this has been absolutely fantastic. Thank you both so much.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Thank you so much, for sure.
Lisa Matrasko
>> Thank you.
Eddy Goyanes
>> Good times.
Savannah Peterson
>> Yeah, this was super fun. And thank all of you for tuning in to our exclusive coverage of Dell at CES 2026. My name's Savannah Peterson. You're watching theCUBE, the leading source for enterprise tech news.
