Alienware’s new Aurora R13 gaming desktop comes with Intel’s newly released 12th Gen Alder Lake chip and a brand-new design. You can choose anything from the Core i5-12600KF up to an i9-1200KF, as well as a range of Nvidia graphics cards.
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The R13 also shows off Alienware’s redesigned Legend 2.0 chassis, which comes with an increased amount of internal space that’s supposed to promote better airflow. It also offers the option of a clear side panel that tacks on an extra $70 to your purchase. You can still open the case without any tools, making it easy to upgrade components or start customizing.
On the AMD side of things, Alienware introduced the Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 that ships with up to an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X chip — but the processor isn’t the only thing that’s different about this machine. While the R13 comes in white (“lunar light”) and black (“dark side of the Moon”), you can only purchase the R14 in black. Despite the color difference, the R14 will still sport the Legend 2.0 case.
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Having the 12th Gen Alder Lake chip gives the R13 access to more hardware options when compared to the R14. For example, while the R13 can support up to 128GB of DDR5 RAM, the R14 only supports up to 128GB of DDR4 RAM. The R13 also gives you the option of installing the Alienware Cryo-Tech Special Edition CPU liquid cooler, which has a 120mm radiator with a pump speed of 2800RPM.
The highest-rated power supply options are 750W Platinum for both builds. Storage is also the same on the R13 and R14 — you can choose up to a 2TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD and 2TB SATA HDD. Both the R13 and R14 ship with Windows 11.
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The Aurora R13 is available on Alienware’s site right now, with pricing starting at $1,479.99. Meanwhile, the R14 is slightly cheaper, with a starting price of $1,249.99. But if you’re not into the flashy look of these two PCs, Dell has also revealed its first XPS Desktop that comes with a liquid cooling option. Like the R13, it also comes with the 12th Gen Intel Core processor but has a much more low-key look. The XPS will become available sometime this fall, starting at $919.99.
Since RTX 3080 and 3090 graphics cards are in short supply, it might be tempting to purchase a prebuilt Alienware PC just to get your hands on one — especially since the shortage shows no sign of stopping. Both the R13 and R14 builds give you the option to choose from an Nvidia RTX 3080, 3080 Ti, and 3090. Price will vary depending on the one you choose, of course, but it will still probably be cheaper than if you decided to buy one from a scalper.