Crazy Bad $5000 Alienware Gaming PC: R13 Aurora Tear-Down

This tear-down is part 1 of 2 looking at the Alienware Aurora R13, which has a 12900KF and an RTX 3090 for $5000, alongside some very slow DDR5 memory.


Part 2 is coming soon!

We bought the Alienware Aurora R13 gaming computer with Intel 12th Gen 12900KF for review, spending $5000 in the process. This was the most expensive review component we've ever bought, to memory, and it was so bad that we split our original plan for one video into two: This is the tear-down, while the next will be the review proper with testing. Dell has managed to make things worse from the original Alienware R10, despite nonstop marketing about all its "improvements" it had made.

TIMESTAMPS

00:00 - $5000 Alienware R13 Tear-Down
02:10 - Components & Part 1 vs. Part 2
03:42 - External Preview
06:15 - "Airflow" Updates
07:30 - When Liquid Coolers Are Good vs. Bad
08:40 - Something Broke
11:00 - Relearning How to Build a PC
12:34 - Crazy Over-Engineering Mechanically
14:40 - More Proprietary BS & Bloated Design
18:34 - Very Bad VRM & Motherboard
21:18 - Power Supply is the Best Part
22:10 - Why We're Upset

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Host, Demolitions: Steve Burke
Video: Andrew Coleman
Video Production: Keegan Gallick

[Shane]

So I was somewhat involved in developing this system (can’t say specifically for reasons) and want to clear something up. Everyone, and I mean everyone designing the r13 wanted a new chassis. It was a constant point of contention among the engineers and designers, led to a small loss of staff and proved to be a major hurdle.

Management refused to listen and doubled down, it was either make it work or get out. For many of us, the r13 was meant to be an industry redemption story, a system worth every penny. While management refused new chassis designs, they simultaneously demanded we shove as much tech (mechanically and otherwise) into it.

As GN said, all the fancy shmancy additions were implemented to fit a ridiculous number of high-performance components into a chassis designed for Office workers of yesteryear. It wasn’t necessary, but at the same time, it was.

“Bloat” is an understatement, half the development cycle was spent on making this work. Management gave us a reason, we were told that our chassis were over-produced in previous quarters and that all previous stock needed to be sold off before building in others.

We were incredibly disappointed with the company, we felt as if we failed our fans and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. Our lead quit after the r13 shipped, an incredibly talented individual that fought with management for years over stuff this channel regularly points out.

My main point in all of this is, please don’t blame the engineers and designers at Dell. we’re definitely not idiots, rather, we’re chained to Dell’s inherent greed and backwards managerial style. We don’t have any say, and if we did, things would be a hell of a lot different.

Sorry everyone, just about every colleague of mine watches this channel, hoping to get more of a voice in upcoming products.

If you have a minute, contact Dell and encourage them to “listen to the engineers!”, maybe that’ll make a difference!

[dragontales]

It's like Dell knows that Steve hates terrible pre-builts and they cook them extra spicy so you'll be surprised at just how low they can go!

[nybsfp]

I loved how the “this is not a handle” warning just low key redeemed itself

[simsbanshee]

I bought a faulty gaming laptop from them. After six failed repairs they tried to get me to sign a note on the repair slip that "it was not their fault" and told me it meant they wore a mask.... I started recording audio of my conversations with them after the 3rd repair and they gave me a full refund when I threatened to sue them for attempting to coerce me into signing a statement under false pretenses.

[miguelgutierrez]

You're not paying for just a computer Steve, you're paying for even MORE of the Dell experience!

[farolitohernandez]

I truly believe that if the McLaren F1 team ditched their Dell sponsorship their cars would run 30% cooler and 200 extra hp due to lack of bloatware.

[blackheart-uv]

Props to Alienware for always managing to make their products worse.

[xmateinc]

5k and they still have a regular HD in there. Wow.

[Slaking_]

It's impressive how Alienware continually makes the biggest, most unwieldy cases ever, and yet they still manage to have barely any space inside

[markharrisllb]

I’m not a gamer so I’ve avoided this channel thinking it wasn’t for me. However, I really enjoy watching people who stick up for the little guy. I have to applaud the degree and detail in which this channel does that. Well done.

[tuurekeranen]

"We bought this 5000$ thrashheap with our own money!" had me chuckle. Keep the blade keen, GN!

[Phat_TONY]

I used to work for Dell, i was on the Alienware support team. support was separated for desktops laptops and alienware had its own set of people. we had all the tech "papers" for them. the components used were of the lowest grade possible. we had to upsell and at least give the customer a sales pitch, at least once in every conversation with customers. OMG the pricing on the parts Dell had us selling, i would personally would never even consider any of the parts of any quality. but dell wanted, even the support team, to believe that the parts were of top quality as to be more convincing to the customer. our test lab had a bunch of "burnt out" parts. if you knew what the markup of profit items were, you would flipping flip. many of the parts were salvaged of older "dead units". the markup on some items were over 500% profit for Dell. We could see the prices and the markup for Dell. The tool we used\ showed us the pricing and the profit margin. some agents main purpose for doing support on Dell was to earn more for selling. yes dell did have an incentive program for agents that sold and sell they did. Not a bad extra amount earned in the month.

[twocs]

That motherboard has to be the undisputed king of the "instant e-waste" category.

[jsalce]

Dell saved $40 by repurposing an old PC chassis...then spend thousands engineering and making parts to fit the old case.

[ryanmalinowski]

I give props to whomever designed that 30 year old chassis and the person who marketed it to Dell and HP. That was money in the bank for them

[shoryuken]

I can’t believe I used to buy Alienware, thanks to channels like yours I now build and never looked back

[alldreamsfalldown]

Alienware's approach to problem solving: Making three lefts to turn right.

[bobboukie]

This case is bordering on the Rube Goldberg-level of design. Can't wait for the R-rating of thermals to show how badly the heat is kept trapped within!

[Zecrid.]

Dell feels like the General Motors of the PC world. They have some genuinely fantastic engineers that can build around a problem, but are choked back by weird or just inane bean counter cost cutting decisions.

[BenYTC]

I love that the side panel release sounds exactly like my 14 year old optiplex 755, Dell never changes.