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The Alienware Alpha R2 is the popular gaming company’s latest attempt to steer people away from the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One with a TV unit-friendly PC. With its small form and sleek design, the Alpha is a perfect TV companion that’s not that much bigger than a Fetch TV box.
It’s also a good deal more powerful than the 2014 model before it. However, its noisy fan and hefty pricetag will turn away some, more specifically those who have the time and know-how to build their own gaming PC.
Specs | Alpha r2 |
---|---|
Price | $999 |
CPU | Intel Core i3 |
RAM | 4GB Single Channel DDR4 |
Hard Drive | 500GB HD |
Operating System | Windows 10 |
Video Card | AMD Radeon |
Dimensions | H: 55mm W: 200mm D: 200mm |
Weight | 1.81 Kg |
The Alienware Alpha R2’s form fit design, powerful Nvidia GeForce GTX 960 graphics card and Hivemind UI make it a formidable couch-based PC gaming experience. Here are some of the reasons why you might opt for Alienware’s latest take on the Steam Machine.
The Alpha R2 is without doubt a stellar machine, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that you could build your a more powerful machine for less. Here’s some points to consider why you might not want the Alienware Alpha R2,
The Alienware Alpha R2 will suit anyone looking to access Steam, Blizzard.net, Origin and more from the comfort of their lounge. Its formfit design is perfect for those lacking space and takes no effort to get up and running. However, if you’re a little more serious about your PC gaming, building your own rig from scratch is bound to save you a few dollars.
Those looking for a more portable gaming experience could drop the extra cash for the Razer Blade Stealth, which houses an Intel Core i7 processor.
The Razer Blade Stealth and the Alienware Alpha are both compatible with external graphics boosters, the Razer Core and Alienware Graphics Amplifier. These enclosures were built to house a desktop-quality graphics cards that your portable notebook or laptop could plug into when at home. The Alienware Alpha can also benefit from the extra juice the graphics amp provides, though it admittedly defeats the purpose of the Alpha R2’s tiny stature as the amp is 173mm high and 409mm deep. Both the Razer Core and the Alienware graphics amp come at a pretty hefty price considering you also need to fork out the extra cash for an actual graphics card. Still, the Alienware Graphic Amplifier comes a lot cheaper than the Razer Core, so it has that going for it. While there’s no Australian pricing on the Razer core yet, it’s currently selling at $500US, a good deal more than the Alienware Graphics Amplifier’s $199AUD price tag.
The Alienware Alpha R2 is now available through Dell’s online store at $999 (Core i3, AMD Radeon R9), $1,299 (Core i5, GeForce GTX 960) and $1,499 (Core i7, GeForce GTX 960).
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