Alienware m15 RTX Gaming Laptop Review

Today we're taking a expect at some other gaming laptop, the brand new Alienware m15, which is the company's portable laptop offering to rival systems similar the MSI GS65 Stealth, Gigabyte Aero xv and Razer Bract. Historically we haven't been huge fans of Alienware's chunkier laptop designs, but the m15 is one of the best we've seen from the visitor so far.

Let's talk specs to begin with. If you've seen reviews of this laptop from a few months back, those were probably for the original model that used GTX Pascal GPUs. What we're reviewing today is the RTX version, more than specifically the RTX 2080 Max-Q model. Just there are other options available that might adapt your budget better, including RTX 2070 Max-Q and RTX 2060 options.

Like most Dell laptops, the m15 is highly customizable. The CPU for most models stays the same as an Intel Core i7-8750H, but from there yous go many storage, RAM and display options. Our review unit came with 16GB of dual-channel DDR4, plus a combination of a 500GB SSD and a 1TB difficult drive. The display is a 15.vi-inch 1080p 144Hz IPS.

Build and Blueprint

The m15 is Alienware's nigh portable 15-inch gaming laptop design however. While this is definitely a good thing, information technology's probably only good when comparing the m15 to Alienware'due south other laptops. For example, the regular Alienware 15 is 30mm thick and 7.7lbs heavy (!), whereas the Alienware m15 is most 27mm thick and crucially just four.8 lbs (ii.2kg). The weight divergence is massive, which makes the m15 a significantly more portable organization.

Nevertheless if y'all compare it to say, the Gigabyte Aero 15, the Alienware 15 is larger in all dimensions. Gigabyte'southward arrangement is only 22mm thick and weighs just a tad over two.0kg. It's as well smaller due to slimmer bezels. The Alienware 15 doesn't give yous that awesome slim-bezel design that we've been seeing from other laptops, which keeps it larger than its competitors.

We'd say this new unit of measurement is a big stride forward for Alienware but it'due south even so got a way to go until it matches the all-time from its competitors. Something like the MSI GS65 is nigh a pound lighter and for some people that could be a better pick.

However, at that place is no faulting the build quality here, which is superb. This isn't a unibody construction and at that place are a few dissimilar choices of materials, including metal for the lid, a soft touch matte plastic coating effectually the keyboard, and sleeky plastic around the display. But the key hither is merely how seamless these materials join together, information technology only feels really solid and well congenital.

Visually this isn't our favorite design, mostly due to the angular torso and a gamery lid. It looks quite nice when opened only it doesn't do plenty to take the crown from the elegant MSI GS Stealth line. It's definitely the best Alienware design and the focus on slimness has helped a lot there.

In other areas, Alienware has washed a lot of things correct. The keyboard has a nice though somewhat spongy tactile response, nonetheless the layout is good and it includes a full numpad plus 4 macro keys. The entire matter is lit up with iv-zone RGB backlighting. There'due south 2 other RGB elements as well: the power button and alien head logo on the hat.

The trackpad is a little minor given the infinite allocated to it, but it has a nice coating and is very responsive. The speakers are found in the bottom corners of the laptop and they practice fine at medium volume only suffer a little bit from distortion at loftier volumes, if you lot end upwardly using them at all.

The I/O selection is fantastic, we're getting 3 USB three.1 type-A ports, Thunderbolt 3, HDMI 2.0, mini-DP 1.3, a 3.5mm audio jack, Ethernet and Alienware'southward Graphics Amplifier port. We particularly like that the display outputs are on the rear of the laptop, it'due south nice and convenient to hook up a display without obstructing either side.

Performance

Let'due south talk performance, and as always it'south important to prepare the scene with the settings we used. The main consideration are the fan profiles, with Alienware providing 4 options: Balanced, which is the default, plus Cool, Quiet and Performance modes. We didn't spot whatever significant difference betwixt the Balanced and Performance modes because both seem to ramp upwards the fan to the same level while gaming. The Functioning mode just sets the fan to this speed at all times, while Balanced quietens the fan during less intensive workloads. Our recommendation is obvious, to employ the Counterbalanced mode and that's what nosotros used throughout this review.

When it comes to CPU operation, knowing that most other flagship gaming laptops rely on the same Core i7-8750H processor, the master consideration was to meet whether the Alienware m15 performed whatever differently in productivity tasks compared to its competitors. What we discovered is that the laptop performs identically to our average 8750H benchmark numbers, suggesting the system is performing as expected. Across each workload information technology's a little slower some times and a little faster at other times, but on average there is null to exist concerned about here.

This means nosotros're getting all the usual benefits of the Core i7-8750H. As a half-dozen-cadre CPU, it's ideal for tasks like video encoding, where it's 40 to fifty per centum faster than a last-generation Core i7-7700HQ. It's too faster in single-threaded workloads by around ten percent, which does help reduce CPU bottlenecks in some games.

