Alienware 15 R3 Notebook Review

We start with the best news: The latest revision of the new gaming system also features the familiar Alienware quality. This is particularly true for the chassis, which is partly made of anodized aluminum as well as a magnesium alloy. Thanks to metal inlays on the lid and the notebook bottom, the 15-inch system features excellent stability that surpasses most competitors. One drawback is the weight: Around 3.5 kilograms is a lot, even for a high-end notebook. The previous Alienware 15 R2 (3.1 kg) is lighter, just like the GTX 1070 rivals MSI GT62VR 6RE and Schenker XMG P507 (2.9 kg). The Asus GL502VS even tips the scale at just 2.6 kg.

Another problem is the depth of the chassis. While the competition is about 27 centimeters, we can measure more than 30 centimeters on the Alienware 15 R3, which reminds us of a 17-inch system. The protruding fan area for better cooling (the hinge is shifted by about 3.5 centimeters) does not look that good.

Otherwise, we would call the design convenient. Despite the fact that some elements are pretty playful and clearly indicate a gaming notebook, the overall appearance looks very noble and sophisticated. One of the most important trademarks, the comprehensive illumination, is obviously available as well. The illuminated side areas (see pictures) might look like a "poser gimmick" at first, but there are actually some advantages in the dark (better visibility of the ports and the mouse). Speaking of a mouse: Alienware not only illuminates the keyboard but also the touchpad to make inputs easier.

Whether you like the rubberized palm rests is a matter of taste. The surface is convenient to touch but quickly attracts dirt. At just 2.5 centimeters, the Alienware 15 R3 is surprisingly slim. The hinges are another nice surprise, because they keep the display well in position and leave a firm impression (it is possible to open the lid with one hand). The maximum opening angle is almost unrivaled at ~180 degrees.

Although two USB 3.0 Type-A ports are pretty meager for a gaming system, the port selection generally meets the retail price. You can attach numerous peripherals in combination with the USB 3.0 Type-C port (left) and the Thunderbolt 3 port (rear), which also supports USB 3.1 and DisplayPort. The situation is similar for external monitors, where you can choose between the mini-DisplayPort and the HDMI 2.0 output. Both the RJ45 jack and the power connector are located at the rear as well. The Noble lock (counterpart to Kensington lock) and the two audio ports (3.5 mm jack for headset and microphone) are located on the left.

We think the connector for the proprietary Alienware Graphics Amplifier is the biggest highlight. It is an optional box that accommodates a desktop GPU. However, the box will probably become more interesting in a couple of years due to the enormous performance of the GeForce GTX 1070. That the manufacturer does not implement an optical drive is understandable in times of Steam and the like, especially since a DVD or Blu-ray burner would require a lot of space and probably affect the stability of the chassis. However, we cannot understand why there is no card reader.

Dell uses products from Rivet Networks for communication. The Gigabit Ethernet Chip Killer E2500 and the wireless module Killer 1435 (WLAN 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 4.1, up to 867 Mbps) are supposed to be optimized for gamers, which is supported by the powerful Killer software (several controls and settings). Our standardized WLAN test with a distance of one meter to the router determines good transfer rates for the Alienware 15 R3. Average results of 560 Mbps (send) and 681 Mbps (receive), respectively, slightly beat the Intel Dual-Band Wireless-AC 8265 of the Schenker XMG P507 (513 and 674 Mbps, respectively).

The scope of delivery is limited to a quick-start guide and the necessary power supply. The 240-Watt power adapter is surprisingly slim (2.5 cm), just like the laptop itself, but it has a pretty big footprint in return (20 x 10 cm). SKUs with the GTX 1060 are probably shipped with a more compact PSU.

Many core gamers do not want to just use every option in the graphics menu; they also like to have full control over the upgrade and cleaning options inside the case. The Alienware 15 R3 performs better in this respect than the previous model. While you could only access the RAM, hard drives, and the wireless module via maintenance hatch on the Alienware 15 R2, you can now – with certain limitations – also access the fans and the cooling system.

It is once again necessary to disassemble the chassis further to access all internals and the battery. The maintenance hatch itself is easy to remove since it is "only" secured by seven screws (and you also have to pry the hatch). The Alienware 15 R3 has a total of two DDR4-RAM slots, one 2.5-inch slot, two M.2 slots (2280) with NVMe/PCIe support and one smaller M.2 slot, which can also be equipped with an SSD according to the label. Processor and graphics card are not replaceable – which is pretty common nowadays.

