Well that settles that! I’m confident after seeing temps that the i9 3080 model will be manageable in terms of temps so I’m ordering today. Thank you for the review! I’ll stay tuned for your thoughts on the higher range model as well. Keep up the great work!
@GamingFist hey dude! So i didn’t film anything BUT I have gamed at max setting 1440p in cod Cold War for about 4 hours with an ambient temp of 80 degrees and never once did my i9 3080 x17 throttle. I left it in balanced fan profile with performance power mode selected and it crushed it like a champ! I never once saw temps rise above 82 degrees.
Good review, but I’d love an extra section comparing a laptop with its competitors in the form of charts or something. In this case the legion. Fps thermals etc
@@MashITTech Yeah I forgot you also had the R4 first and slowly and steadily you’ve become the guy to look up to for Alienware laptop reviews. Great work man
Wow best laptop Reviewer you help so much with buying a new laptop you give all the important information pros and cons I recommend you to my friends to sending appreciation from Australia
Initial impressions from this video are mixed: Timespy score is low. Shadow of the Tomb FPS is low (see my GP66 review, the RTX 3070 scores much higher). Warzone FPS seem a bit low. My diagnosis is either drivers need updating, Nvidia Optimus (no MUX) is holding the FPS back, or they included slower RAM in this unit like in some of the Ryzen laptops causing lower FPS. I would be very interested to see the performance with upgraded RAM or updated/firmware drivers.
Hey mate, love your videos, nice to see you over here. I am working on that today. I will plug into an external display to eliminate Optimus overhead and also I have some x8 ram I am going to test. Obviously I will also update nvidia drivers but that shouldn’t make a much of a difference for time spy and fire strike 👍
Comparison between x17 and Legion 7 would be great. I believe alot of people especially on reddit and facebook asking which one would be better and asking for both pros and cons
@@MashITTech Thank you! And also just wanna ask for your opinion. Which one would you prefer the x17 or legion 7? The only deal breaker for me for x17 is the no QHD 165hz panel. It is a deal breaker for most of us. 4k 120hz just consumes too much energy and bad for battery but pros is that 11980hk 11800h just beats 5900hx. So its really tough to decide, which pros is more worth compared to the other cons 😅
Great Review!!! It was really interesting to see how the this x17 will fare. Alienware have really stepped up in some ways with the x series. Its really cool to see. The more powerful i9/3080/32GB RAM/4K screen should be really well build and interesting laptop in this case :D
I received my X17 today (3080, 11980HK, 64GB XMP RAM), updated Bios and all drivers, set max fan, high performance power, and overclocked as much as I could. Was able to hit a combined score of 12,030 on internal display (Optimus) and 12,812 on external display (no Optimus). Still hoped for more given the scores the similarly spec'd MSI GE76 can get (13,500ish), but not terrible I guess.
Slim, portable, powerful, runs cool, max CPU, max GPU, lots of ports, lots of power. I'd say the Alienware X17 is the best gaming laptop of the year and whoever bought it will definitely be happy with it. This is by far my favourite laptop I have seen in a while.
Too bad dell continues to not get on the 165hz 1440p train. There are 17 inchers out there. It's not much more expensive to source, especially for a company as large as Dell. I guess they really want you to upgrade to 4k120hz. SHAME on you Dell
I like this machine. I am waiting for a version with 12th gen CPU next year. I am also waiting until Windows 11 is actually released sometime next year. Given the strict Hardware requirements for Windows 11 and the fact Microsoft has not officially settle on several aspects of Windows 111 justifies a pause for a year.
This guys obviously doesn't take shit from manufacturer like many other RU-vidrs. If there's anything wrong he says it straight forward. Finally some real review.
Thank you! Really makes my US$2440 RTX 3070 Scar 15 G533 purchase much easier to swallow. Really wanted to go Alienware this year but the lack of high-end RAM parts during the pandemic really hurt this system IMO. No way in the world I will pay such a premium for a system that doesn't have the utmost best hardware to supplement the high-end specs.
15 minutes ago I just ordered the x17, 32 GB, 4k, 3070. (I chose the 3070 versus the 3080 because of the brick size). (Upgrading from my Acer aspire... Lol). In 2009 I spent $3,800 on an alienware laptop. What a difference!!!
