Review: Alienware Aurora R5

by Parm Mann on 7 December 2016, 11:30

Tags: Dell (NASDAQ:DELL), Alienware (NASDAQ:DELL), Intel (NASDAQ:INTC), NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qadboi

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Test Methodology

Comparison Systems - Part One

System Name Alienware Aurora R5 Asus RoG G20CB Chillblast Fusion Nano Fury Cyberpower Luxe Xtreme DinoPC BX-01 MSI Vortex G65 6QF SLI
Overclocked No No Yes Yes Yes No
CPU Intel Core i7-6700 Intel Core i7-6700 Intel Core i5-6600K Intel Core i7-6950X Intel Core i7-5930K Intel Core i7-6700K
Max Turbo Frequency 4.0GHz 4.0GHz 4.4GHz 4.0GHz 4.5GHz 4.2GHz
CPU Cores / Threads 4 / 8 4 / 8 4 / 4 10 / 20 6 / 12 4 / 8
CPU TDP 65W 65W 91W 140W 140W 91W
CPU Cooler Alienware Aurora Asus RoG G20CB Corsair Hydro Series H75 XPSC Liquid Cooling HeatKiller IV Pro in custom loop MSI Vortex
Motherboard Alienware 01NYPT Asus RoG G20CB ASUS Z170I Pro Gaming MSI X99A Gaming Pro Carbon Asus X99-Pro/USB 3.1 MSI Z170 MS-1T11
Memory 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB) 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Crucial 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 (4x8GB) SK hynix 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)
Memory Speed 15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz 15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz 15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz 16-18-18-36-2T @ 3,200MHz 15-17-17-35-2T @ 3,000MHz 15-15-15-36-2T @ 2,133MHz
Graphics Nvidia GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 4GB Asus Radeon R9 Nano 4GB MSI GeForce GTX 1080 SeaHawk 2x MSI GeForce 980 Ti 6GB in SLI 2x MSI GeForce 980 8GB in SLI
Primary Storage Device 256GB Toshiba XG3 SSD 128GB SK hynix SSD 256GB Samsung SM951 SSD 400GB Intel 750 Series SSD 512GB Samsung 950 Pro SSD 2x 128GB Samsung SM951 SSDs in RAID0
Second Storage Device 1TB Seagate HDD 2TB Toshiba HDD 1TB Seagate SSHD 2TB Seagate Barracuda HDD 4TB Seagate Desktop HDD 1TB Hitachi Travelstar HDD
Optical Drive - DVD Writer - - -  
PSU Generic (460W, internal) Asus RoG G20CB (230W + 180W, external) Corsair CS650M (650W, internal) In Win C750 Modular (750W, internal) Corsair RM850x (850W, internal) MSI Vortex (450W, internal)
Chassis Alienware Aurora Asus RoG G20CB Raijintek Metis In Win 909 Corsair Carbide Series 600C MSI Vortex G65
Operating System Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit)
Warranty One year One year Five years (two-year collect-and-return including parts, five-year labour) Three years (one-month collect-and-return, two-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (six-months collect-and-return, two-year parts, three-year labour) Two years
Date Reviewed December 2016 January 2016 October 2015 July 2016 March 2016 April 2016
Cost As Reviewed £1,385 £1,500 £1,500 £4,399 £3,799 £2,998

Comparison Systems - Part Two

System Name PC Specialist Fusion Curve PC Specialist Liquid Series LS-M01 Scan 3XS X99 Carbon Fluid Extreme SLI Scan 3XS Z170 Vengeance Scan 3XS Z170 Vengeance Q Vibox Rapture Chaos MX1
Overclocked No Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
CPU Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6950X Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i7-6700K Intel Core i5-6600K
Max Turbo Frequency 4.2GHz 4.6GHz 4.2GHz 4.6GHz 4.4GHz 4.5GHz
CPU Cores / Threads 4 / 8 4 / 8 10 / 20 4 / 8 4 / 8 4 / 4
CPU TDP 91W 91W 140W 91W 91W 91W
CPU Cooler PCS FrostFlow 340 Series Custom Liquid Loop EK Liquid Loop be quiet! Dark Rock 3 Noctua NH-D15S NZXT Kraken X61
Motherboard Asus Z170I Pro Gaming Asus Maximus VIII Hero Asus RoG Strix X99 Gaming Asus Z170 Pro Gaming Asus Z170 Pro Gaming MSI Z170A Gaming Pro
Memory Kingston HyperX Savage 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Kingston HyperX Fury 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB DDR4 (4x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB DDR4 (2x4GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB DDR4 (2x8GB) Patriot Viper Xtreme 16GB DDR4 (4x4GB)
Memory Speed 13-15-15-39-2T @ 2,666MHz 15-17-17-35-2T @ 2,666MHz 16-18-18-35-2T @ 2,666MHz 15-17-17-35-2T @ 3,000MHz 15-17-17-35-2T @ 3,000MHz 16-18-18-36-2T @ 2,800MHz
Graphics EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Superclocked ACX 6GB 2x Nvidia GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 6GB EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Superclocked ACX 8GB MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6GB
Primary Storage Device 512GB Intel 600p SSD 512GB Samsung SM951 SSD 512GB Samsung 950 Pro SSD 256GB Samsung SM951 SSD 256GB Samsung 950 Pro SSD 250GB Samsung 850 Evo SSD
Second Storage Device 1TB WD Black HDD 2TB WD Black HDD 2TB Seagate Mobile HDD 2TB WD Green HDD 2TB Seagate Hybrid HD 2TB WD Black HDD
Optical Drive - - Samsung DVD Writer Samsung DVD Writer - -
PSU Enhance 450W FlexATX (internal) Corsair RM850x (850W, internal) Corsair RM850i (850W, internal) Corsair CS550M (550W, internal) Corsair RM650x (650W, internal) Super Flower Leadex Gold (750W, internal)
Chassis Fusion Curve Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 Corsair Graphite Series 760T Corsair Obsidian Series 450D Corsair Carbide Series 400Q with Noctua Redux fans NZXT Noctis 450
Operating System Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit) Windows 10 (64-bit)
Warranty Three years (one-month collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (one-month collect-and-return, one-year parts, three-year labour) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) Three years (first year onsite, second year return-to-base with parts and labour, third year return-to-base with labour only) Two years (90-day collect-and-return, two-year parts, lifetime labour)
Date Reviewed October 2016 May 2016 September 2016 August 2015 June 2016 September 2015
Cost As Reviewed £2,449 £2,299 £6,500 £1,500 £1,770 £1,850

CPU and Storage Benchmarks

HEXUS PiFast Our number-crunching PiFast test is used to benchmark the computational power of each system's CPU.
Cinebench Using Cinebench's multi-CPU render, this cross-platform benchmark stresses as many cores as possible.
HandBrake Free-to-use video encoder that stresses all CPU cores.

Memory and Storage Benchmarks

AIDA64 Benchmark that analyses memory bandwidth and latency.
CrystalDiskMark Popular free-to-use storage benchmark, used to gauge sequential performance and aggregated 4K QD32 speeds.

Gaming Benchmarks

3DMark DX11, run at the Firestrike default test.
Gaming A selection of modern titles are tested at various resolutions.

Miscellaneous Benchmarks

Power Consumption Noted for system idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and whilst playing Dirt Rally.
Temperature Noted for CPU idling, under HandBrake video-transcoding load, and whilst playing Dirt Rally.