Thursday, 14 February 2019

Alienware Aurora R8 gaming desktop Review



What is Alienware Aurora R8?


Alienware Aurora R8 represents Dell's latest gaming desktop and is intended for those who are not ready to build their own rigs. The ninth-generation Intel Core processor and Nvidia's 20 series graphics card options allow you to carry yourself one of the most powerful consumer computers currently available.


If you get one of the top-tier configurations you can play almost any PC game at 4 fps at 60 fps, or you can chime a nice ray tracing with selected titles like Battlefield 5 and Metro Exodus I guess. And, if you are not ready to pay such a big rig, here are lots of cheaper options (starting at £ 799) will give you powerful performance.



Alienware Aurora R8


Alienware has confirmed that this built-in desktop upgrade is easy, so you can always raise the specification later if you want. To open the whole and replace the new graphics card, you need to remove only one screw. It's easy. Still if you are not motivated, a one-year on-site service warranty is bundled by default. As a result, Dell technicians come to their homes to help solve problems with PCs.


Related: Best gaming PC



Alienware Aurora R8 - design


Alienware Aurora R8 has various specifications, but the casing remains the same regardless of its plenty. Design is an understatement. Although it will not suffer from functions with excessive lighting and overhead, it is so stylish that it can easily be identified as a game PC.


The shining blue stripes (which can be customized with various other colors and effects) and the Alienware logo give Aurora R8 a cool SF beauty. If you see Kirk and Spock shaking them with Starship Enterprise, you will not let your eyes blink.


Alienware Aurora R8


One of the biggest design achievements that Alienware achieved with Aurora R8 is that it fits into a very large number of vents without making the desktop unsightly. There are vents on the front, left side, and top side to ensure maximum airflow. You will find the exhaust fans on the top, it will hum it with a quiet heat. I have never noticed Aurora R8 getting particularly hot, so it also does a wonderful job of it.


Fancy upgrade your PC? Opening things is easy enough for even the least experienced component coordinators. Removing the plastic panel from the outside makes it considerably easier after removing the screws. PSU swing arm revealing all lovely components hidden behind. There was a habit of getting in the way of cabling, so the only difficulty I found was to return the panel to its original position afterwards.


Alienware Aurora R8


Since it is necessary to remove the screw of the fan and wipe down the thermal paste, it is only the processor that has trouble exchanging it. However, as this configuration shakes the Intel Core i9-9900K, there is little reason why you need another processor soon.



Each model of Aurora R8 shares the same port option. On the front, there is one USB 3.0 Type-C port and three standard USB 3.0 ports for headphone and microphone connection, two of which are chargeable.


On the back there is a smorgasbord port, including some 8 additional USB 3.0 ports, USB 3.1 Type-C port, USB 3.1 Type-A, and Display Port. There are also typical trimming like digital output and ports for Ethernet. However, Aurora R8 is equipped with Wi-Fi and two 5 GHz signal amplifiers greatly improve long-distance network performance, so do not worry if the modem is not near the modem.


Related: Best PC Game 2019



Alienware Aurora R8 - specification


Alienware Aurora R8 has eight phenomenal configurations. Even if you want to rig on Fortnite, Apex Legends, etc., or if you need a monster machine capable of handling ray tracing with 4K with the latest title, there is a gaming desktop with almost every budget here.



Whatever option you think, the case and port will not change. The main difference is graphics card, processor, RAM, storage. The narrower configuration has an 8th generation Intel Core CPU and the more expensive Aurora desktop has a 9th generation beast.


Alienware Aurora R8


I am glad that 1 TB is available as the minimum storage. Recent video games occupy a lot of space, so it is important to make sure that Alienware is not on the hard drive.


