Alienware Aurora R16 (2025) overview – a trendy gaming PC that wants a greater CPU

Hats off to whoever designed the Alienware Aurora R16 case – from the enduring light-up alien head that doubles as an influence button, to the smouldering ring of sunshine behind the entrance panel, this curvy, space-age chassis actually appears to be like the half, and it is well-made too. Dell is equipping its new Aurora PCs with the newest Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 GPUs as properly, and our pattern comes with an RTX 5070 Ti, which is without doubt one of the higher playing cards from the brand new Blackwell lineup.

With a super-cool case and a good GPU, this Alienware rig is already trying like an apparent contender for our best gaming PC information. There are just a few areas that maintain it again from greatness, nevertheless, together with an odd selection of CPU for a gaming machine, and a surprisingly messy inside that is at odds with the clear design of the case. I have been utilizing the Alienware Aurora for just a few weeks now, and I’ve examined it in a load of video games, in addition to benchmarking its rendering efficiency, and taking it aside to see what makes it tick.

Specs

Subsequent, we come to the oddity on this PC’s specs record, which is the Intel Core Extremely 7 265KF CPU. The F on the tip of the identify means that is mainly a 265K, however with the built-in GPU disabled, which is ok contemplating this PC features a separate GPU. As you possibly can see in my Core Ultra 7 265K review, I used to be lower than enamored by this chip with regards to gaming efficiency, though I used to be impressed by its low energy draw and multi-threaded tempo in rendering software program. It is an odd selection for a gaming PC, although – if I have been in Dell’s footwear, I might be trying to equipment out the newest Alienware Aurora machines with AMD X3D CPUs as a substitute, as they are much faster in video games.

The CPU’s temperature is saved in examine with one other great-looking piece of substances from the Alienware arsenal, which is a 240mm AIO cooler, which has the radiator mounted within the roof of the case. An eerie glow emanates from the underside of the pump block, which naturally has an alien head on the highest of it as properly. You should purchase lower-spec Alienware Aurora machines with simply an air cooler, however choosing the 265KF CPU in your order requires you to additionally spend an additional $50 on this liquid cooler. It appears to be like nice and runs quietly, although, and does a good job of holding the 265KF cool.

One other odd inclusion is a lowly 1TB of space for storing, which is unusually provided on an M.2 2230 SSD. It is a Micron PCIe 4.0 mannequin, and the efficiency is not unhealthy (I measured a prime sequential learn velocity of 6,264MB/s in CrystalDiskMark), however 1TB is not sufficient space for storing on a PC at this value, particularly when the newest sport installs are so big. It prices an additional $100 to improve to a 2TB SSD at buy (or, bizarrely, an additional £150 within the UK), however you do at the very least have room so as to add your personal selection from our best gaming SSD shopping for information at a later date – you would possibly get an M.2 2230 drive by default, but it surely’s put in in a 2280 slot, and there is one other empty 2280 M.2 slot proper subsequent to it as properly.

All of the gear is linked to an own-brand Alienware micro-ATX motherboard, which is fairly fundamental when it comes to frills, with no RGB lighting or fancy heatsinks, and it solely has two reminiscence slots too. Nevertheless, it does use Intel’s top-end Z890 chipset, enabling you to overclock the CPU in order for you. I additionally actually like its easy-access format, the place all of the M.2 slots are simply accessible subsequent to the reminiscence slots, so that you need not take away your graphics card if you wish to set up a brand new SSD. The 2 reminiscence slot limitation is not a large difficulty both, as we suggest solely utilizing two reminiscence slots at a time to get peak efficiency in a gaming PC.

The motherboard additionally helps USB 4 through a USB-C port on the again, that means you possibly can plug in a high-speed storage machine, and there are additionally two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Sort-C ports (one on the entrance and one on the again). Different key options within the spec embrace a Killer 2.5Gbps Ethernet adaptor, supplying you with a high-speed community choice that may additionally work with older Gigabit networks, and also you additionally get an Intel Wi-Fi 7 adapter offered on an M.2 card, so you’ve the newest Wi-Fi tech as properly.

