Alienware 17 R3 Review: A Premium 17-inch Gaming Laptop

Alienware 17 R3: At First Glance

The Alienware m17 R3 is a uniquely styled premium gaming laptop aimed at hardcore game players. It maintains Aienware’s signature spaceship-inspired design.

The laptop has lots of customizable lights which gives it a touch of sci-fi effect.

Furthermore, Dell designed the Alienware 17 R3 as an improvement of the Alienware 17 R2. However, despite the improvements in the Alienware 17 R3, it still looks similar to the Alienware 17 R2.

The Alienware 17 R3  is a pricey gaming laptop. As at the time this review was published, the laptop starts at a price of $1,416.

Having talked about the price, let’s get into the real business of this review – which is to determine the performance of this laptop.

Alienware 17 R3: Design, Dimension & Weight

Dell designed the Alienware 17 R3 chassis with an high-quality plastic and magnesium alloy.

The laptop is available in a white-and-black color scheme which Dell refers to as “Lunar White”. It is also available in a charcoal-black color scheme known as the “Dark Side of the Moon”.

At the top-center of the laptop’s lid, you’ll find the backlit Alienware logo. At the bottom-left corner of the lid, you’ll find a large printed “17” indicating the laptop’s screen size.

The laptop’s logo isn’t the only part that illuminates. Additionally, the power button, the keyboard, and the extended rear of the laptop light up as well.

Therefore, the Alienware 17 R3 is a beautiful sight to behold when all its lights are on.

The rear has some air vents as well as some ports. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the rear has a lightning strip around it.

Opening the laptop, you will find the 17- inch display surrounded by slim black bezels.

The bottom bezel has the name “Alienware” printed on it in silver lettering. Also, as usual, the webcam is located on the top bezel.

Directly below the bottom bezel is the Tobii eye-tracker which is embedded in the laptop’s hinge.

The Tobii eye tracker is an interesting feature that tracks your gaze while watching the screen. Moreover, it is very useful in gaming and other aspects.

For instance, with the help of the Tobii eye tracker, you can wake your laptop from sleep with just a look; interesting right?

Furthermore, the Tobii eye tracker is also used to dim the display when you aren’t looking. Consequently, the dimmed display helps to conserve battery life.

Additionally, the Tobii eye tracker also functions as a mouse, giving you the ability to launch apps or appear wherever you look, like a regular cursor.

Moving on to the laptop’s deck, you’ll find rows of hexagonal air vents above the keyboard. On the deck, you’ll also find a small backlit Alien head that serves as the power button.

Speaking of the keyboard, just like its predecessor, the Alienware 17 R3’s keyboard is backlit and can be customized as well.

Moreover, the keyboard is spacious and features a full Numpad. Also, the keys are decently sized.

Furthermore, the keys have a deep key-travel and a firm force of actuation. Therefore, the keyboard delivers a smooth typing experience.

Below the keyboard, you will find the touchpad. Its glass surface ensures smooth tracking and supports Windows 10 gestures.

Interestingly, the touchpad also has a backlight which is a highlight of the touchpad’s feature.

Moreso, the backlight glows whenever the touchpad surface is touched making it a beauty to behold. You can set the touchpad’s backlight to any color, just like you can set the keyboard’s backlight. 

The 17-inch size of the Alienware offers plenty of space for ports. These ports can be found on both sides as well as the rear of the laptop.

The left side of the laptop includes one Type-A port, a headphone jack, and an ethernet jack.

On the right side the laptop features two more Type-A ports and a microSD card slot. 

Additionally, the rear holds the power port, an HDMI port, a mini DisplayPort connection.

Furthermore, the rear also has a USB-C port with Thunderbolt 3. In addition, there’s also a proprietary port for Alienware’s external graphics amplifier.

Moving on to the laptop’s size, the laptop has a dimension of 399.8 x 294.3 x 22.5 mm. It weighs 2970g. 

