Pros
- A plethora of ports
- Stylish, organized and compact case
Cons
- Cramped case discourages tinkering.
- Relatively poor performance for the price
Bottom Line
The new Alienware Aurora is well-designed with a great case and a few neat features, but it’s a little pricey and doesn’t keep up with category leaders in our performance tests.
Manufacturer’s Description
Not Available
The Specs
| Pricing | |
|---|---|
| Part Number | AAS2263MSB |
| Processor | |
| Processor count | 1 |
| Processor speed | 3481.6 MHz |
| Bus speed | 100.0 MHz |
| Processor type | Intel Core i7 |
| Cache size | 8.192 KB |
| Memory | |
| Memory size | 4096.0 MB |
| Memory speed | 667.0 MHz |
| Memory type | DDR3 |
| Storage | |
| Other storage |
|
| Drive type | Hard Disk Drive |
| Storage Media | |
| Compact flash | 1 |
| Memory stick | 1 |
| XD picture card | 1 |
| SD card | 1 |
| Expansion slots | |
| Number of PCI-Express 2.0 x16 slots | 2.0 |
| Ports and Connections | |
| SD/MMC Card | 1 |
| Available Interfaces |
|
| MultiMedia Card (MMC) or MultiMediaCard (MMC) | 1 |
| Included Software | |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium |
Performance
| Overall Rating | |
|---|---|
| WorldBench 6 Score | 170 |
| Office Productivity | |
|---|---|
| Web Browsing | 133 seconds (lower is better) |
| Office Suite Use | 304 seconds (lower is better) |
| File Compression | 138 seconds (lower is better) |
| Content Creation | |
|---|---|
| CPU Graphics Rendering | 164 seconds (lower is better) |
| DVD Burning | 248 seconds (lower is better) |
| Image Editing | 248 seconds (lower is better) |
| GPU Graphics Rendering | 268 seconds (lower is better) |
| Video Encoding | 129 seconds (lower is better) |
| Video Editing | 147 seconds (lower is better) |
| Multitasking | |
|---|---|
| World Bench 6 Multitasking | 154 |
| Gaming | |
|---|---|
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1024x768 | 286.8 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, High Quality, 1024x768 | 99.9 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, High Quality, 1680x1050 | 78.1 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, High Quality, 1920x1200 | 71.2 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, High Quality, 2560x1600 | 53 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, Ultra Quality, 2560x1600 | 48.1 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1680x1050 | 86.4 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1024x768 | 118.1 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 | 178 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1680x1050 | 149.9 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 2560x1600 | 266.7 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 1920x1200 | 140.4 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, Low Quality, 2560x1600 | 109 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1024x768 | 178.4 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1680x1050 | 181.6 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1920x1200 | 291.3 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 1920x1200 | 178.9 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, Ultra Quality, 2560x1600 | 50.7 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, High Quality, 2560x1600 | 54.2 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Far Cry 2, High Quality, 1920x1200 | 76.6 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1920x1200 | 130.4 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1680x1050 | 145.2 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Highest 2560x1600 | 183.1 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, Low Quality, 1024x768 | 180.7 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Unreal Tournament 3 Medium 1680x1050 | 293.5 Frames per second (higher is better) |
| Dirt 2, Low Quality, 2560x1600 | 97.1 Frames per second (higher is better) |
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Alienware Aurora: Flashy Looks in a Smallish Case
