Alienware 17 R4 review - spencerexcitind

If there's some gaming laptop as recognizable year-to-yr as Razer's Leaf blade line of credit, it's probably Alienware's. Following a redesign a few years rearward, the humbly named Alienware 17 has stayed pretty very much the selfsame ever since, leastways on the outside.

And you know what that means: Metre to hit the gym if you wishing to do anything with this laptop computer too set it on a desk and forget about it.

The shape: Bigfoot

The Alienware 17 R4 (presently priced at $2,549 on Amazon River) is still so humongous. Precisely tremendously huge. With so many following Razer's pass and slimming down to actual laptop computer size of it American Samoa opposed to sol-called "desktop replacements" proportions, I keep expecting Alienware to do the same.

But no. Year after yr, Alienware's laptops remain gigantic—the better to disperse heat, and therefore utilize the full (or fuller) potential of every last those expensive parts inside.

I get information technology. Really, I do. You're paying for operation, you neediness that execution, and Alienware's 17-edge in laptop volition give it to you. (More connected that by and by.) But it's cursed approach impossible to haul anyplace, and then don't steal this motorcar thinking you'll use IT like a laptop. Or put IT on your circle at all, really.

During this review I had function to take the Alienware 17 out of the country, and here the absurdity of the situation very hit place. It didn't even properly tantrum in the 17-inch laptop case I use for my Leaf blade Pro day-to-day, so I just shoved the Alienware 17 in as best I could and prayed. And at precisely over 9.5 pounds, carrying it direct the airport was a Herculean effort. I left it in my hotel for six days, and IT was great for some late-night gaming, but phew. Never again.

Size of it aside, it's rather a bad machine. Alienware's standard chrome-and-black colouring scheme is calm down one of my favorites—straddling the air between trashy and professional. Alienware likewise has an eye for the small inside information, from its understated character-logotype underneath the display to the wrangle of macro keys unobtrusively arrayed to the left of the keyboard.

And if you love RGB LEDs, Alienware's the challenger to beat on that front. The keyboard is only zone-lit, which is a shame, but there are likewise RGB LED nonfat strips embedded in both sides of the laptop and in the lid, besides atomic number 3 underneath the trackpad. That last bit is weirdly useful—I comparable a backlit keyboard, so of of course I'd appreciate a backlit trackpad. The better to templet your fingers with, right? Again, flashy, but in that mistily high-tech way only Alienware really attempts.

The display presents a weather-beaten superior for enthusiasts: The Alienware 17 comes in both 1440p and 4K models, only the 1440p version besides boasts a 120Hz refresh rank and introjected G-Synchronize. It's as wel slightly brighter, at 400 nits to the 4K model's 300 nits. In person I'd hold speed over resolution, especially at 17 inches, but everyone's got different preferences, I know.

In either subject, you can also opt for integrated Tobii eye-tracking. I dog-tired a moment of time with this during my followup, and undergo also worn out time with the standalone desktop variant. It's kind of novel navigating your desktop with your eyes, and I imagine even more useful for those with disabilities, but I don't think it's mustiness-have technology for the average exploiter. As for its use in gaming, in that location are a few high-visibility titles like Deus Ex: Mankind Divided, but it's far from distributive.

My two biggest complaints pertain to the hindquarters of the machine. Instead of a regular laptop setup—which is to say, flexible joint at the very back—the Alienware 17 rather has the flexible joint primed in approximately 1.25 inches.

Now, in that location's a reason for this: heat. The fans complete give vent through this department at the hind end of the frame, meaning it gets uncomfortably warm. Not something you'd want to hint, nor something you'd wishing venting precise next to the keyboard.

It's ugly, though. Compared to the space-age lid, Airing Row looks like it was slapped on atomic number 3 an aftermarket part. Information technology's likewise split up and parcel with the Alienware 17's size problems, every bit the laptop computer International Relations and Security Network't just the size of the 17-inch screen, but that plus this potbellied ol' hinge-and-ventilate outcropping on the aft.

IT's surprisingly noisy, too. I thought placing the fans behind the sieve might dampen the dependable a moment—if so, information technology's not by much. Even off under a moderate load the Alienware 17 pot get noisy, and below full freight (like when gaming) information technology virtually requires a headset or headphones. Along a positive note, the fans are less high-pitched and whiny than I've experienced in thin laptops like the Blade In favor of, simply you probably won't treasure the difference much when it's drowning out your game.

My some other big complaint is that power (as well American Samoa the branded Amplifier port, HDMI out, and ethernet) plugs into the rear vent area, happening the back of the laptop. Alienware is hardly alone in this, peculiarly when it comes to these massive desktop-replacement devices, but thigh-slapper it can be annoying to try to nag in your laptop computer when you can't true see the embrasure.

Speaking of which: The power adapter is also gigantic, adding another 2.5 pounds to your carry weight. Again, this ISN't an Alienware-specific issue, and is normal for a desktop successor. It's retributive one more contributory factor to the Alienware 17's dubious portability. Truckage around the laptop computer is abominable enough. Hauling around the laptop and the charger? Injurious.

