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Alienware R16It’s a stable desktop PC with a nice-looking case, although you are restricted on future upgrades.The Alienware R16 desktop design is a step in the precise route to have a enjoyable, although practical gaming PC. The efficiency is simply what you’d need, however the proprietary motherboard means you will pay extra sooner or later to improve your specs.
Beginning at $1,150 (Reviewed at $3,200)ProsVery nice-looking caseCooling systemPerformance is what you count on for the high-end specsConsIt’s a ache to improve because of the proprietary motherboard and lack of RAM slotsThis QD-OLED Alienware Monitor is a Actual CurveballSince Alienware first unveiled its Aurora R16 final yr, I’ve been jonesing to see it in particular person. The model had been synonymous with high-end, although unusual—usually polarizing designs for some time now. Earlier Auroras underneath the so-called “Legend 2” Design had a raised impact, with an odd conical entrance panel that appeared to return off a starship’s steering equipment that wasn’t really designed for human arms. It was definitely distinctive, but it surely was additionally cumbersome and overly giant for a mid-range tower.However the Aurora R16 with the “Legend 3” design ethos appears subdued compared, maybe even elegant in its seeming minimalism and ease. The mid-size tower nonetheless screams “gamer PC,” however now you may stack issues on prime of it (although, after all, I’m not suggesting you block the highest air vents). Alienware says this new design is 40% smaller than the previous Aurora R15. But, it nonetheless has the identical quantity of inner respiratory room to suit the water cooling system and, no less than so far as my model, the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous graphics card, which itself is large enough to occupy your complete inside the PC from stem to stern.However that redesign additionally begs the query: what’s the purpose of pre-built PCs if you find yourself with one thing that appears like anyone might have constructed? Certain, you’ll save on the agonies of making use of your thermal paste, however that point you spend slotting in your graphics card might flip into financial savings.Some would have a look at the brand new Alienware tower, with its matte black entrance panel and single glowing LED strip, and assume it “boring.” Me, not as a lot. The HP-owned gaming {hardware} model has been on a kick these days, emphasizing usability, similar to decreasing the trunk house of the thermal shelf on its newest M16 gaming laptops, first revealed earlier this yr. The corporate has advised Gizmodo this isn’t some wholesale try at rethinking its aesthetic ethos, however I choose these new designs to the previous ones. The brand new Aurora PC is scaled to such a level it’s going to match neatly on a desk the place the mushy glow of the LED in each the entrance air consumption and rear fan hit most prominently. I don’t have to be bathed in a veritable rainbow to get within the gaming temper.Alienware Aurora R16 Case Design and CoolingThe New Case Design is a Higher Type Issue, OverallPhoto: Kyle Barr / GizmodoAlienware’s PCs begin at worth scale however rapidly improve as you stack these specs. It’s a baseline PC with a GeForce RTX 4060 and Intel Core i7-13700F, although we’ll contact on upgradeability later. Gizmodo obtained the 2024 revision of the Aurora R16, which got here with 32 GB of DDR5 RAM, an Intel Core i9 14900KF, and a Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 Tremendous with 16GB of VRAM. That totals out to $3,200 MSRP. It’s all housed on the customized Alienware-branded proprietary motherboard that helps the Intel Z690 chipset. Thoughts you, that graphics card takes up your complete size and width of the case.There’s about 35.9 L of house contained in the Aurora R16, which is identical because the R15 regardless of the general discount in measurement. Along with the proprietary motherboard was the proprietary PSU, in my case, the 1000W Platinum-rated energy provide. It additionally sported the 240 mm liquid cooling setup connected to the CPU housing. Whereas I can’t say whether or not all of the pipes are mandatory to chop down on extra warmth, it definitely did work towards decreasing the general warmth popping out of every vent, even underneath load.That front-facing LED strip doubles because the PC’s air consumption, making your complete entrance panel one massive wind tunnel. When the inner followers get going, there’s a refined whistling sound that I used to be shocked to not discover so disagreeable. With the GPU taking over a lot of the room inside, air flows out the again or prime whereas some air blown by the graphics card fan makes its manner out of the aspect hexagonal vents. Even underneath heavy load, the PC by no means turned overly heat. The aspect air vents don’t register a lot warmth, even underneath stress. I registered the rear fan at about 100 levels Fahrenheit max. The highest vent is the place a lot of the PC’s warmth goes, which is sensible for the reason that CPU cooling system is straight connected to these followers. At max, I learn the temperature to be round 111 levels Fahrenheit after about half-hour of play in fixed motion with Cyberpunk 2077. That’s effectively inside acceptable ranges, although it does imply you shouldn’t be placing something you care about on prime of your Aurora R16, each for the sake of the PC and your treasured nicknacks.Older Alienware PC fashions have been tool-less designs, however the brand new model requires you to undo one Phillips head and pull on a tab to launch the aspect panel. That’s not an enormous difficulty, but it surely does imply you’ll want a screwdriver close by if you wish to attain inside your PC. There’s basically no room for extra elements, thanks partly to the mounting bracket supporting the large GPU. Suffice it to say, it’s a nice-looking machine that’s well-built. Simply