Dell Alienware m15 R3 Laptop Review: Vapor Chamber Saves The Day

The 2020 Dell Alienware m15 R3 is an internal refresh of the 2019 Alienware m15 R2. However, that statement alone undersells all the changes to the m15 R3 as the latest model offers more than just updated processor and display options that we usually see from most other OEMs. Dell has revamped the cooling solution without impacting the size of the system for what should lead to cooler core temperatures when gaming.
Competitors to the Alienware m15 R3 include other high-end ultra-thin gaming laptops like the MSI GS66, Razer Blade Pro 17, Asus Zephyrus S GX701, Acer Predator Triton, or Lenovo Legion Y740. See our review on the Alienware m15 R2 for more information on the chassis and its features since the m15 R3 is almost visually identically.
More Dell reviews:
Rating | Date | Model | Weight | Height | Size | Resolution | Price |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
84.8 % v7 (old) | 07 / 2020 | Alienware m15 R3 P87F i7-10750H, GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile | 2.3 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
82.6 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2020 | Eluktronics RP-15 R7 4800H, GeForce RTX 2060 Mobile | 1.9 kg | 20 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
86 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2020 | Razer Blade 15 RZ09-0328 i7-10750H, GeForce RTX 2070 Max-Q | 2.1 kg | 19.9 mm | 15.60" | 3840x2160 | |
81.3 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2019 | Asus Zephyrus S GX502GW i7-9750H, GeForce RTX 2070 Mobile | 2.1 kg | 19 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 | |
82.8 % v7 (old) | 05 / 2020 | MSI GS66 Stealth 10SFS i9-10980HK, GeForce RTX 2070 Super Max-Q | 2.2 kg | 20 mm | 15.60" | 1920x1080 |
Case
The easiest way to identify an Alienware m15 R3 from the m15 R2 is by looking for the MicroSD card reader along the left edge. Otherwise, the systems share the same chassis design. The current look is barely a year old so it's not time for Dell to completely refresh the chassis just yet.
Another smaller exterior update is the use of a new "High Endurance Clear Coat" finish to reduce fingerprint buildup. We suspect that this will make a bigger difference on the black chassis option as fingerprints are already difficult to see on our white test unit.
Connectivity
Ports remain identical to the m15 R2 including the return of the proprietary Graphics Amplifier port. The USB-C port, however, can now recharge the laptop. We would have loved to see LED indicators for the rear ports much like on the older Lenovo Legion Y730 for easier access. As of now, they are hard to see without first getting up and reaching over.
SD Card Reader
SD Card Reader | |
average JPG Copy Test (av. of 3 runs) | |
MSI GS75 10SF-609US (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II) | |
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XA (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II) | |
Eluktronics RP-15 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
maximum AS SSD Seq Read Test (1GB) | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XA (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II) | |
MSI GS75 10SF-609US (Toshiba Exceria Pro M501 UHS-II) | |
Dell XPS 15 9500 Core i7 4K UHD (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) | |
Eluktronics RP-15 (Toshiba Exceria Pro SDXC 64 GB UHS-II) |
Communication
The Killer AX1650w comes standard for Wi-Fi 6 connectivity and Bluetooth 5.1. It is essentially identical to the Intel AX201 but with gaming-specific enhancements.
Webcam

Maintenance
Accessories and Warranty
There are no extras in the box other than the usual AC adapter and paperwork. The standard one-year limited warranty applies with extension options of up to 4 years.
Input Devices
Keyboard and Touchpad
Display
The Alienware m15 R3 drops the 60 Hz and 240 Hz IPS options on last year's model in favor of 144 Hz as the new base option and 300 Hz as the new high-end option. The 300 Hz AUO B156HAN on our test unit is similar to the one found on the MSI GS66. Users can also configure with 60 Hz 4K OLED, but the ultra-smooth refresh rate of 300 Hz makes it tough to go back to 60 Hz unless if you really value the deeper colors and higher native resolution of OLED.