@@shunsui5626 agreed it looks awesome but the sad thing is it has no number pad which is a nono for me and it ain’t worth upgrading since i have mine with the 3080 and 32gb ram 😂
@@hishammse8826 same bro same 😅 it just came out to our 3080 then they bring this out but I’m just admiring the body of it I think it might actually beat us in cooling though by the look of where the fans are this time
@@shunsui5626 it will definitely beat the m series in my opinion cuz of the cooling and i agree with you that body looks really nice and i love how they made it thinner and lighter which is a plus for me and for everyone i’m sure 👌🏽👀
Great review. I do however, wish manufacturers would stop including 1080p as an option already. It's halfway thru 2021. 1440p monitors have been out for many years already and should be the standard for PC gaming. These companies are just milking old technology to ignorant buyers.
You are so right and this was also one of my gripes especially after using the legion 5 pro and 7’s beautiful 16” 1600p panel! Dell need to wake up, they make a great laptop and don’t fit it with the best options
I wish Alienware didn't make it as thin. Not all gamers want a thin gaming laptop. I rather prefer a thick laptop with the best performance and best cooling rather than this type of style.
Never seen temps that good on an Alienware. Thank you for getting this review out to us so soon. We need content like this to make our purchase decisions.
yeah also got the older R1 version of X17 with 11th gen intel i9 11980 hk 2.60ghz,3302mhz,8 cores fhd 17.3 inch 360hz, 32gb ddr4 xmp at 3466mhz , nvidia rtx 3080 16gb ,cherry mx keyboard, still happy with it
Great review. I'm about to order it from Dell Italy, the only perplexity is the keyboard layout, I'm afraid that ANSI will get me. Do you know if you can ask for ISO layout when ordering?
@@MashITTech In the configurator it shows USA / International layout on both keyboards (membrane and mechanical). I can't figure out if it's ISO or ANSI, I want to be sure it's ISO. Presale support does not exist in Italy. Do you have any suggestions?
Great review! amazing and thank you. I order a x17 too and it said shipped from factory on 27th of June.I'm in UK and have no idea when i could get my new alienware. the track is still pending in china.
@@MashITTech thanks for reply Mash! the track website syncreon said ETA is 6th of this month but i don't think so cause there is nothing update since 27th of june after the shipped from chinese factory
oh wow, sorry I miss read your first post. If you have an ETA of 6th that is usually accurate. You will probably get an email from UKmail on monday giving you a planned delivery date.
@@MashITTech thanks Mash! really love your review since yesterday open box one.I was very excited and guess you are the first one do the open box in UK. I bought a samsung 980 ssd which is 2280. Do I need to prepare a screw for installation?
no, you shouldn't. my spare m.2 slot already had the mounting screw in place, you may be able to see this in the invoking video when I showed the internals. Ince you install the 980 make sure you keep an eye on temps if you haven't got a SSD heatsink (use crystal disk info) just in case the 980 run hot as I haven't tested a 980 yet
wow the thermals are good o.O I may have to get this lol. I'm still traumatized from the horrible thermals on the alienware m15 r5 with a 5900HX, but the asus rog zephyrus g15 has been serving me well, it's just that it doesn't have both RAM slots available for upgrades and and the dots on the lid are a bit bothersome lol
How is the M15 R5 with Ryzen 9 holding up? I’m struggling to choose between the base X15 (with 360Hz panel) and maxed out M15 R5 (with 165 Hz panel). 😞
@@sathurshansuresh7937 i returned it lol, you have to put in work and kneecap the performance in order to get thermals under control lol. I just put in my order earlier today for the x15 with the QHD panel
The gpu is only running at 70-80% at 110-120w/140w so I wanna see what it's like maxed out . It's CPU and resolution bottlenecked at 1080p, but overall doesn't look bad.
_The Eurocup makes me missing out the latest updates right here_ 2:23 _Key point_ 5:37 _The X17 has a robust approach pack, other than heavier that I expected! I think that maybe the X15 can bring me a cool fit_ _Amazing content Mash, thumbs up, with the bell on_
Timespy scores seem to be 10% less than comparable power gpus, even though laptop runs cold. Anyone care to speculate, say driver issues, no mux switch etc?
