Alienware x17 in the test: one of the fastest gaming consoles ever

Page 1: Alienware x17 in the test: One of the fastest gaming consoles ever

In June, Dell put the Alienware X series into service and dared to make a fresh start in terms of architecture and feature set. The hardware combines a Tiger Lake H processor and a mobile amp chip, and is based on a panel that is fast up to 360Hz, but can also enjoy high-resolution UHD with high brightness. The Legend ID is basically kept with its front hinge design, but it’s now more massive in terms of cooling and still quite compact. How a high-end gaming machine performs in everyday games can be found in the Hardwareluxx article on the following pages. We tested the Alienware x17 with an Intel Core i7-11800H processor, an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptop, and a UHD display.

Laptop manufacturers update their hardware at regular intervals. With minor hardware upgrades, in which only product maintenance is done and switched over to the latest generation CPU or GPU, there is usually very little going on in terms of housing and display. However, if there are more comprehensive updates, it will also be modified. After the Dell subsidiary recently updated the Alienware m15 and Alienware m17 almost every year, they dared to restart the digital Computex in June with the Alienware X family and introduced an entirely new series.

The Alienware x17 and Alienware x15 are also available in a large 17-inch version and a smaller 15.6-inch version. The Legend ID, as Alienware calls it its build architecture, remains essentially identical, but there are still minor tweaks to the layout. A forward-hinge design and a magnesium-alloy hood are still used, but the cooling is more massive and the chainring is generally heavier, without losing portability, because the 17-inch variant is still a single weight of about 3.2 kg and a height of 21.4 mm, easy to carry. The white design language and subtle RGB lighting on the back and on the display cover are also here, but the area around the keyboard is now black and thus different from previous models.

There is still the latest technology under the hood. So you can combine a 45W Tiger Lake H processor with Ampere generation GeForce RTX graphics and install up to two NVMe SSDs in a RAID system of up to 2TB each. The base model is based on the Intel Core i7-11800H, while the higher model can come with the Core i9-11900H. In terms of graphics solutions, all models are available from the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 laptop to the GeForce RTX 3080 laptop. There is also DDR4 memory up to 32 or 64 GB with 3200MHz.

Alienware x17 and Alienware x15 are also available with different display options. There is an option for a 165Hz Full HD panel with 300 nits and 100% sRGB color space coverage. For an additional cost, there is also a fast 360 Hz model and a QHD panel with 240 Hz, which can achieve a brightness of up to 400 nits. The top model Alienware X17 can be equipped with a bright 500 nits UHD panel. On the connectivity side, modern ports such as Thunderbolt 4, HDMI 2.1, WiFi 6 or a killer 2.5 Gbit/s network are of course available.

Subsidiary Dell sent us one of the best Alienware x17 models for our testing. Our test machine is powered by an Intel Core i7-11800H processor along with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 laptop with 16GB of RAM and a 512GB NVMe SSD. The screen has a resolution of 3840 x 2160 pixels and a response speed of 120 Hz. You currently have to pay approximately 3,500 euros via the virtual store counter. However, the 17.3-inch screen series has already started About 2,300 euros.

Find how the Alienware x17 performs in everyday work and gaming in this Hardware Luxx article on the following pages.