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Brightness Distribution: 87 %
Center on Battery: 326.7 cd/m²
Contrast: 990:1 (Black: 0.33 cd/m²)
ΔE Color 2.4 | 0.5-29.43 Ø4.89, calibrated: 1.51
ΔE Greyscale 3.2 | 0.5-98 Ø5.1
99.2% sRGB (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
63.7% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 1.6.3 3D)
69.8% AdobeRGB 1998 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
98.9% sRGB (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
68.6% Display P3 (Argyll 2.2.0 3D)
Gamma: 2.13
Alienware m15 R3 P87F AU Optronics B156HAN, IPS, 15.6", 1920x1080 | Alienware m15 P79F Samsung SDCA029, 156WR04, OLED, 15.6", 3840x2160 | Eluktronics RP-15 BOE NV156FHM-N4G, IPS, 15.6", 1920x1080 | Razer Blade 15 RZ09-0328 Samsung SDCA029, AMOLED, 15.6", 3840x2160 | Asus Zephyrus S GX502GW AU Optronics B156HAN08.2 (AUO82ED), IPS, 15.6", 1920x1080 | MSI GS66 Stealth 10SFS AUO B156HAN12.0 (AUO328E), IPS, 15.6", 1920x1080 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Display | 30% | -7% | 29% | -6% | 1% | |
Display P3 Coverage | 68.6 | 99.9 46% | 63.7 -7% | 99.9 46% | 64.9 -5% | 69.5 1% |
sRGB Coverage | 98.9 | 100 1% | 92 -7% | 100 1% | 91 -8% | 99.6 1% |
AdobeRGB 1998 Coverage | 69.8 | 100 43% | 65.2 -7% | 97.4 40% | 65.9 -6% | 70.8 1% |
Response Times | 57% | -163% | 54% | -31% | -120% | |
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 4 ? | 2.6 ? 35% | 17.2 ? -330% | 2.7 ? 32% | 7.2 ? -80% | 14 ? -250% |
Response Time Black / White * | 10.8 ? | 2.3 ? 79% | 10.4 ? 4% | 2.6 ? 76% | 8.8 ? 19% | 9.6 ? 11% |
PWM Frequency | 60.2 ? | 59.5 ? | ||||
Screen | -17% | -28% | -5% | -5% | 5% | |
Brightness middle | 326.7 | 452.1 38% | 298.6 -9% | 366.7 12% | 286 -12% | 316 -3% |
Brightness | 316 | 452 43% | 289 -9% | 371 17% | 275 -13% | 311 -2% |
Brightness Distribution | 87 | 90 3% | 90 3% | 91 5% | 90 3% | 92 6% |
Black Level * | 0.33 | 0.35 -6% | 0.37 -12% | 0.21 36% | ||
Contrast | 990 | 853 -14% | 773 -22% | 1505 52% | ||
Colorchecker dE 2000 * | 2.4 | 6.34 -164% | 5.01 -109% | 5.21 -117% | 2.19 9% | 3.03 -26% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 max. * | 6.06 | 12.97 -114% | 7.06 -17% | 7.92 -31% | 4.4 27% | 7.32 -21% |
Colorchecker dE 2000 calibrated * | 1.51 | 2.52 -67% | 2.27 -50% | 1.1 27% | ||
Greyscale dE 2000 * | 3.2 | 2.8 12% | 5.4 -69% | 2 37% | 2.2 31% | 3.9 -22% |
Gamma | 2.13 103% | 2.21 100% | 2.54 87% | 2.17 101% | 2.41 91% | 2.42 91% |
CCT | 7129 91% | 6114 106% | 7461 87% | 6514 100% | 6405 101% | 7439 87% |
Color Space (Percent of AdobeRGB 1998) | 63.7 | 91 43% | 59.1 -7% | 86.6 36% | 59 -7% | 65 2% |
Color Space (Percent of sRGB) | 99.2 | 100 1% | 91.6 -8% | 100 1% | 91 -8% | 100 1% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | 23% /
5% | -66% /
-41% | 26% /
12% | -14% /
-8% | -38% /
-12% |
* ... smaller is better
Measurements with an X-Rite colorimeter reveal color temperature to be slightly on the cool side. An end-user calibration addresses this to improve the average grayscale DeltaE value from an already low 3.2 to an even lower 1.8. Otherwise, colors are accurate out of the box with no real need for further calibration.
Display Response Times
↔ Response Time Black to White | ||
---|---|---|
10.8 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 5.2 ms rise | |
↘ 5.6 ms fall | ||
The screen shows good response rates in our tests, but may be too slow for competitive gamers. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.1 (minimum) to 240 (maximum) ms. » 26 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (20.9 ms). | ||
↔ Response Time 50% Grey to 80% Grey | ||
4 ms ... rise ↗ and fall ↘ combined | ↗ 1.6 ms rise | |
↘ 2.4 ms fall | ||
The screen shows very fast response rates in our tests and should be very well suited for fast-paced gaming. In comparison, all tested devices range from 0.165 (minimum) to 636 (maximum) ms. » 12 % of all devices are better. This means that the measured response time is better than the average of all tested devices (32.7 ms). |
Screen Flickering / PWM (Pulse-Width Modulation)
Screen flickering / PWM not detected | |||
In comparison: 53 % of all tested devices do not use PWM to dim the display. If PWM was detected, an average of 8619 (minimum: 5 - maximum: 343500) Hz was measured. |
At 300 nits, the display is about average for its category. The OLED option will offer better outdoor viewability since it is both brighter and with higher contrast.
