Dell Alienware Aurora ALX

Intro, Design, Lights

The Dell Alienware Aurora ALX is an audacious gaming PC. It not only packs in high-end gaming hardware -- with an Intel Core i7 quad-core processor and two Nvidia GeForce GTX 260 graphics cards -- but it has the style, design and presence that will intimidate tame gamers

Design
Like the Dell Alienware Aurora reviewed in the past, the Alienware Aurora ALX gaming PC has a case design of alien-make -- or so we'd like to think. Apart from the moulded plastic exterior -- which is tough and tank-like -- a lot of thought has gone designing the interiors of the Alienware Aurora ALX gaming rig itself. Right up, you see the hidden optical drive compartment at the front -- press the Alien logo to release the sliding door to reveal the connectivity ports and optical drive hidden behind it. Pretty cool, isn't it?

The Dell Alienware Aurora ALX gaming PC's interior cabinet design is extremely good and well laid out. You don’t see any hanging cables, drive bays are out-ward facing (when you slide-open the cabinet door), and everything looks neat and tidy. Switching hard drives and optical drives is as easy as it gets, as the mounting points and power interfaces are secured inside each bay -- all you have to do is slide in a drive and it clicks into place inside the Dell Alienware Aurora ALX gaming PC. The only downer is the drives aren’t hot-swappable.

The Alienware Aurora ALX's micro-ATX board has a CPU that’s liquid-cooled via a reservoir that's mounted at the rear near the air vents at the top of the case. Unfortunately, the graphics cards are not cooled with liquid, so you'll still hear their fans roar into action once you load up your games. There are plenty of connectivity ports around the Dell Alienware Aurora ALX's cabinet, and a couple of back-ward facing USB, FireWire and audio ports placed on the top of the case which are awkward to access.

Lights and Vents
The most impressive part of the Alienware Aurora ALX's allure are its lights -- and they’re pretty much everywhere on the gaming PC's cabinet. The ones on the side panels, which illuminate the alien-like pattern on the plastic, are especially cool.  And you can customize its look and feel through the Alienware Command Center -- a preinstalled program in the Dell Alienware Aurora ALX gaming PC.

The biggest difference between the Dell Alienware Aurora and Alienware Aurora ALX gaming PC are the Aurora ALX's vent at the top of its case. These vents are not just for eye candy but serve an important purpose. These vents automatically open when the CPU reaches its predefined threshold temperature -- which is customizable through the Alienware Command Center. In our usage, the ALX's vents automatically opened up whenever it crossed the set CPU threshold temperature.

Review continued...

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