Alienware Aurora R8 recommended upgrade(s)?

MrDemonStu

MrDemonStu

MrDemonStu

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Hi all, Im a complete noob when it comes to all the hardware bits & bobs inside my desktop.
Ive been a console gamer for many years and finally decided to make the jump into PC gaming, I have the Alienware Aurora R8 at the starter build. (Got this one purely for the easier upgrades...In theory anyway)
Only game ive been playing really so far is Astroneer so ive not really had chance to test how good or bad my PC is,
Here's my specs hope it makes sense:
Intel Core i3 8100 (4-core, 6mb cache, 3.6GHz)
AMD Radeon RX 560X with 4gb GDDR5
1TB 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s (64MB Cache)
8GB DDR4 2666MHz

Id love to get into playing games like Satisfactory and other survival/Base builders.
What would I likely need to upgrade to run Satisfactory or will my PC run it as it is?

Also if I try to run a game my PC cant handle will it try to run it anyway, potentially crashing/damaging my PC or will it simply tell me and refuse to run it?

Any help greatly appreciated.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum.


MrDemonStu said:
Hi all, Im a complete noob when it comes to all the hardware bits & bobs inside my desktop.
Ive been a console gamer for many years and finally decided to make the jump into PC gaming, I have the Alienware Aurora R8 at the starter build. (Got this one purely for the easier upgrades...In theory anyway)
Click to expand...

No, it's not any easier to upgrade than a custom PC. And the 460W PSU while enough for most CPUs/GPUs already excludes some interesting options from consideration.

You've basically made an uninformed choice when it comes to performance and value for money, and got caught out by "Alienware" branding and a cool-looking case. I don't know how much you got it for though, am basing it on the default £800 price for the spec you listed. Why bring this up? Because the best way to upgrade and the cheapest way to upgrade would be to get a much better system for that money in the first place.


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £702.20 (includes shipping: £12.30)
​

Something like this, which you could probably get built by OcUK for a total close to £750 (you'd have to ask for a quote), would really spank it (seriously spank it). Then you could find Windows 10 cheap somewhere and install it in a few minutes. If you know how to use a computer, then you know how to install Windows. They've made it very simple.

Double the RAM, six-core processor, fast SSD instead of slow mechanical drive, and then the difference between an RX 560 and RX 580 graphics card is immense. The RX 580 is exactly twice as fast as the RX 560 in most games. Plus 700W PSU to allow for better GPU upgrades, like Vega 56/64, etc. Case just choose the ~£50 ATX case you like the most.

So if you seriously only bought it planning on easier upgrades, then I'd return for a refund and get a lot more value for money.


MrDemonStu said:
Id love to get into playing games like Satisfactory and other survival/Base builders.
What would I likely need to upgrade to run Satisfactory or will my PC run it as it is?
Click to expand...

The PC meets the minimum requirements. Does not exceed them. Your PC will run it but note that game companies want as many people as possible to buy/play/try their game, so what they state as minimum doesn't usually translate to a good experience.


MrDemonStu said:
Also if I try to run a game my PC cant handle will it try to run it anyway, potentially crashing/damaging my PC or will it simply tell me and refuse to run it?

Any help greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

It will likely try to play it, and you will know it can't handle it if it's a stuttery mess. You will only maybe damage a component/s in the PC if you keep on trying to play it for months despite poor performance.

With a better PC for the money, you wouldn't even need to ask these questions as it would chew through everything out there at 1080p resolution. Plus the difference between having the operating system and some games on an SSD v HDD is incredible. OS on HDD is stone-age these days, FYI. Especially given the now very affordable SSD prices.
 
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orbitalwalsh said:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £485.48 (includes shipping: £10.50)


Check PSU PCIe power connections , wattage should be fine though​

Could.slap in 8700 non K in a years time second hand

You'll want to slap In .500GB SSD and clone your HDD to it !
Click to expand...

Do you think he should keep what he has? And just spend additional money?
 
Danny75 said:
Do you think he should keep what he has? And just spend additional money?
Click to expand...

more of the cost they have put into Alienware then to change it all =(

https://www.tomshardware.co.uk/intel-core-i3-8100-cpu-review,review-34159-6.html

8100 aint too bad...ish beast ryzen 4 core 8 thread even when its overclocked - though 2600 will jog on past :)

OP might have to pop it open to take snap shot of the PSU and its specs - GTX 1660/Ti should go in fine or even rx 590

though Im sure sure IF OP HAS IT!!!! or is Ordering it!!!!!

if you haveN'T bought it... DANNY'S LIST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and delete alienware from browsing history!

if you've already ordered and cant cancel or have it and need to upgrade... then above GPU
 
It sounds like he just got it (hopefully) because he said he didn't know how good or bad it was yet and had only tried one game. Which is why I focused on returning it for a cheaper same-cost upgrade.

