Alienware Aurora 7500 with FX-60

Conclusions

Let's step back for a moment and see what we can make of this system. How does it settle down in the grand scheme of things?

Performance: It's clear that the Aurora 7500 in this configuration delivers simply outrageous power. With two 512MB 7800 GTX cards purring away under the hood, it's no surprise that this trounces its opposition without blinking. Delivering three times the frame rate of our reference gaming machine in FEAR at high detail, it's hard to find anything to adequately compare it with. Our reference machine is pretty fast by anybody's standards, but this really takes performance to a whole new level.

Specification: The machine is decked out with some pretty nice kit. 1TB of storage is a pretty nice number to have, and the FX60 is undeniably the best chip for a machine of this type. We're very happy to see a X-Fi card in here, since that really is a must-have for high-end gamers, especially with its awesome surround sound effects. If there was one area we'd pull this machine up on, it's the RAM. We'd expect, at the minimum, two 1GB sticks to be fitted to allow for upgradability, and we'd ideally want 4GB as standard in here for the price. We found that we couldn't overclock the system using the CPU multiplier, which is unfortunate, since the FX-60 is multiplier unlocked. We'd like a BIOS update pretty quick to allow this to happen, because we suspect there's some headroom in this system.

Form factor: We do like the look of the Alienware machine, and it's plenty roomy. It's built fantastically, with damn good cable routing. The soundproofing and the clever choice of cooling components means that the system is uncommonly quiet. It may run like a Formula 1 car, but it sounds more like a bicycle.

Value: This is rather a hard one to do. It's clear that the Alienware machine costs a bomb, much like a high performance sports car. However, also like a high performance sports car, it's an aspirational item, and the design, performance and also the cachet justify the price tag - if you can afford the price tag. The price isn't actually outrageous: two 512MB GTX cards cost over £1000, the FX-60 is another £600, 1TB of storage is a good £500, and that's without building in the chassis, PSU, cost of Windows, etc. There's a fair premium for that Alienware name and build quality, but that's not to say it's unreasonable. If you want this machine and you can afford it, you'll pay for it without caring much about value.

Final thoughts

This is the fastest machine we've ever seen. The specification rocks, and the machine looks like it means business. It's outrageously fast and carries an outrageous price tag, but we're going to be drooling over this machine until Alienware yank it back from our cold, dead hands.

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Alienware Aurora 7500 with FX-60