In comparison, the Alienware m17 R3 is lighter than all the competing laptops we pitched it against.

Specifically, it is lighter than the Acer Predator Triton 900. The Acer has a dimension of  429 x 302 x 22 and a weight of 4082g.

Moreover, the Alienware is also lighter than the MSI GT76 Titan. The MSI has a dimension of 396 x 327 x 33.02 and a weight of 9900g.

Finally, I will rate the Alienware m17 R3 a nine for its aesthetic and high quality design.

Alienware 17 R3: Processor (CPU) Performance 

There are various configurations of Alienware 17 R3’s processor. The least configuration is the 4-core Intel Core i5-10300H processor.

The Core i5 processor has a cache memory of 8 MB. The processor has a base speed of 2.50 GHz and a boost speed of 4.50 GHz.

Moreover, you can also get the laptop with a 6-core Intel Core i7-10750H processor. 

The Core i7 processor has a cache memory of 12 MB, a base speed of 2.60 GHz, and a boost speed of 5.0 GHz.

The highest configuration is the 8-core Intel Core i9k-10980HK processor.

The Core i9 processor has a 16 MB cache memory. Additionally, it has a base speed of 2.30 GHz and a boost speed of 5.30 GHz.

Whichever processor configuration you choose, you are sure to get an efficiently powerful laptop. Dell equipped the model I tested with the Intel Core i7-10750H processor. 

With the Core i7 processor, the laptop proved to be an excellent multitasking device. This was evident in the multitasking test I performed.

In the multitasking test, I opened 40 Chrome tabs with several of these tabs streaming YouTube videos. I also had an HD video running in the background as well as other CPU-extensive activities.

However, all these activities ran smoothly while the laptop did not lag or stutter. To further determine the capability of the processor, I performed a Cinebench R15 test. 

Based on the test result, Alienware 17 R3 scored 146 points. This result slightly surpassed the ASUS G752VY-RH71 which scored 144 points.

In contrast, Alienware 17 R3 underperformed in comparison with the MSI GT72S-6QEG16SR421BW which scored 807 points.

Finally, I will rate the CPU performance an eight for its great multitasking ability.

Alienware 17 R3: Memory (RAM) Performance

The Alienware 17 R3 supports RAM capacities ranging from 8GB all the way up to 32GB. Moreso, the laptop has two RAM slots on its motherboard.

Unfortunately, the RAM cannot be upgraded because it is soldered to the motherboard. Therefore you should buy the laptop with the memory configuration you need now and may need later.

The unit I reviewed had 16GB RAM, with 8GB of RAM on each RAM slot.

The 16GB RAM boasts of an impressive performance. It transcoded a 4K resolution video to 1080p resolution in 7 minutes 16 seconds. 

Additionally, to evaluate the RAM performance, I also performed a PCMark test. 

From the test result, Alienware 17 R3 scored 5939 points. This performance fell below the ASUS G752VY-RH71 and the MSI GT72S-6QEG16SR421BW.

The ASUS and the MSI both scored 6362 points and 6439 points respectively.

In conclusion, although the RAM performance of Alienware 17 R3 doesn’t top the chart, it is impressive. Therefore, I will rate it a seven.

Alienware 17 R3: Storage Options & Performance

The laptop has an M.2 slot for SSDs and a 2.5-inch slot for HDDs. Likewise, there is an empty M.2 slot available so you can add extra SSD storage if needed.

The unit I tested was equipped with a 512GB M.2 SSD and a 1TB 7200rpm HDD. This translates to the availability of more than enough storage space.

In terms of storage performance, the laptop duplicated 4.97GB of multimedia files in 5 seconds at a transfer rate of 1,082.8 Mbps. Its transfer speed is faster than the 866.2Mbps category average.

Furthermore, I performed a CrystalMarkDisk test to determine the storage performance of the Alienware 17 R3.

Based on the test result, Alienware recorded a sequential read speed of 1263Mbps. It also recorded a sequential write speed of 567.2Mbps.

