Alienware Aurora R16 (2025) review – a stylish gaming PC that needs a better CPU

Hats off to whoever designed the Alienware Aurora R16 case – from the long-lasting 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 the half, and it is well-made too. Dell is equipping its new Aurora PCs with the newest Nvidia GeForce RTX 5000 GPUs as nicely, and our pattern comes with an RTX 5070 Ti, which is among the higher playing cards from the brand new Blackwell lineup.

With a super-cool case and an honest GPU, this Alienware rig is already wanting like an apparent contender for our greatest gaming PC information. There are just a few areas that maintain it again from greatness, nonetheless, together with an odd alternative 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

Let’s begin with the most effective a part of the Alienware Aurora specs, which is the aforementioned GPU. In contrast to its predecessor, the 4070 Ti, the brand new RTX 5070 Ti comes with 16GB of GDDR7 VRAM, which is a lot for gaming at 2,560 x 1,440 and past, and the GPU is absolutely highly effective too. Based mostly on Nvidia’s newest Blackwell structure, this GPU additionally helps all the newest Nvidia DLSS 4 options, together with multi-frame gen, which might cleverly use AI to insert as much as three further frames after each one rendered by your GPU.

Though this characteristic is just actually helpful in case your beginning body fee is above 60fps within the first place, and it could actually additionally introduce a small quantity of enter lag, we have discovered that it could actually genuinely clean out your body fee when you’re utilizing a monitor with a excessive refresh fee. Both approach, it is a useful gizmo in your GPU’s field of methods – it will not repair a low body fee, however it could actually make a quick body fee look even smoother.

In the meantime, its 8,960 CUDA cores (extra are higher for fundamental gaming efficiency) imply it has a great leg-up in rendering energy in comparison with its predecessor, the 4070 Ti, which solely has 7,680 CUDA cores. What’s extra, the 5070 Ti additionally has a wider 256-bit reminiscence bus than the 192-bit bus on the 4070 Ti, which suggests it could actually switch information between the GPU and its reminiscence a lot faster, plus it has sooner GDDR7 reminiscence than the GDDR6X VRAM on the 4070 Ti. Certainly, the 5070 Ti’s whole reminiscence bandwidth of 896GB/s is not far off double the 504.2GB/s bandwidth of its predecessor.

Proper now, a 5070 Ti card will set you again $799.99 by itself, so that is the place a big a part of the price range is being spent. There’s nothing outstanding concerning the Dell 5070 Ti card equipped with this machine – it is a fundamental black card with a light-up GeForce emblem, three followers on it, and no overclocking, but it surely does offer you a terrific GPU and loads of VRAM.

One other respectable inclusion in our pattern is the 32GB of Kingston Fury reminiscence, which is equipped in a 2 x 16GB dual-channel equipment, operating at 3,200MHz (6,400MT/s efficient) with 44-40-40-80 timings. There is not any RGB lighting on the modules, however 32GB is an honest capability, they usually’re a lot quick sufficient for gaming too. Weirdly, nonetheless, choosing this reminiscence equipment provides an enormous $150 to the price of this PC, which comes with a fundamental 32GB 5,200MT/s equipment as customary. At these costs, I would keep on with the 5,200MT/s equipment – the improve to the 6400MT/s reminiscence should not price any greater than an additional $100.

Subsequent, we come to the oddity on this PC’s specs listing, 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 okay contemplating this PC features a separate GPU. As you possibly can see in my Core Extremely 7 265K assessment, I used to be lower than enamored by this chip in relation 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 alternative for a gaming PC, although – if I had been in Dell’s footwear, I would 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 drugs 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 nicely. 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 nice and runs quietly, although, and does an honest job of retaining the 265KF cool.

One other odd inclusion is a lowly 1TB of space for storing, which is surprisingly equipped on an M.2 2230 SSD. It is a Micron PCIe 4.0 mannequin, and the efficiency is not unhealthy (I measured a high sequential learn pace of 6,264MB/s in CrystalDiskMark), however 1TB is not sufficient space for storing on a PC at this worth, particularly when the newest recreation installs are so enormous. 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 least have room so as to add your personal alternative from our greatest gaming SSD shopping for information at a later date – you may 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 nicely.

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. Nonetheless, it does use Intel’s top-end Z890 chipset, enabling you to overclock the CPU if you would like. I additionally actually like its easy-access structure, the place all of the M.2 slots are simply accessible subsequent to the reminiscence slots, so that you needn’t take away your graphics card if you wish to set up a brand new SSD. The 2 reminiscence slot limitation is not an enormous concern both, as we advocate solely utilizing two reminiscence slots at a time to get peak efficiency in a gaming PC.

The motherboard additionally helps USB 4 by way of a USB-C port on the again, which means you possibly can plug in a high-speed storage gadget, 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 embody a Killer 2.5Gbps Ethernet adaptor, providing 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 will have the newest Wi-Fi tech as nicely.

Lastly, a 1,000W PSU powers the entire kaboodle, which is a lot for this spec, and it has an 80 Plus Platinum score too, which is top-tier effectivity, which means it’ll reduce the quantity of energy it attracts from the mains with a purpose to energy your PC.

Design

As I discussed at the beginning of this assessment, on the skin, the Alienware Aurora’s case has a terrific aesthetic design. Though it is clearly engineered for large-scale mass manufacturing, it nonetheless appears nice, notably with the intense 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 strong case too, with chunky, thick plastic used to create the outside, and whereas the left-hand facet panel’s window is constituted of perspex relatively than tempered glass, it does present a classy view of the inside. The steel 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 emblem to spill out of the facet.

