By Charles P. Jefferies, NotebookReview Staff | Wednesday, September 05, 2012 | 24820 Reads
Reviewer Rating: 
Pros
- Phenomenal performance
- Customizable LED lighting system
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Beautiful full HD screen
- Tons of ports
Cons
- Fans can be loud
- Options add up quickly
Quick Take:
The newest Alienware M17x is one of the best options for serious gamers looking for a well-built customizable gaming notebook.
This 17.3-inch monster includes the latest 2GB Nvidia GTX 680M graphics and an Intel quad-core processor. We've always liked the M17x, so what's not to like about this fourth generation (R4) model?
Overview
The M17x first joined the Alienware lineup of gaming notebooks back in 2009 after Dell retired the original "Area-51 M17x" as its flagship model. Four years and three revisions later and the "new" Alienware M17x R4 continues to be the dominant player in the Alienware family of notebooks.
Build and Design
Design is just as important to an Alienware as performance. The chassis' angled edges are reminiscent of a military stealth aircraft. The M17x has an "AlienFX" lighting system with eight distinct lighting zones. The keyboard itself can have four distinct colors. Lighting themes and options can be changed using the Alienware Command Center software. Every time I review an Alienware, I spend an inordinate amount of time making themes. This is truly a unique setup.
The M17x is no lightweight, at almost 10 pounds and two inches thick, and the lid is also thicker than we are used to seeing. Build quality is solid; there's little flex found anywhere even though the M17x is made of mostly plastic. I like the rubberized "soft touch" surfaces of the palm rest and lid. The rubberized material is a departure from the original M17x (which debuted in 2009) that had anodized aluminum surface which is why this M17x R4 weighs a few pounds less.
Those looking to upgrade the M17x will have a relatively easy time of it; just two screws hold on the bottom access panel. There are two storage bays and two memory slots beneath. The M17x actually has four total memory slots - accessing the other two requires removing the keyboard, which isn't hard. Dell provides informational how-to guides and videos on removing the access panels.
Input and Output Ports
The M17x is brimming with ports including several video out and four USB 3.0 SuperSpeed. It even has HDMI in, which is useful for playing games from an Xbox or PlayStation on the M17x's display. The M17x has more ports than we've seen on any other notebook. All picture descriptions are left to right.
 Front: Speakers |  Back: Cooling exhaust vents, AC power jack |
 Left: Kensington lock slot, Ethernet, VGA, HDMI out, DisplayPort, 2x USB 3.0, S/PDIF, microphone, headphone/microphone combo, headphone |  Right: Media card reader (top), slot-load Blu-ray drive (bottom), 2x USB 3.0, eSATA/USB combo, HDMI in |
Keyboard and Touchpad
The M17x has a full-size keyboard with separate numeric keypad. The backlighting is second to none and the four quadrants of the keyboard can be changed to a different color making it look too cool. I like the keyboard backlight pattern too; not only is the letter itself illuminated, but also the edge of the key. The backlighting can of course be disabled.
The keyboard feels solid and has satisfactory tactile feedback. It's not my favorite keyboard to type on, but typing is a mostly encouraging experience. The keys have a somewhat rubbery feel which isn't a bad thing in my book. There is no appreciable flex and the layout is as expected with all the keys in the correct positions.
You'll also find dedicated media buttons located above the keyboard for commonly used features like volume control, movie playback, and a wireless on/off button. These are also backlit and adjustable using the previously mentioned Alienware Command Center software.
The Synaptics touchpad is appropriately sized for a 17.3-inch screen. It has a smooth matte surface and two physical buttons with excellent tactile feedback. It's good to see a notebook using a traditional touchpad instead of the increasingly common 'clickpad' where the whole surface is a button; the traditional setup works better in this reviewer's opinion.
Screen and Speakers
The 17.3-inch display has a glossy surface and 1080p resolution (1920x1080). It has satisfactory color saturation and great contrast; bright and dark colors really stand out. Viewing angles are so-so which is expected for a TN panel like this one; it's OK side to side but washes out from above and below after tilting the display 15-20 degrees. The 1920x1080 resolution is wonderful for entertainment and productivity alike and its the highest resolution available on a notebook PC (for now). This display has a large sheet of reflective plastic covering it, which looks great but acts like a mirror (any bright light sources behind you can be a problem).
The two stereo speakers located under the palm rest are made by Klipsch and sound much bigger than their physical size suggests. A full-sounding audio system is certainly appreciated on a high-end multimedia notebook like the M17x. These speakers have enough power to entertain a small room of people.
