Review: Alienware Alpha

For years now Alienware has been one of the leading manufacturers in pre-built gaming computers, consistently offering quality rigs for those who don’t want to go through the process of researching and constructing their own PC. Unfortunately, that quality has always come with a price. Things have changed; Alienware now is offering a host of entry level gaming PCs, dubbed the Alpha range, at a much more reasonable price point. Initially intended to be a Steam Machine, the Alpha series is a small – and I mean damn tiny – range of gaming PCs designed to be console beaters and, with a few other accessories, VR entry points.

The Alienware Alpha that I played around with came with an Nvidia GTX 960 4GB GPU, an i5 6400T CPU, 8GB of RAM and a 256GB solid state drive all crammed into a tiny form factor. Those are some impressive specifications considering its $1,300 AUD price point; specially when you realise the Alpha is more than capable of decent frame rates at 1080p with mid quality settings. What it’s not capable of — at least, not alone — is virtual reality. That’s where the Alienware Graphics Amp, an extra box that allows you to throw a more powerful GPU into it, comes in. With that, bam — you’ve got a VR-capable setup.

The initial setup of the Alpha is a breeze — all that’s required is the plugging in of a couple cables and you’re ready to go. It takes all of five minutes. On top of that the tiny form factor means you’ll be able to find a place for it anywhere in your lounge room or desk. The Alpha comes with a mouse and keyboard so you can jump straight in, but you’ll want to replace those as soon as possible. The keyboard is ok, with chiclet keys, but the mouse is as basic as you can get. Still, they’re not bad considering the overall price.

The biggest flaw with the Alpha is undoubtedly its lack of USB ports. It has a measly 5 ports — 2 in front, 2 in back and one rather annoyingly placed under the unit (I assume this is for an Xbox Controller Bluetooth stick). If you’re trying to engage in some jolly couch cooperation or four-player mayhem, you’ll find yourself unplugging ports to make room for controllers, which can be a bit of a bummer. Just one more port would have easily solved this issue.

The Alpha performs surprisingly well. It punches well above its weight with its 960 and i5 processor and gives you plenty of frames per second at 1080p/medium graphics. I messed around briefly in a few single player games and was impressed, but I spent the bulk of my time playing couch co-op and competitive games. The Alpha puts PC gaming firmly in your lounge room to combine the best of both the console and PC experience. From Crawl to Rocket League, the Alpha offers both PC exclusives and smoother game play for games available on both platforms. In fact, the Alpha can outperform the consoles in virtually any new release on its own, but that stomping only gets more severe if you power it up with a Graphics Amp.

The Graphics Amp is basically an extra box you stick a more powerful GPU in, leaving you with a much more powerful PC. The sky’s the limit in terms of what you actually stick in the Amp, though I imagine some of the longer graphics cards out there may find space lacking. By necessity, the Amp forces a compromise on one of the biggest positives of the Alpha. The Amp is huge, it dwarfs the Alpha and will undoubtedly take up much more room in your lounge or desk. It’s also a bit more of a pain to setup, but it’s not too bad if you’ve built PCs before (and if you haven’t, there’s always YouTube). The Amp is a must-have if you’re toying with the idea of VR; the Alpha simply can’t do it alone. That extra cost does present a pretty serious additional monetary investment for the Amp and a GPU which can then run VR.

Is it worth it though? In the long run, undoubtedly. The biggest drawback with a pre-built PC in such a small form factor is its lack of upgradeability. The Alpha may slay consoles now (and for the foreseeable future), but time will eventually take its toll. The Graphics amp is the perfect counter to this, giving you a way to keep one of the most vital components up to date. And while you certainly don’t need the Amp to run games well right now, having one with an additional GPU will power up the Alpha to the point where it blows consoles away entirely. My PC runs a GTX970, the next step above a 960, and it pushes High/Ultra settings in most new releases with 60FPS/1080p. These cards are available for around $400 AUD these days and would be a solid accompaniment to the Alpha.

There are so many reasons to move to PC over consoles — more games, more freedom and better visuals to name a few. Let’s be honest, though — it can be hard to get started and the rabbit hole goes pretty deep. I think it’s safe to say that the Alienware Alpha bridges that gap. Throw in the Graphics Amp and you’ve even found a way to get started in PC building. I think if you’re looking to break free of the restrictions of console gaming but you’re not quite ready to build your own beast, the Alienware Alpha presents the perfect entry point to PC gaming.

The Alienware Alpha was reviewed using a promotional unit as provided by Alienware.