Alienware's latest addition to its M series full-size gaming laptops is the m17 R5. It starts at $1,599.99 and goes up to $2,649.99 when tested. The all-AMD review unit has a Ryzen 9 6900HX eight-core processor and Radeon6850M XT graphics card.
This combination produced some impressive performance results. This laptop is capable of playing demanding AAA games with ease. Our unit had a 4K resolution panel at 120Hz, but 1080p gamers can opt for a 480Hz panel that runs at a phenomenally fast 480Hz. Alienware still retains its unique sci-fi style, while the surprising battery life of the m17 R5 belies its bulk and weight.
The R5 is an enthusiast laptop that's also reasonably priced. It has a low starting price, and many configuration options which allow for a lot of customization. These factors have made the R5 our Editors Choice winner for high-end gaming laptops 17 inches. MSI's GT77 Titan laptop was reviewed a few days ago and still holds its Editors Choice award. It features the Core i9 Intel HDX processor (more details in our testing section). The Alienware is the better choice for budget-minded buyers.
Design: A Big Pack with Big Power
The Alienware M17 R5 is stylistically very similar to previous models. It's not bad. The futuristic logo on the lid and sci-fi design with rear LED lights ringed in the back are distinctive and communicate that this computer is capable of gaming. Alienware has limited availability of the R5 in the Dark Side of the Moon, and not the Lunar Light that we have previously reviewed.
Alienware may be touting its more streamlined X series nowadays, but the max-power M series remains the performance preference at 15 and 17 inches. The m15 and m17 have been among the frame-rate leaders in their respective sizes, while the X models focus on thinness at the cost of raw power. With the m17 R5, that separation continues.
The R5 may not be super-thick but I wouldn't call it thin. It's a lot smaller than the 17-inch gaming rigs of old, measuring 1.05 by 15.6 inches by 11.8 inches (HWD). This is roughly the same size as another favorite jumbo gaming rig, the Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 which measures 1.11x 15.6x 11.1 inches.
By contrast, the Alienware x17 is thinner (0.82 inch), but we'll see the tradeoff in performance in the benchmark section shortly. The m17 R5 is actually thicker than its R4 predecessor, increasing the delineation between the X and M series.
The R5 is a serious commitment. It weighs in at 7.3 pounds and is a full pound more than the Strix Scar. This laptop is not something you will want to use as your daily commuter or on your lap. There are many upsides to this laptop, including its power. It dwarfs 15-inch systems and the handful of 17-inch gamers (such as the Acer Nitro 5), and it is smaller than most other 15-inch gaming machines.
Even though the m17 R5 is heavy, most people will be able to carry it around. Big-screen notebooks are great for replacing desktops and can usually be used as portable replacements. This notebook is appealing because of its 17.3 inch display. It's almost like a desktop monitor, so let us see what it has to offer.
Get Refresh Rates and Solutions: 480Hz, 4K and more!
As mentioned, our test unit's screen combines 4K (3,840-by-2,160-pixel) resolution with a 120Hz refresh rate, which is enthusiast-grade on both fronts. The quality is excellent, too, with bright and vibrant images. It's not easy to play the most difficult 3D games at 4K, however you will appreciate the 120Hz view when playing less demanding titles. You may want a faster refresh rate if you set lower resolution games manually. The system can easily hit 144 and 240 frames per seconds (fps), at either 1080p, or 1440p.
Alienware offers a choice of three full HD (1,920-by-1,080-pixel) panels with refresh rates of 165Hz, 360Hz, and 480Hz. As an all-AMD unit, our system came with a screen supporting AMD FreeSync and SmartAccess Graphics, which automatically switches the system to the discrete GPU for graphics-intensive applications. The technologies' Nvidia equivalents are G-Sync and Advanced Optimus. All models include a MUX switch that lets the GPU control the panel directly rather than translate through the on-chip graphics to minimize loss of performance.
The build quality of the laptop is similar to the m17 R4's. This includes the Cherry MX keyboard, which we call a remarkable feature in the R4. While there have been many gaming laptops that offer pseudo-mechanical keys, this keyboard (which comes from the leader in mechanical switches), is truly the best. Although you won't get as much travel on the laptop keyboard as on desktops, the tactile feedback and clicky feel are very satisfying. Every key has its own RGB lighting and is backlit individually.
Ports are spread around the chassis, with fewer concentrated at rear than in the past. The left edge holds Ethernet and headphone jacks, while the right flank has two USB 3.2 Type-A ports. The rear thermal block houses the rest, including the power jack, another USB-A 3.2 port, a USB-C port, and an HDMI video output.
The webcam has only low-rent 720p resolution, which is disappointing for the price even if video chatting isn't likely a primary use for this laptop. There are also some additional features that certainly contribute to the high price but which you may not see right away. These include an advanced cooling system—our model features Alienware's Cryotech design with a larger vapor chamber than the R4, smaller and more efficient CPU and GPU fans, and Smart Fan control to dynamically tune the speed of different fans. There's also the abovementioned AMD graphics technology and the Alienware Command Center app for setting the lighting, managing your game library, tuning power management, and more.
Component Check: Ryzen CPUs, Plus AMD and Nvidia GPU Options
Although our test unit was configured to the highest Alienware specifications for the m17 R5, not all models have to be as slick or AMD-exclusive. There are several Nvidia GPUs available. The prices on Dell's website start at $1599.99. This is midrange shading towards the top end but not surprising considering this system. The package includes the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H CPU and 16GB RAM. It also features a 512GB solid state drive. A 165Hz HD screen is supported by Nvidia GeForce RTX3050 Ti GPU. There's also a single-zone RGB lighting on the keyboard.
