Alienware has clearly heard the suggestions. Its prebuilt Aurora desktop PC wants work, notably within the cooling division. So the brand new Alienware Aurora R16 is laser-focused on fixing that — to the purpose the corporate is basically ditching its trademark out-of-this-world look.
The brand new Aurora R16 has largely the identical primary metal chassis inside, with the identical 25.2 liters of house on your parts. However its boxy new design ditches a number of kilos of plastic to make your complete laptop 40 % smaller in quantity — shrinking all the way in which down from 60.7 liters to 36 liters in whole.
Alienware R15 vs. Alienware R16. They’ve the identical inside quantity. Picture: Alienware
The aim of not being “impeded by plastics” was particularly for elevated airflow, Alienware informed journalists.
The brand new R16’s structure. Blue tabs imply toolless removing. Picture: Alienware
The result’s “as much as” 10 % decrease CPU and 6 % decrease GPU temperatures, and a 20 % quieter system on common. It’s the quietest Aurora that the corporate has ever constructed, says long-time Alienware vet Eddy Goyanes.
Swimsuit of armor not included. Picture: Alienware
The PC now pulls its air in by way of the “Stadium Loop”: giant looped vents on each side of the entrance of the rig, with a single 120mm consumption fan behind them. The window-side of the loop is roofed in 44 distinct LEDs for lighting, one among three RGB LED zones within the laptop. (The 120mm rear exhuast fan and the alienhead brand within the entrance even have RGB LEDs inside; there’s additionally an optionally available 240mm liquid cooling radiator with twin 120mm followers up prime. The opposite facet of the PC has no lighting.)
The facet of the chassis can be coated in hexagonal vents, the entrance of which it expects to consumption air, whereas the rear ones exhaust it too — probably relying in your GPU.
A picture illustrating the Aurora R16’s cooling with wavy traces displaying the place the air goes in and comes out. Picture: Alienware
The brand new R16 comes commonplace with Intel AX210 Wi-Fi 6E, a 500W 80+ Platinum energy provide and 12-phase voltage regulation, and two reminiscence slots and two M.2 SSD slots for as much as 64GB of DDR5-5600 RAM and as much as 8TB of PCIe Gen four storage. (Aftermarket storage and reminiscence costs are presently at historic lows, by the by.)
You’ll be able to match a 3.5mm spinning exhausting drive in there as properly. There’s additionally an optionally available 1000W 80+ Platinum energy provide relying in your CPU and GPU.
Right here’s what the default air cooling will appear like. Picture: Alienware
The 33.eight pound (most weight) chassis additionally has fairly just a few ports: simply round entrance is a USB-C port working at 10Gbps, three 5Gbps USB-A ports and a 3.5mm headset jack, and the rear provides a 20Gbps USB-C port, a 10Gbps USB-C port, two 5Gbps USB-A ports, and a pair of USB 2.zero ports in addition to 2.5Gbps ethernet and an array of audio out.
There’s no cowl for the entrance ports — they’re merely recessed. Picture: Alienware
Proprietary motherboard has a lot of USB and audio ports. Additionally 2.5Gbps ethernet. Picture: Alienware
It’s accessible at present beginning at $1,750 in america (or $2300 CAD in Canada) with an air-cooled Core i7 13700F and Nvidia RTX 4070 graphics. You gained’t get a lot larger within the GPU division for a bit: Asia and Europe can begin with a RTX 3050 or improve to a RTX 4080 in the event you like, however in america the one different GPU choice is the RTX 4070 Ti till later within the 12 months. A 13th Gen i9 13900F can be accessible, although, and the corporate says the R16 will turn into its strongest desktop by the top of the 12 months.
Additionally lacking from this new mannequin is correct upgradability: the facility provide and Z690 motherboard are nonetheless proprietary. Alienware lead Matt McGowan tells me that’s right down to focus and time: “It was extra environment friendly for us to maneuver ahead with this structure and iterate on that than it was for us to fully redesign the product.”
Liquid cooling doesn’t come commonplace, however these neat honeycomb vents do. Picture: Alienware
McGowan informed journalists the group iterated across the previous-gen Alienware R15 to concentrate on house financial savings, complexity, and airflow earlier than it doubtlessly considers upgradability for future fashions — however no guarantees there. “We’ve clearly talked about how a lot upgradability we wish to have with this product given all the opposite benefits it offers,” he says.
The corporate’s additionally not commenting on whether or not it is going to provide an AMD model of the R16. “We’re taking a look at that for future roadmap however not commenting on that at the moment.”
A greater take a look at the liquid cooling module. Picture: Alienware
One loop is RGB-lit, the opposite will not be. Picture: Alienware
Wi-Fi antenna. Picture: Alienware
Cable administration. Picture: Alienware
A final look. Picture: Alienware