because Alienware appears extra customary doesn’t imply the corporate has compromised on high quality.Alienware Aurora R16 High quality of Life and UpgradabilityProprietary Elements Means There’s Restricted Avenues for Upgrading Picture: Kyle Barr / GizmodoAll the cables are routed behind the motherboard so you may absolutely view all the inner elements. That mentioned, there’s no warmth shielding across the RAM, SSD, or Wi-Fi chip. I checked to see if these elements have been getting additional sizzling inside, and whereas I didn’t see something irregular, it’s one thing you must be aware because it’s a bit odd in comparison with different pre-built gaming rigs on the market. I don’t thoughts it since there didn’t appear to be any warmth points general, and I choose to see my elements via the case as an alternative of watching a bunch of bins that seem like presents I do know I’ll by no means open.It’s an general quiet operation, even underneath stress, that wasn’t distracting hanging out straight subsequent to me, particularly since there was little or no air blowing in my route. It’s not overly vivid, and you need to use the Alienware Command Heart app to vary the person colours and sample of the LEDs with a couple of RGB presets. To keep away from being too distracted when engaged on a PC, I might go for a single block of shade. The app additionally enables you to change the AlienFX lighting per title.So sure, that functionality is neatly contained in a bundle, fairly sufficient to place a bow on it. What stays its largest difficulty is the proprietary nature of the motherboard. There are solely two RAM slots, which means that future reminiscence upgrades require changing each sticks. Alienware says this really will increase speeds on the system, however even when that’s true, I might take a minutely slower system to make my PC extra future-proof. You may as well improve the GPU and storage, however you gained’t be doing a lot else.I perceive why Alienware would wish to construct boards for higher cable administration, however why not give the PC gamer a style of the fun of ultimately upgrading their machine? Simply because it’s a beast now doesn’t imply it’s going to keep that manner two and even three years down the street.Alienware Aurora R16 PerformanceA Actual Gaming OasisPhoto: Kyle Barr / GizmodoWe examined a number of video games on a QHD monitor at 240 Hz and one other 4K monitor at max 160 Hz contemporary charges. Actually, with stats like these, you already know what framerates to count on from essentially the most demanding titles. On a recreation like Cyberpunk 2077, the Aurora might hit a mean of 60 FPS on a 240 Hz monitor with extremely settings, full Ray Tracing capabilities enabled, and no DLSS AI tremendous scaling. With DLSS enabled, you may double these frames to a mean of 120, although it’d dip to round 80 FPS when there’s a gaggle of NPCs on-screen. When you enhance that as much as 4K, frames begin to dip, so that you’re higher off enabling DLSS to get it as much as a mean of 80 FPS with the in-game benchmark.In Baldur’s Gate III, you may break 140 FPS in indoor places and really feel secure that you just gained’t dip beneath 100, besides when there are a lot of extra NPCs operating round within the metropolis areas of Act III. Different video games carried out very effectively, simply topping 250 FPS on Halo Infinite and The Finals. Nonetheless, gaming at 4K will tank that efficiency on the very best settings, which means you must look towards totally different tremendous scaling choices to beat above 60 FPS. In 3DMark, the Aurora R16 carried out simply in addition to anticipated in each Time Spy and the higher-end Pace Method instruments—that could be very, superb. It beat expectations on the QHD monitor and will maintain its personal at 4K.This setup works finest gaming at sub-4K resolutions, so people with FHD up via QHD screens could have a grand previous time watching these frames stack up into the triple digits. The 4080 Tremendous can nonetheless deal with 4K on most titles, although you’ll want a pick-me-up from Nvidia’s superscalar to keep up playable frames on a number of the most demanding titles.With a Core i9-14900KF, the CPU benchmarks have been fairly robust. I simply completed reviewing the Razer Blade 16 with its cellular model of the i9 with the 14900HX, and the Aurora might squeak out a win on Geekbench. The system additionally crushes our Blender take a look at for rendering a single picture of a BMW in simply over a minute when counting on the CPU. The i9-14900KF additionally blasted via a video encoding take a look at utilizing this system Handbrake.It’s a high-end PC, and it feels that manner whether or not you’re taking part in video games or doing virtually the rest.If You Wish to Go Pre-Constructed, Make Certain It Will LastPhoto: Kyle Barr / GizmodoAlienware continues to be an costly model; there’s no two methods about it. I can’t assure the PC is price its beginning $1,150 worth. Nonetheless, it’s laborious to justify decrease specs realizing that there are comparatively few improve paths if you wish to ultimately soar from the decrease finish of 16 GB of RAM to 32 GB—one thing that may turn into much more customary within the intervening years. However when you’re leaping for the ultra-expensive model of the Aurora R16, you gained’t come away dissatisfied by its efficiency, on the very least. So all that’s left is appears. Aesthetics are all about style, and to me, earlier Alienware desktops appeared to suggest that your PC is greater than only a gaming rig, one thing transportation. However I’m not going anyplace. I’d fairly know the place I’m, and the brand new Aurora R16 is snug and pleasing to the attention for someone like me. I wish to really feel particular with out explaining to anyone coming into my room that the large desktop PC isn’t a probing system that fell off a passing saucer.
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