Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition review

Two-minute review

The Alienware Aurora R10 Ryzen Edition is similar to the Intel focused R11 model, in that it offers extreme performance at an exorbitant cost, but both budget-conscious and deep-pocketed gamers can rest assured that they'll be getting an easy contender for the best gaming PC of the year with this kit. 

At the lower end, the R10 comes packed in with an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X, Radeon RX 5300 , 8GB RAM 3200MHz and a 1TB hard drive at $1,079 (£1,249.00). Users with around $3,949 (about £3,317) to spare can get a 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 128 GB of DDR4 RAM alongside dual storage of 2TB SSD and HDD. In Australia, there are only two Ryzen Edition R10 models available including a $3,599 priced 8-core AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 and 512GB SSD with 1TB HDD. The other $3,999 option has the exact same components with an added terabyte of HDD storage. 

It’s always great to attempt DIY builds for less money. However, the one year warranty, handful of Alienware software for tasks ranging from maintenance to power augmentation, upgradeability and unique case design sets the Alienware Aurora R10 apart. 

Alienware continues to refine its futuristic looking case design that blends style and serious functionality.  Even if the fan noise gets exceptionally loud under heavy load, there are different power/cooling options including a more expensive 1000 Watt Multi-GPU approved PSU with an AIO liquid cooler. 

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Lights on or off, the all black case with minimalist lighting looks beautiful. An RGB light ring encloses the lit Alienware logo power button, along with three USB-A Ports, one USB-C port and headset/microphone ports. Both lights can be changed through the Alienware Command Center application, which comes pre-installed. The back of the case offers a standard assortment of USB, audio, ethernet and GPU ports. Thanks to a single screw and latch mechanism, upgrading is easy too. 

Within the warped minimalist spaceship design is a machine able to put up magnificent numbers. Regardless of the game’s visual fidelity, the R10 can tackle pretty much anything. Total War: Three Kingdoms averages 366 fps on low settings and 133fps at Ultra settings at 1080p. Meanwhile, Metro Exodus delivered 115 fps average at standard 1080p resolution with Ultra settings and 258 fps on Low settings. On more modern AAA games, frame rates were significant. 

Dirt 5 ran at a locked 60 fps without a single dip on max settings at 1080p allowing rally races to deliver a great sense of speed with all the visual weather effects cranked up. Compared to next-gen consoles from Microsoft and Sony that feature a less powerful version of this CPU / GPU set-up, this is the most premium way of experiencing these titles. 

Control features the most pronounced implementation of ray tracing and is essentially a showcase of the rendering technique. Nearly two years removed from its release, the game from Remedy still remains one of those titles many will use to show off the performance prowess of their rig. The R10 can run it at high resolution and frame rate without breaking too much of a sweat with all the reflective, moody lighting, quality textures and explosive shootouts on screen. 

Cyberpunk 2077 on PC which lacks a lot of the egregious issues of its console counterparts. On max settings at standard HD resolution, it averaged around 70 fps. Since CD Projekt Red’s game doesn’t currently support ray tracing on Radeon cards yet, it doesn’t look as jaw dropping compared to the higher tiered 2000 or 3000 series Nvidia cards. 

Users who prefer better frame rates for ray tracing enabled games may want to look at the Nvidia GPU options available. Most individuals won’t notice the visual difference much in recent releases anyway. Individuals who do care more about high resolutions, max settings and ray tracing solely than cost will most likely walk away without buyer's remorse.

There is also a slew of various built-in software including My Alienware, which serves as a hub to many of them. That leads to other apps including the Alienware Command Center.  Outside of light customization previously mentioned, there are performance and overclocking options available for tinkering. Those settings can be saved under a user profile through the Command Center. There are also some sizable amounts of audio configuration presets and customization options including built in 7.1 Virtual surround sound.

A not-so unique take on Windows’ Phone app, Alienware Mobile Connect allows everything from screen mirroring and text to full on phone calls from an Android and iOS phone. Out of the many features of the software suite packed in, this might be the most useless. Though it doesn’t really work well on iOS phones connection wise, Windows’ Phone app arguably works a bit better with Android. 

Most importantly, My Alienware features Customer Connect for troubleshooting if restarting can’t fix issues. If anything goes wrong beyond that, there’s a one year warranty included to fall back on with options to extend past that. The software suite available not only does a great job in personalizing the experience but ensuring potential problems get fixed. Just leave Alienware Mobile Connect alone. 

The Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 is one of the most powerful gaming desktops money can buy. There isn’t any game that this machine can’t handle.  From the premium case design and specs to customer service, everything about this package feels luxurious.  

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