You have 14 days to reject goods no questions asked. 30 days if product is of unsatisfactory quality (could be worth a try but have to accept if they said no).

If he says no can do, then some upgrades along the lines of what you suggested. Just wasn't clear whether your advice was to keep and ignore the return option if possible. Thanks for clearing it up.
 
Case of that Alienware is plain horrible for gaming PC:
  • Zero room for CPU heatsink, so once that no doubt cheapest parts made waterpipe cooler degrades/wears, you can't use better bang per buck heatpipe coolers.
    = Expensive in long term.
    All while that external height could easily fit normal ATX case with PSU on bottom and proper space for CPU coolers.​
  • Bad case airflow with very little room for cooling.
    Especially non-reference cards dumping their heat into case and then just recirculating that air don't like that.
    And still big size for that because of all that useless plastic bling bling trash.​
And PSU is likely medieval design cheapo in line with bling bling fashion design sold with brand hype.
 
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Thanks all for taking the time to reply.
Unfortunately Im stuck with the Alienware Aurora, got it about 5-6 weeks ago.
So with that being said what can I do with what I have?
 
MrDemonStu said:
Thanks all for taking the time to reply.
Unfortunately Im stuck with the Alienware Aurora, got it about 5-6 weeks ago.
So with that being said what can I do with what I have?
Click to expand...

I'd add an SSD drive to start with as these make windows and games feel a lot quicker. They are cheap and easy to add as well.

Next up would either be 16GB of RAM or a new graphics card (though the power supply in you current build will impact you choice here)

Some pics of the internals would really help.
 
Not sure what parts are what, but took a bunch of pics hopefully got what you have asked for:
20190328_213409_zpscpbw3vlp.jpg
 
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Ok - super tidy build that.

1 free memory slot so you could add another 8 GB of RAM - this will give you the benifit of dual channel memory, as well as more of it.

2 free SATA ports as well so you can add an SSD drive which makes things load quicker.

Hard to see what PSU that is so difficult to say if the graphics card could be upgraded - an AMD 580 with 8GB of RAM would be quite an upgrade over that card, if the PSU can handle it
 
To add to what BongoHunter said:

PSU has one visible 6+2 PCIe power connector and the other plugged into GPU would be 6, 6+2 or 8. Probably 6 or 6+2.

Four RAM slots (two white clips/two black clips) but as they cheaped out using a single stick in single channel, even just two slots would have been fine to add another 8GB 2666MHz DDR4 stick.

SSD, GPU, 8GB stick of RAM for dual channel are pretty clear-cut upgrades.

For CPU you'd only have to look into it if you experience stutters, audio crackle, stuff like that. Then you'd want to get some monitoring overlay (Afterburner+Rivatuner for example) and see if the CPU cores are hitting 100% frequently, which would be a likely cause of those symptoms. Even then, you could mitigate it by using an fps limit so CPU (as well as GPU) doesn't have to work so hard as long as you're happy with the frames you get, e.g. 60 fps for 60Hz monitor.

RX 580, GTX 1660, GTX 1660Ti, RTX 2060 or RTX 2070 are the GPU choices you have (as far as modern cards, even if 580 is getting on). You'll have to avoid the Vega 56 and 64 cards.

Concerning GPU width, the triangular piece marked in following pic may or may not mean that cards with width exceeding their PCIe bracket should be avoided:

dkM6WQI.jpg


It's hard to tell how much space there is behind that piece. I think it's even possible that piece actually presses against the PCIe brackets for support, as they didn't have any screws.
 
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BongoHunter said:
Ok - super tidy build that.

1 free memory slot so you could add another 8 GB of RAM - this will give you the benifit of dual channel memory, as well as more of it.

2 free SATA ports as well so you can add an SSD drive which makes things load quicker.

Hard to see what PSU that is so difficult to say if the graphics card could be upgraded - an AMD 580 with 8GB of RAM would be quite an upgrade over that card, if the PSU can handle it
Click to expand...

So how would I find out if the PSU would handle it?
 
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