Performance and Benchmarks
Our Alienware M17x R4 review unit has the following configuration:
- 17.3-inch glossy 1080p display (1920x1080 resolution)
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
- Intel Core i7-3720QM quad-core processor (2.6GHz, up to 3.6GHz Turbo Boost, 6MB cache, 45W TDP)
- Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M w/ 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
- Graphics automatically switchable to integrated Intel HD via Nvidia Optimus
- 8GB DDR3-1600 RAM (2x 4GB; 32GB max. - 4x 8GB)
- 750GB 7200RPM Hitachi hard drive (7K750) w/ 32GB SSD cache
- Intel Centrino Wireless-N 2230 wireless LAN
- Integrated Bluetooth v4.0
- Integrated HD webcam
- Slot-load Blu-ray reader/DVD burner
- 9-cell li-ion battery (90Wh)
- Weight: 9.39 lbs.
- Dimensions: 16.14 x 11.97 x 1.75 inches
- Starting Price: $1,499
- Price as Configured: $2,649
The base M17x is already well equipped, but our review unit has some options that bring up the price (and performance) considerably. At the top of the list is the Nvidia GeForce GTX 680M (+$550 over the standard GTX 660M), Intel Core i7-3720QM processor (+$150 over the i7-3610QM) and Blu-ray reader (+$100). The system has a couple of other options too including the beautiful 1080p display (+$150), 8GB of RAM (+$75) and the 750GB 7200RPM hard drive with 32GB SSD cache (+$125). The SSD cache is interesting; it's configured in RAID with the hard drive and provides a good boost in performance. A variety of storage options are available including up to 512GB SSDs.
wPrime processor comparison results (lower scores mean better performance):
PCMark 7 is a newer benchmark and measures overall system performance (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark 11 is a newer benchmark and measures overall graphics card performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark Vantage measures overall graphics card performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
3DMark06 measures overall graphics card performance for gaming (higher scores mean better performance):
CrystalDiskMark storage drive performance test:
Gaming Performance
We ran two modern 3D games on the M17x R4: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Bioware's Mass Effect 3. Both games were run at maximum settings at the display's native 1920x1080 resolution. The performance is nothing short of "wow" - the GTX 680M has the numbers to prove it is a top-shelf card. It's a safe assumption that there is no modern game the M17x R4 cannot play on maximum settings with this card. The M17x R4 comes standard with an Nvidia GTX 660M and is available with an AMD Radeon HD 7970M and Nvidia GTX 675M, which are a few hundred cheaper. The GTX 680M is the fastest of course, but there's an extra high premium for the privilege.
It's worth noting that the M17x R4 is available with a 120Hz 3D display option in conjunction with an Nvidia graphics card.
Mass Effect 3:
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3:
Heat and Noise
The M17x's powerful internal components produce a significant amount of heat. Fortunately, the chassis is large and thick enough to accommodate an appropriate cooling solution. There are two large vents situated at either end of the notebook facing out the back. The fans at idle are, for all intents and purposes, silent. Under load, however, they spool up fast and can be heard from just about anywhere in a living room or classroom; the right fan which cools the graphics card is the loudest. There is a slight whine too, which increases with RPM. While the cooling system is somewhat noisy, it certainly gets the job done and keeps the M17x running cool; the top and bottom of the chassis didn't warm up to a significant degree even during extended gaming and benchmarking sessions.
Battery Life
I measured four hours and 45 minutes of battery life during our standard battery run-down test (Windows 7 Balanced power profile, 70% screen brightness, wireless active and refreshing a web page every 60 seconds). This is an excellent time for a powerful 17.3-inch gaming notebook. Nvidia Optimus takes a lot of the credit; it automatically switches the dedicated GTX 680M graphics card off and uses the integrated Intel HD, which greatly reduces power consumption. The SSD and third-gen Intel Core i7 processor are also good on power.
Battery life test results (higher scores mean better battery life):
onclusion
The Alienware M17x once again comes highly recommended as a high-end gaming and multimedia platform. Its unique design, customizable lighting system and outstanding performance make it a top choice. The M17x gets just about everything right including a beautiful full HD display, solid keyboard and touchpad, plenty of input and output ports (the most we've seen on a notebook, as a matter of fact), good speakers and surprisingly excellent battery life at almost five hours. The M17x's customization options are impressive with several graphics card choices, 3D display options, and up to two storage drives. The Nvidia GTX 680M in our system produced outstanding gaming performance.
My gripe with the M17x is the loud cooling system; at idle this notebook is totally silent, but under load, the fans get noisy and can easily be heard across a medium-size room. Some of our editors would also complain about the lack of a matte screen option for the display.
The M17x starts at $1,500 though our review notebook with moderate options comes in at more than $2,500. The best doesn't come cheap - stick to reasonable performance options and you'll be getting a solid piece of hardware for the money.
Pros:
- Phenomenal performance
- Customizable LED lighting system
- Good keyboard and touchpad
- Beautiful full HD screen
- Tons of ports
Cons:
- Fans can be loud
- Options add up quickly
Individual Ratings: *
Software & Support
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
* Ratings averaged to produce final score
Upgrade Capabilities
Usability
Design
Performance
Features
Price/Value Rating
* Ratings averaged to produce final score
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