This performance is well below that of the ASUS G752VY-RH71. The ASUS recorded a sequential read speed of 2007Mbps and a sequential write speed of 1573Mbps.

Additionally, the MSI GT72S-6QEG16SR421BW also outperformed the Alienware. The MSI recorded a sequential read speed of 1602Mbps and a sequential write speed of 1062 Mbps.

Finally, I will rate the storage performance a six due to its underperformance when compared with competing laptops. 

Alienware 17 R3: Graphics Card Performance

Like its processor and RAM, Alienware 17 R3 offers multiple graphics card configurations. These graphics options deliver a sufficiently powerful gaming experience.

The basic configuration is the Integrated Intel UHD Graphics 630 graphics card. This graphics card does not have a dedicated VRAM – it has a base speed of 350 MHz.

Moreso, you can also buy the Alienware 17 R3 with an AMD RX 5500M graphics card. This GPU has a 4 GB VRAM and a base speed of 1375 MHz.

At the highest price, you can get the Alienware with the high-end NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics card. This powerful GPU offers an 8 GB VRAM and a speed of 1650 MHz.

The model I tested was armed with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Super graphics card. With this powerful GPU, there’s no game the Alienware 17 R3 couldn’t play.

To determine the gaming performance of the laptop, I played Rise of the Tomb Raider in different settings.

Consequently, at ultra settings and 1080p resolution, the game played at 42.2 fps. Moreso, at high settings and 1080p resolution, the game played at 52.9fps.

Furthermore, at medium settings and 1080p resolution, the game played at 85fps. Finally, at low settings and 1080p resolution, the game played at 137fps.

Additionally, I also performed a 3DMark graphics test. Based on the test result, Alienware 17 R3 scored 9227 points.

Comparatively, this result lags behind the ASUS G752VY-RH71 as well as the MSI GT72S-6QEG16SR421BW.

Specifically, the ASUS and MSI scored 10489 points and 9537 points respectively.

In conclusion, the overall graphics performance of Alienware 17 R3 is incredible. Most importantly, the laptop doesn’t run very hot during intensive gaming.

Hence, I will rate the laptop a nine for its exceptional gaming performance.

Alienware 17 R3: Battery life & Performance

The Alienware 17 R3 is configured with three battery options. You can get the laptop with a 3-cell 56 WHr lithium-ion battery.

You can also get the laptop with a 6-cell 86 WHr lithium-ion battery. Lastly, you can get the laptop with an 8-cell 92 WHr lithium-ion battery.

The model I tested shipped with the 56 WHr battery. To test the performance of the battery, I performed a battery rundown test.

The battery rundown test involves continuous web surfing over Wi-Fi at 150 nits of screen brightness. Based on the test result, the Alienware lasted 2 hours 30 minutes.

Comparatively, the Alienware lasted longer than the Acer Predator Triton 900 which lasted for 1 hour 48 minutes. In contrast, Alienware’s battery performance lags behind that of the MSI GT76 Titan which lasted 3 hours 45 minutes.

Although the battery life of Alienware 17 R3 is not impressive, it performs better than its competitors. Therefore, I will rate it a six in this respect.

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

If you need a powerful 17.3-inch gaming laptop, the Alienware m17 R3 is one of the top picks for you. The laptop excels in several important areas.

The Alienware 17 R3 is made of high-quality material, it has a superb keyboard, and it is sufficiently powerful. Furthermore, the laptop is capable of handling any gaming task as well as basic computing tasks.

However, the trackpad is not extraordinary; although the issue can be easily solved by using an external mouse.

Moreover, the battery life is poor. However, this is not surprising as most 17.3-inch laptops in this category didn’t perform as well as Alienware 17 R3. 

Lastly, Alienware 17 R3 does not come cheap, but it offers exceptional aesthetics and great computing power. Therefore, I think Alienware 17 R3 is worth buying.

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