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Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop (2025-Present)

Model ACT1250

Processor:

Graphics Card:

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Cosmetic Condition:

Functionality:

The Alienware Aurora (Model ACT1250) is the 2025 generation of Alienware's mainstream gaming tower — the direct successor to the Aurora R16 and the first Aurora to drop the "R-number" naming in favor of Dell's new alphanumeric code. Announced at CES in January 2025 and still on retail shelves through 2026, it pairs Intel's Core Ultra 200S desktop processors with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series graphics inside a matte "Basalt Black" Legend 3 chassis with a hexagonal side vent array, top exhaust, and the illuminated stadium intake across the front. Because this machine was sold in a very wide configuration spread — from an RTX 5060 Ti entry build around $1,529 to an RTX 5080 flagship past $5,000 — the graphics card, processor, memory, and storage inside your specific tower determine the payout, not the model name on the box. Select your exact components in the quote tool above to see an instant cash offer, and if you'd rather put that value toward your next machine, our trade-in service lets you apply the same offer as credit instead of taking the cash.

Make sure you have the Aurora ACT1250

Alienware reused the "Aurora" name across two completely different product categories in 2025, and the older Aurora desktops look similar from across a room. Three minutes of checking now prevents a corrected offer later. Here is the fastest path, in plain steps:

✅ Method 1 — Windows System Information

  • Click the Windows Start button
  • Type System Information and press Enter
  • Look at the line labeled System Model
  • It should read Alienware Aurora ACT1250

The same window shows your Processor and Installed Physical Memory (RAM) on the lines just below — write both down before you open the quote tool.

✅ Method 2 — The Service Tag sticker

  • Turn the tower around so you're facing the rear
  • Find the white label near the expansion-card slots
  • It carries a 7-character Service Tag and an Express Service Code

Entering that Service Tag on Dell's support site returns the exact factory build sheet for your unit — the single most reliable way to confirm your graphics card, memory, and storage without opening the case.

✅ Method 3 — Box, invoice, or retail SKU

  • Dell.com order codes look like useact1250wcto07 or useact1250wcto14
  • Retail box SKUs look like DACT1250-7229BLK-PUS or DACT1250-7377BLK-PUS
  • Canadian and international codes vary — caeact1250wcto09, act1250_cto5, cad1250cto02rino

Any code containing ACT1250 or act1250 confirms this generation, regardless of the region prefix.

❌ This is NOT your device if…

  • Your machine is a laptop — the Alienware 16 Aurora and 16X Aurora are 2025 gaming laptops that share the Aurora name and nothing else
  • Your processor name starts with Core i7 or Core i9 instead of Core Ultra — that's an Aurora R16 (2023) or older
  • System Model reads Alienware Area-51 or AAT2250 — that's the larger 2025 flagship tower, a different listing entirely

Not finding any of these labels? Our Find My Gadget's Model walkthrough covers every place Dell hides identification on a desktop chassis, and you can always request a custom quote and let our team identify it from a photo.

Where the ACT1250 sits in the Aurora timeline

Aurora R13 & R14 — 2021

Legend 2.0 chassis. R13 used Intel 12th Gen Core; R14 was the AMD Ryzen edition. Rounded front bezel with a large illuminated oval ring.

Aurora R15 — 2022

Same Legend 2.0 shell, Intel 13th Gen Core and RTX 40-series. This is the machine Alienware benchmarks the ACT1250 against for noise and thermals.

Aurora R16 — 2023

The redesign that moved to a squared-off, smaller rectangular tower. Intel 13th/14th Gen Core i7 and i9, RTX 40-series graphics. Visually the closest relative to the ACT1250 — check the processor name to tell them apart.

Aurora ACT1250 — 2025 (this listing)

Legend 3 design in matte Basalt Black. Intel Core Ultra 200S processors, RTX 50-series graphics, Wi-Fi 7, USB4. No "R17" was ever released; the naming scheme changed instead.

Area-51 AAT2250 — 2025 sibling

Sold alongside the Aurora, not as a replacement. Larger chassis, standard ATX motherboard, RTX 5090 options, and a significantly higher resale ceiling. Different product page.

