The Worst Pre-Built We've Ever Reviewed: Alienware R13 $5000 Gaming PC Benchmarks

The Alienware R13 is easily the worst pre-built gaming PC we've ever reviewed. Dell manages to downclock an i9 to equal an i7 performance instead, yet charges $5000 for the PC.

Unfortunately, even spending $5K does not get a good pre-built gaming PC. You'd think it'd get you the best pre-built PC of 2022, but it doesn't even get you the best pre-built gaming PC of 2015. This thing is built to decades-old standards and manages to throttle just about every component in the system through either power or thermals, and the noise produced is that of a mid-2000s Gateway.



TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - Alienware R13 Benchmarks & Review
01:55 - System Specs & Proprietary Components
04:35 - Majestically Ruining the 12900KF
05:26 - Blender Showing the Problems
05:48 - 7-Zip Compression Isn't a Problem
06:03 - CRYO-TECH TM
08:30 - 96 Degrees Celsius Seems Good
09:55 - Power Throttling is Bad
11:12 - Extremely Bad Frequency Throttling
12:41 - GPU Thermals
14:30 - Noise Examples & dBA Levels
15:23 - Gaming Performance
15:43 - Cyberpunk 2077
16:14 - Rainbow Six
16:29 - Power Consumption
18:02 - Perennial BS Warranty Scam
19:52 - BIOS & Software
21:52 - Conclusion

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Host, Test Lead: Steve Burke
Testing: Patrick Lathan
Video: Andrew Coleman
Video: Keegan Gallick

[BlindMango]

I feel sorry for the engineers who did all the work to make this pile of junk the best they could with what they were given, but weren't given the freedom to actually make a good PC from the ground up! Maybe Dell will figure it out one day

[benjaminoechsli]

Dell noticed that not enough companies were getting the "Better than Dell" award, so they lowered the bar another notch. How thoughtful!

[MrMeraby]

This actually makes me sad as my first modern computer was a Dell with a Pentium 200 Mhz chip. It was a beast, lasted forever, and made me a Dell repeat customer for almost a decade. The company is a shell of its former self.

[Dvlx]

I'm not gonna lie, I absolutely love watching these dumpster fire PC's getting the publicity they deserve.

[notthedroidsyourelookingfo]

I can already see the quote
"Brilliant mechanical engineering" - Gamers Nexus
on the case's website.

[sevensyns]

A HUGE thanks to the team at Gamers Nexus. The R13 has been the pre-built I had been eyeing for some time and, without this review, I would have been stuck with a very poorly designed, proprietary PC that literally would have gone up in smoke after extended use. I have since decided to build one myself, ultimately it will save me well over $1000 in costs plus allowing me to gain some knowledge on the inner workings of my own PC.

[saltyscorpion]

Steve, you saved me at least 5K. I have a number of older Dell systems that I have kept usable with upgrades. I was going to treat myself to a new Alienware system for gaming and 3D modeling. Thanks to you I didn't get scammed by Dell as a loyal customer. Those days are gone forever. Once prices get more realistic, I'll just build my own system, using your recommendations. Keep up the great work! The 5k includes a curved 4k monitor

[TriccyViccy]

You know, it’s reassuring that companies like Dell always blow our expectations right out of the water.

Just when you think “there’s no possible way it can get worse”, they almost break their necks trying to prove you wrong.
Kudos, Dell!

[thaddeuslyons]

It all makes sense when you factor in that they wanted the desktop to look and sound like a space ship!

[thatsgottahurt]

Saw an ad on Twitter by Alienware for this PC a day ago, it was instantly slammed for its poor case design and 120mm AIO. I was LMAO

[JeanneDGames]

"Infinity is a long time; 56 seconds is not a long time" had me in stitches.
I appreciate how you guys always manage to make Dell's critical failures still entertaining despite the fact that the core of your reviews of their products have been effectively the same for literal decades.

[Lambda.Function]

The margins on this prebuilt are insane. There are no excuses for why the quality is what I'd expect from a $500 mass produced office PC from Dell.

[figurativelythedevil]

Imagine being an engineer on this project and feeling so vindicated when GN is saying all the same things you've been saying to marketing and management since the beginning and continually falling on deaf ears.

[PHDarren]

Dell = "We can't afford to contract a 3rd party case manufacturer"
Also Dell = "Lets spend huge amounts of money designing and manufacturing complex engineering solutions to make the computer fit our 30 year old case"

[masonedmunds]

I few years back I bought an Aurora R9 and it was the worst tech purchase of my life. I wanted to take the "easy way out" and avoid DIY. Long story short, I was met with red flags and problems from the onset. The fan ramping was comically loud and so persistent that I thought my unit was defective. I spent three days on the phone with their terrible tech support for them to pretty much tell me "that's just the way the computer cools itself." Wow, thanks guys. Then, I discovered that the system was idling at 41% RAM usage. 41% RAM usage due to all of the bloatware and antivirus software that comes prepackaged. Gaming and software performance was laughable, and it honestly felt like any time I turned the system on could be the last. I felt like I'd just been scammed out of $2, 500. Luckily, I was able to return the system and get a full refund. I used that to buy components and build my own system like I should have done in the first place. There are some decent pre-builts out there, but take it from me -- just do it yourself. And if you really want to go pre-built -- stay the hell away from DELL.

[thomaslayman]

it's insane to think that while the only real reason you'd ever buy this is to get your hands on a 12900K and a 3090, you could quite literally buy that pair of components *new* on amazon right now for nearly half that, and then just build the rest of the system and *still* be under the price of the r13.

[Mattribute]

It's crazy because they could EASILY have lower build costs, lower weight and shipping costs, better performance, fewer RMAs and a vastly improved brand by replacing whoever is responsible for this with one consultation with someone like GN. Then all Dell has to do is build it.

[kvasir]

When I knew nothing about computers I wanted an Alienware for years. Only because it looked good and they knew how to market it. It really felt like state of the art, almost alien, technology. Last year I built my own computer with a 3060 ti. It cost me the same as if I would have bought an alienware with a 3060 ti. But it has a better case with better cooling, more powerful and modular psu, more storage, no proprietary bs. Really shows you the power of branding. Especially when people dont have that much knowledge about whats being sold.

[ericwood]

It sounds like Dell treats the "Alienware" concept too literally by making their components alien to basic ATX PC standards.

[Alfonzoo]

To be fair, this PC is reasonably priced for being an oven.