Alienware Aurora R16 Review: Streamlined but at what cost?

The limited upgradability of the machine also hurts it, especially for a price of Rs. 2,33,989. (Image: Dell Alienware)

The Aurora R16 represents a different philosophy for Alienware, in stark contrast to the Aurora R15 that preceded it. Everything from the design to the internals has been streamlined for mass appeal, so do they pull it off?

Design

The Aurora R16 shares more in common with DIY home desktops than the uniquely designed spaceship, that was the R15. It forgoes most of that flamboyance for a tried and tested design, even if it now looks unremarkable.

The mid-tower now looks bland and more akin to an office desktop, to be stuffed in a cubicle workspace and forgotten about. Thankfully, the AlienFX RGB lighting system is still present and offers up three lighting zones to break up the monotony of the design.

In the front, Alienware's trademark alien head logo looks out of place on a bland black front panel, with curved edges on the top and bottom that prevent it from looking completely like a cube.

I'm also not a huge fan of the light ring placed to the right of the panel. It's an odd choice and doesn't really feel like it fits in with the rest of the design. There are three USB Type-A ports in the front, and one USB Type-C port accompanies it.

At the back of the machine is a more comprehensive selection with two USB Type-A ports, two USB Type-C ports, and four USB 2.0. There is ton of coverage for audio, including two SPDIF outs, and the usual microphone ports. There is also a 2.5Gbps Killer Ethernet jack.

Despite my reservations about the design, there are some advantages that the R16 has over the R15. The smaller size makes it more practical, the reduced footprint allows it to squeeze into smaller spaces without too much of a fuss. It's a small, subdued desktop that can fit into almost any desk, I just wish it had a dash of Alienware's personality to go with it.

Performance

Looks are only part of the equation when it comes to desktops though, so how does it perform? Our review unit came with a 13th Gen Intel Core i9-13900F paired with Nvidia's GeForce RTX 4070 GPU with 12GB VRAM. Two sticks of 16GB DDR5 5600 MT/s RAM and 1TB of M.2 PCIe SSD complete the package.

As the configuration suggests, the R16 is a decent mid-range 1440p machine that struggles a little bit when you bump the resolution up to 4K. Cyberpunk 2077, for example, ran mostly fine and smooth on 2560 x 1440, with a solid fps of 72 on average on everything tuned to Ultra. The same settings, however, netted a different result with the resolution bumped up to 4K, with fps dropping well below 30.

Older titles like Horizon Zero Dawn or Gears 5 didn't pose much of a challenge to the machine at 1440p or even 4K but Alan Wake II put the R16 through its paces, straining to run just shy of an average of 72 on 1440p with all settings set to maximum.

The PCMark 10 synthetic benchmark gave us a score of 8380, while 3DMark's Time Spy Extreme benchmark gave us a score of 8520.

Another big advantage of the move to a simpler chassis is the improved thermal performance. There are three 120mm fans, two on the top and one in the back. Like the R15, there are hexagonal vents on the side for increased airflow. The machine uses a 240mm AIO liquid cooler for the CPU and GPU.

During benchmarks, we saw a high of 99.2 degrees on the CPU, and 89 degrees on the GPU. On average, we saw 44 to 50 degrees on the CPU, and between 46 and 52 on the GPU.

One thing that Alienware has not addressed from the previous generation is the limited upgradeability of the machine. Alienware still uses a proprietary motherboard and Power Supply Unit (PSU), which means you are stuck with them unless you want to void warranties.

As you might have guessed, this severely limits your options when it comes to upgrading the CPU, and limits the life of the machine. While it's technically possible to upgrade the GPU, you will need to find a variant with the correct support bracket and size, which is easier said than done, given the options available in the market.

Conclusion

The R16 is a beast of a machine but feels like a step down from the previous generations in terms of design. The new streamlined approach does have its strengths but without the unique touch that Alienware is known for.

The limited upgradability of the machine also hurts it, especially for a price of Rs. 2,33,989. If you are someone, who likes to keep up with the upgrade cycle of CPUs and GPUs, then this machine isn't for you. For the more casual gamer, this machine will serve you well.

The unique design is the main selling point of the Alienware series of desktops, remove that and you have a basic mid-tower that offers limited paths to upgrade and looks like a generic DIY machine that you may as well build yourself.