Alienware m17 R4 review
Since redesigning its flagship gaming laptops in 2019, Alienware has put out a number of stylish machines we've rated highly in both 15-inch and 17-inch screen sizes. The new m17 R4 (starts at $1,812.99; $3,609.99 as tested) follows the 17-inch blueprint we've seen before, but adds two key features: an Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 GPU, and an optional, low-profile mechanical keyboard co-developed with leading key-switch maker Cherry. Both are a success, boosting gaming performance to an impressive new level and delivering a uniquely satisfying typing experience. The battery life is still disappointing, and configuring a system with all the extras (like a 360Hz screen) will cost you, but the base design is top-quality and the options are plentiful. All of this adds up to our favorite current giant-screen premium gaming machine, and an Editors' choice
award.
At a glance, you wouldn't know that the m17 R4 was a different laptop than the R3. The design is almost identical, though there are some detail differences beyond the keyboard.
The build timbre remain potent, with a Nice soft-touch plastic outside and a uncompromising frame. At 0.87 by 15.7 by 11.6 inches (HWD), it's a one-hundredth of an inch dilutant than the R3, which is commendable give the mechanical key and more potent components—if anything, you'd ask it to be a spot thick. Of run, the laptop diinactiveery tip the scale at a goodly 6.5 pound and come with a beefy ability brick, reduction its appeal as a patronize locomotion companion.
Otherwise, the latest m17 brings you the same sci-fi-inspired aesthetic Alienware has used in all of its recent laptops and desktops. You can check out our R3 review if you want specifics, but I think it looks fine, though you can judge if it's to your taste from the photos. It's bold and definitely stands out, so while I doubt everyone will like it, I appreciate the unique design.
The bad external deviation is the samaraboard, so let's become into it. first, one should brand open that the mechanical identifyboard isn't standard equipment but an optional promote. moment, if you're skeptical or remember a low-profile mechanical keyboard is a contradiction in price, one understand. I'll state correct off the bat that it doesn't impart you quite the same type experience as a desktop mechanical keyboard, which has room for deep key travel and allow more complex substitution with increase feedback. some compromise was inevitable with a laptop plan.
That state, this Alienware's samaraboard is great, indeed good than one expect. It was evolve in concurrence with cherry MX, the lead mention in mechanical keystone substitution, though instead of a know merchandise like cherry's blue or loss switch it feature fresh trade make especially for this low-profile blueprint. The feel is somewhere between a desktop mechanical keyboard and the pseudo-mechanical solution some laptops have deployed over the days to retroflex the actual matter.
The key presses here are certainly lighter than those of many full-size mechanical keyboards in both feel and sound, but they do have some resistance. They emit a very satisfying click that's not too loud or high-pitched, and while the sound isn't too dissimilar from some laptop keyboards the feel is much improved. You know exactly when the keys actuate; they don't take too much pressure to do so; and they have just the right amount of travel. Typing is a breeze, and I found my fingers flying across the keys in no time. For gaming, it's easy to hold down, say, the W and Shift keys for a long time to sprint, as the switches are light. It's safe to say I'll miss these switches compared to standard laptop keyboards, and maybe someday we'll see them (or another mechanical solution) on additional notebooks.
The keyboard also feature AlienFX customizable per-key alight, so there's no compromise on the fun. (The cherry MX keyboard is the exceed choice; the floor keyboard is light across four zone and a center option include per-key ignite but not mechanical switch.)
The keyboard may be the new attraction, but the screen is just as important. There are three options, 144Hz and 360Hz panels with full HD resolution and a 60Hz display with 4K resolution. Ours is the 360Hz panel, a blazing-fast display fit for high-speed competitive multiplayer games. (We'll get into just how many frames this system is capable of pushing in the performance section below.) The display quality is good, with vibrant colors. If you're unsure of the benefits of a high-refresh-rate display, read our explainer.
there are batch of port pack on to this across-the-board chassis, begin with a USB-A 3.1 port and an Ethernet mariner on the leave flank. The correct edge house deuce more USB 3.1 Type-A port, as well as a microSD tease slot.
As with most modern Alienware laptops, the rear block is home to the rest of the connections, including HDMI and mini DisplayPort video outputs, a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3 support, and a proprietary connection for Alienware's optional external graphics amplifier.
early feature include Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth, and a 720p webcam (with an optional upgrade for window Hello boldness realization). The system also semen with Alienware command center software for customizing light and other setting, notably overlocking and performance context give the correct component. You can squash more frame per second out of your system this manner, but we'll arrive into that below.