Lastly, a 1,000W PSU powers the entire kaboodle, which is a lot for this spec, and it has an 80 Plus Platinum ranking too, which is top-tier effectivity, that means it’ll reduce the quantity of energy it attracts from the mains to be able to energy your PC.design” class=”site_jumplink” identify=”design“/>

design

As I discussed in the beginning of this overview, on the skin, the Alienware Aurora’s case has an important aesthetic design. Though it is clearly engineered for large-scale mass manufacturing, it nonetheless appears to be like nice, notably with the brilliant RGB lighting surrounding the oval between the entrance of the inside and the entrance panel. The truth that the alien head on the entrance doubles as the facility button can also be a neat little contact, and I really like the case’s curves across the edges.

It is a well-built and stable case too, with chunky, thick plastic used to create the outside, and whereas the left-hand aspect panel’s window is produced from perspex reasonably than tempered glass, it does present a trendy view of the inside. The metallic mesh and hexagonal vents on the backside additionally present some room for the graphics card to breathe, and permit the sunshine from the graphics card’s GeForce brand to spill out of the aspect.

Personally, I might reasonably have a full tempered glass aspect panel and a premium metallic chassis to accommodate a PC at this value, however at the very least you get some air flow via the aspect panel, and the case does nonetheless look good. The chassis is far smaller than your common full-size case, too – it measures simply 16.46 inches tall, with a depth of simply 18.05 inches – it is positively dwarfed by the Fractal design Outline R6 that normally sits on my desk.

Entry to the inside is simple as properly – you merely unfasten a single screw on the again to launch a block, which you’ll be able to then pull again to launch the aspect panel. Comparable consideration to element has been paid to the graphics card, which is securely anchored to the chassis in a number of locations to forestall it from sagging. It slides into the entrance with a set of rails and is then clamped in place by a block that is detachable by undoing a single screw.

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On the draw back, nevertheless, the graphics card cabling is a proper mess. Alienware has put in a 2 x 8-pin adapter to go between the PSU and the 16-pin energy plug on the graphics card, and left the cabling on prime of the cardboard, the place it appears to be like like an eyesore via the aspect panel. It would not assist that the cable setup is ugly too, with particular person black wires wrapped in messy sleeving that solely covers part of the wiring, and that are then clipped to a bracket in entrance of the consumption fan.

You may see a equally messy nest of black wires in the event you look down behind the entrance of the graphics card too, and whereas a lot of the opposite cables are at the very least routed across the again of the motherboard, that is one space the place some extra cautious thought of cable routing may have made all of the distinction. It is a far cry from the tidy sleeved PSU cables with cautious routing that you simply usually see from impartial system builders.

It is also value taking into account that there are not any different PCIe growth slots accessible on the motherboard, because the graphics card takes up a lot house. As with the reminiscence slots, although, this is not a lot of a problem when the entire foremost options, corresponding to audio, networking, Wi-Fi, and USB 4, are already lined by the motherboard.

Lastly, I am actually impressed by how little noise is generated by this PC, even when it is operating at full load – you possibly can barely hear it while you’re taking part in video games. The 240mm AIO cooler within the roof does an important job, although it is also helped by the low-temperature operation of the Intel CPU. In any other case, there’s only one fan within the entrance, and a glowing RGB fan within the again, with the vents within the aspect panel, and the hole between the stable entrance panel and the mesh behind it additionally offering room for airflow.

Nevertheless, there’s additionally an issue with the Alienware software program, which is that it really works as an overlay in video games, whereas demanding unique display screen use, which I discovered restricted my decision choices. For instance, in Name of Responsibility Black Ops 6, I used to be solely capable of play the sport at 3,840 x 2,160 (my take a look at monitor’s native decision), with all the opposite monitor choices unavailable. It wasn’t till I shut down the Alienware software program that I may allow full-screen unique mode in Black Ops 6 and choose totally different resolutions.

