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

Video Description

Sponsor: Get 10% off Squarespace purchases (https://geni.us/BqEpf) Dell currently has a sale on its Alienware R15 pre-built gaming PCs, so we decided to take another look. This is using the company's updated and refreshed design, but as far as refreshes go, the changes are relatively focused: It's all about the cooling. We were originally going to look at this when it launched, but killed the content at the last minute because we had already looked at a lot of expensive pre-builts and wanted Alienware to drop its price more first. That's now happened, and at the time of writing, filming, and publishing this, the system is $4430. That's an expensive pre-built, a lot of the cost being baked-in to the RTX 4090 and i9-13900K. Unfortunately, the 13900K ends up performing more like a 13700K, and Dell mostly bolted-on after thoughts to its old chassis design. Our next pre-built review will look at something more affordable, but for now, let's look at what Alienware tried to fix with its current R15 model (as of July 2023) and what it can do better. Watch our previous Alienware PC review here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnvxSkqJ8ic And our previous Alienware tear-down here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1dlVPzUVo The best way to support our work is through our store: https://store.gamersnexus.net/ Like our content? Please consider becoming our Patron to support us: http://www.patreon.com/gamersnexus RELATED PRODUCTS [Affiliate Links] Consider going DIY instead! AMD Ryzen 5 5600X on Amazon: https://geni.us/02wIzEi AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D on Amazon: https://geni.us/8V8doYC AMD Ryzen 5 5600 on Amazon: https://geni.us/oH74rB Intel i5-13400F on Amazon: https://geni.us/gXZI8 Intel i5-13600K on Amazon: https://geni.us/uWzH AMD Ryzen 7 5700X on Amazon: https://geni.us/KP0AB8 TIMESTAMPS 00:00 - Alienware's R15 Arrives 01:58 - Changes for Alienware's Design 02:33 - Ranting About Alienware Marketing 05:08 - Alienware is Listening - Sort of 06:13 - Genuinely Constructive Feedback 07:26 - Tear-Down 13:35 - The Most Positive Aspect is the Video Card 14:16 - Forced BIOS Updates 15:16 - Frequency Validation 17:17 - Thermals & Occasional Throttle Bursts 18:28 - GPU Thermals Are OK 19:10 - Performance vs. DIY Baseline 20:43 - Memory Spec vs. CPU Potential 22:12 - Noise Levels 22:50 - Setup & Software 24:18 - BIOS 25:30 - Alienware is Backwards ** Please like, comment, and subscribe for more! ** Links to Amazon and Newegg are typically monetized on our channel (affiliate links) and may return a commission of sales to us from the retailer. This is unrelated to the product manufacturer. Any advertisements or sponsorships are disclosed within the video ("this video is brought to you by") and above the fold in the description. We do not ever produce paid content or "sponsored content" (meaning that the content is our idea and is not funded externally aside from whatever ad placement is in the beginning) and we do not ever charge manufacturers for coverage. Follow us in these locations for more gaming and hardware updates: t: http://www.twitter.com/gamersnexus f: http://www.facebook.com/gamersnexus w: http://www.gamersnexus.net/ Host, Writing, Test Lead: Steve Burke Testing, Writing: Patrick Lathan Video: Vitalii Makhnovets