Aurora R5, recommended GPU upgrades

i3-6100 is a great chip (I have it in my i3650). but it is dual core. you may want to consider upgrading at least to i5-6400 (up to i5-6600k) which is quad core.  most gaming pc builder recommended quad core for modern gaming.  i7-6700 is even better, but i5 is considered the sweet spot in the middle of gaming pc spec that does a lot at significantly lower cost than i7.  regarding memory 8GB is minimum for gaming.  16GB will improve quite modestly.  do not expect a huge performance boost from 8 to 16 GB when upgrading.  Many think a big memory is a great upgrade. While it is true for workstation, it is not so for gaming.  As many would advise, the best upgrade investment is gpu for gaming.  That will give you the best boost in performance.  For future proof get the fastest video card that can fit your wallet and case, even when it may be bottlenecked by current cpu.  For your system, the top cpu is i7-6700k.  The fastest affordable $200 gpu for it may be GTX1080 or 1070, or AMD RX.  SSD will load your game faster but not helping fps.

gpu check i5-6600k + gtx1080 https://www.gpucheck.com/en-usd/gpu/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080/intel-core-i5-6600k-3-50ghz/high

vs i3-6100 + gtx1050 Ti https://www.gpucheck.com/en-usd/gpu/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1050-ti/intel-core-i3-6100-3-70ghz/high

vs i5-6400 + gtx1080 https://www.gpucheck.com/en-usd/gpu/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080/intel-core-i5-6600k-3-50ghz/high

i5-6400+gtx1080 https://www.gpucheck.com/en-usd/gpu/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080/intel-core-i5-6400-2-70ghz/high

vs

i3-6100+gtx1080 https://www.gpucheck.com/en-usd/gpu/nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080/intel-core-i3-6100-3-70ghz/high

although i3-6100 will seriously bottleneck 1080, you still get decent fps.

https://www.pcgamer.com/how-much-ram-do-you-really-need-for-gaming/

@redxps630, Thank you for your response and advice.

I have put a little more thought into upgrading, and considering the age of my system, I have decided to focus less on upgrades to my current system that wouldn't transfer well to another system.

I probably should have mentioned this, but I use my system for more than gaming, as it is my primary work PC. Though I do not use any resource-intensive software, I will often have many programs up at the same time, even when playing games, meaning my 8 GB of memory is nearly always maxed. This is why I want to focus on a memory upgrade.

Thank you again for all of your help, and I appreciate you linking me to many different parts you believe to be both cost-effective and powerful.

@AuroraHasManyFans, thank you for the advice.

I have decided to consider your proposal as the solution, as I believe your advice to focus on RAM and an SSD to be the best for me at the moment. As I have mentioned, I realized that I will likely be replacing my system in the near future simply due to its age, that way I have more insight into what I actually get (I was fairly young receiving my current system).

I believe that upgrading RAM would be the best for now due to issues I have already described, and having an SSD would likely be an upgrade that could transfer easily to a new system.

You gave good insight into why I should wait to purchase a GPU, and I thank you for that.

You are welcome. Your RAM and SSD should be able to transfer the your new rig. I bought a 32GB RAM to replace my 8GB RAM on Aurora R11, and have been absolutely loving it. When OS is loading a recently-closed software or a recently left MMORPG continent, the RAM is easily surpassing even the (often unreliable) NVMe drives in speed.

If you wait and you are still on a budget, rumors that the entry level ($1k+) Aurora R11 in 2021 will be available with RTX 3060 and 3060 Ti from the factory; TSMC 7nm-equipped RTX (maybe 3260?) will be available some time in 2022; and, as demonstrated by Apple M1, SoC-supporting TSMC 5nm-equipped RTX (maybe 4060?) will be available in 2022~2024.

By then, even the budget GPUs like RTX 4050(?) and RTX 4060(?) will deliver current RTX 3090-level of graphic performance, with the "3-times" "revolutionary power efficiency" (to steal Apple's words). However, liquid-cooling for both the CPU and GPU will still likely be required for long-hour gaming.

@Ripraptor 

Here is a good thread to read on RAM upgrades for an Aurora R5:  https://www.dell.com/community/Alienware-General-Read-Only/Aurora-R5-Memory-question/td-p/5576818

I'm not saying don't upgrade the RAM. I'm just saying if you do, considering the slow speed it may not be an ideal transfer to a new system if that is your intent in buying RAM.  

Also, keep in mind that for an upgrade on the R5, you'd most likely want/need to remove the OEM Ram stick and replace it with only new RAM to ensure full compatibility with a matched set.  Mix and match doesn't always produce the best results. 

@Ripraptor  "I have decided to focus less on upgrades to my current system that wouldn't transfer well to another system... I believe that upgrading RAM would be the best for now due to issues I have already described."

Just keep in mind the RAM upgrade wouldn't be an ideal transfer to a new current-tech system.  The Aurora officially supports up to 2133RAM (2400 with XMP).  Crucial may list some higher RAM speeds as compatible but the PC is very picky with RAM and there is no guarantee anything higher than officially validated would be supported, any something in the 3000 to 3200 range which would be transferrable and usable in a new system is least likely to be supported and work in an R5. I don't believe I've seen anyone post success with higher than 2666 RAM in an R5 on this forum. 

Yes get some system RAM! I highly suggest 32 GB.

I was able to search my R5 System's OEM part number ( Micron 16GB MTA16ATF2G64AZ-2G1B1 2Rx8 DR4-2133 PC4-17000P 288-Pin Memory RAM ) on eBay and purchased 3 identical used sticks from the same seller. I originally had 16 GB, now I have 64 GB running at 2133mhz as seen in the task manager. (My BIOS does not allow OC)  I have been running it like this for over a year, no issues yet. When I have a million chrome tabs up with multiple Adobe programs up, I rarely get to 30GB Memory Usage but its nice to know it is there. (Hmmm I just looked up my processor, and it states a 34.1 GB/s Max Memory Bandwidth, maybe that is why I never get above 30)

I am currently trying to SLI my two GTX 1080s but am running into a few weird sluggish issues. My OEM CPU is the I7-6700, that only allows a max # of 16 PCI Express lanes, So is it ok that one shows it is using 8 PCIE lanes and the other is using 16 lanes??? If not, how do reduce it to 8?

Hoping for a hail Mary, I am waiting on a 3-slot HB SLI Bridge to come in. (currently using a single 2-way bendy SLI connector on the tabs closest to the back of the PC) 

It cannot be the power supply because I forced a 1000 Watt EVGA in the same spot the lil OEM was in.