Detailed Specs Comparison

Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop vs. Dell XPS 8950 Desktop

Here is a side by side comparison between Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop and Dell XPS 8950 Desktop specs including price, processors, memory, graphics, storage, ports, and more.

BY Evan Forrest February 25, 2022

Specs Comparison

	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Compare With Please enter device name or part of it Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Key Features
What's new	New 11th Gen Intel Core Processors. Up to Intel Core i9-11900K (8 cores/ 16 threads). Up to NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 24GB GDDR6X. Up to 128GB Dual-Channel DDR4 XMP at 3200MHz memory. Up to 1000W power supply.	The first XPS Desktop with a liquid cooling option. 12th Generation Intel Alder Lake K-Series Processors. Up to 125W Intel Core i9-12900K (16 Cores, 30MB Cache, Up to 5.2 GHz) Up to 64GB of 4400 MHz Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Up to 128GB of 3600 MHz Dual-Channel DDR5 Memory Up to NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3090 (24GB GDDR6x) Up to AMD® Radeon™ RX 6900 XT (16GB GDDR6) Up to 750W Platinum PSU Available in both Night Sky Platinum Silver New 27L chassis with 42% larger than before. Better cooling solutions for better airflow and acoustics.

Availability	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Released	2021	2021
Release Info	Announced on March 2021.	Announced on October 27, 2021
Pricing	Starting from $1,099.99 i5-11400F GTX 1650 SUPER 8GB 1TB 3.5” HDD Wi-Fi 5	Starting at $919.00
Generations	Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R14 Desktop Compare Alienware Aurora R13 Desktop Compare Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop Current Alienware Aurora R11 Desktop Compare Alienware Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 Desktop Compare	2021 Dell XPS 8950 Desktop Current 2020 Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Special Edition Compare 2020 Dell XPS 8940 Desktop Compare

Exterior	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Size Comparison
Dimensions	17 x 18.9 x 8.771” (431.9 x 481.6 x 222.8 mm)	16.8 x 14.8 x 6.81” (426.7 x 372.9 x 173 mm) Without feed 16.8 x 15.39 x 6.81” (426.7 x 391 x 173 mm) With feed
Weight	30.42 - 39.2 lb (13.80 - 17.8 kg)	Starting weight: 16.36lbs (7.42kg) Night Sky Starting weight: 16.79lbs (7.62kg) Platinum Silver
Colors	Dark Side of the Moon 2 unique programmable zones with up to 16.8 million distinct colors. Lunar Light 4 unique programmable zones with up to 16.8 million distinct colors.	Night Sky Platinum Silver
Keyboard and Trackpad	Multi-Media Keyboard (English) Optical Mouse MS116AW	Dell KB216 Multimedia Keyboard Black or White Dell MS116Optical Mouse Black or White
Ports	Front 2 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 1 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 with Powershare technology 1 x Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 1 with Powershare technology 1 x Microphone/Line In 1 x Headphone/Line Out Rear 1 x SPDIF Digital Output (Coaxial) 1 x SPDIF Digital Output (TOSLINK) 1 x RJ-45 Killer™ E3000 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet 6 x Type-A USB 2.0 1 x Type-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 1 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 2 1 x Side Surround Output 1 x Microphone In 1 x Line Out 3 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 1 x Rear Surround Output Center/Subwoofer Output 1 x Center/Subwoofer Output 1 x Line In	Front 3 x USB-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) 1 x USB-C USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10Gbps) 1 x Headset jack 1 x SD Card Slot Optional Rear 4 x USB-A 2 x USB 2.0 (480Mbps) 2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5Gbps) 1 x USB-C USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20Gbps) 1 x DisplayPort 1.4 Works on processors with integrated graphics. 1 x Gigabit Ethernet 6 x Audio port 7.1 channel audio 6-connector stack of restackable audio ports. 1 x AC Power Connector

Chasis	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Form Factor	Mid Tower	Mini Tower (27.1L)
Power Supply	550W 1000W	460W 80+ Bronze 85% Efficiency 750W 80+ Platinum 92% Efficiency
Optical Drives	Not Available	No Optical Drive Tray load DVD Drive Reads and Writes to DVD/CD Tray-load Blu-Ray Drive Reads and Writes to BD/DVD/CD
Chasis Information	Micro ATX motherboard CPU Cooling Options Alienware™ High-Performance Liquid Cooling Alienware™ Low-Profile Smart Cooling Heatsink Solution

