Customer Ratings & Reviews

Not usable as it is! The CPU is cooled by a puny 'smart' cooler which is definitely not enough to cool this power hungry CPU. The GPU runs hot on the VRAM since the modules don't make good contact with the cooling plate. The case is a compact and cleverly designed but is a hot box. At the very least, you gotta add an intake fan on the front by removing the hard drive caddy. And also, what's the deal with single channel RAM in a 2.2k system? All in all, if this is the only way to get a 3080, sure, buy it! But I'd pass on this one. Mine is going back.

I purchased this computer for gaming and mining. Main reason that pushed me to buy it was because this had RTX3080 at a reasonable price. The heat from 3080 was terrible and caused thermal throttling so often. The fan at 100% speed was too noisy to stay near it. I learned this was due to the poor quality of thermal pads used in this Dell 3080 and decided to replace it with a Thermalright 0.5mm and 1.5mm ones. Then the VRAM temperature went down from 104C to 92C with mining hashrates of 88-92MH/s, which was acceptable. I could recommend this PC only for those who don't mind DIYing to replace thermal pads. But under this extremely hard time to get 3080, this PC is one of the best choice to get 3080.

Whatever you do, do NOT buy this configuration from Best Buy unless you're willing to fork out another $200 to make it perform as advertised. Let me explain: This configuration, for over $2,000, gives you SINGLE-CHANNEL RAM instead of dual-channel -- which is a FREE option on Dell's website. And don't think it's super easy to upgrade -- the HyperX RAM used in the Auroras are an odd proprietary variant that you can't buy in stores, so you have to do research online of the RAM you can actually use. On top of this, this configuration comes with the pathetic air cooler. The reason it's so bad is because the power supply (when the case is closed) sits right on top of the CPU fan, so the cooler is literally blowing air back onto itself resulting in crazy high temperatures. For a $50 charge on Dell's website (which should come standard!), you can get the liquid cooler that does a MUCH better job with temperatures. It should not even be allowed for Dell to sell the air-cooled variant -- it really is that bad. I would save yourself the headache and just purchase directly from Dell. Although the shipping times might be longer, you get a system with advertised performance -- not this garbage.

The only thing good about this computer is the GPU and the power supply. The power supply can support two GPUs, but the heat sink on the CPU is trash, and the case is even more trash. The case is so bad that it makes airflow almost non existent, and also prevents you from upgrading the heat sink. Plan on either swapping out all the parts into a new case, or running the case with it open.

Pretty good computer but needs a little work. The pc gets a hot so I recommend installing a liquid cooler h60 Corsair and artic p12 pressurized fans to replace the loud crappy dell fans that come stock. Once you do all that work it’s a champ!

Components overall are ok, no issues. 3080 is a beast, no issues with it being a Dell 3080 other than I had to open it up and fix the overheating... General theme for this rig is it overheats.... If you are going to game for an hour and turn it off its probably fine, if you are going to mine, hard core game GL it runs HOT. They literally cram everything into this tiny case there is 0 room for airflow. No exaggeration, there is probably less than 10 mm of space from the under-sized CPU cooler to the metal contraption that the PS is mounted too.

Can confirm all issues noted in other reviews. 1. installed (1) 16Gb RAM plank, so no dual channel out of the box. 2. Very noisy when GPU under the load, like you are in airplane. 3. Old generation Gen. 3 NVMe PCIe slot for ssd disk. And only one slot. 4. Super cheap CPU culler, almost like free box-cpu. 5. Short space for gpu. Dell rtx 3080 card is shorter then other 3rd party 3080 GPUs, so if you want to add second card you have to find Dell card that you cannot buy from official dell store.

Many problems with this machine... If you are not tech savvy, just outright avoid purchasing this. The system was packed well and I actually like the case and look a lot. However, the internal design is garbage. There is a lot of wasted space on the bottom/top. The very hot power supply is sitting right over the cpu/gpu, making them even hotter. The pictures that used to be on this listing showed a water cooled cpu, but it is actually a very low quality air cooler. The major issue I ran across was that in under one minute of putting the gpu under full load, the vram was already thermal throttling at 110C. This not only kills the fps or hash rate if you're mining, but it will also kill the gpu. Even with sliding the psu out of the way, leaving the case open and running gpu fans at 100%, it doesn't go any lower than 110C (this is not overclocked at all by the way). Seems like re-doing the thermal paste yourself will fix this problem, but you shouldn't have to do that on a $2,200 system. I have an EVGA 3080 running in the same room 75% fan speed and overclocked with vram temps at mid 90's. Haven't even tested out how bad the cpu fan is but I guarantee there will be issues like other reviews said. The crappy fan combined with terrible airflow and psu sitting on top of it... Overall I like alienware, the software, and look of the case but this is pretty bad for the price they're asking. Might return it or maybe I'll just fix the gpu and keep that for my other gaming pc.