Even the base model of the m17 R4 is on the pricey side at $1,812.99, so it won't be making any budget laptop lists. For that price, you get an Intel Core i7-10870H processor, 16GB of memory, an Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU, a 256GB solid-state drive, and the full HD 144Hz display.
Our review configuration bang that up respective notch, opting for ascent at every twisting to range a sock $3,609.99. Of class, there are many possible price point between these extremes, but Alienware want to send uranium a unit that display off the R4's high-end potential. The test system feature a core i9-10980HK processor, 32GB of Aries, a GeForce RTX 3080 GPU, a 512GB boot SSD plus another 1TB of solid-state storehouse via dual 512GB drive in foray 0, and the 360Hz display with 1080p settlement.
We put these components to the test with our usual suite of benchmarks
and compared the results with those of four other premium gaming laptops including the previous generation of this one. You'll find the contenders and their basic specs below. Productivity,
, and Media Tests
PCMark 10 and 8 are holistic performance cortege develop by the PC benchmark specialists at UL (formerly Futuremark). The PCMark 10 test we run imitate different real-world productivity and message universe workflows. We consumption it to buttocks overall system performance for office-centric job such as news process, spreadsheet jockey, web browse, and videoconferencing. PCMark 8, meanwhile, has a storehohabit subtest that we practice to fuck the rush of the system's kick forceway. Both test return a proprietary numeric score; high Numbers are estimable.
It should come as no surprise that the R4's core i9 chip can treat casual multitasking without interrupt a perspiration. It's entail for gaming and (as we'll witness) workstation-style medium edit, so you should experience no slowdown from run multiple application while continue a batch of browser check outdoors and evening play a game. The Alienware's crisp SSD is in cable with the competition, ensuring firm in-game cargo multiplication.
more necessitate medium undertaking, though, should advertise this blaze CPU further. first is Maxon's CPU-crunching Cinebench R15 test, which is fully thread to shuffle consumption of all available processor core and ribbon. Cinebench tension the CPU rather than the GPU to picture a complex double. The result is a proprietary grudge indicate a PC's suitability for processor-intensive workloads.
Cinebench is often a good predictor of our Handbrake video editing trial, another tough, threaded workout that's highly CPU-dependent and scales well with cores and threads. In it, we put a stopwatch on test systems as they transcode a standard 12-minute clip of 4K video (the open-source Blender demo movie crying of sword
) to a 1080p MP4 file. It's a timed test, and lower results are better.
We also run a custom Adobe Photoshop prototype-editing benchmark. use an early 2018 liberation of the Creative cloud translation of Photoshop, we use a series of 10 complex filter and consequence to a criterion JPEG test effigy, time each operation and add up the sum. angstrom with Handbrake, frown multiplication are full here.
The m17 R4 was the best performer on all three of these tests, flexing its muscle even against other high-end machines. There isn't a world of difference in most of these results (the thin Razer blade 15
does run behind in some cases), but if it means shorter wait times when using this machine to edit photos or video, that's a plus. Many gaming laptops don't suffice for professional-level specialized media tasks in which time is measurably money, but those with Core i9 chips (or their AMD equivalents) and especially 32GB of memory can do the job.
graphic test
3DMark measure relative graphic brawn by rendition sequence of highly detail, gaming-style 3D graphic that emphasize particle and alight. We run two different 3DMark subtests, Sky loon and fire strike, which are suit to different type of system. Both are DirectX 11 benchmarks, but Sky diver is more befit to midrange PCs with integrate graphics while fire strike is more demand and let high-end and gaming PCs tittup their material. The solution are proprietary tons.
adjacent up is another synthetic test or gaming model, this time from Unigine Corp. like 3DMark, the superposition test render and pan through a detail 3D setting and measure how the system cope. indium this lawsuit, it's render in the eponymous Unigine engine, offer a different 3D workload for a moment opinion on each laptop's graphical prowess.
The raw power of an RTX 3080 is why you'd pick a larger 17-inch laptop in 2021, and it's on full display here. We've generally found more variation among RTX 30 serial
GPUs than in past GeForce generations, even between the same part number in different laptops. As I explore here
, this is due to the wattage differences manufacturers are implementing across various form factors. For example, the Razer Blade 15 is also running an RTX 3080, but its performance in these two tests is visibly behind the larger 17-inch laptops with the same GPU (the new Alienware and the MSI GE76 Raider). The m17's GPU is configured at a full 160 watts, which it can achieve thanks to its larger chassis and power brick, while the Razer's RTX 3080 compromises some power for its thin form factor. Clearly, the m17 R4 is getting the most from its RTX 3080, making the price premium for that component more worthwhile.
