Alienware Can't Get It Right - R15 2023 Pre-Built Gaming PC Review

With the new on-sale price and the amount of GPUs clearly stuck on shelves right now, we decided it was time to revisit Alienware! While you're here, check out our recent Deepcool Assassin IV review (for something positive) too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukYhjjoJnfc

After hearing 4430$ I kept waiting for Steve to turn this futuristic box around so I could see where they mounted the second RTX4090 card.

The fade to black as Steve goes on massive tangents absolutely kills me. You guys do great work!

Back when i worked at Best Buy many years ago, we had a big, flashy Alienware display. It always got the attention of kids wanting their first gaming machine. I’d always open the case and compare it to a case actually meant for a gaming build, asking how much they wanted to pay for a glowing alien logo and some custom bits of plastic. Then I’d point out the fans, and then ask them where the air is supposed to go. I’m kind of proud of the number of kids that I got to build their own, or let us build one for them, instead of buying a half assed prebuilt. Also since I had a Geek Squad that actually knew what they were doing, I knew we could deliver a better built machine every time.

In summary, Dell has yet again overcharged their customers for a computer that underperforms, and nobody should buy this heap.

Nice to see the prebuilt reviews again, always a fan of them

That fade-out when Steve was getting heated... love it. I wonder how many hours have passed... :D

I LOVE the Alienware prebuilt reviews, it’s like a bad car accident you just can’t stop watching.

As someone who remembers Alienware from their early days, I really genuinely want them to become very legit again. As of right now they're mainly just good at making interesting (not always useful) cases and interior arrangements.

My main issue with it is really the looks they seem to be so fond of - it doesn't look "classy" or prestigious by any means, but early 2000s cheap plastic, cheap acrylic, teenager style and absolutely not like anything high end. A lot of that could already be changed by just switching to some more pleasant materials, stamped metal, matte finish, actual glass maybe, the front just mesh, they could still keep a curvy, unique look, just with a pinch more Apple maybe... but that should of course also come with a complete case redesign as far as functionality goes. A much cheaper custom build looks so much cleaner and classier, I really don't know who they're still selling their systems too.

i cannot fathom spending 5 grand on a new prebuilt pc (in general) and NOT getting a new gpu. the inside of that gpu looked like it just recently got done building a sand castle. that's insane

The craziest part is you can tell from their gpu construction that they actually have SOME competent engineers over at dell

The thing I really love about GN is, it's like watching the tech video from the early 2000s. IDK, the vibe is just like that. Full of information, trustworthy, simple camera work - no cinematic thingy, just straight educational and on point. And he is using 60 frames for his content. As much as I remember, almost all tech videos on TV last time used this format. Dont know if it is intentional for him to make it looks like a classic tech video but yeah it worked.!

Good to see Alienware still sports the build quality and fair pricing they've always been known for.

I’m guessing it wouldn’t have been practical, but it would have been interesting to see the results of taking a Dremel to the top of the case

I copped the g516 last week. 5600x3d, 6650xt for $750. It’s basically this pc but micro atx, better cable management, the thermals aren’t shit, and the case has actual airflow. Pretty happy w the cop

I know this one was pretty rough, but I bought an Alienware Aurora R7 back in 2017 with 0% financing for around $1800. Got an i7 8770k, 16GB RAM, and a 1070ti and honestly I was and am really happy with it. I just "retired" that machine after upgrading a bunch of the parts over the years and just bounced it to my wife for her, much MUCH more casual use. 6 years later and it's still going quite strong with 32GB RAM, and upgraded modular PSU, and a 3070 in there now.

I’ve been binge watching your pre built videos in the last 2 days. Perfect timing!

I always find it crazy watching these videos. The industrial design that has carried over with dell through the years, as far back as the late 90s dell XPS systems even. So much of this case feels like an office pc inside as opposed to a high end gaming pc.

I would love to see if the CPU performance improves with the roof cut off and a basic mesh filter put over it.