Alienware Aurora R11 review: A GeForce RTX 30-series beast
Our Verdict
The Alienware Aurora R11 packs powerful hardware in a distinctive chassis, although it's loud, heavy and expensive.
For
- Powerful hardware
- Distinctive design
- Plentiful customization options
- Good for both gaming and productivity
Against
- Runs hot and loud
- Software needs work
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Alienware Aurora R11 packs powerful hardware in a distinctive chassis, although information technology's loud, heavy and expensive.
Pros
- +
Powerful hardware
- +
Distinctive design
- +
Plentiful customization options
- +
Good for both gaming and productivity
Cons
- -
Runs hot and loud
- -
Software needs work
Alienware Aurora R11 Review: Specs
Processor: Up to Intel Core i9-10900F
RAM: Upwards to 128 GB
Graphics Carte du jour: Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090
Storage: Up to ii TB SSD + 2 TB HDD
Accessories: Dell Multimedia Keyboard, Dell Optical Mouse MS116AW
Ports: USB-A, USB-C, 3.5 mm audio, optical audio, DisplayPort, HDMI
Size: 19.0 ten 17.0 ten 8.8 inches
Weight: 39 pounds
The Alienware Aurora R11 is one of the near powerful pre-built gaming PCs you tin can buy. Naturally, that as well makes it i of the virtually expensive. Ever since the brand'south inception, Alienware's value suggestion has been clear: Get a stylish, functional gaming PC correct out of the box, simply exist ready to dish out a few m dollars for information technology.
The Aurora R11 is the latest evolution of that philosophy, and it's a pretty good auto. Only be aware that it requires a lot of money and space, as well as some patience to bargain with lackluster software.
While you can theoretically get the Aurora R11 for as little as $one,110, you'll exist saddled with an outdated GPU, relatively picayune RAM and an old-school hd drive. More future-proof models of the R11 outset at $2,440 and go upwardly from there. Whether information technology's worth the premium depends on how much the Alienware brand proper noun means to yous — and how much you lot need the Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-serial right now.
In our tests, the Aurora R11 performed beautifully for both games and productivity, in spite of a few usability hiccups. If you like how the system looks and don't listen springing for the best hardware, the Alienware Aurora R11 may be one of the best gaming PCs — indeed, one of the best computers period — you can buy.
All the same, equally of September 2021 Alienware discontinued the Aurora R11, so you may have a difficult time finding one for a reasonable cost. You tin can bank check our best gaming PCs listing for some alternative, and in that location'due south a new Alienware Aurora 2021 model in the works with a bigger, cooler (literally) case and the latest components — and then proceed an heart peeled for our review of that model in one case information technology becomes available.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Price and availability
The Alienware Aurora R11 is available right now, although your preferred model may not be available for delivery right away. That'due south because these machines employ Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs, which are in pretty short supply lately. At the time of writing, shipping time is 2-3 weeks — which, admittedly, might be better than trying to observe the GPUs à la carte.
Pricewise, the Aurora R11 runs the gamut from $1,110 all the manner upwards to $5,000 — or more. I was able to configure a $5,120 system with an Intel Cadre i9-10900KF CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GPU, 128 GB 3200 MHz RAM, 2 TB SSD + 2 TB HDD storage and a 1000W ability supply.
At the absolute other end of the spectrum, for $1,110, you tin can get an Intel Cadre i5 10400F CPU, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650 Super GPU, 8 GB 2933 MHz RAM, ane TB HDD storage and a 550W power supply. Personally, I'm not sure these specs are worth fifty-fifty the small asking price, only you can also mix and match desired components to find some kind of affordable compromise.
Tom's Guide reviewed a high-end Aurora R11 model with an Intel Core i9 10900K CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 GPU, 64 GB RAM and 2 TB SSD + ii TB HDD storage. This configuration would price well-nigh $4,100, depending on your software and case options.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Pattern
I of the nearly hitting aspects of the Alienware Aurora R11 is its physical design. Instead of a boxy rectangle, the Aurora R11 has an oval face and a rounded chassis, somewhat like a flattened egg.