A 12-month base warranty (Premium support with on-site service) is pretty sparse. An upgrade to two, three, or four years costs between 375 and 1124 Euros (~$397 and ~$1192), which is quite a lot in our opinion. The optional coverage for accidents is much more affordable.

Please see our Guarantees, Return Policies and Warranties FAQ for country-specific information.

The touchpad surface, which is fully illuminated, is not all that large at 10 x 5.7 centimeters. We would have liked a couple of millimeters more, especially in height. There is certainly enough room. Otherwise, the mouse replacement works well. The gliding capabilities are decent thanks to the smooth finish and the precision is convincing as well. Multi-touch gestures (2-4 fingers) are controlled via Dell's own touchpad software. We usually had no problems with zooming and scrolling.

We also like the fact that Alienware does not implement a ClickPad; a conventional touchpad with dedicated mouse buttons is installed instead. They have a pretty soft and quiet pressure point, similar to the keyboard, but they are still reliable. Dell also considered symmetry: The touchpad is at the center of the palm rests. The perceptible indentation, which reminds us of the Acer Predator 15, is a bit too deep for our liking.

Displays with 60 Hz have been the standard for many years, but now we are seeing more and more panels with higher refresh rates. Alienware also uses the modern technology and equips some of its 15-inch models with a fast 120 Hz display. Its biggest advantage is the fast response time. While many notebooks need more than 20 ms for black-to-black switch and more than 30 ms for gray-to-gray, the AW 15 R3 manages a fast 12 and 25 ms, respectively. These results could also be from the Schenker XMG P507, which is equipped with almost the exact same 120 Hz panel (AUO52ED vs. AUO51ED).

Note: It is not possible to use the processor GPU (HD Graphics 630) due to G-Sync. The corresponding iGFX switch (Fn + F7) therefore does not work. Many Clevo barebones provide a better solution, because you can just switch between G-Sync and Optimus via software/BIOS. A small consolation is the additional camera for eye-tracking.

Our test model is equipped with pretty future-proof components. A quad-core processor from Intel and a high-end GPU with 8 GB VRAM should provide sufficient performance for the next couple of years. 16 GB DDR4-RAM and a total of 1.25 TB storage capacity are not bad, either.

The Alienware 15 R3 can utilize the CPU Turbo very well. The 14 nm chip will –depending on the number of active cores – run at 3.4-3.8 GHz as long as the power adapter is attached and the CPU is not artificially stressed. The clock on battery power will heavily depend on the GPU load. Stress for the CPU results in 3.2-3.8 GHz, and 2.7 GHz on average in 3D applications. The latter behavior is typical for a notebook.

Our benchmark scores do not reveal any surprises. The Alienware 15 R3 is on par with other 7700HQ laptops like the Schenker XMG P507 in Cinebench R15 as well as R11.5. Older systems with the Skylake model Core i7-6700HQ are about 10% slower on average, but you will not notice any differences in practice.

The 15-inch system manages very good scores in the system tests thanks to the balanced hardware configuration. Both PCMark 7 and PCMark 8 see the Alienware 15 R3 at the top of the comparison. The system is conveniently responsive and also boots up very quickly. You can also feel the advantage over laptops with conventional HDDs when you copy/transfer files or install applications.

Many other PCIe/NVMe products (like the Samsung 960 Evo in the XMG P507) also manage more than 1000 MB/s for write operations. In short: Dell should use a faster SSD considering the price (similar performance figures for small files or not). There is no criticism for the secondary storage solution. The HGST Travelstar 7K1000 is fast enough and an extremely popular 1 TB HDD (7200 rpm).

You can choose between the two GPUs GeForce GTX 1060 and GeForce GTX 1070. The less powerful Pascal model is sufficient when you only want to play on a Full HD screen. Enthusiasts, however, who always want to use all the details, picture optimizations and maybe 3K or 4K resolutions, should get the GTX 1070. The DirectX 12 chip is equipped with 2048 shaders and even surpasses its desktop counterpart (1920 shaders) in this respect.