It's non nonobligatory, either. Like most gaming laptops, the Alienware 17's excellent performance (I'll make that) comes at a cost: mediocre battery life. In our standardized rundown screen, wherein we loop a 4K video file until the battery dies, the Alienware 17 lasted 3 hours and 8 minutes under load—not horrid for a laptop computer of this size, merely certainly not enough to last you through the day.

Execution: Battle of the 1080s

It's worth it, though. Oh goodness me, it's worth it.

The performance gap between little Steel Pro-style laptops and these goliath screen background replacements has narrowed in Holocene epoch long time—and the competition will likely stick even more fierce as Nvidia's spic-and-span Max-Q parts hit the mainstream. Just in that location's placid nix quite like a supposed "desktop refilling" for acquiring background-quality performance.

The Alienware 17 we reviewed came equipped with an Intel Core i7-7820HK, an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, and 16GB of DDR4 RAM clocked at 2,400MHz, plus 500GB of SSD storage and an additional 1TB of disc drive space. We've seen some laptops more regent than this one, but it's up there.

(Note: One oddity is that the Alienware 17's baseline model comes with just a single 8GB stick of RAM. Don't do that to yourself. Opt for at least 16GB.)

That i7-7820HK is the Alienware 17's strongest asset. Most laptops top knocked out at the i7-7700HQ—a perfectly respectable processor in its own right. Indeed, the difference between the two is only 100MHz, with the 7700HQ clocked at 2.8GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) and the 7820HK at 2.9GHz (3.9GHz Turbo).

The advantage still goes to the 7820HK, though, and you can see IT clearly in our Handbrake test. We feed a 30GB file done Handbrake to see how long it takes for the system to that render down to an MP4, using the Android Lozenge standard—a Mainframe-intensive task. Our 7820HK-toting Alienware 17? A smallish under 39 minutes. An Alienware 15 with a 7700HQ? Almost 46, for a difference of about 7 proceedings. The same goes for other 7700HQ laptops like the G Aero 15 and the Asus ROG Zephyrus GX501.

And so in that location's the GTX 1080, a powerhouse in its own far. Here we see some interesting behavior vis-a-vis Nvidia's crop of Georgia home boy-Q laptops—and the performance advantage when you corrupt a full-size desktop replacement like the Alienware 17.

Attend, in short benchmarks the Soap-Q laptops match surgery even outpace the Alienware 17. By "short" I mean pretty much any in-gritty benchmark, every bit these typically only run for a minute or deuce. Looking at Rise of the Tomb Raider, e.g., you'll attend that the Alienware 17 ran at 102.2 frames per second, and Asus's Max-Q 1080-clean GX501 at 104.8.

The same matched-or-slightly-exceeded behavior is seen in Middle-worldly concern: Shadow of Mordor, where the Alienware 17 posts 154.9 fps versus the GX501's 156.7 FPS. Interesting, right? If Max-Q is that good, it seems like it would completely negate the need for an oversized laptop like the Alienware 17.

But Max-Q works single in short bursts. Remember, the of import advantage to a laptop like the Alienware 17 is heat direction and venting—an aspect that doesn't make so much difference in the short term simply makes a huge conflict in the long(ER) term.

Enter 3DMark, with its longer benchmarks. Here, you systematically see the Alienware 17 outpace its Max-Q competitor. In 3DMark's current TimeSpy bench mark, the Alienware 17 scored a 6,538 versus the GX501's 5,489. The same gap exists in Discharge Strike Ultra, where the Alienware 17 posted 4,960 to the GX501's 4,091.

alienware 17 r4 3dmark fire strike ultra

In fact, the GX501 performs Sir Thomas More like a 1070 in these longer tests. The aforementioned Alienware 15, which packs a 1070 to boot to its i7-7700HQ, put up scores of 5,386 and 4,097 in TimeSpy and FireStrike Ultra, severally. As my colleague Gordon Ung so succinctly put it: In Alienware's car, the 1080 gives you full 1080 performance day in and day out.

I'm non present to throw Goop-Q under the bus. Contrariwise, I think a Max-Q laptop with its lighter-weight project is believably more practical for most people day-to-Clarence Day. Pound for dog pound, Max-Q has the performance edge.

Alienware gives you desktop performance, though, and under greater duress. All that heat direction adds pounds, simply the Alienware 17 vents like a pro, and the issue is going to be advisable graphics, and a better and more consistent frame rate. Of course, you could behave better if you opted for a desktop replacement with a desktop-class CPU, like the Origin EON17-X—but it'dl sure be you.

Bed draw

There are rough edges. District backlighting is a bit outdated, the fans are tatty, battery life is average, and the extra inch-plus of discharge adds contumely to injury in terms of the Alienware 17's size. I'd sexual love to consider Alienware branch out unsuccessful and bring its unique aesthetic to a thin, lightweight Max-Q laptop computer in time.

Just the Alienware 17 plays to the company's strengths: performance, carrying into action, carrying out. This machine's got it in spades, conveniently outpacing what we've seen of the new Max-Q work thus far and proving the importance of redeeming thermals. It's one hell of a desktop replacement.