The x17 R2 laptop is a good choice for those who want a portable laptop that is powerful. However, it does not compare to other laptops in terms of power and cost. ..
The RTX 3080 in the X17 is powerful enough to run demanding games at 4K without making any sacrifices to visual fidelity. ..
Design
The Alienware x17 R2 is a stunning laptop that’s slim and luxurious. It has an aluminum and magnesium chassis, which makes it feel opulent and luxury.
We think the x17 is excellent and futuristic, 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.
The Alienware x17 R2 is a powerful gaming laptop that includes a number of ports. 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 are used for wireless communication.
Keyboard and touchpad
A mechanical keyboard is a good option for the Alienware x17 R2. It has Cherry MX switches or a thin keyboard. The membrane keyboard isn’t too awful, but it costs £100 to upgrade to it.
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
Alienware has always featured magnificent panels that are perfect for relaxing while watching a movie or TV show or playing games. The new 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 impressed 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.
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.
The band’s “How Not to Drown” sounded muddy because the guitars and vocals were competing for dominance with the drums and keyboards. The audio preset didn’t help to change the computer’s audio setting.
Graphic and gaming
Nvidia’s RTX 3080 Ti mobile chips are faster than the RTX Titan desktop chips, but they use a different type of memory. The Ti mobile chips use GDDR6, which is a faster type of memory than the GDDR5 used in the RTX Titan desktop chips.
We faced off against a revenant, many nightmares, and a draugr in our latest God of War objective. 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 combination of precisely placed arrows from Atreus and a combination of light, heavy, and runic attacks. ..
The Alienware x17 R2 is a great gaming laptop that outperforms every other model in its class. It has 16GB of GDDR6 RAM, which makes it the best option for gamers. The Blade 17 and the Strix G15 are also great options for gaming, but they are not as powerful as the Alienware x17 R2.
The Shadow of the Tomb Raider laptop’s performance on a benchmark was amazing. It beat out the industry average of 86 frames per second for premium gaming laptops and even topped out at 112 fps. This was thanks to its 107 frames per second on the benchmark. The x17 R2 also beat out the Blade 17 (102 fps), Strix, and the category average of 103 fps on the Grand Theft Auto V test.
The Alienware managed 85 frames per second 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 outperforms 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 is a powerful graphics card that outperforms the Strix G15 in the Far Cry New Dawn benchmark. It also achieved 89 frames per second while the Blade 17 achieved 113. The MSI managed 106 frames per second while the Alienware only managed 97 during our Borderlands 3 test.
Performance
The Alienware x17 R2 is the top-of-the-line gaming laptop on the market. It has a massive 175W power limit, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics core with 16GB of memory, and a 1TB SSD. It also has a 32GB of DDR5 memory, and a 20-thread Intel Core i7-12700H CPU. This powerful GPU boasts incredible read and write speeds of 6318MB/sec and 4155MB/sec. The base is simply removable, so you can upgrade it to include an M.2 SSD or pair of memory sockets if you want to.
The Alienware X17 R2 is a powerful laptop that can play most games. It has a fast processor and great graphics. It won’t have any problems with DLSS or ray tracing.
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 new Core i7-X17 is a powerful laptop chip that outperforms many other laptop chips. It has excellent performance in Geekbench tests and can handle demanding tasks, such as content creation software and heavy multitasking. The outstanding performance is a testament to the chip’s superb cooling and shows that it is not as severely constrained by throttling as is the case with smaller laptops. ..
Alienware X17 R2 review: Battery life
That’s not to say that 17-inch gaming laptops don’t have other benefits. They do, in fact, offer a more powerful graphics card and better battery life than most desktop computers. However, if you plan on using your laptop for more than just gaming, it’s worth considering whether or not an extra hour of runtime is worth the price of a desktop computer.
The MSI GE76 Raider (2:40) and the Alienware m17 (2:05), the lowest in the group, performed better than that, but the Razer Blade Pro 17 survived for nearly six hours.
Heat
The Alienware x17’s cooling system 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.
Configuration options
Alienware has announced a new laptop, the Alienware x17 R2. It is available today for $2279 (£2148), which is the lowest price ever for an Alienware laptop. The R2 has a 375 Hz Full HD screen, a mechanical keyboard, an 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. The closest system in the UK costs £3599 (not an i9). ..
Alienware X17 R2 review: Conclusion
The Alienware x17 R2 is a powerful gaming laptop that excels in performance. It can handle any popular game with ease, and its fast esports games and single-player games are some of the best in the market.
The Alienware x17 R2 is a speedy and powerful laptop that has plenty of storage, a great keyboard, a 4K screen with vivid colors, and respectable everyday connectivity. We didn’t find any obvious problems with the x17 R2. The lack of a numpad might irritate some people, and the battery life is disappointing. ..