16 Aurora & 16X Aurora — 2025 laptops

The first Alienware laptops to carry the Aurora badge in nearly two decades. If your device folds shut, you're in the wrong category — see our Aurora 16 breakdown and head to sell an Alienware laptop instead.

Core hardware configurations

Processor (CPU)

  • Intel Core Ultra 7 265F — 20 cores (8 performance + 12 efficient), 20 threads, up to 5.3 GHz, 30MB L3 cache, no integrated graphics
  • Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF — 20 cores (8 + 12), 20 threads, 3.9 GHz base to 5.5 GHz boost, 66MB total cache, 125W, unlocked, no integrated graphics
  • Intel Core Ultra 9 285 — 24 cores (8 + 16), 24 threads, up to 5.6 GHz, integrated Intel Graphics
  • Intel Core Ultra 9 285K — 24 cores (8 + 16), 24 threads, 3.7 GHz base to 5.7 GHz boost, 76MB total cache, 125W, unlocked, integrated Intel Graphics
  • All four are Intel Core Ultra 200S "Arrow Lake-S" desktop parts with an Intel AI Boost NPU rated at 13 TOPS
  • The "F" suffix means no integrated graphics. An F-series build will not display anything if the graphics card is removed — worth knowing before you test the machine

Graphics (GPU)

  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti — 8GB GDDR7 (entry configuration)
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 — 12GB GDDR7
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti — 16GB GDDR7
  • NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 — 16GB GDDR7 (top configuration for this chassis)
  • All support DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, ray tracing, DirectX 12 Ultimate, and Vulkan 1.4
  • The RTX 5090 was never offered in the Aurora ACT1250. If your tower has one, you almost certainly own an Area-51 AAT2250 instead
  • The graphics card sits in a full-length PCI-Express x16 slot and is removable — a swapped or missing card changes the offer significantly

Memory (RAM)

  • Dual-channel DDR5 across two DIMM slots (DIMM1 and DIMM2)
  • Factory capacities: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB
  • Two speed grades — DDR5-5200 MT/s standard, or DDR5-6400 MT/s XMP as a paid upgrade
  • 64GB is the hard ceiling (2 × 32GB). There is no third or fourth slot to grow into
  • The RAM is standard, unsoldered, and user-replaceable — unlike an Alienware laptop, an aftermarket memory upgrade here is a genuine value-add rather than a warranty question

Storage

  • Two internal M.2 PCIe NVMe solid-state drive slots (SSD-0 and SSD-1)
  • Slot support covers both M.2 2280 and the shorter M.2 2230 form factor
  • Factory options: 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 1TB + 2TB, 1TB + 4TB, and 8TB as 2 × 4TB
  • One 3.5-inch drive bay plus two SATA 6 Gbps connectors on the board for adding a mechanical hard drive
  • Total SSD capacity tops out at 8TB across the two M.2 slots

Video output & audio

Video output

This is a tower, so no display is included and none is factored into your quote. Every monitor connection comes off the installed graphics card at the rear — typically one HDMI plus three DisplayPort outputs on the RTX 50-series cards used here. The rear USB4 Type-C port is data and power only; it does not carry video. On the Core Ultra 9 285 and 285K builds, the motherboard's integrated-graphics outputs exist as a fallback, but the 265F and 265KF builds have no working display output at all without the graphics card installed.

Audio

Realtek ALC1220 high-definition audio codec driving a rear cluster of line-in, line-out, and an optical S/PDIF port for digital output to an amplifier, receiver, or TV. A universal 3.5mm headset jack (headphone and microphone combo) sits on the front panel. There are no built-in speakers and no built-in microphone — this chassis carries no webcam either, so nothing in that category affects your offer.

Ports & connectivity

The ACT1250 splits its I/O between an easily reachable front panel and a dense rear panel. Count what you actually have — port damage is one of the few things that can move a desktop quote, and a missing rear I/O shield or a bent USB port is worth mentioning in your condition notes.

