On the Shadow of the Tomb Raider benchmark on its highest settings at 1080p resolution, the new Alienware x17 R2 turned in a score of 107 frames per second (fps). Thanks to the display's insanely high 360 Hz refresh, everything looked extremely smooth, and the responsive, tactile feel of the keyboard made every moment more enjoyable. Still, when I played through the Meridian Outskirts area in Borderlands 3 on the badass preset, the x17 R2 delivered smooth frame rates between the mid-90s and 130 fps.

But since the panel that Alienware shipped with this laptop is 1080p, we'll only get a chance to see its advantages at the lower resolution. The new GPU should deliver some advantage at high resolutions, and the new CPU should help at 1080p.

We don't expect massive gains between the RTX 3080 performance (as we saw it in the Asus and last-gen Alienware laptops) and the RTX 3080 Ti performance from the x17 R2 we're looking at here as well as in the MSI GE76 Raider. Gaming and Graphics Performance on the Alienware X17 R2 Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2x USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type-A, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, Ethernet, microSD card reader, HDMI, mini DisplayPortġ5.72 x 11.79 x 0.84 inches / 399 x 300 x 21.4 mm Nvidia GeForce GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (16GB GDDR6, 175 W max graphics power) Also note that despite its extra heft, the Alienware has an 87 WHr battery, while the Asus has a 90 WHr, and the MSI has a 99 WHr battery. And at 6.82 pounds fully kitted out, the Alienware is also the heaviest of the competition, as the MSI is 6.39 pounds and the Asus just is 5.95 pounds. There's RGB lighting on the keyboard, the alien head logo on the lid, and an oval that runs around the vents and the ports at the back adds a tasteful amount of customizable glow.Īll that said, while the Alienware x17 R2 is slim for a high-end gaming laptop, it's not exactly small or light. And in the 'lunar light' (white) finish of our review unit, the laptop looks both futuristic and understated (for a gaming laptop). At 0.84 inches thick and wrapped in magnesium and aluminum, the laptop feels as good as it looks. But that's far from a bad thing given that it's still arguably the sleekest, most premium-feeling gaming portable on the market. The shell of the Alienware x17 R2 is the same as the R1 model we looked at last fall.

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