Dell Alienware 17R5: An Honest Review

Dell Alienware 17R5: An Honest Review

Written by Ramsay, In Laptops, Published On
April 26, 2023
, 322 Views

The Alienware 17 R5 is a gaming machine that does a great job. The laptop has an excellent design for its keys, a good battery life, and a great gaming experience. Dell made the Alienware as a laptop that offers an experience that goes above and beyond what you might expect. It gives you a great time playing games.

In addition, the laptop has a fast response time and runs smoothly for everyday computing jobs. This review looks at the Alienware 17 R5’s style as a whole. It also thoroughly reviews the computer’s CPU, RAM, storage, graphics, and battery life. After reading this Alienware 17 R5 review, you should be able to decide whether or not to buy it.

Dell Alienware 17R5 Specifications

Display17.3” QHD (2560 x 1440) TN+WVA (120Hz, G-Sync)
CPUIntel Core i9-8950HK
GraphicsNvidia GeForce GTX 1080
SSD256GB PCIe m.2
Memory32GB DDR4-2666MHz
NetworkingKiller 1435 802.11ac 2×2 Wi-Fi
Video PortsHDMI
OSWindows 10 Home
USB PortsUSB 3.0, USB Type-C, Thunderbolt 3
Price$3,974.99

PROS

  • Fantastic speed for a desktop
  • CPU and GPU that can be sped up
  • Beautiful industrial style
  • A desktop option with a good battery life

CONS

  • Heavy and big
  • Annoying hinge/vent design
  • You can’t get one without eye-tracking from Tobii.

Design, Dimension and Weight Review

Dell Alienware 17R5

The Dell Alienware 17 R5 is, without question, one of the most well-made gaming laptops you’ll find today. It is the same size as its predecessor and has a black body and metallic grey lid. The Alienware 17 R5 is a beautiful thing to look at. About the above, there is a lightning strip on the sides of the lid, the case, and the keyboard. In the same way, the touchpad and even the logo of an alien’s head are on the cap. Because of this, Alienware looks high-end because of its lighting features.

Before you open the lid of this well-designed laptop, you will see the silver Dell logo on the lid. This metal logo makes the design look even better—it almost looks like it’s on fire. When the Alienware’s lid is opened, the keyboard is revealed between the power button and the touchscreen. Also, its vast 17.3-inch screen sits on top of the thin plastic strip that holds the Tobii eye tracker.

Performance

Dell Alienware 17R5

The Alienware 17 R5 is a potent computer, so let’s see how it compares to other big guns. Let’s start with the Alienware 17 R4, which has an Intel Core i7-7820HK, the top quad-core model of the last generation and could be sped up. We’ll also compare it to Origin PC’s EON17-X, a beast with an overclocked 6-core, 12-thread Core i7-8700K desktop processor that is still slightly cheaper and slightly lighter than the Alienware but much bigger. All of these have the full-size GeForce GTX 1080 from Nvidia.

We’ll also include the MSI GS65 Stealth Thin 8RE and the Acer Predator Triton 7000. The Predator Triton 7000 is a more portable high-end laptop with a quad-core Core i7-7700HQ and a power-efficient GTX 1080 Max-Q. At $2,780 and $1,799, these two computers cost a lot less than the Alienware, which costs $5,500.

Price & Availability

Dell Alienware 17R5

The Alienware 17 R5 starts at $1,549. It has a Full HD IPS display, 8GB of RAM, and a 1TB hybrid hard drive. It also has an Intel Core i7-8750H processor, a factory-overclocked Nvidia GTX 1060, and a factory-overclocked Nvidia GTX 1060. You might laugh at a solid-state hybrid drive, but it’s better than a plain old spinning drive, and you can always install a cheap SSD afterward. Unfortunately, the ads for this laptop in the UK and Australia are a little behind the times.

For £1,348 or AU$2,298, the starting setup in these places still has an Intel Core i7-7700HQ from the last generation, a standard Nvidia GTX 1060, and 8GB of RAM. To be mentioned here it has a 128GB SSD and a 1TB HDD. Before you can even think about the newest 8th generation CPUs, you’ll need to spend at least £1,849 or AU$2,999 on a system with an Intel Core i7-8750H processor and double the amount of memory.

Big screen fun

Dell Alienware 17R5

The 17-inch QHD screen is a big part of this desktop replacement. The TN panel might sound like a letdown on paper, but this display’s colour depth and black levels are almost as good as those of an IPS monitor.

Then, the 120Hz refresh rate makes this display sing an even sweeter tune as you watch your favourite games go past the boring 60fps and into the bliss of high-refresh rates. The show is even more fun considering that the Alienware 17 R5 is so powerful that it can run games at a higher 1440p resolution and still have room for even more frames per second.

Bottom Line

Let’s get started! Or multitasking, editing videos, writing, or just about anything else you want to do, the Alienware 17 can do it with ease. For $3,974, you can buy a system with crazy fast frame rates, a gorgeous screen, a great sound system, and Tobii Eye tracking. The laptop is also good at multitasking, thanks to its 8th Generation Intel processor, which can be overclocked. It would be best to overclock it since the app is so easy to use.

But if you want a system with even more power, you should check out the $3,999 MSI GT75 Titan. In most cases, it has better graphics and overall performance, a mechanical keyboard, and a stunningly bright display, but it is bigger and has shorter battery life. But if you want a gaming system that looks great and is easy to use, you should put the Alienware 17 R5 at the top of your list.

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