Front panel
  • 1× Universal audio jack (3.5mm headphone and microphone combo)
  • 2× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 1× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 with PowerShare (5 Gbps, charges devices while the PC is off)
  • 1× USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with PowerShare (10 Gbps, Power Delivery up to 15W)
  • 1× Power button (the illuminated Alien head)
Rear panel & expansion
  • 1× USB4 Type-C (20 Gbps, Power Delivery, backward compatible with Thunderbolt 3 — data only, no video)
  • 1× USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 (10 Gbps)
  • 2× USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 (5 Gbps)
  • 2× USB-A 2.0 with Smart Power On (480 Mbps, wakes the PC from keyboard or mouse)
  • 1× RJ-45 Ethernet (2.5 Gbps; Killer E3100G controller on most builds)
  • 1× Optical S/PDIF, 1× Line-in, 1× Line-out
  • 1× PCI-Express x16 slot (graphics card) and 2× PCI-Express x4 slots
  • 1× Power inlet, Kensington security-cable slot, padlock rings, Service Tag label

What this tower does not have: no SD or media card reader, no optical disc drive, no certified Thunderbolt 4 or Thunderbolt 5 port (the rear Type-C is USB4 20 Gbps), no video output over any USB-C port, no 10-Gigabit Ethernet, no webcam, and no built-in speakers. None of these are missing from your unit — they were never fitted, so their absence has no effect on your quote.

Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2×2, 802.11be) Bluetooth 5.4 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet USB4 20 Gbps Windows 11 Home or Pro

Power, build & more

Power supply

Two factory power supplies, assigned by graphics tier: a 500W Platinum-rated PSU on the air-cooled entry builds, and a 1000W Platinum-rated PSU on the higher graphics and liquid-cooled configurations. The wattage is printed on the PSU label visible through the rear grille. A non-original or third-party PSU should be disclosed, since Dell's internal power routing is proprietary.

Cooling

Air cooling with a processor fan and heat-sink assembly on entry builds, or a 240mm all-in-one liquid cooler — offered both with and without AlienFX lighting on the pump head — on higher configurations. Supporting airflow comes from a lower front-chassis fan, a rear-chassis fan, and top-chassis fan positions. Alienware rates this design roughly 20% quieter and 7% cooler than the Aurora R15.

Chassis & lighting

Legend 3 industrial design in a matte Basalt Black finish. AlienFX lighting covers the Alien head power button, the front stadium ring, and — on liquid-cooled builds — the pump head, all controlled through Alienware Command Center. A clear tempered side panel was a paid option; an opaque panel is equally original and neither version changes the offer.

Dimensions

Approximately 16.5" (H) × 18.1" (D) × 7.8" (W), or 419 × 459 × 197 mm. Compact for a tower with a full-length graphics card, which is exactly why the internal layout is tighter than a standard ATX build.

Weight

Roughly 29 to 34 lb (13 to 15.4 kg) depending on cooler, power supply, and graphics card. Plan your packaging accordingly — see our shipping instructions for how to brace a tower this heavy so the graphics card doesn't shift in transit.

What ships with it

Original builds included a wired Dell KB216 keyboard and MS116 mouse, though both were removable at checkout for a $1 credit — so a unit without them may well be complete as ordered. Send the power cord if you have it. Monitors, headsets, and Alienware peripherals are quoted separately.

Frequently asked questions

01 How do I confirm my desktop is the Alienware Aurora ACT1250?
The fastest check takes about thirty seconds and needs no tools. Click Start, type System Information, press Enter, and read the System Model line — it will say Alienware Aurora ACT1250. The two lines below it show your processor and your installed RAM, which is exactly what the quote tool asks for next. If the PC won't boot, turn the tower around and find the white Service Tag label near the expansion slots; that seven-character code identifies your exact factory build. You can also check the original invoice or box for an order code containing act1250, such as useact1250wcto07, or a retail SKU such as DACT1250-7229BLK-PUS. Our Find My Gadget's Model guide walks through each of these with pictures.
02 My PC says "Alienware Aurora" but not ACT1250 — is this still the right page?
Probably not, and this is the single most common mix-up on Alienware quotes. Alienware attached the "Aurora" name to four different things, and they are worth very different amounts.

If it's a laptop — the Alienware 16 Aurora and 16X Aurora launched in 2025 as gaming laptops. They share only the name. Head to sell an Alienware laptop instead, and our Aurora 16 review explains where that model sits in the lineup.