Soaring upward in price and power, our review unit combines a Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, 32GB of memory, a 1TB SSD, and AMD's Radeon 6850M XT GPU in addition to the 4K display and Cherry mechanical keyboard, bringing the total to $2,649.99. The GPU is configured with a whopping power ceiling of 175 watts, which is a big factor in the performance numbers below.
There are many options available between our base unit and the model we have, and some that go beyond the former. The GeForce RTX 3060, Radeon RX6700M and Radeon RX 3080 Ti are middle-of-the road GPUs. Nvidia enthusiasts will be pleased to know that there is also the RTX 3070 and 3080 Ti. The SSD storage capacities reach 2TB to 4TB.
Testing the Alienware m17 R5: All-AMD Affair Delivers Fast Frame Rates
The Alienware M17 R5 was put through the usual benchmarks, comparing its performance to a number of more expensive laptops. Below is a table that shows the basic specifications of the competitors.
Alienware laptops are used in two of these four systems: the older m17 model and the thinner x17. They are joined by Origin's powerful offerings, which make for formidable competition within the unlimited-plus gaming tier.
At $5,999, the MSI GT77 Titan is meanwhile in an entirely different league. It just received an Editors Choice badge, which signifies that it is the best-value gaming laptop at the moment. It is included here because it shows how the new Intel Core i9-12900HX processor stacks up against elite AMD CPUs and Intel muscle machines, which are much less expensive.
Let's compare their results.
Productivity tests
PCMark 10, the main benchmark, simulates a range of content-creation and productivity workflows in real life to assess overall performance on office-centric tasks like word processing, spreadsheeting and web browsing. PCMark 10's Full System Drive is also used to evaluate the boot drive's load and performance.
The CPU is also rated using the available threads and cores to evaluate a computer's ability for processing high-performance tasks. Maxon's Cinebench R23 renders complex scenes using Cinema 4D, and Primate Labs Geekbench Pro simulates popular applications such as PDF rendering, speech recognition, machine learning, and more. We use HandBrake, an open-source video converter to transform a 12 minute video clip from 4K resolution to 1080p (lower speeds are better).
Puget Systems' PugetBench Photoshop is our final productivity test. It uses Adobe Creative Cloud 22 to evaluate a computer's ability to create content and multi-media applications. This extension automates various tasks in Photoshop, including opening, rotating and resizing images, saving them, applying filters, gradient fills and masks.
Although the m17 R5 performed well, it was not the fastest. These are a great group of laptops. The results of these tests were impressive if you plan to create digital content or edit media while not gaming. The MSI GT77 Titan or the HX-family Core i9 are the best options if you want the absolute performer at a reasonable price. However, the Origin and Asus edged out the m17 R5, proving that Intel's 12th Gen CPUs are now more competitive than AMD's Ryzens.
Testing Graphics and Gaming
Two DirectX 12 simulations are used to test Windows' graphics. Night Raid is a more simple one, and it's suitable for integrated GPUs. Time Spy, on the other hand, requires more complex graphics, so we use this simulator for discrete GPUs. To allow different resolutions and OpenGL operations to be performed, two more tests were run by GFXBench 5.0.
We also run real-world games tests with the 1080p benchmarks F1 2021 and Assassin's Creed Vahalla. They are simulations, competitive esports shooting games, and open-world action-adventure. Valhalla, Siege are run at different image quality settings and F1 with or without Nvidia’s performance-enhancing DLSS anti-aliasing and AMD’s FidelityFX super resolution.
Gaming laptops are thriving because of these results. While the m17 R5 was not as good in synthetic testing, it performed well in real-world benchmarks. The Radeon 6850MXT is a great alternative to Nvidia for mobile gaming. The R5's average frame rate in Assassin's Creed Valhalla—the most demanding title here—was the best of the bunch.
Competitive multiplayer gamers also found its Rainbow Six Siege frames rates to be a joy (even though our screen refresh rate could not match them and the MSI GT77 was faster). Although all these systems can be expensive, the MSI is wildly overpriced and the MSI GT77 was not the winner of every event, the MSI R5 gives you plenty for your dollar.
These tests were run in Alienware Command Center default performance mode. There are two options: Balanced and Quiet for desktop browsing, battery use or Full Speed. However, we did not notice any significant changes in benchmark performance. We also noticed a noticeable rise in fan noises and heat output. The fans in Performance mode were audible but not too loud and could be tolerated.
Testing of the Battery and Display
To test the battery life of laptops, we play a locally saved 720p video file (the Blender movie Tears of Steel). The display brightness is set at 50% and the audio volume at 100%. This will continue until the computer quits. Before testing, we make sure that the battery has been fully charged.
Unplugged endurance is clearly an R5 advantage. It outlasts the rest and shows a significant improvement on the R4. Although the laptop is not as large and heavy as you might think, it will last much longer than you would expect.
The Alienware Ante should be topped
Although the Alienware R5 m17 doesn't completely reinvent R4, it offers more features and better performance than you would expect from an iterative version. The m17 is Alienware’s most powerful and largest option. The m17 delivers and has a remarkable battery life.
While some top-dollar rivals may have faster speeds in specific areas, the R5 is a great gaming machine that offers high frame rates and a wide range of configuration options. If you are a first-rate shopper, the 175-watt GPU of our unit proves its value. The price tag is undoubtedly high, but it's not as much than the competition. Also, the price starting at the mid-range range.
The Asus ROG Strix Scar 17 (and Origin EVO17S) are worthy competitors. However, Alienware m17R5's configuration options and power earn it Editors' Choice awards for a large high-end gaming laptop. While MSI GT77 still retains its Editors' Choice award, which was earned a few days back for an ultimate, price-regardless, dream machine.