When I best gaming PC roundup, one of my main knocks against it was how much more the prebuilt cost than putting together a machine with similar components yourself. While the model on sale right now on Dell's digital storefront is slightly humbler than the R8 I reviewed, knocking $530 off the MSRP actually brings it well below DIY pricing. Putting together as similar a machine as possible (some of the pieces of the Aurora are proprietary) on PartPicker yielded a final price in excess of $1,500, so snatching up the Aurora for a mere $1,399.99 with free shipping and warranty coverage is pretty damn enticing.
The machine on sale packs an RTX 2070, one of the best SSD for gaming, so if you do want to upgrade it won't cost you a fortune.
One of the most appealing features of the Aurora for enthusiasts is the easy access chassis. No tools required—you can simply pop the side s off the case and swing the PSU out on it's built-in armature, exposing the DIMMs, GPU and other performance parts so you can tinker to your heart's content. The case's muted aesthetic forgoes flash for elegance, settling on a few slashes of vivid RGB lighting and the iconic Alienware logo in lieu of tempered glass or an overbearing light show. It's a great package, and tough to resist at a sub-DIY price point.
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