Alienware X17 R2 review

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The Alienware x17 R2 is an update to the original from last year that focuses on giving this expensive gaming laptop even more power. Our extremely pricey evaluation configuration literally goes all out on its two essential components, an Intel “Alder Lake” Core i9 CPU and Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics card.

Unquestionably, the x17 R2 performs well, although not as well as certain rivals: Similar to the original, the laptop’s eminently portable design actually limits its power capabilities while increasing costs. you read our article on Alienware X17 R2 review. Although some wealthy buyers might find the Alienware aesthetic compelling enough to purchase this model, we think the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 and the Origin EVO17-S are more alluring alternatives.

The last-generation RTX 20-series mobile CPUs from Nvidia were unable to operate demanding games at 4K without making a number of sacrifices to visual fidelity. Thankfully, things have improved this year, especially with the powerful 16GB VRAM edition of the X17, thanks to the RTX 3080. The 3080 in the X17 has a boost clock speed of 1,545MHz and a maximum graphics power level of 165W. That is very potent for a mobile GPU and comes very close to the maximum power that Nvidia permits for its mobile graphics processors. It’s undoubtedly the most graphically advanced laptop we’ve tested so far.

Design

As was already noted, the new Alienware x17 R2 shares the same design as the stunning Alienware x17 R1 from a year ago, but that’s not necessarily a negative thing. The x17 R2 is remarkably slim for a top-tier performance laptop at just 0.82 inches thick, and the aluminum and magnesium chassis feels opulent and luxury as well.

We think the x17 is excellent and futuristic without being over the top, even though the design is still a matter of personal preference. The black and white color scheme known as Lunar Light is one of our favorites. The R2 is not, however, the smallest or lightest machine available. It weighs 6.82 pounds, more than the Razer Blade 17 and the Asus ROG Scar Strix, and it’s pretty big, with the largest footprint in the group measuring 11.79 x 15.72 inches.

The ports on Asus and Lenovo’s gaming laptops are distributed across the rear, while Alienware has them all in the back. This feels like going too far, and we are not fans of ports that are mounted in the back, but having at least one, perhaps an additional Type-A port on the side, would make it simpler to plug in a thumb drive. Only the 3.5mm audio connector and the DC-in power socket were placed on the side by Alienware; both of these ports belonged towards the back.

However, despite the fact that they are all recessed to the back, Alienware includes a good number of ports in the x17 R2. One Thunderbolt 4 port, one USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 port, two USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 ports, an RJ-45 2.5 Gbits/sec LAN connector, a microSD card reader, HDMI 2.1 and mini-DisplayPort 1.4 video feeds, and a microSD card reader are all present on the back panel, all of which are connected by an LED light ring. Power delivery is supported by Thunderbolt and USB-C ports alike. A Killer 2.5GbE controller and a Killer Wi-Fi 6E modem, which also supports Bluetooth 5.2, are used for wireless communication.

Keyboard and touchpad

A low-profile mechanical keyboard employing Cherry MX switches or a thin keyboard are also options for the Alienware x17 R2. We don’t anticipate many users choosing the membrane keyboard unless they specifically desire a quieter typing experience because upgrading to the mechanical keyboard just costs £100. However, the membrane keyboard isn’t too awful, with a clear and accurate action and a respectable amount of key travel (1.5mm).

The Alienware Command Centre allows you to change the color of the alien noggins on the lid and keyboard deck as well as the “Stadium” ring light that encircles the ports and vents in the back panel. Both keyboards have per-key RGB lighting, as you might expect. The layout is quite standard save from the extra column on the right that houses the volume, mute, and microphone mute controls, which requires some getting used to. By pressing Fn+F1, you can also quickly switch between the “Balanced” and “Full Speed” power modes.

The one-piece glass trackpad, which measures 112 by 67 millimeters and is slightly skewed to the left to keep it in line with the spacebar, is very small for a 17.3-inch laptop. But it functions nicely, and the click action is satisfyingly pleasing and positive. Of course, it’s obvious why the Alienware x17 keyboard is so small in comparison to the deck just by looking at it: Due to the overheating issues we encountered with the Strix 17, Alienware made speaker grilles and vents a priority in the design.