@@LeFatalpotato I'm not sure I've seen any single rank 16GB DDR4 SODIMMs clocked at 3200MT/s or faster, whilst the 8GB units I did at several retailers... that might suggest single rank memory of such speed and capacity being not very viable. And it looks like the 32GB units are not there either, except for maybe ECC server modules... with the larger capacity and clocks required clearly making a single rank unit even less viable or possible outside of maybe server RDIMMs ;) But hey, do post your memory findings once you get yours ;)
@@marcin_karwinski considering I might be the early adopter of something first time in my life,(updating from a gt740m lol), i will try to be as helpful to as many people as possible. Good media to share info is reddit and notebook forum, right?
@@LeFatalpotato reddit threads are quite often undergoing search engine crawling and indexing... so yeah, i guess it is. The forum's easy reachability depends on the respective forums. Still, if one wants to find something published online, then with a bit of a search it can be done regardless where the material is placed ;)
Just ordered my X17! I love my M15 R4 but the X17 is a significant upgrade. 4K 120hrz 100% adobe color RTX 3080 16GB GDDR6 11th Gen I9 processer 5.0ghz 64GB of GDDR4 at 3477 2TB and 165watts! This laptop should keep me good for 3 to 5yrs.
@@MashITTech Yup, the M15 is great at 4K ultra 60 on oled but no Ray Tracing at all, fps drops into 20s. Unless I switch to 1080p, but X17 should get me more fps and Ray Tracing at medium in 4K.
@@kiko10061980reloaded get the 11800h and 64gb ram, the difference between those cpus is less than 5-6% while more ram is always helpful for serious video editing.
I should have abandoned my bestbuy order and got one from dell on the 15th, but since I ordered mine on June 3rd I swore I would get the bestbuy model before the estimated ship date of July 19th the Dell rep gave me. . I’m just glad people are getting theirs. Enjoy yours bro!
I haven’t tested any yet but to be honest usually just propping the rear end up a bit for improved airflow does as good a job as a cooling pad. I will test though when I get time
Albeit the display is superior, the famerrate in the Legion 5 Pro will be lower due the larger resolution, so you won't be able to take full advantage of the Hz supported by the Legion 5. I find the design and materials of the X17 more premium, and despite I would miss the numbpad, the keyboard from Alienware is better. Also, not sure of how both will compare in terms of performance, but the thermal solotion of the X17 equiped with 3070 and 3080 (which includes 4 fans, vapor chanber and liquid metal in the CPU) seems more advanced. So yes, I think that the Lenovo Legion 5 Pro is the absolute champion of the performance/cost ratio, but if someone is able to spent more money, the X17 has better design, similar or better noise levels/thermals keeping similar performance. I'm waiting my X17 but the L5Pro was the second choice if I had to ditch the AW...
I'd pay double the price of the current x17 if it meant not having to suffer through any dreadful AMD laptop... So not sure if I agree on any "Legion" recommendation.
Have to admit after watching this and thinking I ordered one today. I hope it last a long time bc it’s gonna be my game set up and tv for my home connecting to tv
Different strokes for different folks. The look is cleaner without a numpad and the keys have a bigger hit zone. That is a win in my books. Also usb numpads are cheap and easy enough to use on the side if you need one.
What else would you need? 360hz? Overkill. QHD? cant tell the differance in games only on workspace windows ect. I put a qhd and a 1080p side by side and ran the same game..couldnt tell the differance. imo QHD is only better when you get on bigger screens.
@@solo0071 I disagree with your assessment. If you have played a laptop on 300hz or 360hz FHD, the experience is phenomenal (if G-sync or Freesync- most are). G-sync and Freesync ensure whatever frame the system is capable of is consistent. On Cold War my k/d ratio increases. However, Dell dropped the ball on US customers as we can only order 165hz FHD & 120hz UHD options minus G-Sync
Waaaay better than the 4k rez ones which will struggle to get above 60 fps in modern games even with the 3080. Also, after using a 2560 x 1440 27" desktop display for 9 years (now replaced by a even bigger 34" ultrawide) I find no reason to use rez above 1080p in devices with such small displays as laptops or tablets. I ordered mine with a 3070 and expect to play at 1080p from 120 to 165 fps in most of the games.
Considering most Low end alienware come with 300hz I'd expect that at least..or 165hz qhd. A 3070 can handle it. I just think for the price and the size of a 17" you could have a better display. I'm sorry I expect more.
