Perhaps new system owners who have no problems, don't have much reason to visit this forum?

Also, I don't think there would be a significant number of purchase orders at this time of the year, as the Haswell-E refresh is due next month and Alienware fans are waiting for an announcement of the R5.

I'd rather upgrade my motherboard and get DDR4, a Haswell 8 core and two GTX 880's later next year than wait. Plus anything next month will be a paper launch, so they can enjoy waiting several months for whatever they want. I don't care if the next gen Aurora's look a bit different,  I can make all of the upgrades myself.

Hello Emaw!

You can send me a PM with your order number that way I can check the status for you or you can always check in the support website order status. 

The R5 also hasn't even been announced, it could be a few months to even a year or two. Holding out for an unknown would be pointless. And as mentioned, any of the new upgrades (DDR4, Haswell X99's, GTX 800 series, Mobos, etc.) can be added to the R4 easily. So, that's a mistake.

And I sent you a PM, AW.

You might have a valid point...we might not even have a R5

But for R3 and R4 (possibly also R2), Alienware's announcements were basically at the same time as when Intel launched the platforms.

For the last update to the R4 in September 2013 -  Alienware announced availability of IvyBridge-E  at the same time as Intel's announcement.

And it is basically set in stone that the x99 platform is going to be launched next month.

One problem, the X99 is aimed at people who render high-end videos, CAD designers, people with workstation setups, etc. Alienwares are GAMING, computers. So the Haswell won't do them a bit of good, and the i7's being shipped now are MORE than enough for gaming, and if you OC a few Mhz with the 4820k you can slide by maxing out for a year minimum, the six core owners with a slight OC are good for even longer (And the six cores are STILL an overkill for gaming.. even for 1440p). The GTX 800 series don't launch until probably late this year or even next year, only a paper launch is coming next month (spec reveal). And DDR4 RAM is still kind of in the dark, and is a massive overkill for gaming right now as well.

So, unless the Alienware Aurora R5 is going to be a $4,500+ system (and it will if these new parts are included right away), that is primarily targeted at a different audience than just gaming like it is now, it's gonna flop and be a pointless launch.

Just my two cents.

Also I got my shipping cost refunded (next day shipping is now no cost to me) and my ordered was expedited and guaranteed to come before or right at the EDD (let's see how that goes, hah.)

I also still think the R5 will be a while coming and if it's not and they include all this new stuff which is going to be terribly overpriced and un-needed for gaming, the systems will be expensive as all hell and won't sell much. The target audience are gamers, not renderer's and designers.

One problem, the X99 is aimed at people who render high-end videos, CAD designers, people with workstation setups, etc. Alienwares are GAMING, computers. So the Haswell won't do them a bit of good, and the i7's being shipped now are MORE than enough for gaming, and if you OC a few Mhz with the 4820k you can slide by maxing out for a year minimum, the six core owners with a slight OC are good for even longer (And the six cores are STILL an overkill for gaming.. even for 1440p). The GTX 800 series don't launch until probably late this year or even next year, only a paper launch is coming next month (spec reveal). And DDR4 RAM is still kind of in the dark, and is a massive overkill for gaming right now as well.   So, unless the Alienware Aurora R5 is going to be a $4,500+ system (and it will if these new parts are included right away), that is primarily targeted at a different audience than just gaming like it is now, it's gonna flop and be a pointless launch.   Just my two cents.

Good point. Definitely fits with the current popular mentality of "good enough for now". I also think your $4,500 price is pretty far off the mark.

Would you still be buying Aurora R4 if it wasn't based on Intel's current Enthusiast's Platform?

My Aurora R1 is 4 years old (with no upgrades other than a Blu-Ray burner and SSD). While I'm probably due for a video card upgrade ... I haven't done it yet because I've yet to find a game or app that doesn't work properly.

If Dell doesn't build a least one ultimate Intel based single-processor desktop ... who in the consumer market will? What would differentiate a mediocre Aurora-R5 from new XPS and mainstream Dell desktop models? ... lights and a cool case ?  

I plan on purchasing an X99 myself, but later on, when I NEED it and the price drops, same with the GTX 800 series, a new motherboard and DDR4. So don't think I'm just bashing it because I'm secretly jealous, and I'm not even really bashing it. The Haswell X99's retail at $1,000 premium, and of course dell has to profit so it's gonna run upwards of $1,250.00+, the GTX 800 series is gonna run at least $5-600 on launch, so dell might charge $700+ (we're already at $2,000 off two components.) DDR4 16GB plus is gonna be like $350 Plus with Dell selling it, then throw in EVERYTHING else in the system, and you're easily pushing $4,000-$4,500 MINIMUM, I'd say $5,000 tops. Releasing an entire new system based off these new releases would result in hardware than couldn't be used in 1440p+ gaming fully, an extremely high premium and a lot more (Plenty of people hate on Alienware and avoid them for the price now!) people in the hate Alienware club.

All the R5 could possibly offer that I can't upgrade to on my own is a slightly (I only say slightly because Aurora cases have never received massive overhauls in design) updated case. Woo, if I wanted one that bad I'd find a way to get one somehow, somewhere. I got a buddy with an R4 case with a complete custom build inside that he got off ***' Ebay.

So, I personally think the R5 is a bit of a while off and I'm not crossing my fingers, and if they were to release it soon the premiums would be outrageous and the hardware couldn't be fully utilized by gaming. Yet.

Plus, there's already some other form of R5 in the Alienware line-up I believe, so I think they might go for a whole new series. Which would be a good while off, but who knows? Either way, everything said still stands. ;P I love Alienware, but I'm not shelling out thousands just so I can have a slightly enhanced case when I could pay less than half that and get all the hardware I need myself and upgrade. See what I mean bro's?

On an actual related to topic note, my R4 is waiting on one part and I'm supposed to be updated about it tomorrow (hit or miss there, hah) so let's hope for the best fellow Aliens!

None of us really understand Alienware's pricing strategies, but the fact remains that in many markets outside of the USA, they are currently asking for $USD 8000+  for a fully configured R4.

At that price, I think they would be lucky to sell 1 unit per month worldwide.

That's quite insane considering the age of the X79 platform.

Still NOTHING. No update, nothing at all. AWM told me there would be something today, granted I don't know when but goooood. I'm so impatient because I want this so badly. I'm gonna assume if nothing changes by 7-8PM I'm not even gonna get it this week. Unless by some miracle it ships tomorrow. But I don't see how it could considering they haven't even started prepping it for shipping.

One part...