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Arktander 17.8K Views
Feb 26, 2026 9:30 PM

Alienware Aurora R16: 285K, RTX 5080, 32GB RAM, 2TB SSD Storage, 240mm AIO, $2499.99 (Microcenter In-store only) PRICE UPDATE!

$2,800

$4,750

41% off
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PRICE UPDATE! Prices have dropped a couple hundred dollars at Dell as June began. In my opinion they recognized their prior leap in "Estimated Value" prices as having no basis in reality. As a result the "sale" prices have dropped more than before, but they can't compete with the MicroCenter pricing. MicroCenter has been slowly adjusting their price higher (though they have not listed the correct Dell retail price of each model). Granted, MicroCenter is not everywhere and supply for these desktops is drying up, but if you're looking for one of the last deals on these Alienware Aurora models, don't look too long!

https://www.microcenter.com/produ...-gaming-pc

Processor
Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 processor 285K (24-Core, 76MB Total Cache, 3.7GHz to 5.7GHz)
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5080 16GB GDDR7
Memory
32GB Dual Channel DDR5 (2x 16GB - Green) 5200 MT/s (this actually runs at 5600 MT/s for me)
Storage
2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
Chassis
1000W Platinum Rated PSU, Clear Door & 240mm Liquid Cooler with AlienFX lighting
Wireless
Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless LAN and Bluetooth
Hardware Support Services
Basic Onsite Service, 12 Month(s)
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
PRICE UPDATE! Prices have dropped a couple hundred dollars at Dell as June began. In my opinion they recognized their prior leap in "Estimated Value" prices as having no basis in reality. As a result the "sale" prices have dropped more than before, but they can't compete with the MicroCenter pricing. MicroCenter has been slowly adjusting their price higher (though they have not listed the correct Dell retail price of each model). Granted, MicroCenter is not everywhere and supply for these desktops is drying up, but if you're looking for one of the last deals on these Alienware Aurora models, don't look too long!

https://www.microcenter.com/produ...-gaming-pc

Processor
Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 processor 285K (24-Core, 76MB Total Cache, 3.7GHz to 5.7GHz)
Operating System
Windows 11 Home
Graphics Card
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 5080 16GB GDDR7
Memory
32GB Dual Channel DDR5 (2x 16GB - Green) 5200 MT/s (this actually runs at 5600 MT/s for me)
Storage
2 TB, M.2, PCIe NVMe, SSD
Chassis
1000W Platinum Rated PSU, Clear Door & 240mm Liquid Cooler with AlienFX lighting
Wireless
Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless LAN and Bluetooth
Hardware Support Services
Basic Onsite Service, 12 Month(s)

Community Voting

Deal Score
+15
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Community Reviews

Alienware Aurora R16 pairs an Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, RTX 5080, 32GB of DDR5, and a 2TB SSD into a very fast prebuilt that feels especially strong for the price. The bundle is repeatedly framed as a bargain versus buying the CPU and graphics card separately, and setup reports call it quiet, fast, and in some cases nearly silent. The main tradeoff is Alienware's proprietary motherboard, power supply, and case, which limits upgrades and can make repairs less flexible. A few reports also flag bloatware, heat, or fan noise, so it fits best if you want a ready to run 5080 system without planning a long upgrade path.

Common Questions (5)

  • It can run very quietly for some setups, but fan noise is noticeable for others. Heat problems are not universal, and the included 240mm AIO helps, yet the stock airflow may be worth improving if you want lower temps and noise.

    MrElusiveElectron12sandkebayRaviM2973

  • The bundle is priced aggressively because the RTX 5080 alone is estimated around $1,500 and the CPU plus GPU can approach $2,200. That makes the $2,499.99 system a strong value if you want a turnkey 5080 PC and do not care about a restrictive upgrade path.

    MrElusiveDelightfulMeat685asianjabbaNervousSparrow787

  • Upgrade flexibility is limited because the motherboard, PSU, and much of the chassis are proprietary. RAM and CPU are standard, but most other parts are brand-specific, so it is better suited to buyers who want a ready-made system than a long-term piecemeal upgrade path.

    Arktander9594Mandingalator

  • It may ship with Dell utilities and sometimes McAfee, but the practical cleanup is straightforward: keep Dell's driver/BIOS updater, remove McAfee if present, and run Windows Update. Some units are also reported to arrive with zero bloatware.

    MrElusiveElectron12

  • It can handle demanding games well, including COD and Battlefield, with reports of strong performance and no heat issues on some units. The main caveat is that the system is tuned more for reliability and throttling than for maximizing benchmark numbers.

