Recently, I built a new Intel computer for myself. I was shocked at the high cost of some of these components. NVIDIA and Intel currently hold the title of best gaming GPU and CPU, but it can be difficult to source their products. It is difficult to find an RTX30 series video card at a retail price. It is almost impossible to find an RTX 3080 video card online. An RTX3080 video can be purchased on eBay for more $1600. (If you have forgotten, the MSRP for an RTX3080 starts at $700). You can try walking into your local Best Buy to make sure that you didn’t waste any time.
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i7-12700K RTX 3080 Gaming PC with 32GB RAM, 512GB SSD
This is not the end. Intel’s new Alder Lake 12th generation processors have outperformed the AMD Ryzen 7 or 9. Although the processors are easily available, the Z690 motherboards as well as DDR5 RAM costing a ridiculous amount are extremely expensive. DDR5 RAM is difficult to find on any other site than eBay. 32GB RAM costs $900. DDR4 is the best choice, but DDR4 boards are less common and will still cost you more than $200. Cooler compatibility is the last thing to be noted. Most existing coolers, AIO and air, don’t come with LGA-1700 mounting. To request one, you will need to contact your cooler manufacturer. Many of these manufacturers have a shortage in LGA 1700 mounting brackets. This will cause delays to your build. Time is more important than money.
DELL ALIENWARE AURORA R13 GAMING DESKTOP
This makes the Dell Alienware Aurora R13 gaming computers even more appealing. The “R13” Dell’s flagship gaming computer is unceremoniously called. It offers a host of performance, aesthetic, and quality-of-life improvements over its predecessors. The Alienware Aurora R13 is the Alienware PC that has the latest 12th-gen Intel Alder Lake processors. This PC will be future proofed. This is paired with a Z690-based motherboard that supports DDR5 RAM. This is proof that DDR5 RAM exists in the wild. There are many options for video cards. You can choose from a variety of RTX 30 Series video cards, including the RTX 3060 Ti and the RTX 3090. This is at your own expense. The best news is? These configs will ship in mid-January according to Dell’s website.
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i5-12600KF RTX 3060 Ti PC with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
$2,049.99
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i7-12700KF RTX 3060 Ti PC with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
$2,349.99
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i5-12600KF RTX 3070 PC with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
$2,249.99
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i7-12700KF RTX 3070 PC with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
$2,549.99
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i5-12600KF RTX 3080 PC with 8GB RAM, 256GB SSD
$2,449.99
Alienware Aurora R13 Intel Core i7-12700KF RTX 3080 PC with 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD
$2,749.99
Normally there’d be naysayers claiming that you could build the same quality rig for a cheaper price. Provided you know how to find deals, that certainly isn’t far from the truth. But we’re living in a whole different world right know where supply and demand has killed off price sensibility. And we have to factor time in as well. Technology moves so quickly that the value of our PC components depreciate at a frightening pace. Waiting a few months for a current gen piece isn’t necessarily the best option, especially if that “few months” could extend to several months. In these circumstances, Dell offers an incredibly powerful and slick looking gaming rig with all the impossible-to-get components you could hope for, at a reasonable price and time frame. The only other sensible option is to go AMD.
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