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Alienware is well known for its audaciously designed and highly effective gaming PCs. The Aurora 5500 is no different, thanks mainly to its use of the latest Nvidia graphics card – the Geforce 7800 GTX.
In comparison to its high-end graphics card, the Aurora 5500 uses a fairly average CPU. The Athlon 64 4000+ is by no means a slouch, but it looks quite average next to more established gaming CPUs such a the Athlon FX-55 or FX-57.
Alienware has managed to extract a strong performance from this graphics card and processor combination. Its 3Dmark 2005 score of 8,061 is amongst the highest we’ve seen from any PC using a single graphics card configuration.
It can’t match PCs using two graphics card in an Nvidia Scalable Link Interface (SLI) or systems using a single Radeon X1800 XT combination, but it racked up a fairly impressive 81.29 frames per second in Far Cry using the default settings.
If this isn’t quite fast enough, you can add a second Geforce 7800 GTX graphics card, thanks to the Asus A8N SLI motherboard.
The Aurora 5500’s performance is less impressive when running more mundane applications. Its Sysmark 2004 SE score of 204 isn’t bad, and certainly indicates the PC is capable of running any software thrown at it, but if you intend to use mainly everyday office tasks, such as word processing or image and video editing, you’re better off opting for a PC using a dual-core CPU.
Alienware hasn’t done itself any favours with its choice of hard drive. The 200GB Western Digital offering has a fairly quick 7,200rpm spin speed and 8MB of cache memory, but we think the amount of storage provided is relatively small given the price and target audience of this PC.
Alienware has included the fastest memory possible. A pair of 512MB low-latency DDR400 modules are supplied, each with a black Alienware-branded heatsink to reduce their operating temperature (and increase reliability) during memory-intensive tasks.
We were very impressed with the neat assembly of this PC. All its cables are tidily arranged, so users won’t find it hard to tinker with the existing setup or add new components. This also promotes good airflow, which helps the reliability of the PC. Alienware says the arrangement of its internal cabling is worth £50, but this service is provided free in all its PCs.
The Aurora 5500 also includes a Logitech Internet keyboard (coloured ‘space black’), a matching Microsoft Basic Optical Mouse and a gimmick in the form of an Alienware-branded extra large t-shirt.
The software package is very impressive; Alienware only includes Pinnacle Studio 9SE video-editing software. No games are bundled, despite this being the main focus of the PC. No monitor is included, either, but you can add a Hyundai L90D 19in TFT for £300 or a 20in NEC Multisync LCD2080UXBK for £633. The latter is preferable, as its high 1,600 x 1,200 native resolution makes the most of the PC’s excellent graphics card.
Although the Aurora 5500 range starts at £1,001, this particular configuration is fairly pricey; we’ve seen PCs with dual-core CPUs, bundled monitors and otherwise identical specifications retailing for less. However, if you want strong gaming performance and the kudos of owning a top-brand gaming PC, it is worth a look.
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