Alienware Aurora R14 Liquid Cooled Gaming Desktop - AMD Ryzen 9 5900, 32GB 3466MHz RAM, 1TB SDD + 2TB HDD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB GDDR6X Graphics, VR Ready, USB-C, Windows 11 Home – Black

Got this machine mostly for gaming, for what it is, Rtx 3080, Ryzen 9 and 32gb of ram….it severely under performs. Again games run ok, nothing amazing. When it comes to other tasks like photo editing (Lightroom, Photoshop) it’s borderline unusable. For the specs this should have no trouble editing 20mp photos. Nowhere near worth the money

I bought this R14 box NOT because I wanted it for gaming, although it does that VERY well, but primarily because I needed it for post processing of large photo images. A system I built for myself sometime ago died an ugly death and I decided to buy a system rather than build one, especially since parts arent easy to get. Ive used Linux (OpenSuse) rather than MickySoft for years, and tried to install that replacing the Bloze 11 that was on the R14. OpenSuse didnt like the Ethernet card that is in the R14 so I installed Ubuntu with a bunch of add-ons. Ubuntu doesnt like to play with the Ethernet well either however, I was able to add my wireless modem. The R14 is not only very fast on the Net, but EXTREMELY quick in handling large photos, which I keep in the tiff format using The Gimp. My only complaint is that theres no way to control (read that change) the LEDS on/in the R14 as Dell didnt put that in firmware but software and there isnt a Linux app. to do that.

This is my second Alienware product; my previous was a gaming laptop back in 2010ish. That laptop performed well but has some glaring flaws, such as the video cutting out from a bad hinge. I was hoping maybe Alienware had gotten better over a decade, but unfortunately its the same story all over again, and I am returning it. In general, this PC is good and runs well. While I really dislike branding, I will say the case design is rad. I love the toolless design, tho you do need a screw driver to open the case so thats a bit of a fib, but the interior is clean and easy to access. I didnt really stress test this much. I did play a heavy Skyrim VR modpack, and it performed like hot garbage, but that modpack is notoriously poorly optimized, so I dont know if I can blame the PC for that. That being said, even while playing relatively simple games like WoW or just watching YouTube, I got multiple BSODs, which is just bizarre. However the real reason Im returning it is because the wired network adapter is faulty. Online gaming while streaming will lead to constant disconnects which can only be fixed by resetting the adapter, and sometimes just gaming or YouTube by itself will crash the adapter. I spent multiple weeks trying to fix it, troubleshooting with my roommate, who is not having this problem, tried to contact Dell who refused to help, etc. I finally hit my breaking point when it happened during a progression night, and I had to miss half the gaming session, which probably set us back a week. This PC is overpriced. I was okay with that because I have little free time or patience, I just wanted something that worked, and was willing to pay for it. But somehow even something as simple as a wired connection was too much to ask of Alienware. Im very frustrated that I wasted weeks on trying to get this overpriced brick to do what my 7 year old Studio XPS did flawlessly. Thats twice Ive been burned, I will never purchase an Alienware again. 1 star overall, 2 star for the neat case design.

I bought this PC (RTX 3080, Liquid Water Cooled Ryzen 9 5900, 32gb Ram) specifically for gaming and I have Zero regrets! Prior to this, I have only ever gamed on console, including next gen. I am completely blown away! Games run like butter in ultra graphics! Its SO MUCH BETTER THAN CONSOLE!! I am SOOO impressed with this Beast! If youre looking to get one, Id highly advise you to get it! You too will regret Nothing!

Absolutely love my pc. Had bought a cyberpower pc lasted 3 days. So read reviews and bought this one. I have no complaints amd its a beast.

I have no idea why this computer is so laggy. I have a computer that I replaced this with that was 5 years older smaller video card and CPU, and it outperforms this. it feels like they may have used a cheap motherboard because it is not performing according to the specs. there are constant delays in mouse movement, dragging windows etc., and its constantly making noises like its struggling to work. i have less programs than my previous machine and have not downloaded much to the computer so the slowness should not be happening. The color is nice, and it looks cool, but its really not performing as one would expect. they also plugged the cords in, blocking the logo on the inside. overall the machine feels completely rushed and does not perform the way it should for the price. Ive had laptops that work better.