Information technology'south futuristic and distinctive, and makes a much better conversation slice than "here's a black box total of parts."
Granted, this creativity comes at a price (in addition to the budgetary ane). The Aurora R11 is a hefty automobile, at xviii.ix x 17.0 x viii.7 inches, and whopping 41 pounds.
This motorcar eats desk space for breakfast — assuming your desk won't crack and splinter under its weight. On the other paw, if information technology lives on the floor, and then you won't really get to appreciate its design.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Ports and upgradability
Considering its hardware, information technology should come as no surprise that the Alienware Aurora R11 comes with a plethora of ports. On the front alone, yous've got three USB-A ports, a USB-C port, and 3.5 mm ports for discrete mic and audio.
On the back, you'll find x more USB-A ports, another USB-C port, an Ethernet port, an optical audio port, half dozen different 3.5 mm audio inputs, and a handful of DisplayPorts and HDMI ports (depending on your GPU).
Generally speaking, it'due south a generous amount of ports, although I feel like having only two USB-C ports is not as frontward-thinking as it could exist for a machine that could very well concluding between five and 10 years.
What'southward odd about the Aurora R11, though, is that for all of its girth and weight, at that place's not much room to maneuver when you open it upwards. If you desire to upgrade the machine, you tin can slide off the side and back plates hands enough past manipulating a few switches.
But the interior is very cramped, and unless you desire to add a hard drive, or some more than RAM, the parts may non play nicely with the PC'south curved chassis. Buy the Aurora R11 with a CPU and GPU you similar, because odds are, you'll be stuck with both for a while.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Gaming performance
The Alienware Aurora R11 represents my offset fourth dimension using an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 carte du jour, and the GPU was as impressive as I'd hoped. Coupled with the Alienware 25 Gaming Monitor (with a 360 Hz refresh charge per unit — more on that shortly), the Aurora R11 played some of my favorite PC games more beautifully and fluidly than I'd ever seen them earlier. Whether you want to fuel ultra-high-framerate 1080p gaming, cinematic 4K gaming or something in-betwixt, the Aurora R11 can back up your setup.
I put the Aurora R11 to the test with Doom Eternal, Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition, Baldur'south Gate Iii and Final Fantasy Fourteen — all of which can put demanding machines through its paces, if yous plow the settings upwards high plenty. With 1080p resolution, frame rate capped at 360 fps and the rest of the settings turned up as high every bit they would get, I still got incredible results. Doom Eternal ran at more than 300 frames per second, even during intense firefights; Final Fantasy 14 never dipped below about 150 fps, even when I was in a crowded city center, replete with other players.
We besides benchmarked the Aurora R11 with a multifariousness of games at 4K and Ultra settings. Assassin's Creed Valhalla reached 53 fps; K Theft Auto V, 61 fps; and Shadow of the Tomb Raider, 59 fps.
Contrast with the similarly powerful MSI 1000000 Trident X, which employed the Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080 Ti, and information technology's non even a fair comparison. That machine earned 52 fps on Assassin'south Creed Odyssey (Valhalla was not still available), 45 fps for GTA Five and 44 fps for Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The RTX 3090 represents a significant upgrade with noticeable gameplay benefits — although for the price, we suppose it had better provide superlative-notch visuals.
The Aurora R11 also fared well in terms of 1080p functioning, reaching scores like 152 fps on GTA V, and 136 fps on Shadow of the Tomb Raider. The Trident X, for comparison, achieved 134 fps and 120 fps on those games, respectively.