Because of the RTX 5070 Ti on graphics obligation, the Alienware Aurora delivers some nice body charges, even with excessive settings and ray tracing enabled. Let’s begin with Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle, which is a grand graphical showcase that is famend for punishing graphics playing cards, notably if they do not have sufficient VRAM. The RTX 4070 Ti struggles on this sport at prime settings, however the 5070 Ti on this machine may fortunately run at 4K with the Extremely preset at a mean of 82fps, together with a stable 1% low of 70fps and latency of 27ms. Drop all the way down to 1440p on the identical settings, and also you’re taking a look at a mean of 125fps, and a super-low latency of simply 19ms.

For those who drop all the way down to 1,920 x 1,080, you possibly can even run this sport on the brutally demanding Full RT path tracing settings maxed out, and the Supreme preset enabled. You may have to allow DLSS upscaling on the High quality setting to do that, however this nonetheless appears to be like good, and it averages 67fps with a 53fps 1% low. That offers you adequate headroom to allow multi-frame gen, the place it then averages 181fps. On the draw back, the latency then will increase from 35ms to 48ms, which begins to really feel unresponsive while you’re in a fist battle.

Cyberpunk 2077 works properly on this rig too. With the Extremely ray tracing preset enabled at 1440p, and DLSS (Transformer) on the High quality setting, the sport appears to be like incredible, and it fortunately averages 83fps with a stable 51fps 1% low. Once more, that offers you some headroom to allow multi body gen, the place it hits 254fps, and whereas the latency solely will increase from 33ms to 39ms, it nonetheless feels easily playable.

In the meantime, Doom The Darkish Ages fortunately runs at 83fps with a 1% low of 65fps on the Extremely Nightmare preset with 27ms latency. For those who allow DLSS on the High quality setting, you possibly can then push these body charges as much as 112fps and 88fps respectively, and the sport nonetheless appears to be like incredible, whereas the latency drops to 21ms. Enabling multi-frame gen then nets you an outrageous common of 285fps, and the latency solely will increase to 31ms – an important end result. You may even run this sport at 4K with DLSS on the High quality setting, the place it averages 71fps with a 57fps 1% low, and latency of 30ms. Enabling multi-frame gen, then pushes up the common to 192fps, however the latency additionally then will increase to a noticeable 43ms.

Lastly, Name of Responsibility Black Ops 6 benchmark can also be simply playable on the prime Excessive settings on this PC, the place it averages 124fps at 1440p with latency of simply 18ms and a 1% low of 96fps. It is even playable at 4K, the place it averages 83fps, and the latency solely goes as much as 25ms.

Whereas these are all respectable body charges, although, they’d be even quicker if Alienware had used a greater gaming CPU on this construct. Curious to see the distinction, I took out the graphics card on this machine, and benchmarked it in a number of the identical video games on our Ryzen 7 7800X3D take a look at rig, which, for the file, additionally has slower (6,000MT/s) reminiscence than the Alienware machine.

As you possibly can see within the graph above, there is a stark distinction between a number of the outcomes, and never simply at low resolutions. On the 7800X3D machine, Cyberpunk 2077 averages 94fps at 1440p with DLSS on the High quality setting, with a extremely stable 1% low of 72fps – an enormous soar from the 83fps and 51fps from the 265KF within the Alienware, notably with regards to the 1% low, which is when the body fee drops to its lowest ranges.

The distinction is much less pronounced in Black Ops 6, but it surely’s nonetheless evident, with the 7800X3D being 5fps faster at 1440p, and 11fps quicker at 1080p. There is a comparable distinction in Doom The Darkish Ages as properly, with the 7800X3D machine being 4-5fps quicker than the Alienware rig.