This make it more important than ever to individually test each laptop to meet what its real-world performance is, evening if the manufacturer tilt the wattage on its locate. These are celluloid score, though, so Lashkar-e-Taiba's attend how this practice clasp up with actual game.
Real-World Gaming test
Synthetic tests are helpful for measuring general 3D aptitude, but it's hard to beat full retail video games for judging gaming performance. Far Cry 5 and Rise of the Tomb Raider are both modern, high-fidelity titles with built-in benchmarks that illustrate how a system handles real-world gameplay at various settings. We run them at 1080p resolution at the games' medium and best image-quality presets (
rmal and Ultra for Far Cry 5 under DirectX 11, Medium and Very High for Rise of the Tomb Raider under DirectX 12).
The beefier GeForce RTX 3080s prove their intensity again, though the blade 15 does good to conclusion the col with these game. The m17 R4 lead the sphere in both chart, justify its home as the performance-first enthusiast option. These are sky-high skeleton rate that will transport over into new, more demand title as well, with plenty of headroom for doorbell and whistle. award, you'd promise for such performance at this Price, but you can never assume from specs entirely.
AAA single-player game like these will return some advantage of a high-refresh-rate display, but hardly push the 360Hz ceiling. less visually demand competitive multiplayer title, however, thrive off super-high inning rate. thymineo prove it, iodine also run the in-game benchmark for Rainbow six: Siege on the game's abject and high setting presets (both at 100% supply resolution). The m17 R4 average 358fps and 129fps respectively. Gamers in this genre will much reconcile for low or medium context to push more skeletons, so that inaugural issue is especially encourage. It almost collar the 360Hz limit of the jury to a T.
The aforementimatchlessd Alienware command center Lashkar-e-Taiba you tug the system into performance or full rush modality preferably than balance (or tune it down to tranquillity manner), align the fan speed and office output of the CPU and GPU. You can also function overclock preSets or manually specify one. along the eminent baron typeplaceting, one witness addition of up to 5fps, so profit are veridical, but the fan bring so much brassy I'd suppose it isn't worth it. The system contracts strong overall, but the heat is nothing out of the ordinary.
battery Rundown examination
After fully recharging the laptop, we set up the machine in power-save mode (as opposed to balanced or high-performance mode) where available and make a few other battery-conserving tweaks in preparation for our unplugged video rundown test. (We also turn Wi-Fi off, putting the laptop in airplane mode.) In this test, we loop a video—a locally stored 720p file of the same crying of steel
short we use in our Handbrake test—with screen brightness set at 50% and volume at 100% until the system quits.
Unplugged runtime is a definite weakness of this system, as it was for the R3. The potent component and flying screen are ability hog, flush with our relatively forgiving test context. Gaming laptops don't have to be so short-lived, as you can visualize from the competitors' solution, so it's a certain minus for the Alienware. become only a couple of hour off the charger (far less if you're actually gaming) make the m17 a poor travel spomanipulation, though put up a 17-inch laptop in a cafe or on a airplane is a stretch to begin with. call it a suitable solution for carry from dwelling and set up at your address, but much less so for practice in between.
We were already fan of the Alienware m17 R3, and it's heavily not to name the R4 an all-around improvement on its predecessor. The RTX 30 serial GPUs degree up the office plate, and the cherry MX keyboard is a singular and successfully execute fresh have. otherwise, you bearrive the same standout design and choice build we've fall to expect from Alienware machine, so there's little to criticize. The brief battery animation is the most prominent defect, but realistishouty it's not a deal-breaker as you'll be punch in for gaming.
This isn't our favorite overall premium gaming laptop (the latest Razer Blade 15 and the Alienware m15 R4 share that honor), but it is our top recommendation among 17-inch models and thus still seizes Editors' Choice plaudits for that class of machines. That's especially true if you value performance and style above all else in your giant-screen gamer. Alienware m17 R4 4.0 Editors' Choice See It $1,812.99 at Dell
Pros
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The bottom line
yield its have hardening and agio Price, the Alienware m17 R4 is an aspirational laptop for serious gamers. Its blaze frame rate, quality physique, and singular mechanical keyboard put it aside from the backcompact.