    Electron12MrElusive

AI-generated summary based on comments from the community. Updated ago

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27 Comments

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Pro
Feb 26, 2026 9:55 PM
3.8K Comments
Joined Dec 2020
BlueRaccoon1085
Pro
Feb 26, 2026 9:55 PM
3.8K Comments
Proprietary parts?
1
Original Poster
Feb 26, 2026 10:03 PM
27 Comments
Joined Sep 2011
Arktander
Original Poster
Feb 26, 2026 10:03 PM
27 Comments
Quote from BlueRaccoon1085 View quoted comment :
Proprietary parts?
Yes, Dell has not yet decided to go with standard parts. Pretty much everthing is proprietary except the CPU. I would not expect this to be great for heavy gaming but there are folks like me who don't run it at the limit or build their own computer or upgrade over the years.
1
Feb 27, 2026 1:09 AM
4 Comments
Joined Nov 2021
MandingalatorFeb 27, 2026 1:09 AM
4 Comments
Quote from BlueRaccoon1085 View quoted comment :
Proprietary parts?
Yes and it performs poorly. Terrible bloatware, heat problems, and the fact that if ANYTHING goes wrong, the whole pc has to be tossed. Only off the shelf parts are RAM and CPU.
2
2
Feb 27, 2026 2:31 AM
2 Comments
Joined Jan 2026
TenderStove890Feb 27, 2026 2:31 AM
2 Comments
Quote from Mandingalator View quoted comment :
Yes and it performs poorly. Terrible bloatware, heat problems, and the fact that if ANYTHING goes wrong, the whole pc has to be tossed. Only off the shelf parts are RAM and CPU.
Good information. Not surprised coming from Dell.
2
Feb 27, 2026 4:19 AM
20 Comments
Joined Mar 2013
ilovehotdealsFeb 27, 2026 4:19 AM
20 Comments
Does anyone know if an 240mm AIO is enough to cool down the 285K?
Mar 2, 2026 11:37 PM
39 Comments
Joined Feb 2019
MrElusiveMar 2, 2026 11:37 PM
39 Comments
I'm glad somebody posted this, definitely a good deal!
Considering the CPU and the GPU alone may cost you $2,200 (depending on the card), I think this PC is a great value.
The motherboard and case are proprietary, and designed to be restrictive for future upgrades down the road, but I'm glad to see it includes at least an AIO liquid cooler for the CPU.
We buy Dell at my work, 1 or 2 machines per year. I never found them to have much bloatware but you pretty much have to keep their Dell driver/BIOS software updater thingy. I usually just uninstall any McAfee antivirus BS if it's pre-loaded, run Windows updates and it's good to go.
Dell ships 11 million units per quarter; you are buying a PC that represents that. Little to no upgrade path, it's gonna run for a long time without headaches, and it's going to favor reliability and throttling rather than crushing benchmarks.
Mar 5, 2026 3:45 PM
492 Comments
Joined Jun 2018
9594Mar 5, 2026 3:45 PM
492 Comments
Quote from Arktander View quoted comment :
Yes, Dell has not yet decided to go with standard parts. Pretty much everthing is proprietary except the CPU. I would not expect this to be great for heavy gaming but there are folks like me who don't run it at the limit or build their own computer or upgrade over the years.
The motherboard and PSU are proprietary. Everything else can be swapped/changed.

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Mar 5, 2026 9:59 PM
2 Comments
Joined Dec 2025
DelightfulMeat685Mar 5, 2026 9:59 PM
2 Comments


https://www.microcenter.com/produ...-gaming-pc


Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (3.2GHz) Processor
32GB DDR5-5200 RAM
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Graphics Card
2TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
2.5GbE LAN, 2x2 WiFi 7 (802.11be), Bluetooth 5.4
Windows 11 Home
Protect and Support

Pretty good specs. Considering a 5080 runs for around 1500, I think this is a steal if anyone is in the market for a PC
Original Poster
Mar 5, 2026 11:40 PM
27 Comments
Joined Sep 2011
Arktander
Original Poster
Mar 5, 2026 11:40 PM
27 Comments
I also thought this one was too good to pass up. My previous Dell/Alienware computers have lasted many years. Several older Dells have passed 15 years, my previous went 12 years. They may not be for everyone but they have for me. Not everyone cares to build a PC or update it over many years. Some just use a computer that works for them. I can't believe how good this computer is!
Last edited by Arktander March 30, 2026 at 11:13 AM.
Mar 11, 2026 12:19 AM
10 Comments
Joined Jul 2020
Electron12Mar 11, 2026 12:19 AM
10 Comments

Our community has rated this post as helpful. If you agree, why not thank

Quote from Mandingalator View quoted comment :
Yes and it performs poorly. Terrible bloatware, heat problems, and the fact that if ANYTHING goes wrong, the whole pc has to be tossed. Only off the shelf parts are RAM and CPU.
I have 2 of these and I am a fairly hard core gamer - mostly COD and battlefield. I have zero issue with my system - they perform as well as any system I have here that I have built. But there are a ton of performance screen shots and videos and all say the performance is very good. I have zero heat problems but as most know the new processors really dont heat up like the old ones did - again there are a ton of videos on this as well as the heat performance of the ACT1250's I would take nothing from the tools on this site and do a bit of research. These are build very well and come with zero bloatware. I actually would recommend to anyone who can afford and who does not want to take the time to match hardware. Good luck with your search! All replacement parts are available from Alienware but in the year and a half I have had mine I have not had any issues requiring any parts to be replaced. They have worked flawlessly.
3
Mar 17, 2026 2:20 PM
92 Comments
Joined Feb 2013
asianjabbaMar 17, 2026 2:20 PM
92 Comments
I know past Alienware had issues but these are the 'refreshes' no? I am curious is this intel chip better or the amd 9900x at Costco for 2299 instead of 2199 here
Mar 18, 2026 8:32 PM
5 Comments
Joined Oct 2018
RaviM2973Mar 18, 2026 8:32 PM
5 Comments
I bought this computer. Will report on how it runs.
Mar 20, 2026 1:57 PM
34 Comments
Joined Dec 2012
arethiz86Mar 20, 2026 1:57 PM
34 Comments
Best buy price matched. Thank you
Mar 21, 2026 1:54 PM
15 Comments
Joined May 2010
osulu91Mar 21, 2026 1:54 PM
15 Comments
I was able to price match at Best Buy as well! Great deal honestly

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Mar 22, 2026 3:24 AM
53 Comments
Joined Jan 2008
sandkebayMar 22, 2026 3:24 AM
53 Comments
I also got one from Bestbuy with price match. Only have had it a full day but is doing great so far and runs very quiet.

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