Goodbye, Alienware m17: Alienware x17 is the newer, sleeker kid on the block

Dell is kicking off Computex week with a couple of high-profile Alienware announcements. Following the recent 15.6-inch Alienware x15 is the new 17.3-inch Alienware x17 with the same chassis design and visual style between them. The x17 will eventually replace the aging Alienware m17 series which itself replaced the even older Alienware 17 series.

Though they may look similar from the outside, the Alienware x17 has several key upgrades from the x15 because of its larger form factor. Firstly, the x17 carries optional CherryMX mechanical keys whereas the x15 is limited to the standard membrane-based switches. Secondly, its GPU TGP is significantly higher (165 W vs. 110 W) for faster graphics performance when configured with the same GeForce RTX GPU. Thirdly, the x17 incorporates all the new cooling technologies of the x15 (quad fans and liquid metal thermal paste) plus a new overlying vapor chamber cooler and a larger 12-phase voltage regulator. And lastly, the system has more ports, more display options, and a larger rear RGB "ring" made up of 100 Micro-LEDs.

Both Tobii eye tracking and the proprietary Graphics Amplifier port are gone. The majority of users are probably not going to miss these underused features, anyway.

All CPU options are limited to Intel for the new x15 and x17 models. Dell says it is open to adding AMD Ryzen, but the x15 and x17 were initially developed with Intel in mind as its CPU roadmap was more concrete at the time.

Dell is remaining silent on the future of the larger Area-51m. The fact that the company is focusing so much on thin-and-light designs this generation is a telltale sign of where most of the money is being made these days: sleek and thin instead of big and bulky even if the bigger designs tend to carry faster processors and more features.