Better than a new fridge
Earlier this week we talked about various Dell (and Alienware) laptop deals on tap for Memorial Day. Today, we’re spotting some actual decent pricing on Alienware’s Aurora premium gaming desktop.
Typically, we see these machines priced far above the $1,000 mark but as of writing there are two models well below the $900 price point. In fact, the cheapest Alienware Aurora now starts at $733 after instant savings plus coupon. While you’re definitely still paying a premium compared to building your own rig, these three deals are a far cry from their usual price tag (with the Core i7 variant having a list price of $1,550).
Update 6/9/17: The deals are back and even cheaper for the base model, which is now only $705.99.
Alienware Aurora Desktop Deals
Use coupon code: TENOFF
- Alienware Aurora R6 Core i5-7400, Radeon RX 560 2GB, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM — $705.99 (list price $800)
- Alienware Aurora Core i5-7400, GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, 1TB HDD, 16GB RAM — $1,014.29 (list price $1,200)
- Alienware Aurora Core i5-7400, GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, 1TB HDD, 16GB RAM — $1,102.49 (list price $1,300)
Expired deals:
- Alienware Aurora Core i5-7400, GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, 1TB HDD, 8GB RAM — $899.99 (list price $1,100)
- Alienware Aurora Core i7-7700, GeForce GTX 1070 8GB, 2TB HDD, 16GB RAM — $1,249.99 (list price $1,550)
Above, you’ll find three models, all with the Aurora chassis that’s tool-less accessible and comes with those AlienFX lighting zones with 20 different colors. Which, depending on who you ask, are either pretty cool or an unnecessary drain on the wallet. All models come with the latest Intel 7th Gen Kaby Lake processor, with the two sub-$900 model equipped with a Quad Core i5-7400 (a CPU priced around $190). The base model comes with a Radeon RX 560, which is just a rebranded Radeon RX 480 that’s slightly higher clocked (currently priced at about $110). This model comes in at $733 and is essentially a VR-ready gaming rig for a decent price.
Throw in another $100 and you’ll step up from the RX 560 2GB GPU to a configuration with a GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB of RAM (priced around $230 to $250). By all accounts, we think this is the model to go with given you’ll get far better performance in high-resolution gaming and will be able to run games at higher settings.
Finally, the priciest deal above is the Core i7-7700 model (a $300 CPU) that comes with a spiffy GTX 1070 8GB, which can run almost all games currently on the market at high/max settings — unsurprising, given that it’s a ~$350 CPU. This configuration clocks in at $1,175 and comes with 16GB of RAM and a 2TB HDD (though honestly, you should price in an SSD for better performance).
For the sake of comparison, we priced out a similar config and come up with a similar street price of about $1,193 before rebate — so the deal on the Alienware Aurora Core i7 with GTX 1070 is priced quite competitively all things considered, particularly since we went and picked cheaper parts when available.
Similar Config to Core i7 Alienware Aurora
Update 6/1: the Dell Memorial Day sale is dead, but a few new Alienware configurations are available. Deals updated below.
- Core i7-7700 – $294.99
- Cryorig H7 cooler – $34.89
- Gigabyte GA-Z270MX Micro ATX SLI mobo – $157.33
- 2x8GB DDR4-2400 Memory – $105.99
- Seagate Barracuda 2TB – $69.89
- Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 – $349.99
- Deepcool TESSERACT SW ATX Mid-Tower Case – $39.99
- EVGA 450W 80+ Bronze PSU – $42.89
- Windows 10 Home – $87
- Total – $1,193.85
Let us know if the items we picked seem reasonable. We think it’s safe to say that some of the items picked may be higher quality parts than what Dell will be tossing into the Aurora, while some are on par or worse (e.g., the case chassis is subjective). Most of the OEM savings are via the software where Dell probably gets Windows 10 for dirt cheap, whereas the average Joe will need to fork over about $80+ for a copy.
If you’ve been looking for an Alienware gaming desktop for cheap, we think these three deals are as good as it’ll get until we hit holiday season 2017. If you’re not into these rigs, well, feel free to add to the usual flame that accompanies any mention of Alienware machines.
Deals from Dealzon. Sales help support Destructoid.
