Question Alienware x14 versus XPS 13 Plus ?

[QuantumField]

I'm having a hard time choosing between these two laptops. First of all, I should clarify that I already have a high-end desktop computer which I use at home. I need to buy a laptop for work (I'm a university professor), but I still need it to have the highest performance possible while maintaining portability. The laptop will be used for:

• Scientific computing (utilizes mostly CPU, but also some GPU, depending on the specific task)
• Video editing
• Normal stuff that doesn't require super high performance, like web browsing, showing slides and videos when teaching, and so on.

I don't really need the laptop to support gaming, because I'm obviously not going to be gaming at work, but it would be nice if it did support gaming, for the rare occasions where I want to game on the laptop, for example while traveling. However, that's not mandatory since my desktop PC is where I do all of my gaming.

The reason I'm looking at the Alienware x14 even though I do not intend to game on it is that I want a small and portable laptop I can carry with me around campus and when traveling, so I'm only looking at 13-14" ones, and this is pretty much the only 14" laptop currently available in Canada that has the latest specs (Intel 12th Gen CPU, DDR5, etc.). Plus, with a gaming laptop I can be sure that it's designed for maximum performance.

There are some 14" options with AMD 6xxx series CPUs also available in Canada right now, such as the Razer Blade 14, but I prefer Intel 12th Gen due to the much larger number of cores, and the Razer only comes with up to 16 GB, while I need 32 GB.

In both cases I'm considering the maxed-out specs. Here is a comprehensive comparison:

CPU:

• Alienware x14: i7-12700H at 45W
• XPS 13 Plus: i7-1280P at 28W
• Comparison: Both CPUs are very similar, with 14 cores (6P+8E) and 20 threads, 24 MB cache, and up to 4.7 GHz turbo frequency (the i7-1280P actually goes up to 4.8 GHz). The only difference is the power, with the i7-12700H having more base power (45W vs. 28W) and turbo power. I would imagine that the i7-12700H will be faster since it can use more power, but it's very hard to find any benchmarks for the i7-1280P since it's so new, so I have no idea how the CPUs really compare.

GPU:

• Alienware x14: NVIDIA RTX 3060 (discrete)
• XPS 13 Plus: Intel Iris Xe (integrated)
• Comparison: Obviously the GPU on the x14 is going to be much better. The question is, how better and for which applications. In terms of gaming, I can't imagine that the integrated GPU on the XPS 13 Plus is going to be of much use with the latest games, certainly not at the native 3.5K resolution, but like I said, I don't really plan to game on it. The question is whether the internal GPU be sufficient for video editing and some scientific computing tasks that utilize the GPU, but I'm not really sure what the answer is since most benchmarks only compare gaming FPS.

Memory: Same on both, 32 GB LPDDR5 at 5200 MHz.

Storage: Same on both, 2 TB PCIe 4.0 SSD. Of course, the actual drives could have different levels of performance, but since there are no reviews of the XPS 13 Plus yet that provide performance numbers on the SSD, there's no way to know how they compare. However, I imagine both will perform roughly the same.

Display:

• Alienware x14: 14", 1920x1080, 144 Hz, Non-Touch, 400 nits, 1700:1 contrast ratio
• XPS 13 Plus: 13.4", 3456x2160, 60 Hz, Touch, 400 nits, OLED
• Comparison: HUGE win for the XPS 13 Plus, as the display is roughly the same size (only an 0.6" difference) but has a much higher resolution, is a touch screen, and most importantly, it's an OLED display. I've seen a few laptops with OLED displays, and the improvement compared to LCD displays is very noticeable! Really the only downside of the XPS 13 Plus is the low 60 Hz refresh rate, but since I'm not going to be gaming on this laptop, I don't think that matters much.

Size and weight:

• Alienware x14: 321.5 x 262.8 x 14.5 mm, 1.84 kg
• XPS 13 Plus: 295.3 x 199.0 x 15.3 mm, 1.26 kg
• Comparison: Again, HUGE win for the XPS 13 Plus in terms of portability, as it is 2.6 cm less wide, 6.4 cm less deep, and 580 g lighter. Really the only thing the x14 has going for it is that it's 0.8 cm thinner, but honestly thickness is the last thing I care about in a laptop, the desk and bag footprint is much more important.