If your processor reads "Core i7" or "Core i9" rather than "Core Ultra" — you have an Aurora R16 (2023) or older R15, R14, or R13. The R16 in particular is a near-identical rectangular tower, so the processor name is the reliable tell, not the shape.

If System Model reads "Area-51" or "AAT2250" — that's the larger 2025 flagship with a standard ATX board and RTX 5090 options. It carries a higher offer and has its own listing.

If your graphics card is an RTX 5090 — the Aurora ACT1250 was never sold with one, so re-check your System Model before quoting.
03 Can I sell an Aurora ACT1250 that's damaged, worn, or has upgraded parts?
Yes. We buy these towers across the full range of condition, from sealed-box returns to units that no longer post. Scuffed panels, a cracked clear side window, dead chassis fans, a liquid cooler that's started rattling, missing feet, or dust buildup are all handled through the condition selections above.

Upgrades are welcome, and they usually help. A desktop is different from a laptop here — the RAM, the M.2 drives, and the graphics card are all standard, removable parts, so an aftermarket 64GB memory kit or a larger SSD raises your offer rather than voiding it. Quote the hardware that is physically installed today, not what the original invoice says.

Two things to flag in your condition notes rather than leave for us to find: a graphics card that was swapped for a different model, and a replaced or third-party power supply. Dell's proprietary internal power routing means a non-original PSU is worth mentioning up front. If your build has been modified heavily enough that the dropdowns above don't describe it, skip the tool and request a custom quote — our team will price it by hand, usually within a day.
04 What actually drives the value of an Aurora ACT1250?
The graphics card is the dominant factor, and it isn't close. An RTX 5080 build and an RTX 5060 Ti build left the factory more than $2,000 apart, and that gap follows the machine into the resale market almost intact. Processor tier comes second — a Core Ultra 9 285K carries a clear premium over a Core Ultra 7 265F.

Three things many people don't realize move the number more than they expect:

The 64GB memory ceiling. This board has only two DIMM slots, so 64GB is the absolute maximum. A tower already sitting at 64GB is at the top of what the platform can ever do, and buyers pay for that. Two 32GB sticks are also worth more than four 16GB sticks would be, because there's no room for four.

Which power supply and cooler you have. The 1000W Platinum PSU and the 240mm liquid cooler weren't standard — they came with the higher builds. They're expensive parts that a buyer would otherwise have to source separately, and a 500W air-cooled tower will not support a graphics upgrade the way a 1000W one will.

Total SSD capacity across both slots. An 8TB build (2 × 4TB) is a materially different machine than a 1TB build, and the tool above asks for the combined figure, not just the boot drive.

If you'd rather not take cash, our trade-in service applies the same offer as credit toward your next device — a lot of people upgrading from an Aurora to an Area-51 don't realize this is an option, and it takes the same amount of time as a straight sale. Our Alienware trade-in guide covers how to squeeze the most out of either route, and how it works lays out the full process end to end. Selling several machines at once? Our bulk buyback and corporate device buyback programs handle multi-unit lots.
05 How do I wipe my data, and when do I get paid?
Back up anything you want to keep to an external drive or cloud storage first — game saves, screenshots, documents. Then sign out of your accounts: Microsoft, Steam, Epic, Battle.net, Xbox, and anything else tied to the machine. Deauthorizing your Steam and Microsoft accounts before the PC leaves your hands avoids device-limit headaches later. Finally, run Settings → System → Recovery → Reset this PC → Remove everything.

Leave the drives installed. Don't unscrew the M.2 SSDs — a tower arriving with empty drive slots is quoted as a system without storage, which lowers the offer. Every machine we receive is wiped again to certified standards during intake regardless of what you did at home; our data erasure protocols page documents exactly how.

After that, shipping is free and fully insured in both directions — print the label we send you, follow the shipping instructions for packing a tower this heavy, and drop it off. Once your Aurora arrives and passes functional testing, payment is issued within two business days by PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, CashApp, or a mailed check. There are no listing fees, no buyer negotiations, and no waiting for a marketplace sale — our comparison of Alienware selling options breaks down how that stacks up against doing it yourself.