Where the interesting stuff starts to happen is with the GPU. The m15 packs the GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q in its 90W configuration. If you aren't aware, there are actually two versions of the RTX 2080 Max-Q that have been spotted, the default 80W configuration and the 90W model which has a college ability limit and is clocked most 100-200 MHz college. It's almost impossible to tell which version a laptop uses from its product page, but we can tell yous the Alienware m15 uses the faster model.

If you've read our review of the GeForce RTX 2080 Max-Q you'll meet how both the 80W and 90W versions perform in a range of games. However with the Alienware m15 information technology's a scrap more than complicated than that, because while this laptop does accept the 90W version, its cooling solution in a typical use case prevents it from unleashing the full power of this GPU.

Even with the fans at full speed, there just isn't enough of a gap between the base of operations of the laptop and the desk to intake air at the book required to absurd these components. Well-nigh of the intake vents are along the bottom panel, with a few tiny vents on the top side, with air so exhausting out the dorsum and sides. But thanks to the feet raising this laptop by a smaller than usual peak, and fewer vents on the pinnacle side of the laptop, we're running into a few airflow bottlenecks.

What this means is the Alienware m15 in a typical usage environment on your desk-bound is 4% slower on average than the 'maximum' operation the RTX 2080 Max-Q 90W variant is capable of. Notwithstanding it is possible to get the full performance of the 2080 Max-Q if you heighten the base of the laptop slightly, which gives the bottom vents less restricted access to airflow. Y'all don't have to modify any other laptop settings, just make this concrete adjustment. If you practice this, the cooler performs much better and yous get the full operation of the GPU inside. It'southward not a very practical solution and we experience this issue could have been resolved with a better optimized series of vents around the design.

For the balance of this information, we're showing how the Alienware m15 performs without the workaround because nosotros experience this is how virtually people will utilise the laptop. The good news is that when sitting on your desk normally, the Alienware m15 performs about the same as the RTX 2080 Max-Q 80W variant. And then information technology's not choked to the level that it performs below a typical RTX 2080 Max-Q, it'south just the aforementioned.

With the Alienware m15 performing roughly the same as an 80W RTX 2080 Max-Q, the margins between this laptop and other GPUs is pretty like. Information technology's ~10% faster than the RTX 2070 Max-Q, then if yous are tossing up between the various Alienware m15 GPU configurations, this is something that will interest you lot.

The other available GPU is the RTX 2060. Hither the RTX 2080 Max-Q is 16% faster on boilerplate, although it doesn't win in every game. For example, Hitman 2 is unusually slow with the Alienware m15 compared to the average result for other laptops we've tested. On the other paw, there is a pregnant atomic number 82 in games like Shadow of War, where the 2080 Max-Q is more than xxx% faster.

The previous GTX-based Alienware m15 was bachelor with the GTX 1070 Max-Q within. This new RTX 2080 Max-Q model is a decent 24% faster on average, which is an impressive improvement from the aforementioned sort of cooler design and form factor. The RTX 2080 Max-Q models are a lot more expensive however.

Finally nosotros have the comparing betwixt the RTX 2080 Max-Q and the standard GTX 1070 for laptops. The RTX 2080 Max-Q is 6% faster on average but information technology'south a bit of a mixed bag: it wins in some titles, and loses in others. Information technology's definitely non a situation where the RTX 2080 demolishes the GTX 1070, which is the case when comparison the desktop variants of these GPUs.

Cooling Setup: Could use some piece of work

Here is the data showing the Alienware m15's cooling solution isn't up to scratch for the hardware inside. GPU temperatures are okay without existence great, 84 degrees Celsius is fine for nigh gaming laptops. But it's the CPU temperatures that are seriously crazy, with the m15 hit 99 degrees during a Watch Dogs 2 gaming session. Whatever time a laptop is up around that 100 degree mark, you're going to get throttling.

And then with this laptop it's not the GPU simply by and large CPU throttling to be concerned about. Raising the laptop's base which provides more than airflow to the choked cooler (without increasing fan speed) sees a significant 7 caste driblet on the CPU and a similar drop on the GPU, just it'due south more than that: CPU clock speeds also increase past 500 MHz or so across all six cores.

It's a huge divergence and but shows how in a standard usage example this cooler cannot keep up with the demands of the high-TDP parts within. Without that CPU bottleneck we see the full performance of these components.

And it'south no surprise why the Alienware m15 can't push the fan whatsoever faster: we're already sitting at 46 dBA during a gaming load, which is on the higher end for a gaming laptop. So this organization is both hot and loud, giving basically no room to move. If you lot're hoping to overclock this arrangement… well, there'south zero headroom for that.

