Alienware 17 R5 Review: Strong Gaming Performance, Back in Black

[AndrewFreedman]

The Alienware 17 R5 looks great and offers strong gaming performance, but it has weaker CPU performance than its competitors.

Alienware 17 R5 Review: Strong Gaming Performance, Back in Black : Read more

 

[Ilya__]

That bezel makes that laptop look like my Pentium 4 laptop, from over 12 years ago.

 

[g-unit1111]

That bezel makes that laptop look like my Pentium 4 laptop, from over 12 years ago.

I was thinking the exact same thing! Giant bezels in 2018 = no sale. Especially when you can get the Gigabyte Aero (which has no bezel) or the MSI Stealth VR (which has a very limited bezel) for around the same price.

 

[anbello262]

With that size of a bezel, it wouldn't be hard to make it 18.4'' like the old models...

 

[milkod2001]

wow, 4grand to play games on 17''laptop. Gotta be really stupid to fall into that.

 

[aashcraft001]

One glaring issue, that has not been mentioned in this or other reviews of the Alienware 17 R5, is the backlight bleed through issues. I purchased a 17 R5, returned it for the bleed through, received another with the same issue, had a tech come in to repair the 2nd one, which got worse after the repair and returned it.
All had bleed through that was very apparent in low light viewing conditions on dark scenes. So if you are interested in quality black levels in low light conditions look elsewhere. A star field on a movie or game is very disappointing.

 

[g-unit1111]

wow, 4grand to play games on 17''laptop. Gotta be really stupid to fall into that.

Especially when you can get this for half the cost and it's far more portable and includes all the latest hardware: https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834233237

 

[tacgnol06]

Why exactly would you use Cuphead to show off the capabilities of a fancy gaming rig? I mean don't get me wrong, great game, but you can run it on pretty much anything. I'd understand if you were trying to show off the display's colors, but even that will vary based on the display you're using to view the ad with in the first place...

 

[paulreeves1975]

undervolt cpu, repaste with thermal grizzly, fujipoly pads, lift laptop up to increase airflow, temps will drop by 20 deg, my 15 R3 got this and now its frosty.

 

[petersonfamilygm]

Some sites have stated the I9 with 1080 run to hot for this system and it throttles down constantly reducing its processing power and the better option is the i7-8750H with the 1070 GPU. Thoughts? Thanks

 

[paulreeves1975]

Some sites have stated the I9 with 1080 run to hot for this system and it throttles down constantly reducing its processing power and the better option is the i7-8750H with the 1070 GPU. Thoughts? Thanks

hi there.

i have the i98950HK and gtx1080. there are ways to reduce temps.

1, raise the unit 1 inch off your desktop, i use 4 small rubber feet from and old chair, works great.
2, download intel XTU and learn how to undervolt your cpu.
3, get it repasted with conductonaught thermal grizzly liquid metal (not kryonaught). get this done PROFESSIONALLY.

results...?

my cpu runs 20 degrees cooler on most games, it does not go higher than 85, mostly sits around 73.

there is another step you could do which is how i have my setup.

buy an alienware external gpu. i have a 1080ti inside the alienware egpu. this means that the laptop cpu and gpu are not using the same cooling pipes, which means the cpu boosts much higher as its not taking heat from the gpu. i use the 1080ti for VR and 4k ultra widescreen gaming which the 1080 is not so good at. when im on the move i just use the 1080 for the 2k 120hz gsync panel on the laptop and the 1080 runs this res no problem, max settings. as i raise the unit and undervolt on every boot my temps are much lower than a stock machine sitting on a desktop.

bear in mind where ever i am gaming i always keep the laptop raised and i always undervolt my cpu, at home or when away.

no my machine is kicking ass! its a beast ;D