Dell Alienware Aurora ACT1250 Black 2024

The Core Ultra 7 265F is the best part of this build, landing in the 87th percentile of our database. The port selection is best-in-class at the 100th percentile. But the 16GB of RAM and 8GB of VRAM are just average, and the 500W PSU will hold you back if you ever want to upgrade.

The Core Ultra 7 265F is the star here. 20 cores at 3.3GHz puts it in the 87th percentile of our database, which means it's one of the better CPUs we've tracked. For gaming, that's more than enough headroom, and for productivity or streaming, it'll chew through workloads without breaking a sweat. The 66MB of cache helps keep things snappy too.

The RTX 5060 Ti is a strong mid-range card, landing in the 76th percentile. You'll get great 1080p performance and decent 1440p results in most titles. But that 8GB of VRAM is the bottleneck. At higher resolutions or with texture packs, you'll hit the wall sooner than you'd like. The 16GB of DDR5 RAM is average, sitting at the 53rd percentile, and the 1TB SSD is right there with it at the 52nd. Nothing embarrassing, but nothing that screams 'future-proof' either.

Against the HP OMEN GT22-3080 and Lenovo Legion Tower 5a Gen 10, the Aurora ACT1250 wins on CPU and ports but loses on balance. The Legion typically ships with more RAM and a beefier PSU, which matters if you plan to upgrade. The OMEN often undercuts Alienware on price while offering similar GPU performance. The CLX SET and MSI Aegis ZS2 are more customizable, so if you want to spec your own RAM and storage, those are better starting points. The Aurora's 500W PSU is the real limiter here, it's fine for the stock config but leaves almost no room for a GPU upgrade down the line.

Pricing is all over the map. In the US, you're looking at USD 1,700 to USD 1,920 across four listings, which is a USD 220 spread for the same machine. That's enough of a gap that you should absolutely shop around before pulling the trigger. The EUR market is even wilder, ranging from EUR 2,351 to EUR 4,629, a EUR 2,278 difference that makes the high end look like a typo. If you're in Europe, the lower end of that range is the only one worth considering. The best deal we're seeing is at the bottom of the USD range, so if you can find it near USD 1,700, that's the sweet spot.

The Alienware Aurora ACT1250 is a weird mix of forward-looking and stuck in the past. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265F is a genuine standout, landing in the 87th percentile of our database, and the port selection is best-in-class at the 100th percentile. But then you hit the 16GB of DDR5 RAM, which is just middle of the pack, and a 500W power supply that feels tight for a gaming rig.

It's a pre-built that gets the big things right and then cuts corners in places you'll feel later. The RTX 5060 Ti with 8GB of VRAM is solid, sitting in the 76th percentile, but that VRAM ceiling is already a known pain point for newer titles. If you want a quiet, well-ventilated tower with a great CPU and tons of ports, this is interesting. If you want a balanced build, keep reading.

If you're the type who likes to upgrade your GPU every couple of years, skip this. The 500W PSU and 8GB of VRAM on the RTX 5060 Ti are already near their limits, and the 16GB of RAM is just average at the 53rd percentile. You'd be better off with a build that has more headroom for future upgrades, even if it costs a bit more upfront. Also, if you care about community feedback before buying, the complete lack of customer ratings should give you pause.

The Alienware Aurora ACT1250 is a solid pre-built if you can find it at the low end of its price range and you don't plan to upgrade much. The CPU is genuinely impressive, the port selection is unmatched, and the RTX 5060 Ti will handle most games at 1080p and 1440p without issue. But the 16GB of RAM, 8GB of VRAM, and 500W PSU make it a machine you'll outgrow faster than you'd like. If you're the type who wants to swap in a new GPU in two years, this isn't the chassis for you.