That the notebook model is still slightly slower is a result of the lower clocks or the worse Turbo utilization, respectively. Nvidia "only" advertises a Turbo range of 1443-1645 MHz, but the chip can reach up to 1900 MHz (GPU-Z Render test). The average clock of the GeForce GTX 1070 under load is ~1600 MHz in the Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark (~1100 MHz on battery). The clock was ~100 MHz higher in Battlefield 1.

As per usual, we only noticed a drop below the base frequency (throttling) in the stress test with the tools FurMark and Prime95. The memory clock of the 8 GB GDDR5-VRAM (256-bit interface) is 4000 MHz in 3D applications.

That Nvidia's Pascal architecture is a big success is confirmed in the synthetic benchmarks. The new model is almost twice as fast as the GTX 980M of the Alienware 15 R2. We cannot see big differences compared to other GTX 1070 systems, but the Alienware 15 R3 can secure the top spot in 3DMark 13, 3DMark 11 and the Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark. The small advantage could also be a result of the driver; our test model was equipped with the brand-new ForceWare 378.49.

Our gaming check with six titles from 2016 and 2017 is not a big challenge for the GeForce GTX 1070. Even maximum details are conveniently smooth in the native resolution of 1920x1080 pixels. This includes first-person shooters (Battlefield 1, Titanfall 2, Call of Duty Infinite Warfare), open-world titles (Watch Dogs 2) or horror games (Resident Evil 7). Even the rather poorly optimized stealth adventure Dishonored 2 runs at more than 60 FPS in the Ultra preset. Only 3K and 4K resolutions can be a bit too demanding, and the GeForce GTX 1080 might be worth a look in this case.

The situation is not perfect while idling, either. The fans are sometimes completely deactivated, so you can only hear a subtle murmur of the HDD, but they will sometimes pulsate and reach up to 40 dB(A), which is not necessary and is also annoying. This is untypical for Alienware systems and usually limited to Clevo barebones (where the issue can at least be improved via manual control for the fan speeds).

The Alienware 15 R3 does not really know any levels in-between. The CPU fan is either deactivated or subjectively running at full speed. Perhaps Dell can improve the big rpm changes with a BIOS update (the update tool already showed a fresh BIOS – we will test it when the time allows for it).

Differences of more than 10 °C are unusual based on our experiences. The cores in the Schenker XMG P507, for example, only differed by 4 °C. There was at least no significant throttling except for some very short drops to 700 MHz (according to HWiNFO). Our stress test was executed with a decent clock of 2.6 GHz.

Nvidia's Pascal generation impresses with a much better power efficiency, which is also noticeable in the temperatures. We never saw more than 70 °C on the GeForce GTX 1070. Intel on the other hand hardly made any improvements in terms of temperature management.

The sound quality cannot fully meet the luxury image. Although the sound is not bad for a notebook, demanding users will want a more powerful bass and better precision in general. A subwoofer would have probably improved the situation for the deep tones.

The 2.0 system is at least louder than the 15-inch rival Asus GL502VS (82 vs. 77 dB(A)), which produces more precise mids and little less precise high tones. Fine tuning is possible via Alienware's Sound Center, which can be used to adjust the microphone and the speakers. It includes multiple presets like Music or Movie.

Frequency Comparison (Checkboxes select/deselectable!)

The power consumption is similar to other GTX 1070 notebooks without graphics switching. 19-29 Watts while idling and 85-192 Watts under load are almost identical to the Asus GL502VS. The MSI GT62VR consumes more power in all tests, while the Schenker XMG P507 is more efficient thanks to the Optimus technology. One interesting comparison is the Alienware 15 R2, which consumes more power but provides less 3D performance.

Gaming systems without Optimus usually do not manage long battery runtimes. Dell can compensate for the problem a bit by implementing a very powerful 99-Wh battery. It lasts up to 6.5 hours while idling (low luminance). Around 4.5 hours web-browsing and 4.5 hours HD video playback are also okay and beat the rivals.

Even the XMG P507 with the deactivated GeForce does not stand a chance, which is not a surprise when you consider the small 60-Wh battery. The rivals from Asus (62 Wh @GL502VS) and MSI (75 Wh @GT62VR) also have smaller batteries. The Alienware 15 R2 on the other hand shows what a combination of switchable graphics and powerful battery is capable of. It ran for up to 13 hours (almost 7.5 hours @Wi-Fi and HD playback).