Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop vs. Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition
Here is a side by side comparison between Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop and Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition specs including price, processors, memory, graphics, storage, ports, and more.
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Camera & Audio
Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop
Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition
Audio
No Speakers
Audio controller
Realtek ALC3861
External Ports
7.1 channel output
Microphone-in
Stereo headphones
Headset combo connector
Audio controller
Realtek ALC3861
External Ports
One headset port
One audio line-out port
One rear L/R-surround audio-out port
One center/subwoofer LFE surround audio-out port
Misc
Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop
Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition
Warranty
1 Year Hardware Warranty with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis
1 Year Hardware Service with Onsite/In-Home Service After Remote Diagnosis
Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop vs. Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition
The Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop is a newer system that was released in 2021, while the Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition was released a year earlier in 2020. The Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop has a full-tower form factor that can accommodate a large motherboard, multiple graphics cards, extra storage, and better cooling solution. The Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition has a mini tower form factor that can fit a micro ATX and Mini ITX motherboard, a few hard disk drives, and a single full-height graphics card.
Processor
The Central Processing Unit (CPU) is like the brains of your desktop computer. Its performance determines how fast and responsive your PC is. Generally, a processor with newer architecture, more CPU cores, higher TDP (measured in W), and faster clock speed (measured in GHz) tends to be more expensive and run faster than others with older architecture, fewer CPU cores, lower TDP, and lower clock speed.
For Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop, you have options to configure it with a 65W 11th Generation Intel Rocket Lake 6-core Intel Core i5-11400 up to a 125W 8-core Intel Core i9-11900KF with a boost speed up to 5.30 GHz.
While Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition has configurations with a 65W 10th Generation Intel Comet Lake 6-core Intel Core i5-10400 up to a 125W 10-core Intel Core i9-10900K with a boost speed up to 5.30 GHz.
Memory
The Random Access Memory or RAM is the super-fast and temporary storage used to handle all active tasks, apps, and games that will go away when your PC turns off. The more memory your PC has, the better multitasking your PC can handle without having to reload data from slower permanent storage that includes the hard disk drive or solid-state drive.
Both PCs have the same amount of four RAM slots meaning that you upgrade later if you are unsatisfied with the amount of memory on your PC. You can upgrade memory on Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop up to 64GB of 3400MHz dual-channel DDR4 memory. For Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition, it supports up to 128GB of 2933MHz dual-channel DDR4 memory.
Ports
Computer ports are the interface for connecting your PC to its peripheral devices or other PCs. The most common peripherals are keyboard, mouse, monitor, flash drive, speaker, and printer. Most of them use Universal Serial Bus (USB) as their connection to your computer. So the PC with more USB ports can connect to more peripherals at the same time.
There is a total number of 15 USB ports available on the Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop, five more than the Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition that has only 10 USB ports. On top of the number of USB ports, the type and version of each USB port are also necessary for determining how fast it is.
The Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop has thirteen USB Type-A ports and two USB Type-C ports. It has six ports that support USB 2.0 (480 Mbps), seven ports that support USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), and two ports that support USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps).
For Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition, it has nine USB Type-A ports and one USB Type-C port. The PC has two ports that support USB 2.0 (480 Mbps) and eight ports that support USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps).