Connectivity:

• Alienware x14: 1 USB-A port, 3 USB-C ports (2 of which support Thunderbolt 4), 1 headset port, 1 HDMI 2.1 port.
• XPS 13 Plus: 2 USB-C ports with Thunderbolt 4.
• Comparison: HUGE advantage for the Alienware x14 here. On the XPS 13 Plus there are only 2 ports, but even worse, the charger connects to one of these 2 ports, meaning that you really only have just 1 Thunderbolt 4 port and THAT'S IT. This isn't a deal breaker, but it does means I will need to buy a Thunderbolt 4 hub and carry it with me wherever I go so I can connect to USB-A, HDMI, and/or a headset, which reduces the portability of this laptop.

Price:

• Alienware x14: 3,000 CAD
• XPS 13 Plus: 3,250 CAD
• Comparison: Honestly, the price difference is negligible, and besides, this goes out of my expense account at work (it has a limit, of course, but an extra $250 isn't going to make much of a difference).

Keyboard + touch pad:

• Alienware x14: Has a pretty standard keyboard and touch pad. I love the full-sized arrow keys and the dedicated volume and mute keys on the right.
• XPS 13 Plus: Has a "futuristic" keyboard with the up/down arrow keys mushed together, and the function keys are replaced with a "capacitive touch function row". The touch pad is "seamless" with no indication where it starts or ends.
• Comparison: I feel like the capacitive function keys on the XPS 13 Plus would be annoying to use, but I won't know how annoying until I actually try them out. I do think it's something I could get used to over time, though. The "seamless" touch pad on the XPS 13 Plus is getting a lot of negative feedback - personally I actually like the idea, but I don't get why they couldn't at least mark where the touch pad starts and ends with a slightly difference color or something. Overall I think the Alienware x14 definitely wins in this category, but only because it's similar to what I'm already used to from other laptops - so I'm willing to give the XPS 13 Plus a chance.

Conclusions:

The Alienware x14 has a faster CPU (pending benchmarks on the i7-1280P, but it's a reasonable assumption) and GPU and a much better port selection, but the XPS 13 Plus is smaller and lighter, and thus much more portable, and in addition has a much better display.

So basically it comes down to the following questions, which I would love to gets feedback on from you:

1. How do the CPUs compare? Does the difference power (45W vs. 28W) translate to a very significant performance boost for the Alienware x14? In demanding tasks such as video editing and scientific computing (simulations, data analysis, machine learning, etc.), how much more performance should I expect from the Alienware x14's i7-12700H compared to the XPS 13 Plus's i7-1280P?
2. How do the GPUs compare? Of course, I know the Iris Xe integrated GPU will not have features like ray tracing or G-Sync, and I assume it won't be able to run the latest games in playable FPS, but like I said, I don't intend to game on this laptop except on rare occasions. In non-gaming but demanding tasks that utilize the GPU, such as video editing and scientific computing, how much more performance should I expect from the Alienware x14's RTX 3060 compared to the XPS 13 Plus's Iris Xe?

If the Alienware x14 provides, let's say, 50% better CPU performance and 50% better GPU performance, then it might be worth giving up the extra portability and OLED display for. However, if I only get 10% better performance overall for the applications I intend to use the laptop for, then I might go for the XPS 13 Plus instead.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Lutfij]

The TDP when the CPU's go to max turbo frequencies are different, the Alienware will run hotter compared to the XPS. If it's raw horsepower you need and you're not going to have the laptop on your "lap" rather on a table top, then it's the Alienware that will get my vote. If you will use the laptop on the go...then the XPS. As for the prices, the Alienware is actually a steal when you see how much power is under the hood.

 

[QuantumField]

The TDP when the CPU's go to max turbo frequencies are different, the Alienware will run hotter compared to the XPS. If it's raw horsepower you need and you're not going to have the laptop on your "lap" rather on a table top, then it's the Alienware that will get my vote. If you will use the laptop on the go...then the XPS. As for the prices, the Alienware is actually a steal when you see how much power is under the hood.

Thanks!

• I do not plan to have the laptop on my lap, it will usually be on a desk.
• 90% of the time it will be in my office, but I will take it with me for classes, meetings, travel, and so on. So I do plan to use it on the go, and it needs to be portable (hence the focus on 13-14" laptops), but not an the expense of computing power.

Can you elaborate on the difference between the two CPUs? If I understand correctly, you're saying even though both CPUs have approximately the same turbo frequency, the Alienware will be able to maintain that turbo frequency for longer? If so, how long? Is it, for example, 10% longer, or 100% longer?

And what about the GPUs? Is the Iris Xe completely useless? How does it compare to the RTX 3060?

 

[velo3100]

I would get the Alienware as it should maintain its clocks better as it has a lower res screen and better internals. Also the extra ports should help you in the long run as you need to carry less adapters.