The model I 'm reviewing here is "Option 7" which provides the best graphics card with Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti. And ultra-fast Intel Core i9-9900K processor. At 2848.99 pounds this is the second most expensive desktop within range.

























































priceGPUProcessorMemorystorage
Option 1£ 799AMD RX 560XIntel Core i3 - 8100
8GB DDR4
2666 MHz
1 TB hard drive
Option 2£ 949
Nvidia
GTX 1050 Ti

Intel Core
i 5 to 8400

8GB DDR4
2666 MHz
1 TB hard drive
Option 3£ 1399
Nvidia
GTX 1060
Intel Core i7 - 8700
8GB DDR4
2666 MHz
256 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA
Option 4£ 1648.99
Nvidia
GTX 1070
Intel Core i7 - 8700
16GB DDR4
2666 MHz
256 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA
Option 5£ 1948.99
Nvidia
RTX 2070
Intel Core i7 - 8700K
16GB DDR4
2666 MHz
256 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA
Option 6£ 2299
Nvidia
RTX 2080

Intel Core
i7-9700K

16GB DDR4
2666 MHz
256 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA
Option 7 (Tested)£ 2848.99
Nvidia
RTX 2080 Ti
Intel Core i9-9900K
16GB DDR4
2666 MHz
512 GB SSD + 1 TB SATA
Option 8£ 3999
Nvidia
RTX 2080
Intel Core i9-9900K
32GB DDR4
3200 MHz

1 TB SSD
+ 2 TB SATA

There is plenty of room for all configurations and you can add a second graphics card and up to five storage drives. It is very easy to put in and out components without disturbing with a single screw.


Related: Best graphics card 2019



Alienware Aurora R8 - performance


Alienware Aurora R8 may complete an impressive spec sheet, but will it provide powerful performance as well? I chose several video games and benchmark tests to discover the real power of the desktop.


First, I evaluated the Intel Core i9-9900K processor. I was hoping for being one of the most powerful consumer CPUs currently available, and R8 hit them indeed. This model of Aurora R8 with 5482 Geekbench 4 single core results and 27,264 multicore scores has the best gaming desktop for CPU performance.


Alienware Aurora R8


These figures prove that you are getting the best performance. At the same time, if you open some tabs in the browser, start watching the video, and you can not move it in Photoshop, Intel Core i9-9900K should still shock through the task without flickering. However, when it comes to games, you can call all of these performance abilities excessive, even if any AAA title in modern day gives you the way.


In order to further emphasize the strength of the CPU, Alienware Aurora R 8 posted 6938 which is the result of PCMark 10. This is another convincing CPU score. Most recently I have just begun to use this index, so I can not compare this result with other gaming desktop PCs, but if you check more gaming desktops, update this section.


This model of Alienware Aurora R8 offers some of the best GPU results I have seen thanks to Nvidia RTX 2080 Ti, which posted the result of 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra of 7733. However, if both PCs are equipped with a low-spec Nvidia RTX 2080 GPU, this is not a big surprise.


Alienware Aurora R8


Of course, since the benchmark score has little meaning by itself, we rounded out some games to confirm the actual performance of Alienware Aurora R8. I decided to choose both the latest GPU intensive game and title that was released several years ago.


The first is Shadow of the Tomb Raider, one of the most visually stunning titles available at the moment. Alienware Aurora R8 achieved a result of 52 fps here, MSI Trident X produced a slightly lower 46 fps result. The former appears to be one of the most sophisticated game desktops for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. Especially when considering the results of Quad HD and Full HD, they are 96 fps and 117 fps, respectively.


Alienware Aurora R8


Even more difficultly, Alienware Aurora R8 was a great contributor to Ghost Recon Wildlands. This is one of the toughest video games we are using in testing, so it's a great accomplishment to see Aurora R 8 see the average performance of 42 fps in Ultra HD. Again, as there are few game desktops that gets so high results, thanks to the RTX 2080 Ti graphics card, you can get one of the most powerful game desktops here.


A score of 62 fps on Quad HD and 72 fps on Full HD also indicates that this desktop PC is piercing performers with low resolution. When very desirable 60 fps is satisfied, very smooth performance is obtained here. This is very important for shooting games.