Personally, I would relatively have a full tempered glass facet panel and a premium steel chassis to deal with a PC at this worth, however at the least you get some air flow via the facet 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 straightforward as nicely – 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 facet panel. Related 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.

On the draw back, nonetheless, 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 high of the cardboard, the place it appears like an eyesore via the facet panel. It does 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’ll be able to see a equally messy nest of black wires when you look down behind the entrance of the graphics card too, and whereas a lot of the opposite cables are at the least routed across the again of the motherboard, that is one space the place some extra cautious considered 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 typically see from unbiased system builders.

It is also value taking into account that there aren’t any different PCIe enlargement 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 all the primary options, equivalent to audio, networking, Wi-Fi, and USB 4, are already coated 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 once you’re enjoying video games. The 240mm AIO cooler within the roof does a terrific 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 facet panel, and the hole between the strong entrance panel and the mesh behind it additionally offering room for airflow.

Options

The Alienware Aurora is not filled with RGB lighting like some garish gaming PCs, however what’s there’s slickly managed. There’s mainly an RGB exhaust fan, the sunshine from the AIO cooler, and the big mild on the entrance of the case, they usually’re all managed by Alienware’s software program.

Even when you do not tweak the software program, although, the defaults have some neat touches. I liked the truth that they flip yellow once you load Cyberpunk 2077, for instance, they usually additionally change to a beige mud coloration once you load Doom The Darkish Ages. You can even customise the lighting utilizing the AlienFX software program system, which provides varied totally different patterns and coloration selections to match your setup.

The software program additionally allows you to monitor the temperature and clock pace of your CPU and GPU, in addition to how a lot reminiscence and space for storing are getting used. You’ll be able to choose a number of totally different efficiency modes as nicely, with Quiet, Balanced, and Efficiency modes out there – by default, the Efficiency mode is robotically engaged once you hearth up a recreation, however you possibly can change the settings your self. I ran all my benchmarks on the Efficiency setting, however with overclocking disabled, and the machine was nonetheless remarkably quiet throughout testing.

Nonetheless, 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 Obligation Black Ops 6, I used to be solely in a position to play the sport at 3,840 x 2,160 (my check 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.

Benchmarks

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 recreation at high 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 strong 1% low of 70fps and latency of 27ms. Drop right down to 1440p on the similar settings, and also you’re a mean of 125fps, and a super-low latency of simply 19ms.

In case you drop right down to 1,920 x 1,080, you possibly can even run this recreation on the brutally demanding Full RT path tracing settings maxed out, and the Supreme preset enabled. You will must allow DLSS upscaling on the High quality setting to do that, however this nonetheless appears good, and it averages 67fps with a 53fps 1% low. That provides you sufficient 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 once you’re in a fist struggle.

Cyberpunk 2077 works nicely on this rig too. With the Extremely ray tracing preset enabled at 1440p, and DLSS (Transformer) on the High quality setting, the sport appears unbelievable, and it fortunately averages 83fps with a strong 51fps 1% low. Once more, that provides 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. In case you 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 unbelievable, 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 – a terrific consequence. You’ll be able to even run this recreation 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 Obligation Black Ops 6 benchmark can also be simply playable on the high 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 might be even sooner 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 similar video games on our Ryzen 7 7800X3D check rig, which, for the report, 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 strong 1% low of 72fps – a giant soar from the 83fps and 51fps from the 265KF within the Alienware, notably in relation 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 sooner at 1080p. There is a related distinction in Doom The Darkish Ages as nicely, with the 7800X3D machine being 4-5fps sooner 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 in relation to averages, however the AMD CPU nonetheless had sooner 1% lows. Even so, in many of the video games, the AMD CPU is faster throughout the board, generally by a giant margin – that is only a 7800X3D as nicely; the brand new 9800X3D and 9950X3D might be even sooner. That is an issue that Alienware can simply resolve – if it desires to make a quick gaming PC, AMD has the higher CPUs for that job proper now.

What the 265KF does have, nonetheless, 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 concept of the way it performs in multi-threaded workloads, and it scored an enormous 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 check, whereas the 9800X3D hits 1,361, so that is an space the place the Intel chip excels.

Worth

The Alienware Aurora worth 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 usually a strong spec, and the US worth is in the fitting ballpark. As some extent of comparability, spending the identical worth 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 provides higher worth right here, however the Alienware worth is not one million miles away.

Within the UK, nonetheless, the £2,498.99 worth for this spec makes little sense, as GPUs are usually less expensive within the UK in the intervening time than within the US. As some extent of comparability, you should purchase a liquid-cooled 265K machine with an RTX 5070 Ti and 32GB of 6,000MT/s DDR5 RAM from Scan for simply £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 related 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 value comes down.

Verdict

There’s loads to love concerning the newest Alienware Aurora, from the super-cool RGB lighting to the classy-looking, easy-access chassis. The GPU in our assessment 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.

Nonetheless, Alienware must query its loyalty to Intel in the intervening time, notably in relation 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 advice with a 9800X3D in it, or a 9950X3D if you would like 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.

In case you choose to purchase your PC from a recognized, established model equivalent to Alienware, backed by the may of Dell, then it is a handsome machine with an honest GPU and a few neat design touches. The CPU may very well 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.

Nonetheless, the Aurora can also be costly for the gear on supply, notably within the UK, the place you may get a really related spec for a a lot lower cost from an unbiased system builder. Dell commonly has gross sales and reductions out there on its PCs and laptops, and I would look out for a suggestion relatively than paying full worth for this machine.

In brief, it is a respectable PC when 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.

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

You can even comply with us on Google Information for day by day PC video games information, evaluations, and guides. We even have a vibrant neighborhood Discord server, the place you possibly can chat about this story with members of the workforce and fellow readers.