This PC has been great in certain ways but completely horrible in others. The PSU is 1000W, which has been excellent. Low noise, should last a good long while. The 3080 it came with seems to have good cooling pads and thermal compound, as it hasn't thermal throttled on me (compared to many other 3080s and 3090s), even though it is a smaller form factor than most 3080s. The Intel CPU has performed adaquately, but has been hampered by a ridiculously small, inferior, loud processor cooler. My SFF prebuilt HP Pavillion has a larger stock cooler. There really isn't room to put a better air cooler in either. Needless to say, liquid cooling is the way to go in this instance. Price wasn't terrible, considering the times we live in, but it was definitely a bit high compared to retail cost of parts. The case looks good and has customizable front and side panel lights (though figuring out where the software is to configure them took a minute), but there is no dust filtration included. I would recommend getting a magnetic filter to slap on the PSU and making sure to set the computer up a little higher off the ground to protect it from hair and dust. I don't regret buying this computer, but definitely won't be holding on to it forever. I'll likely migrate its 3080 to another build with a better case and cooler, replacing the GPU with something midrange.

Like a lot of people I've been wanting to get a 3080 card for a long time without success. While looking at Best Buy prebuilt PCs, I couldn't believe it when a local store had one in stock. At the time there was only 1 star review on here so I thought I would take a gamble. After a brief time with it - my summary is - terrible outside design. Aside from the front face, the case reminds me of those 90s plastic cases. Not enough air vents. - terrible interior design. Need to unscrew at the back, and you see a wall of metal shielding. Push a lever down and then you can see the components but they are not that accessible. Again, it reminds me of a bygone era of badly designed PCs. - insanely bad cooling. I tried a few games, not even that demanding. One game I tried, the frame rates weren't hitting what I expected. The top of the case felt extremely hot to the touch, and this is unacceptable. The internal cooling is insufficient and badly place. I intend to return this when I can. Suggest you avoid purchasing this, even if you really want to get into the latest wave of PC gaming.

Great machine but it runs hot even with the bios update. If you turn the fans all of the way up it does okay but is LOUD. Im going to order the stuff from dell i think to liquid cool it. It does play everything i want it to very well it just sounds like a hurricane sitting next to me doing it.

Definitely has some cooling issues and using just one 16GB ram instead of two does limit the performance a little. The case looks dope and with a few modifications its a great PC. The Dell 3080 has some issues with getting fairly hot while gaming but other than that solid.

Not a bad CPU and GPU combination for the price to be honest. The only thing is that the thermals are really bad. I really like that the power supply is fully modular 1000w gold. Overall, if you're parting out the computer it's a decent pick. If you're thinking about buying and gaming on it out of the box, it's not terrible, but could be a lot better.

Good CPU, but bad design, it only had one memory stick and has air flow issues, it gets hot, but if you spend more money and upgrade the RAM and get more cooling fans, it become a pretty good PC.

People on here are complaining about the air cooling of this machine. While I agree the cooling situation isn't the greatest thing ever, it is fixable. When I bought this machine, I bought 3 things with it. another 16gb stick of ram, a 2 tb 2.5" ssd, and a water cooler for the CPU. For about 60-90 minutes worth of work, you'll get a machine that will blow the socks off of most other machines on the market. If you find this machine in store, I'd highly recommend it because there isn't another option for an RTX 3080. The case and setup sucks, given today's GPU and custom builder market, this thing is a winner because everything people are complaining about is fixable.

performance is ok but the fans are very loud when gaming due to chassis design. there is no rear fan due to power supply position so the only exhaust fan is on the top and you have to choose between liquid cooling vs exhaust for air cool CPU/GPUs.

It worked for what I needed but had a 3080 gpu and it had a known overheating issue 3 stars for pc 5 stars for Best Buy’s warranty.

System runs well and fast as you would expect a 3080 to run. The system runs much cooler with the door off. If you plan to do any mining or play any demanding games definitely open the case. My temp went from 61c to an avg temp of 52-53c with the door off. It’s easy to remove just one screw. The Case is a bit tight and thus this makes it run a little warm. This system is louder than any other system I’ve had and I had other 3080 systems from MSI and Corsair, both are more quiet than the Alienware. I’d still recommend buying one if you can find it in stock. Just run it with the case open and keep your area clean

GREAT PRE-BUILD!!! THE BEST. DONT LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE WHO HAVE NO IDEA HOW TO TAKE CAR OF THEIR PC !! I swapped the air cooled out for liquid and turned my maximum processing rate to 85% and BOOM. 4-5 hours of warzone and my cpu temp doesn’t go past 70 Celsius!!! and My gpu never goes above 68 celsius even under intenseeee load. ALL STOCK FANS!!!!! Settin the max processor in your power plan is the key to keepin this beast of a machine running to your liking and cool :). Unbelievable performance i am very happy with my purchase.

Overall a *meh* product, the box says the CPU is liquid cooled, which is NOT the case. The 11700f comes with a very minimal cooler, and the 3080 is nothing special.