Alienware Aurora R8


How does Alienware Aurora R8 work if you encounter a game released several years ago? You can probably get better value elsewhere, but very well, though. When benchmarking the Rise of the Tomb Raider released in 2015, Aurora R8 managed an average 63 fps on Ultra HD. MSI Trident X is actually a bit better here, at an average frame rate of 65 fps.


This is a little surprising given that Trident X's RTX 2080 GPU is weak. Aurora R8's RTX 2080 Ti shows that there are major differences when running the latest AAA games at 4K. If you have a large backlog of older games, or if you have not yet moved to 4K, it is better to purchase a cheaper computer.


Alienware Aurora R8


I also tried to benchmark Dirt Rally with Aurora R8. However, a strange problem occurred that the game crashed during full HD testing. Since there was no problem with the 4K and Quad HD tests, we do not know the cause of this problem (both 96 fps and 152 fps results are very respectable). I think that is either a software problem or a driver problem. I think that this is anxious, but I recommend you mention anyway.


Finally, we tested the ray tracing performance of Aurora R 8 using Battlefield 5. When turning on DXR (DirectX Ray Tracing) and raising the visual setting up to 4 K, the desktop managed a very respectable 50 fps. The frame rate here is high enough for smooth performance despite the 30 fps drop compared to when the DXR is turned off. Only a very small number of desktops can not ray trace, do not mind running such a high frame rate while the DXR is running.


For you who does not know what Raytracing is, this technology improves light and reflection simulation. This means that realistic reflections can be made in a puddle, ice, or glass cabinet, which means contributing to a more immersive environment. It is widely expected that the imminent Metro Exodus will also work at the time of release, but it is worth mentioning that Battlefield 5 is the only game currently supporting ray tracing.


Alien Aurora R8 can also use DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling). This technology helps make video rendering more efficient by artificial intelligence. However, I still waited for the patch to arrive so I could not test it yet. If you have the opportunity, update this section.


Alienware Aurora R8


With the optional built-in liquid cooling system, Aurora R8 does not feel too sick when playing a furious game. In the 3DMark Fire Strike Ultra stress test, the peak temperature of the CPU was 74 ° C, whereas the GPU never exceeded 81 ° C. Given the force packed by this machine, this is decent thermal performance. I hear it when I am doing my best, but fans are noisy and I can not say noisy.


The 512 GB SSD and 1 TB SATA Double Act provide enough storage for the user to save the game. By separating them and using SSD for booting up, Aurora R8 boasts a wonderful reading and writing speed of 3567 MB / s and 1874 MB / s. This means that you do not have to spend time reading the screen, as it will not take long to access the file or save the file.


Related: Nvidia Ray Tracing


Why buy Alienware Aurora R8?


Alienware Aurora R8 is one of the best performing gaming desktops, introducing the best consumer graphics cards and processors currently available. Of course, this will cost you a sharp £ 2848.99 for the whole package, so this will only appeal to those who are about to start their PC build from zilch.


Alienware Aurora R8


Surprisingly, this desktop offers great value compared to building your own PC. If you purchase all the components from Overclockers according to the Aurora R8 spec sheet, the price will be up to approximately 2725 pounds and will not include chassis, motherboard, PSU, liquid cooler. The final figure almost exceeds the price of Aurora R8 and highlights the great value Dell offers here.


In addition, Alienware Aurora R8 offers generous flexibility for adding and upgrading space for the second graphics card or storage disks. This brings big advantages over competitors like MSI Trident X on this desktop. One year warranty on Aurora R8 only makes this contract sweet.


verdict



Alienware Aurora R8 is best for starting construction from scratch and creating the strongest gaming desktop possible. This rig is not only 4K compliant, it can also run revolutionary ray tracing technology. My only problem is that the ninth generation Intel Core i9-9900K is probably overpower for the game and unnecessarily raises the price.


Alienware Aurora R8 with a stylish case, easy upgrade, and rich port is a complete package in more than one respect.





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