Internal Specs	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Chipset	Intel® Z490 Chipset	Intel® Z690 Chipset
Processor	11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11400 6C/12T, 2.60 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 65W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11400F 6C/12T, 2.60 → 4.40 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 65W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11600K 6C/12T, 3.90 → 4.90 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 125W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11600KF 6C/12T, 3.90 → 4.90 GHz, 12MB SmartCache, 125W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700 8C/16T, 2.50 → 4.90 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 65W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700F 8C/16T, 2.50 → 4.90 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 65W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700K 8C/16T, 3.60 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 125W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700KF 8C/16T, 3.60 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 125W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900 8C/16T, 2.50 → 5.20 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 65W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900K 8C/16T, 3.50 → 5.30 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 125W 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900KF 8C/16T, 3.50 → 5.30 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 125W	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12600K 10C/16T, 3.70 → 4.90 GHz, 20MB SmartCache, 125W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700K 12C/20T, 3.60 → 5.00 GHz, 25MB SmartCache, 125W 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900K 16C/24T, 3.20 → 5.20 GHz, 30MB SmartCache, 125W
Integrated Graphics	11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11400 Intel® UHD Graphics 730 24 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11400F Not Available 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11600K Intel® UHD Graphics 750 32 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-11600KF Not Available 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700 Intel® UHD Graphics 750 32 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700F Not Available 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700K Intel® UHD Graphics 750 32 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-11700KF Not Available 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900 Intel® UHD Graphics 750 32 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900K Intel® UHD Graphics 750 32 Execution Units, 350 → 1300 MHz 11th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-11900KF Not Available	12th Gen Intel® Core™ i5-12600K Intel® UHD Graphics 770 32 Execution Units, 300 → 1450 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-12700K Intel® UHD Graphics 770 32 Execution Units, 300 → 1500 MHz 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900K Intel® UHD Graphics 770 32 Execution Units, 300 → 1550 MHz
Discrete Graphics	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 SUPER™ - 4GB GDDR6 GTX 1660 SUPER™ - 6GB GDDR6 GTX 1660 Ti - 6GB GDDR6 RTX™ 2060 - 6GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RTX 2060 SUPER™ - 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RTX 2070 SUPER™ - 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RTX 2080 SUPER™ - 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RTX™ 2080 Ti - 11GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RTX™ 3060 Ti - 8GB GDDR6 RTX™ 3070 - 8GB GDDR6X RTX™ 3080 - 10GB GDDR6X RTX™ 3090 - 24GB GDDR6X AMD® Radeon™ RX 5300 - 3GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RX 5600 - 6GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RX 5700 - 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RX 5700 XT - 8GB GDDR6 (OC Ready) RX 6800 XT - 16GB GDDR6 (OC Ready)	NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1650 SUPER™ - 4GB GDDR6 GTX 1660 SUPER™ - 6GB GDDR6 GTX 1660 Ti - 6GB GDDR6 RTX™ 3060 - 12GB GDDR6 RTX™ 3060 Ti - 8GB GDDR6 LHR RTX™ 3070 - 8GB GDDR6 LHR RTX™ 3080 - 10GB GDDR6x LHR RTX™ 3080 Ti - 12GB GDDR6x RTX™ 3090 - 24GB GDDR6x AMD® Radeon™ RX 6700 XT - 12GB GDDR6 RX 6900 XT - 16GB GDDR6
Memory	8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB 128GB Dual-channel DDR4 2933 MHz, 3200 MHz, or 3400 MHz. 4 x UDIMM slots with up to 32GB per slot.	Memory Slots: 4 DIMM slots Memory Type: Single or Dual Channel DDR5 Memory Memory Speed: 3600 MHz 4400 MHz Memory Per Slot: 8GB 16GB 32GB Memory Configurations 8GB 16GB 32GB 64GB 4400 MHz Dual-Channel DDR5 memory. 128GB 3600 MHz Dual-Channel DDR5 memory.
Storage	256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD 1TB 2TB 7200 rpm 3.5" SATA Hard Drive	256GB 512GB 1TB 2TB M.2 PCIe NVME SSD 1TB 2TB 7200 RPM SATA HDD
Slots	2 x PCIe x16 slots 2 x PCIe x4 slots 4 x SATA slots 1 x M.2 2242/2260/2280 slot For solid-state drive/Intel Optane memory 1 x M.2 2230 slot For WiFi and Bluetooth combo card	Expansion Slots 1 x PCIe x16 slot PCIe Gen 5, Full-height 2 x PCIe x4 slot Full-height SATA 4 x SATA slots ForHDD/SSD, and slim Optical Drive. M.2 1 x M.2 2230 slot For WiFi and Bluetooth combo card 2 x M.2 2230/2280 slot For SSD/Intel Optane

Connectivity	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Wi-Fi	Qualcomm QCA9377 (DW1810) Up to 433 Mbps Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz WiFi-5 (802.11ac) Bluetooth 5.0 Intel AX201 Up to 2400 Mbps Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz WiFi-6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.1 Killer AX1650i Up to 2400 Mbps Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz WiFi-6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.1	Intel® Killer™ Wi-Fi 6 AX1675 Dual band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz WiFi-6 (802.11ax) Bluetooth 5.2
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 5.0 Bluetooth 5.1	Bluetooth 5.2
Ethernet	Killer E3100 PCIe Gigabit Ethernet controller 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps.	Killer E3100G Ethernet controller 10/100/1000 Mbps.

Software	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
OS	Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro	Windows 11 Home Windows 11 Pro
Built-in Apps	Alienware Command Center Dell Digital Delivery Dell Mobile Connect Dell Recovery Environment DropBox Microsoft® Office 30 Day Trial	Microsoft Office 30-day trial McAfee LiveSafe 12 Month Subscription

Camera & Audio	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
Audio	No Speakers Audio controller Realtek ALC3861 External Ports 7.1 channel output Microphone-in Stereo headphones Headset combo connector	Audio controller Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio with Waves MaxxAudio® Pro External Ports One Headset Port Front Six Audio port Rear, 7.1 channel audio 6-connector stack of restackable audio ports.

Misc	Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop	Dell XPS 8950 Desktop
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 8950 Desktop

The Alienware Aurora R12 Desktop and the Dell XPS 8950 Desktop were released in the same year, 2021. 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 8950 Desktop 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 8950 Desktop has configurations with a 125W 12th Generation Intel Alder Lake 10-core Intel Core i5-12600K up to a 125W 16-core Intel Core i9-12900K with a boost speed up to 5.20 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 8950 Desktop, it supports up to 64GB of 4400MHz or 128GB of 3600MHz dual-channel DDR5 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, six more than the Dell XPS 8950 Desktop that has only 9 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 8950 Desktop, it has seven USB Type-A ports and two USB Type-C ports. The PC has two ports that support USB 2.0 (480 Mbps), five ports that support USB 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps), one port that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps), and one port that supports USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (20 Gbps).