Performance
Users can choose between the 10th gen 6-core Core i7-10750H or unlocked 8-core Core i9-10980HK with no third option. A Core i7-10875H or even Ryzen 7 4800H would have been nice to see.
Graphics options range from the Radeon RX 5500M on the low end up to the GTX 1660 Ti, RTX 2060, RTX 2070, RTX 2070 Super, or RTX 2080 Super Max-Q. Mobile Nvidia GPUs have gotten out of control lately and so we recommend picking carefully.
Dell says Nvidia Optimus is not included on SKUs with the 300 Hz panel like the one we have here because the integrated UHD Graphics 630 would have issues running the 300 Hz display. However, Optimus *is* available on the OLED and 144 Hz SKUs which should lead to longer battery life on those configurations.
G-Sync is not supported on the internal 300 Hz display despite the lack of Optimus on our test unit. Fortunately, the feature is still available when connected to external monitors.
All benchmarks below were run on Turbo mode for the best scores possible.
Processor
CPU performance is excellent especially in regard to sustainability. When running CineBench R15 xT in a loop, results would be constant throughout without the usual dips over time that we normally see on most other laptops as shown by the chart below.
Upgrading to the Core i9-10980HK should bring roughly 30 percent faster multi-threaded performance. It's too bad that Dell doesn't offer the Core i7-10875H as that would have performed similarly to the Core i9-10980HK but for a cheaper price.
See our dedicated page on the Core i7-10750H for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.
Cinebench R15: CPU Multi 64Bit | CPU Single 64Bit
Blender: v2.79 BMW27 CPU
7-Zip 18.03: 7z b 4 -mmt1 | 7z b 4
Geekbench 5.5: Single-Core | Multi-Core
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2: 4k Preset
LibreOffice : 20 Documents To PDF
R Benchmark 2.5: Overall mean
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Multi Core) | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
MSI GE65 Raider 9SF-049US | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (1749 - 3325, n=43) | |
Maingear Vector 15 | |
MSI GE63 Raider 8SG | |
Asus Zephyrus GX501 |
Cinebench R20 / CPU (Single Core) | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
MSI GE65 Raider 9SF-049US | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (431 - 504, n=43) | |
Maingear Vector 15 | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
MSI GE63 Raider 8SG | |
Asus Zephyrus GX501 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Multi 64Bit | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
MSI GE65 Raider 9SF-049US | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Maingear Vector 15 | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (804 - 1418, n=50) | |
MSI GE63 Raider 8SG | |
Asus Zephyrus GX501 |
Cinebench R15 / CPU Single 64Bit | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
MSI GE65 Raider 9SF-049US | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (184 - 213, n=45) | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Maingear Vector 15 | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
MSI GE63 Raider 8SG | |
Asus Zephyrus GX501 |
Blender / v2.79 BMW27 CPU | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (322 - 587, n=43) | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Intel Core i9-10900K |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 -mmt1 | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (4504 - 5470, n=43) | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT |
7-Zip 18.03 / 7z b 4 | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (26040 - 37345, n=43) |
Geekbench 5.5 / Single-Core | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (1114 - 1333, n=43) | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT |
Geekbench 5.5 / Multi-Core | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (4443 - 6674, n=43) | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT |
HWBOT x265 Benchmark v2.2 / 4k Preset | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (5.54 - 11.6, n=43) | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT |
LibreOffice / 20 Documents To PDF | |
Intel Core i9-10900K | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (43.1 - 99.2, n=43) | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS |
R Benchmark 2.5 / Overall mean | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Average Intel Core i7-10750H (0.578 - 0.708, n=42) | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Intel Core i9-10900K |
* ... smaller is better
System Performance
PCMark results are where we expect them to be for the high-end gaming category. We highly recommend that users become familiar with the pre-installed Alienware Command Center software as it directly controls the performance and fan behavior of the laptop more so than the default Windows power profiles.
PCMark 8 Home Score Accelerated v2 | 5702 points | |
PCMark 8 Work Score Accelerated v2 | 6224 points | |
PCMark 10 Score | 6255 points | |
Help |
DPC Latency
LatencyMon shows DPC latency issues when opening multiple tabs on our homepage. 4K UHD video playback on YouTube is otherwise smooth and with no dropped frames unlike what we observed on the recent Asus ROG G532.
DPC Latencies / LatencyMon - interrupt to process latency (max), Web, Youtube, Prime95 | |
Dell G5 15 SE 5505 P89F | |
MSI GS66 Stealth 10SFS | |
Gigabyte Aero 15 OLED XB-8DE51B0SP | |
Asus ROG Strix Scar 15 G532LWS | |
Alienware m15 R3 P87F | |
MSI GS66 Stealth 10SE-045 | |
Acer Nitro 5 AN515-44-R5FT | |
Razer Blade 15 RZ09-0328 | |
Eluktronics RP-15 | |
MSI GS75 10SF-609US |
* ... smaller is better
Storage Devices
There are three M.2 storage slots compared to two on last year's model, but the third one only accepts shorter 2230 or 2242 drives. Our unit comes configured with two 512 GB Micron 2200S NVMe SSDs in RAID 0 configuration. Performance is close to a single 512 GB Lite-On CA5-8D512 SSD as found on the Razer Blade 15. It's possible that other SKUs and capacities will come from different drive manufacturers and not just Micron.