Within the curiosity of equity, it is also value declaring that the 265KF was really barely faster than the 7800X3D in Indiana Jones and the Nice Circle with regards to averages, however the AMD CPU nonetheless had quicker 1% lows. Even so, in many of the video games, the AMD CPU is faster throughout the board, typically by an enormous margin – that is only a 7800X3D as properly; the brand new 9800X3D and 9950X3D can be even quicker. That is an issue that Alienware can simply clear up – if it needs to make a quick gaming PC, AMD has the higher CPUs for that job proper now.

What the 265KF does have, nevertheless, is a great deal of cores, with eight P-Cores and 16 E-Cores including as much as a complete of 24. I ran Cinebench R24 to get an thought of the way it performs in multi-threaded workloads, and it scored a large results of 1,911, whereas the entire PC solely drew 282W from the mains. Comparatively, the eight-core 7800X3D solely scores 1,059 on this take a look at, whereas the 9800X3D hits 1,361, so that is an space the place the Intel chip excels.

The Alienware Aurora value begins at $2,299.99 / £2,148.98 for the bottom spec, which varies between areas. It prices $2,349.99 / £2,498.99 for the spec we reviewed, with a Core Extremely 7 265KF CPU, 6,400MT/s reminiscence, and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti graphics card. That is typically a stable spec, and the US value is in the appropriate ballpark. As some extent of comparability, spending the same price at iBuyPower will purchase you a Core Extremely 7 265K and 5070 Ti machine, and the identical RAM, however with a Hyte Y40 case and a 2TB SSD. The iBuyPower gives higher worth right here, however the Alienware value is not one million miles away.

Within the UK, nevertheless, the £2,498.99 value for this spec makes little sense, as GPUs are typically less expensive within the UK in the meanwhile than within the US. As some extent of comparability, you should buy a liquid-cooled 265K machine with an RTX 5070 Ti and 32GB of 6,000MT/s DDR5 RAM from Scan for just £2,049.98, and once more that comes with a 2TB SSD. It may not have the Alienware case, but it surely’s nonetheless a smart-looking machine with very comparable specs. As such, it is solely actually value contemplating shopping for the Alienware Aurora within the UK if it is on supply, or if the worth comes down.

There’s rather a lot to love concerning the newest Alienware Aurora, from the super-cool RGB lighting to the classy-looking, easy-access chassis. The GPU in our overview configuration can also be nice, providing top-tier 1440p gaming efficiency, in addition to the power to play some video games at 4K, and with its 16GB of VRAM giving the GPU sufficient headroom to breathe. The small desktop footprint, airflow design, and low-noise operation additionally work in its favor.

Nevertheless, Alienware must query its loyalty to Intel in the meanwhile, notably with regards to gaming PCs. As I’ve demonstrated, even a last-gen AMD X3D CPU is quicker than the Intel Core Extremely 7 265KF used on this Alienware system in video games. It might be a a lot simpler suggestion with a 9800X3D in it, or a 9950X3D in order for you a system that may deal with each gaming and closely multi-threaded workloads. In the meantime, the slapdash cable tidying reveals a scarcity of consideration to element within the construct.

For those who choose to purchase your PC from a recognized, established model corresponding to Alienware, backed by the would possibly of Dell, then it is a handsome machine with a good GPU and a few neat design touches. The CPU might be higher for gaming, sure, however this machine can nonetheless play the newest video games at respectable settings, and the CPU’s 24 cores are nice for multi-threaded workloads too.

Nevertheless, the Aurora can also be costly for the gear on supply, notably within the UK, the place you may get a really comparable spec for a a lot cheaper price from an impartial system builder. Dell repeatedly has gross sales and reductions accessible on its PCs and laptops, and I might look out for a proposal reasonably than paying full value for this machine.

In brief, it is a respectable PC in the event you just like the look of Alienware gear and also you need to purchase from a longtime model, but it surely may actually do with a greater CPU for gaming, and you may get a greater spec for much less cash elsewhere.

For those who’re trying to full your PC gaming setup as soon as you’ve got chosen a brand new rig, be sure to additionally try our information to purchasing the best gaming monitor, in addition to our best gaming headset information, the place we take you thru all our favourite choices proper now at a spread of costs.

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