I review computers for a living — and this is my favorite gaming PC of 2023
2023 is nearly over, and as we here at Tom's Guide reflect on everything we did this year I've been thinking a lot about gaming PCs.
I've specifically been thinking about the Alienware Aurora R15, which breathed new life into the Aurora line with Intel Raptor Lake 13th gen CPUs and up to an Nvidia RTX 4090 or an AMD RX 7900 XTX GPU, all housed in the company's oblong Legend 2.0 chassis.
The Aurora R15 shipped at the very start of this year, which feels like so long ago now that it can be easy to forget. However, before we say goodbye to the year that was and hello to 2024 I wanted to give a quick shoutout to the Aurora R15.
I've had one on my desk for months now, using the 4090 onboard for work and play, and throughout my day-to-day I've never once had cause to complain about it. Whether I'm flipping back and forth between spreadsheets or flipping barrel rolls in Starfield, the R15 never hitched, staggered or locked up. Heck, the liquid-cooled model Alienware sent us barely makes any noise at all, and I only hear it when the action really gets going in demanding games like Baldur's Gate 3 or Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty.
But of course, reliable high-octane performance is just one of a few reasons I'm fond of the Aurora R15. Indeed, it's one of the lowest rungs a killer gaming PC should climb past while ascending to greatness, because there are so many great boutique gaming PC makers who will put whatever high-end components you care to pay for into a gaming PC case and ship it to you. So it's not a huge deal that the Alienware Aurora R15 offers that value.
The Alienware Aurora R15 is compact enough that I have no trouble moving it between desks, fast enough to plow through the latest titles on high settings and easy to open (just remove one screw on the back) yet striking when closed up and powered on.
No, what makes it a memorable and great gaming PC is how easy it is to move around, how good it looks on a desk and how convenient it is to access. We named it the best gaming PC overall this year because the Alienware Aurora R15 is compact enough that I had no trouble picking it up and moving it between desks, fast enough to plow through AAA titles at the highest setting and easy to open (just remove one screw on the back) yet striking when closed up and powered on.
While the proprietary way in which Alienware organizes the cramped interior of the Aurora R15's case can make it frustrating to work inside, especially if you've built your fair share of PCs, I think it's not a big deal for first-timers who are eager to get into the world of PC gaming. For folks like that, the Aurora R15 is a great starter PC because you can customize it with exactly the components you want, then trust that it will show up in a compact, attractive case that is easy to open up if you want to swap out RAM or a drive.
And while it's not as easy to upgrade or modify as a full tower case PC like the Acer Predator Orion 7000, the trade-off is the Aurora R15 is easier to move and squeeze into your desk arrangement.
Without top-mounted ports it's not well-suited to sit on the floor beneath your desk, but the spread of USB-C and USB-A ports across front and back ensure you can plug things into the Aurora R15 without having to worry about scrabbling around on the back.
If you really love clean lines and keeping cable clutter to a minimum, you'll also appreciate the fact that the Aurora R15 comes with a removable rear cover studded with hexagonal cutouts as well as cable routing holes at top and bottom. Simply snag this bad boy into place once you've got your cables how you like 'em, and you've got a slick piece of modern design sitting on your desk where a gaming PC should be.
However, personally I kind of hate this rear cover.
It's hardly a hassle to take it off and put it away when you don't want to use it, but then you get these eye-catching winged edges trailing off the rear of the case at top and bottom. They certainly look cool, but if you're not careful they're a great way to scratch up your walls when moving the PC around on your desk. In fact, if you zoom in and squint at any of the desk photos from my reviews this year (including those embedded above) you can see faint gouge marks in the wall from where the fins of the Aurora R15 scraped it up.
They're not even particularly sharp or dense, either—just a bit too pointy for my poor walls to take. But those wickedly sharp fins, along with a cramped interior and high price tag, are the only weak points in what's otherwise my favorite gaming PC of 2023.