Overall, the Aurora R11 is one of the almost powerful gaming machines we've e'er tested — but that's non really surprising, given the hardware that's gone into it. Whether it's worth $4,000 is a piddling harder to quantify.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Overall performance
Equally you might imagine, the Alienware Aurora R11 is a productivity powerhouse. Between the PC's powerful hardware and a 360 Hz monitor, I plant that even Windows appeared to run quicker and smoother than usual. I couldn't faze the machine with my everyday programs. Even with Microsoft Give-and-take, Slack, Discord, Steam, Spotify and a multimedia-tab-filled Chrome up and running simultaneously, I was hard-pressed to use more than than about fifteen% of the system's retentivity; the CPU was even less bothered. Movies and TV stream without a hitch; music sounds bang-up, provided y'all can supply high-quality headphones or speakers.
In terms of artificial benchmarks, the Aurora R11 as well excelled, copying 5GB of files from a thumb drive in iv.1 seconds, achieving a transfer charge per unit of 1,243 MBps. Oddly, that'due south non quite up to the Trident X's standards, which achieved a transfer rate of one,275 MBps, only information technology's close enough that you'd never be able to tell without a stopwatch.
On an older Geekbench four.3 general performance test, the Aurora R11 earned an impressive 41,822 score, compared to the Trident 10's 40,378. A newer Geekbench 5.iii exam pegged the Aurora R11's performance at xi,143, but we don't yet have other systems against which to compare this. In a vacuum, at least, it's a very high score.
Still, there are some qualitative issues with the Aurora R11's functioning. During everyday productivity tasks, the Aurora R11 runs a trivial warm and emits a quiet fan hum. Simply during gaming, the machine essentially becomes a very loud space heater, blasting sound and rut beyond annihilation in its immediate vicinity.
After almost 30 minutes gaming on the Aurora R11, I took off my sweatshirt and checked my thermostat to see if I'd accidentally turned it upwards. Imagine my surprise when I came dorsum to my seat and discovered where the heat was actually coming from the PC. The GPU can hitting temperatures of 80 degrees Celsius afterward prolonged use — within tolerable technical limits, but plenty to warm up your immediate surroundings.
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Software
If I have i big criticism of the Alienware Aurora R11, it'south the potentially prohibitive price. Simply if I have a second criticism, it's the cleaved, unintuitive software. While the Aurora R11 doesn't come with much "bloatware," per se, it does come with a suite of Alienware tools: Command Center, Digital Delivery, Updates and so forth.
When I first prepare the Aurora R11, the reckoner recommended that I run the built-in Dell SupportAssist software. The organisation ran a serial of long, deadening tests — and the second it was washed, pinged me with an urgent alert that it had been zero days since my last examination; did I want to run it again? I thought that possibly updating the software would iron out the kinks, only no: Subsequently taking a whole afternoon to download about 400 MB worth of files, the system restarted and informed me that it had been cipher days since my last browse, and I had to run ane once more ASAP.
I eventually turned off all the Alienware software and went through Windows Update instead. While Alienware's heart is in the right identify, it's disappointing that its bespoke software provides a clunkier experience than the default OS. (You can use Alienware software to control some LED lights on the front end of the PC, though, which tin can admittedly be very pretty.)
Alienware Aurora R11 review: Verdict
If cipher else, the Alienware Aurora R11 is consequent. When we reviewed its predecessor, the Alienware Aurora R10, nosotros pointed out that the system provided excellent performance in a stylish and potentially very expensive package. The same is true here. I take a hard time recommending a $4,000 system to PC gamers — especially when, with a fiddling know-how, they could build something similar for thousands of dollars less — but there's no reason why you'd have to buy the exact model we reviewed. You could customize a perfectly good Aurora R11 for $ii,000 or and then, and have a stylish, functional centerpiece for your gaming setup.
The system'south physical design has some charms and some drawbacks, and the performance depends very much on how much you're willing to spend on parts. Only generally speaking, Alienware'due south reputation for premium PC products is well-earned. The Aurora R11 could make a sizable dent in your bank account, but you do, at to the lowest degree, become what you pay for.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/alienware-aurora-r11
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