Alienware m15 R3 P87F 2x Micron 2200S 512 GB (RAID 0) | Alienware m15 P79F Toshiba XG5 KXG50ZNV512G | Razer Blade 15 RZ09-0328 Lite-On CA5-8D512 | Asus Zephyrus S GX502GW 2x Intel SSD 660p SSDPEKNW512G8 (RAID 0) | MSI GS66 Stealth 10SFS Samsung SSD PM981 MZVLB1T0HALR | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
AS SSD | -9% | 4% | 2% | 25% | |
Seq Read | 2058 | 1937 -6% | 2021 -2% | 2506 22% | 1065 -48% |
Seq Write | 2316 | 1066 -54% | 2090 -10% | 1712 -26% | 2360 2% |
4K Read | 39.72 | 31.76 -20% | 47.71 20% | 48.32 22% | 48.09 21% |
4K Write | 62.9 | 102.6 63% | 101.1 61% | 103.6 65% | 110.7 76% |
4K-64 Read | 1334 | 1140 -15% | 856 -36% | 624 -53% | 1635 23% |
4K-64 Write | 1271 | 938 -26% | 1041 -18% | 1253 -1% | 1829 44% |
Access Time Read * | 0.062 | 0.058 6% | 0.052 16% | 0.08 -29% | 0.071 -15% |
Access Time Write * | 0.388 | 0.04 90% | 0.111 71% | 0.04 90% | 0.034 91% |
Score Read | 1580 | 1366 -14% | 1105 -30% | 923 -42% | 1790 13% |
Score Write | 1565 | 1147 -27% | 1351 -14% | 1528 -2% | 2176 39% |
Score Total | 3968 | 3168 -20% | 3037 -23% | 2896 -27% | 4950 25% |
Copy ISO MB/s | 1685 | 946 -44% | 2474 47% | ||
Copy Program MB/s | 669 | 452.8 -32% | 679 1% | ||
Copy Game MB/s | 1493 | 1013 -32% | 1037 -31% | ||
CrystalDiskMark 5.2 / 6 | 5% | 13% | -6% | 9% | |
Write 4K | 67.3 | 148.4 121% | 118.7 76% | 97 44% | 131.3 95% |
Read 4K | 41.47 | 49.65 20% | 52.4 26% | 49.58 20% | 45.84 11% |
Write Seq | 2239 | 1139 -49% | 2247 0% | 1838 -18% | 2370 6% |
Read Seq | 2112 | 2353 11% | 2234 6% | 2421 15% | 1509 -29% |
Write 4K Q32T1 | 488.9 | 484.7 -1% | 515 5% | 326.9 -33% | 481.5 -2% |
Read 4K Q32T1 | 557 | 542 -3% | 584 5% | 372.9 -33% | 560 1% |
Write Seq Q32T1 | 2654 | 1139 -57% | 2235 -16% | 1894 -29% | 2392 -10% |
Read Seq Q32T1 | 3137 | 3108 -1% | 3171 1% | 2828 -10% | 3232 3% |
Total Average (Program / Settings) | -2% /
-4% | 9% /
7% | -2% /
-1% | 17% /
18% |
* ... smaller is better
Disk Throttling: DiskSpd Read Loop, Queue Depth 8
GPU Performance
The GeForce RTX 2070 is performing where we expect it to be relative to other laptops in our database equipped with the same GPU. Raw performance is almost 20 percent faster than the RTX 2070 Max-Q version as found on the Razer Blade 15 to be on the same level as the RTX 2070 Super Max-Q. Upgrading to the RTX 2070 Super or RTX 2080 Super Max-Q will net users very marginal improvements in the one-digit range based on our experience with a range of gaming laptops.
Interestingly, Fire Strike scores between Balanced mode, Performance mode, and Turbo fan mode are very close between them despite the differences in fan noise. If you don't plan on overclocking and don't mind higher core temperatures, then you can game on Balanced mode or Performance mode for quieter fan noise without sacrificing all that much performance.
See our dedicated page on the mobile GeForce RTX 2070 for more technical information and benchmark comparisons.
3DMark 11 Performance | 21233 points | |
3DMark Cloud Gate Standard Score | 41006 points | |
3DMark Fire Strike Score | 18127 points | |
3DMark Time Spy Score | 7818 points | |
Help |