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April 25th, 2020 14:00
Aurora R9 vs Aurora R10 vs XPS 8930 SE Desktop
Hi,
I am looking for a gaming desktop that will work for next 3-4 years. One requirement I have is that the desktop should be able to natively connect to my two USB C dell monitors. I have had XPS laptops but this is going to be my first dell desktop purchase. I have come up with following options. R9 and R10 are at similar price points and XPS is 300 dollar cheaper. Could you please recommend I need to make any changes to the configurations, if I should look at some other options (like R8) and what that would be and which one of these 3 options is a better buy -
| # | Type | ALIENWARE AURORA R9 GAMING DESKTOP | NEW ALIENWARE AURORA R10 RYZEN™ EDITION GAMING DESKTOP | XPS 8930 Desktop Special Edition |
| 1 | Processor | 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 9700K (8-Core, 12MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.6GHz across all cores) | AMD Ryzen™ 7 3700X (8-Core, 32MB L3 Cache, Max Boost Clock of 4.4GHz) | 9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 9700 (8-Core, 12MB Cache, up to 4.7GHz with Intel® Turbo Boost Technology) |
| 2 | Operating System | Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English | Windows 10 Home 64-bit English | Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English |
| 3 | Video Card | NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) | NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) | NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 2070 SUPER 8GB GDDR6 |
| 4 | Color Choice | Lunar Light | Lunar Light | Black |
| 5 | Memory | 16GB Dual Channel HyperX™ FURY DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz; up to 64GB (additional memory sold separately) | 16GB Dual Channel HyperX™ FURY DDR4 XMP at 2666MHz | 16GB DDR4 at 2666MHz; up to 64GB (Additional memory sold separately) |
| 6 | Hard Drive | 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD | 2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD |
| 7 | Chassis Options | Lunar Light chassis with High-Performance CPU Liquid Cooling and 850W Power Supply | Lunar Light chassis with High-Performance CPU Liquid Cooling and 850W Power Supply | 850 Watt Power Supply [80 Plus Gold Efficiency] |
| 8 | Wireless | Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.0 | Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.0 | 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1 |
| 9 | Keyboard | No Keyboard | Multi-Media Keyboard | Keyboard Black Dell KB216 Wired Multi-Media Keyboard (English) |
| 10 | Mouse | No Mouse | Optical Mouse MS116AW | 6 Button Laser Mouse |
| 12 | Base | Alienware Aurora R9 | Alienware Aurora R10 | XPS 8930 Base |
| 13 | Driver | Wireless Driver for Killer 1650 Card | Wireless Driver for Killer 1650 Card | Wireless 802.11ac + Bluetooth 4.2, Dual Band 2.4&5 GHz, 1x1 |
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Tesla1856
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April 26th, 2020 13:00
9th Gen Intel® Core™ i7 9700K (8-Core, 12MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.6GHz across all cores)
Windows 10 Home, 64-bit, English
NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)
16GB Dual Channel HyperX™ FURY DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz
2TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Lunar Light chassis with High-Performance CPU Liquid Cooling and 850W Power Supply
Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.0
---------------
Looks good to me. You included all the right things.
I always get Windows-10 PRO (64 bit).
mako64
2 Intern
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676 Posts
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April 26th, 2020 13:00
Well said !
Rick Rai
13 Posts
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April 26th, 2020 14:00
Thank you @mako64 and @Tesla1856 ! I am going with Windows 10 Pro and 32GB Dual Channel HyperX™ FURY DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz as you have suggested.
I have two questions-
1- I have selected NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) but Alienware is recommending NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 . Do you think I should switch to 2070?
2- 16 GB to 32 GB RAM upgrade cost around 300 dollars. Does that price jump sound fair to you?
Thanks again for your help!
mako64
2 Intern
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676 Posts
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April 26th, 2020 15:00
If your a computer guy get the 16gb
it’s a headache to upgrade yourself
2070 super is fine...2080 super better
the price and support is a fair price
go 32gb ram and be done with it.
r72019
8 Professor
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5.3K Posts
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April 26th, 2020 15:00
RAM is easy to add later. If it turns out you need more you can always buy it later. If you don't need more of it, there's no benefit in terms of performance to having more than you need.
Tesla1856
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April 26th, 2020 15:00
0. I am going with Windows 10 Pro and 32GB Dual Channel HyperX FURY DDR4 XMP at 2933MHz as you have suggested.
I have two questions-
1- I have selected NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2080 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) but Alienware is recommending NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 SUPER™ 8GB GDDR6 . Do you think I should switch to 2070?
2- 16 GB to 32 GB RAM upgrade cost around 300 dollars. Does that price jump sound fair to you?
--------------------------------
0. Great
1. Your choice. That is just saying "get a least a RTX-2070". The RTX-2070 is a little slower and will run a bit cooler.
2. Now-days, these Aurora machines ship with 16gb DIMMs . If you want your ram to run in (full) Dual-Channel, that requires TWO EXACTLY MATCHED DIMMS ... so you get 16gb x2 =32gb . If you think you want 32gb or Dual-Channel operation within the next 3 years ... get it NOW. This motherboard and ram is slightly tricked-out (but matched, highly-compatible and works fine together). Yes, $300 is fair (it is really high-end and has the correct XMP (Profiles) burned-into them to match this motherboard and BIOS).
All that said, this memory (like a single 16gb DIMM) is still very fast compared to years past (even in Single-Channel mode).
Get a warranty that includes hardware AND software ... at least 1 year.
Everything you buy now, all caries the same warranty.
Sign-up for Dell Rewards now. You get shipping perks and some real Dell store credit in 60 days or so.
Tesla1856
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April 26th, 2020 16:00
Look around ...
Forum is filled with users having trouble with after-market RAM upgrades (it's been that way since the Aurora-R5 was released). Auroras are fairly particular about ram (similar to the nicer Apple computers).
Even some that work for a while, then goes bonkers after a BIOS upgrade or Windows update. RAM trouble is very hard to identify,troubleshoot, and fix. Anything less that 100% compatible is gonna cause problems.
I say build the machine online, get it and start using it ... for gaming, software development, or whatever it is you just spent all this money for the machine in the first place. Life is short.
Rick Rai
13 Posts
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April 26th, 2020 17:00
Thank you all of you for your valuable input and helping me with the decision. For next 3 years I think I am going to be fine with i7, 2070 Super, 2 TB SSD, 16gb RAM and windows 10 pro. This is more than enough for my needs and I dont think I will need to upgrade.
Tesla1856
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April 26th, 2020 17:00
Like @mako64 says, go big.
If you can afford it, get the 32gb and Intel-i9 ... it is only money.
r72019
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April 26th, 2020 21:00
Nice, congrats and good luck to you!
Tesla1856
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April 26th, 2020 22:00
That will work just fine and dandy ... very similar to my (old ?) Aurora-R6 ... which I think is still pretty awesome.
mako64
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676 Posts
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April 27th, 2020 07:00
Rick if your gonna be playing online games and multiplayer with big mission and maps your gonna wish you went with 32gb xfury. 2 to 3 years from now it will be demanding.