Dell Alienware Aurora R15 Gaming Desktop Review – Blue Brute Force

Dell brought some of the 2023 edition of its Alienware gaming hardware to India in February 2023. As part of the launch, it released its latest Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop with the latest hardware. The highlights of the hardware upgrades include a 13th-gen Intel Core CPU and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU.

We got to push the Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop to the limit for over two weeks. What kind of performance does it offer? Is the pre-built worth your money? Which model should you purchase? Find answers to all these questions and more in our review of the Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop review here.

Specifications

Dell India shared its highest-end variant of the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop for this review. Let’s check the complete specifications list below:

Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop review unit

Variants, price in India, and availability

As per the launch announcement, the company has launched two Aurora R15 gaming desktop variants in the Indian market. The top-end variant sports the 13th-gen Intel Core i9 13900KF CPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM with 4800 MT/s, and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU with 24GB GDDR6X video memory. The second option will be released in March with a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 13900KF CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU with 16GB GDDR6X video memory. Dell has also reduced the DDR5 RAM to 16GB instead of 32GB on the higher-end variant. The rest of the specifications, including the case design, remain identical between both variants.

Dell has priced the Intel Core i9 CPU option with RTX 4090 GPU (and product code D269932WIN9) at an eye watering Rs. 5,39,990, while the price for the i7 variant is not announced yet. Interested buyers can get the 13900KF powered Aurora R15 gaming desktop at the Dell India website, or Dell Exclusive Stores spread nationwide.

Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop performance

Gaming performance

It is difficult to explain the level of jump in performance that both 13th-Gen Intel Core CPUs and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4000 series desktop GPUs have brought. The combination of 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF and Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 blows everything out of the water. And the best part? The Aurora R15 gaming desktop blasted past any demanding workload or game I threw at it.

We have already seen a glimpse of the power of the 13th-Gen Intel Core CPUs during our review of the Intel NUC 13 Extreme Raptor Canyon. However, the level of graphics performance that the GeForce RTX 4090 offered was something that I (or you) could barely imagine.

We tested 11 AAA games on the Aurora R15 gaming desktop at max settings, with no DLSS, VSync, or motion blur at FHD resolution. We know that FHD isn’t enough to test the true power of such a machine. However, this allows us to compare better pre-builts that run older (or newer) hardware. Most games ran anywhere from 150 to 200 FPS with ease. The wide range of game selection ensures we have enough titles to avoid any game-specific preference for certain hardware or game engine bottlenecks.

Benchmarks

Things did not change much regarding performance when moving from gaming to productivity benchmarks. The Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop pushed ahead across a range of benchmarks with its Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU and 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF CPU. The list of our benchmarks includes Geekbench 6, Geekbench 5, 3DMark, PCMark 10, Cinebench R23, Intel Xtreme Tuning Utility, and more. Comparing the results with 13900K, the 13900KF fell a bit short across most synthetic workloads by a tiny margin. In fact, AMD Ryzen 9 7950X also managed to beat the 13900KF in the benchmarks. Though this won’t matter much in real life usage, even the tiniest bit of difference matters at this price point.

Thermals

The mid-tower-sized gaming desktop had enough space to cool the demanding combination of components in the Aurora R15 gaming desktop. Dell claims that the R15 comes with an “updated thermal strategy” for the 2023 edition, with a 240mm All-In-One (AIO) cooler. We are unsure if the company is referring to any component redesigns beyond the motherboard or the increased size of the AIO from 120mm to 240mm to cool the CPU. The desktop features five 120mm fans to cool its internals. However, the results speak for themselves. The gaming desktop also comes with hexagonal vents on the side of the desktop to increase the flow of air.

Unlike most computing devices, it was hard to thermally throttle the CPU present in Aurora R15 under normal, extended gaming sessions. The CPU package temperature peaked at 92 degrees Celsius, with 94 degrees Celsius under synthetic benchmarks. On the other hand, the 4090 barely reached 80 degrees Celsius under peak load. We tested the Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop towards the end of the winter season (February) in New Delhi. This means the temperatures outlined here can easily climb up under higher ambient room temperatures.

Design, features, and software

Beyond gaming and productivity performance, design is the second area where Alienware generally shines. Aurora R15 was no exception, as it featured an impressive and futuristic design for a gaming desktop. Alienware claims this design is based on “Legend 2.0” focusing on function and form. This includes better cable management, more ports on the front and back, and “minimal obstructions”.

The abundance of RGB lighting inside and outside the case took the decent enough design to the next level. Buyers can customise the lighting colour and effects with the help of the AlienFX software module in the Alienware Command Center software. It is also worth noting that the hexagonal design makes it a task to quickly and completely clean the desktop when it becomes dusty.

As the specifications section highlights, the Aurora R15 comes with the latest features like DDR5 RAM, PCIe Gen-5 connectivity, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and more. For the software side, the Dell Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop comes with Windows 11 Pro out of the box, with Alienware Command Center, My Alienware, and SuportAssist pre-installed apps. While My Alienware handles the registration and warranty, Alienware Command Center allows gamers to control in-game graphics settings, device lighting, and system overclocking. SupportAssist is responsible for system and BIOS updates.

Upgradability

The final aspect of the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming desktop that I want to talk about is upgradability. The company has made some good changes in most departments of the design to improve performance for the R15 in the 2023 edition. However, it still comes with a proprietary motherboard and an unconventional Power Supply Unit (PSU) that makes upgrades impossible and difficult, respectively. One can still switch the CPU, GPU, and RAM on the system. But this “PC” will be left outdated once Intel moves on to a different chipset. This flaw takes away a large part of why users prefer to go for a PC in the first place.