Alienware X17 R2 review: Display

Previously, Alienware always featured magnificent panels that were perfect for relaxing while watching a movie or TV show or playing games. The 17.3-inch, 1920 x 1080, 360Hz refresh rate x17 R2 display is no different. In God of War, there was a lot of bloodshed and clean frames. Freya’s forest, where we fought a number of foes against the stunning backdrop of blood-red maple trees and lush fields, is by far our favorite location.

We were astounded by how accurately the Swan Song teaser captured the various skin tones of actors Mahershala Ali, Ace LeVere, and Naomie Harris. Each performer had flawless skin, and little Ace’s burnt orange leather jacket brought our attention to the middle of the screen until it was diverted by the light reflecting off each delicate ringlet of hair.

We were shocked to learn that the x17 R2 fell short of the 85.8% average for premium gaming, using only 76% of the DCI-P3 color gamut. Even still, the outcome was higher than the Raiders’ 74.5%. Even more vivid were the Strix (76.7%) and Blade 17 (83.9%) though. On our brightness test, the x17 R2 performed exceptionally well, averaging 325 nits. Despite falling just short of the 328-nit category average, the x17 R2 is a beacon in comparison to the Strix, Blade 17, and Raider, which each reached 280, 277, and 259 nits.

Audio

The x17’s speakers come in a variety of styles. Two 4-watt speakers are there, but they protrude from the base of the laptop’s wrist rest. They work well for gaming. The conversation in Deathloop was understandable, but shooting didn’t pack a powerful blow. Although it sounded good, the ambient music lacked excitement.

They can play music loud enough, but CHVRCHES’ “How Not to Drown” sounded muddy because the guitars and vocals were competing for dominance with the drums and keyboards. It did not help to change the Alienware Command Center’s audio preset to the music audio preset.

Graphic and gaming

“You’re fumbling with power now.” we apologies, wrong company, but the point is still valid. One of the first laptops to use Nvidia’s new RTX 3080 Ti GPU is the Alienware x17. According to Nvidia, its Ti mobile chips can match the performance of its RTX Titan desktop chips. However, one thing is for certain: the Ti processors use 16GB of GDDR6 16Gbps memory, which is twice as much as the capacity of typical 30-series chips.

On our journey to our next God of War objective, we faced up against a revenant, many nightmares, and a draugr. We began by attacking the draugr with a series of axe blows while utilising Atreus to keep our dreams at bay. We then killed one of the draugr by swinging our axe into its heads. And finally, we defeated the revenant at a fluid 93 frames per second by using a series of precisely placed arrows from Atreus and a combination of light, heavy, and runic attacks.

Does it therefore live up to the grand claims? Basically, the Alienware x17 R2 kicked the ass of every rival that didn’t have Ti in its name thanks to its 16GB of GDDR6 RAM. That includes the Blade 17 and the Strix G15 (AMD Radeon RX 6800M GPU). However, other 3080 Ti laptops like the Raider are the gaming laptop’s biggest rival.

As an illustration, the x17 R2’s 107 frames per second on the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark crushed the industry average of 86 frames per second for premium gaming laptops. At 88 and 86 fps, neither the Strix G 15 nor the Blade 17 had a chance. With 112 fps, the Raider managed to steal the victory. The x17 R2 beat out the Blade 17 (102 fps), Strix, and the category average of 103 fps on the Grand Theft Auto V test. But once more, the Raider produced 139 frames per second to win.

The Raider only managed 91 frames per second while the Alienware managed 85 during the Metro: Exodus DirectX 11 Ultra benchmark. That was still enough to outperform the average frame rate of 70 fps as well as the Strix G15 and Blade 17, which tied for 71 fps. Turnabout is fair play, though, since the x17 R2 achieved 88 frames per second on the RTX version of the test. It outperformed the Strix G15’s 54 fps, the Blade 17’s 61 fps, the MSI’s 83 fps, and the average of 62 fps.

The x17 R2 beat the Strix G15 in the Far Cry New Dawn benchmark with 87 frames per second, just missing the 90-frames-per-second category average. The Blade 17 achieved 89 frames per second while the Raider recorded 113. The MSI managed 106 frames per second while the Alienware only managed 97 during our Borderlands 3 test. At 79 frames per second, the Blade 17, Strix G15, and the premium gaming average tied for third place.