I generally build my own systems except laptops, but this time I wanted an Alienware (like buying a Vette) so did my home work and found the best bang for the buck, the R14 for me. Amazon had a great price on my choice and was delivered within a week. After opening the box and taking stock, I was ready to rock. First thing I noticed was the system was slow and stuttering even with a RTX 3080 installed. Got customer service (CS) online 12/01 and started the process of fixing it. On the first day I lost my sound capability because during the process of CS fixing me, the bios change did not take and by the time I was able to get rebooted CS closed for the day. No biggy, next day I had CS on the phone and my hardware drivers were sorted out, but their was still that pesky hard drive thrashing, 25% Mem tied up at boot and still small stutters. CS passed me onto Software support, were I was told they could not help me since I only had basic warranty that covered just hardware. After call I was pissed, called Amazon explained the issues and was told if I wanted to send it back, I could. Amazon CS did ask if they could take another run at Dell since I told them I really did not want to return it, just wanted it fixed. After they got Dell CS on the phone, tech said that only if I had brought this issue up 90 days ago they could have given me the full service. I scratched my head and said, I just purchased this computer a little over a week ago! Upon which I was corrected and told the computer was over 120 days old! Then it all clicked! The minute that computer arrived at Amazon warehouse the clock was ticking, as far as Dell was concerned! Could you imagine if auto companies sold cars like that and hinged your warranty on when the dealer ship took possession? Amazon Customer support has been really great so far. Dell has me really disappointed in my decision to buy their product! Still not sure what my final choice may be, thought of stripping out the case that is was as good and rebuilding it or just hang onto to it and every time it hiccups call Dell Support. UPDATE: 12/4/22 - Resolved being able to enter BIOS, I found if I disconnected my 2nd Monitor I was able to see the Alienware Logo on startup which meant I could hit F2 to enter BIOS. With both monitor plugged in I would never see the Alienware Logo and the start up would hang. I have been able to run diagnostic and bench marks Overall Score = 97% using Passmark. Memory tested at 73% so not too bad but could be better, may go to a better mem stick later. Bottom Line - Going to keep it, but very disappointed in Dells Warranty Support with software.

Ive had several gaming laptops from Lenova and Acer and was excited to see the power of a Alienware desktop. Too bad Alienware is partnered with Dell. Beautiful design and the hardware and specs seems high end but a hour after getting set up with steam and game pass, Dell sent a software update. The audio for the games wasnt working so the update was mandatory. Almost immediately after the update, the computer went into a perpetual loop between a blue screen of death restarting itself and the Alienware logo. It was impossible to boot even into safe recovery mode no matter what. I spent a whole day working with Dell techs, who didnt know much more than me, I created several live flashdrive with windows updates and recovery systems on it to no avail. Ive worked around computers for over 15 years and have never seen anything of the sort. Dell literally bricked my desktop with their update.

Straight out of the box, it did not power on. Called Alienware/Dell customer service and they had me remove all components and retest after adding each component back to test it out. Still didnt power up so they are sending a technician out to work on it. The customer service tech assumes it is a bad motherboard. Update: Technician showed up next day, did no troubleshooting and just replaced the motherboard. The same issues occurred after he did so. He apparently had no knowledge of how to troubleshoot so he called Dell support himself. Finally they all gave up and decided it would be best to send the POS to the dell service center for repairs. They sent a box which was undersized for the alienware case. I miss the original Alienware company before the dell monster ate it.

Windows 11 keeps crashing, while the computer is idling. The Blue Screen appears, offering me many options, including re-installing Windows 11 and losing all installed programs and data. After determining that the problem was not caused by hardware (I told them), Alienware (Dell Computers) offered to help me with the software problem at $99 a session. Should have built from scratch, like I did my last machine 16 years ago. Will not buy another Alienware or Dell unit.