Alienware m17 R2 comes with the same Core i9 CPU as the XPS 15 and MacBook Pro 15, runs it 30 percent faster

The Dell Alienware m17 R2 targets a different market segment in contrast to the Apple MacBook Pro 15 or XPS 15. Thus, pitting these systems head-to-head is definitely not the most apples-to-apples comparison. Even with this in mind, however, there's no denying that they all share some similar components that we can more fairly compare.

The three aforementioned laptops can each be configured with up to the same octa-core Core i9-9980HK CPU meaning that the average shopper might assume that the three laptops can offer similar levels of processor performance. But as we've proven multiple times in the past, CPU performance can vary by significant margins between laptop models even if they come with identical processors. In this case, the Core i9-9980HK in the Alienware is able to maintain a clock rate of 4.1 to 4.2 GHz when under 100 percent utilization compared to just 1.9 to 2.7 GHz on the XPS 15 or 3.0 GHz on the MacBook Pro 15. Performance throttling is much less severe on the Alienware machine and so its multi-threaded CineBench results are subsequently 25 to 35 percent faster than the XPS or MacBook.

The main drawback is core temperature as the Core i9 processor in the Alienware will plateau at about 99 C compared to 66 C and 90 C on the XPS and MacBook, respectively. Still, if you want the most processor performance out of your Core i9 purchase, then you may want to look beyond the XPS or MacBook series or save a few hundred dollar bills by simply configuring them with the Core i7 instead.