Performance

The top-of-the-line Alienware x17 R2 has a massive 175W power limit and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics core with 16GB of memory. Along with a 1TB SSD, 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 20-thread Intel Core i7-12700H, this powerful GPU boasts incredible read and write speeds of 6318MB/sec and 4155MB/sec. The base is simply removable, and the x17 has M.2 SSD and pairs of memory sockets if you want to upgrade.

It will result in outstanding performance. The x17 blasted through Horizon Zero Dawn at Ultimate settings at 120 frames per second, outperforming the RTX 3080 by 24 frames per second and the RTX 3070 Ti laptop core by the same margin. In Borderlands 3, the x17 maintained a sizable lead, and its 226 frames per second (fps) average in Rainbow Six Siege is 31 more than the RTX 3070 Ti. you will learn our article on Alienware X17 R2 review. This laptop can play the majority of games. No matter the requirements, it will scythe through every top-tier single-player game. There won’t be an issue with DLSS or ray tracing. The majority of eSports games are less taxing than Rainbow Six, so hitting 360 frames per second won’t be a problem for the x17.

Currently, the Alienware x17 R2’s overclocking performance is its only letdown. Although the Alienware purportedly has two overclocking settings, neither one increased gaming performance. In fact, the machine’s outstanding 3D Mark Time Spy result of 12,486 decreased to 12,434 slightly. We can only hope that Dell updates its software and firmware to make this feature better. Although the i7-12700H doesn’t require any assistance there, those overclocked modes didn’t improve CPU performance either.

The fourteen-core chip achieved scores of 1686 and 12,040 in Geekbench’s single- and multi-core tests, with the latter being significantly faster than the Core i7-12800H and i9-11900H found in many other laptops. Additionally, it performs faster than AMD’s Ryzen 7 6800H and Ryzen 9 6900HX, which are available in the bulkier, heavier m17, and costs almost the same. The Core i7 chip can handle practically anything, including demanding content creation software and heavy multitasking, and the Core i9 is only necessary if you need every last bit of processing power. The outstanding performance is a testament to the x17’s superb cooling and shows that the CPU isn’t as severely constrained by throttling as is the case with smaller notebooks.

Alienware X17 R2 review: Battery life

There’s a reason why 17-inch gaming laptops are frequently used in place of desktop computers. One of them is that, similar to many gaming laptops, they don’t typically hold a charge for very long. The Alienware x17 lasted for 4 hours, 31 minutes on our test, which combines online browsing, streaming video, and running OpenGL tests all while connected to Wi-Fi and with the screen at 150 nits of brightness.

Although the MSI GE76 Raider (2:40) and the Alienware m17 (2:05), the lowest in the group, performed better than that, the Razer Blade Pro 17 survived for nearly six hours. Of course, none of these laptops will last very long while gaming. For the best performance, plug in while you are performing.

Heat

The cooling system of the Alienware x17 is effective, at least for skin temperatures. After putting it through our standard gameplay test with the Metro Exodus benchmark, we measured skin temperatures.

The Alienware keyboard’s middle, between the G and H keys, registered 42 degrees Celsius (107.6 degrees Fahrenheit). At its warmest spot, a vent towards the back, the laptop’s bottom registered 46.9 degrees Celsius (116.42 degrees Fahrenheit). When playing Deathloop, our fingertips became a little bit sweaty (gross) due to the keyboard’s warmth. also you can check our article Alienware X17 R2 review.

Configuration options

Available today, the Alienware x17 R2 costs as little as $2279 (£2148). The 375 Hz Full HD screen, the mechanical keyboard, the NVidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU, 32GB of RAM, 2TB of SSD storage in a RAID 0 array, and the 12th generation Intel i9-12900HK processor were all included in our high-end review unit. The price of that premium bundle of features is $3999. Due to the availability of only the Intel i7 processor, the closest system in the UK costs £3599. (not an i9).

Alienware X17 R2 review: Conclusion

The Alienware x17 R2 excels at gaming, which is crucial. From the fastest esports games to the most challenging single-player games, it can handle any popular game with ease. Most games can be played at their highest settings or very close to them with little to no adjusting required.

The processor is speedy and has plenty of power for creating stuff. The Alienware system also has quick storage, a top-notch keyboard, a 4K screen with vivid colors, and respectable everyday connectivity. We didn’t discover any obvious problems with the x17 R2. The lack of a numpad might irritate some people, and the battery life is disappointing.