Sorry if cross-posting from the Alienware fanclub forum is rude, but I'm unsure that my previous post was in the right location to get a fast answer.
I need two technical answers which can't be found via simple web searches because all Alienware models appear to have similar names (which is rather a pain). I have a 1-week-old crazy-pyramid-case Area-51 R2 model...
#1) Are Intel VT-x virtualization features already enabled in the A01 BIOS? If not, there's currently no way to enable virtualization in the BIOS, which is a deal breaker for me. I need Win8 Hyper-V features for my work but I can't enable them. Either Dell has crippled the CPU virtualization via BIOS/motherboard, or I must upgrade from Win8.1 to Win8.1 Pro Pak to get access to Hyper-V. I need to decide fast which is the problem.
#2) I want to add a simple mirrored RAID-1 for data. However, my A01 BIOS does NOT offer any RAID options. I'm pretty sure Dell offers a RAID option for the Area-51 R2 models. So how did Dell do this? Do they add a separate RAID controller card? That seems cost inefficient. There is no SATA options under the "Advanced > Integrated Devices" menu. Is there a secret key-combo or handshake to find the RAID setup in the A01 BIOS?
If I can't get the Hyper-V, then I'll have no choice but to return the computer. The RAID-1 is less critical but there's really no excuse for it not to be easy to configure in the BIOS. The A01 BIOS is about 7 months old. Shouldn't a new version be rolling out pretty soon?
Thanks in advance!