Those that similar to undervolt and supercede the thermal compound with something like liquid metal may exist able to get more out of this cooler design. It's also possible that the lower-tier GPUs like the RTX 2060 won't come across this same thermal clogging but information technology's difficult to say for sure.

Storage, Battery & Display

Moving on to storage performance, our Alienware m15 came equipped with a 512GB SK Hynix PC401 SSD which performed pretty well, no real complaints here. It's not the accented fastest gaming laptop SSD nosotros've seen, particularly for sequential workloads, merely it's adequate for most people.

Bombardment life was pretty disappointing though. The m15 comes with two battery options, if you desire a 1TB hard drive inside, you get merely a 60 Wh cell, which was the case with our review unit. If you forgo the 2.5-inch drive bay slot you can increase the battery capacity to ninety Wh, which no doubt delivers improve results than the disappointing sub-4 60 minutes run time in our video playback test.

Given that internally you get 2 M.2 slots, one of which was costless in our unit and both of which are easily user attainable, nosotros think virtually buyers would be meliorate off opting for the 90 Wh model and using cheap M.2 storage options to get extra space if necessary. Especially if you want better battery life which nosotros feel is important in a portable-oriented arrangement like the m15.

Similar a lot of similar laptops, Alienware is using a 15.half dozen-inch 1080p IPS with a maximum refresh charge per unit of 144 Hz. The combination of IPS and 144 Hz works really well for gamers. The loftier refresh rate is perfect for the RTX 2080 Max-Q that often pushes frame rates to a higher place 100 FPS at 1080p, so this is the display pick yous'll want to choose.

A lot of the basic characteristics are good: 300 nits of peak brightness is fine for indoor utilize, especially equally that'south combined with first-class viewing angles. A contrast ratio of 1200:ane is besides bully for this blazon of display, yet nosotros did experience a bit of IPS glow when viewing dark or black content. Not a huge consequence, but something to keep in mind.

The bigger problem with this display is the lack of color calibration. The default white indicate is around 8000K which is far also cold, giving the display a blue tone. In fact there doesn't announced to be any calibration here whatsoever, at to the lowest degree non to the sRGB standard, as deltaE averages across the lath are above 4.0.

Normally for gaming laptops nosotros don't notice calibration to be a large consequence, but with the Alienware m15 it's a little unlike. DeltaEs above 4.0 are higher than many other laptops, specially the 5.seven greyscale deltaE boilerplate, and so this display is especially poorly calibrated. And on height of this, many competitors to this system – such equally the MSI GS65 and Gigabyte Aero 15 – do come with factory calibrated displays. And so while information technology may non carp every buyer, calibration is something y'all don't become here as office of the package.

Endmost Remarks

Overall, we're in two places with the Alienware m15. This is conspicuously their best laptop design. It's thinner and lighter than regular Alienware laptops, and that'due south a pace in the correct direction. As well-nigh gaming laptop competitors have this sort of arrangement on the market, coming from the chunky Alienware beasts, this focus on portability is welcome from a design perspective.

On the other hand, we feel Alienware has failed to execute in terms of some of the performance characteristics. In particular, the cooler simply isn't powerful plenty to cool both the Core i7-8750H and RTX 2080 Max-Q without throttling. There's an airflow issue causing lower than expected operation when both the CPU and GPU are utilized, like in games. This becomes less forgiving when you consider the m15 is larger and heavier overall than direct competitors.

However, functioning is not bad and information technology's still effectually the marking of a typical RTX 2080 Max-Q laptop. But it could have been better, especially equally this laptop includes the 90W variant of the GPU, it could take been the best of its features. Future versions of this laptop volition no doubt need a cooling layout revision.

Build quality is nifty on the m15 only there's other odds and ends that aren't as polished. The brandish isn't calibrated and doesn't pack a slim bezel design. The keyboard and trackpad are okay without being amazing. The default selection is a small 60 Wh battery and y'all have to pay to get a larger one.

We don't see what the Alienware m15 does improve than a laptop like the MSI GS65. There'southward no key characteristic that might get me to recommend information technology in some situations, like ameliorate value or a unique design, or acme-tier performance. In every metric we've tested, this organization is browbeaten by the fantabulous MSI option which is basically the same cost for an equivalent configuration, regardless of which RTX GPU you lot cull. And this is without discussing the overall value proposition of Nvidia'southward Turing laptops.

The Alienware m15 is a peachy stride forward for the company, but it ultimately doesn't go our recommendation. It'due south hard to create the perfect portable organisation on the first effort, and many competitors have only been doing this for longer and have more than refined, improve options today that you should consider instead.

The Alienware starts at $ane,275 with a GTX 1060 GPU and 8GB DDR4, while the fully fledged RTX 2080 model that we tested is about $3,000.