Alienware Aurora R8
The perfect entry into high-end gaming.
Simply put, the Alienware Aurora R8 is a beast of a computer. Keeping its predecessor’s understated yet gaming-centric design, and filling it up with more powerful components like 9th-generation Intel processors and discrete Nvidia graphics, this new model is certainly an appealing upgrade. It should be able to handle the wants and desires of any gamer out there.
The Alienware Aurora R8 sets you back a hefty $3,000 or more. However, it might not be outrageous for what you get when you add in all the bells and whistles. This gaming desktop PC is very customisable and upgradable, which definitely eases the pain of its price tag. It comes with a software that is well-implemented, as well as an easy to access chassis for the tinkerers out there. And, for the ultimate immersion, it boasts
RGB lighting.
Still, is it worth shelling out all that money on, especially with more affordable yet equally powerful alternatives out there? We think it is. We’ve put the Alienware Aurora R8 through its paces and, if you’re looking for a high-end gaming PC, we think you’ll want to take a deeper look at what it can do.
Design
Sleek, simple, understated – these are all perfect descriptions of the Alienware Aurora R8’s design. And, while it doesn’t reinvent the Aurora line aesthetic, its look does take the mid-tower design and gives it an attractive gray on black look. It also implements RGB lighting in a way that makes it appealing for gamers without going over the top. The Alienware logo and power button lights up as well as three lines that shoot out from the center of each side panel, all of which can be customised.
One of the gray side panels can be easily removed to get into the chassis. Though Dell markets the PC as having tool-less access, we did have to remove a screw to get inside. With that said, hard drives, the GPU, RAM and extra slots are all tool-less, making this a very easy computer to get into and upgrade.
The computer is also fairly future proof. Even if you get the base model, you can always upgrade to that Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti later. Or you can upgrade to 64GB of RAM – most computers still come stock with 8GB or 16GB for brawnier gaming computers. Our chassis has two extra slots for extra peripherals, like hard drives,
The Alienware logo and power button lights up as well as three lines that shoot out from the center of each side panel, all of which can be customised.
on top of the two that come with the machine.
Performance
The performance of the Alienware Aurora R8 is no joke. While the base model will probably be adequate for running AAA games, you’ll probably need to adjust the settings a little when exploring the jungles of Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the countryside of The Witcher 3 or tackling any graphics hungry game.
With our souped-up model, however, 1080p gaming was a breeze with the only issue being screen tearing, because our monitors couldn’t always keep up – easily fixed with v-sync or plugging into a monitor with a higher refresh rate. The Intel Core i7 and 32GB of RAM are not even the highest selectable options but are more than enough to run most AAA games at around 60 frames per second (fps) or more. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, for example, plays at an impressive 117 fps on Ultra settings on 1080p.
You may see some issues if you’re trying to push the computer to the limit and implement either ray tracing, a very new technology only available on a handful of games, or run at a higher resolution. We saw some frame rate drops when using ray tracing on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. And, while running games at 1440p still brought very respectable results, at 4K, games like Far Cry 5 and Hitman 2 couldn’t muster 60 fps (27 and 40 fps on Ultra, respectively). However, Shadow of the Tomb Raider still came in just under 60 fps on 4k at a respectable 56 fps, though we still experienced some frame drops.
It should be noted that even under duress, the fans don’t get obnoxiously loud and the computer doesn’t generate too much heat, even in a hot apartment. This is a nice surprise, especially considering how close we are to the processor (CPU) and the fact we usually used speakers instead of headphones. If you do change the fan settings to run at full blast, then they do get obnoxious. However, you have to change their settings in the Alienware Command Center to get to that point.
Software
The main piece of software that Alienware offers as a unique feature with its desktops is the Alienware Command Center. And, while you really only have this app for most of your software customisation, it is a pretty comprehensive program.
It scans every game you have installed on the computer and makes it accessible through the Command Center, saving you a few clicks through Steam or wherever you’ve downloaded games from. Not only can you launch these games here, you can customise thermals, power, audio recon and RGB lighting profiles per game so that when you run Shadow of the Tomb Raider, the computer can light up completely differently than running Resident Evil 2 or Hitman 2.
The only other program that should be mentioned here is the Killer Control Center which allows the user to control network settings to boost or prioritise bandwidth for online gaming, downloads and the like.
While the souped-up Alienware Aurora R8 can cost a pretty penny, it more than delivers. It’s packed with the latest and greatest from Intel and Nvidia for a high-end gaming experience that blazes through any AAA game you can throw at it. Michelle Rae Uy