I'm SO STOKED!!! My Maxed X17 is "Out For Delivery" FINALLY!! I don't have a RU-vid channel and I don't make content; i just consume :\. However, Dave, if you wanted me to test anything, let me know man, i will. Your videos have helped me so much.
Thanks mate, if you have got the i9 and you fancy tweaking it would be very helpful as I only have the i7 and would like to find out if we can improve performance and temps
@@MashITTech Sounds good...if you'd like, you can DM me on twitter @TheFloridaRandy and we can exchange some specs and info if youd' like. Thanks, brother.
if i compare this to the Lenovo legion 5 pro or the MSI GP66/76 i think it still runs pretty hot to be honest with you! The laptop does look amazing! non the less awesome review !
I was waiting for this review! Honestly, now what I am thinking is which would be better for gaming (or performances in general) between this and the m17 r4. I was Honestly thinking to buy this with the i9 and 3080 but I am stil not completely sure about it. Will you do a comparison with the m17 r4? Great job as always!
I feel like if you're not looking to go for the newest and shiniest thing in the block, it's better to wait until the dust settles around x17. I personally bought one because I direly need a capable laptop, but Intel 10th Gen sucks, and ryzen laptops are either from brands with lackluster qc, or delivers in 4 months. Right now, m17 stomps x17 performance wise, but x17 is brand new, and we don't know what holds it back. Maybe it's just the ram, lack of mux, or the drivers, and x17 can easily compare with the m17 in gpu side with a few tweaks, and with a much better cpu. All that being said, maybe the issues run deeper, and you might want to go with a m17, or a legion 7, if you want a good cpu.
@@LeFatalpotato I was also thinking to buy one of the new MSI rider because it seems that they excels in performances but I don't really know right now... I love the Alienware stile but if performances are not worth the price then I don't think I will buy it.
@@Antonino9706 I actually liked ge76 style more lol. I don't think Alienware will have more performance, might be equal though. I was thinking about going for the raider before I purchased this, main reason being the screen and a 10% discount I got from Dell. I don't have another machine that I can consume media from, so this with its 4k screen was a better option for me. I hope I will get comparable performance to a raider, would be a shame if I did not.
So, now you've reviewed it... :) Which one do you think is better overall and powerful for gaming? Alienware X17 or Legion 7? Thanks for the great review!
Ah I want them both 😂 both are great machines. If I was picking one for me it would be the x17 as I always buy a 17” gaming laptop but that legion 7 16” 2560x1600 screen is way better especially if you also use the laptop for work. I also like the lit rear ports and mux switch.
Yes, that machine seems to be getting all the lime light, and I am on the fence on the blade 14, compact is good but I wouldn't want to be gaming on a 14" screen and the price is eye watering in the UK
@@MashITTech Agreed, 14" isn't comfortable to play games on, but at least the thermals improved cause of AMD. Glad to know that X17 doesn't get too hot now cause of the new design. In terms of durability, do you think Alienware laptops can last for maybe 5 years? Cause I'm hoping to get a productivity / gaming laptop that doesn't break down easily
@@Darkev77 lol sure, hope he sees our comments and answers! Reviewers rarely talk about durability but it’s definitely one of the most important aspect!
@@marcopooh hard agree, I personally used to be an alienware user for quite some time and from my (outdated) experience they don’t last that long, when I switched to ASUS ROG I definitely noticed a change in longevity. But I’m not sure if things changed now
Amazing work david!! Really dedicated review.so i love alienware because of the way it is built and the styling.from your review i see thst this laptops performance is really good as well especially the cooling system seems much more improved.so if you do best gaming laptop of the year , this laptop is gonna give a tough competition to other laptops right?overall thats a quality gaming laptop🙂.
@@MashITTech hmm i see , still a lot of work to do . Try playing red dead 2 , gta 5, ac valhalla and other big games...they are more vibrant games and should give more idea about the pixels.
@@MashITTech Thank you so much, you're the boss when it comes to Alienware and comparing laptops. Maybe you can compare the X17 to the likes of the Blade 17 Pro or even the new Blade 14?
Your reviews are so thorough thank you. I have been waiting such a long time for this review. I’ve been looking at msi ge76, asus, razer. In your next video could you give us an idea of pros of each laptop by brand to help decide. Just so annoyed about num pad but this laptop looks awesome so just want to be sure
Yes overall it is an amazing laptop, like you I am annoyed by the keyboard and there should have been a qhd option! I am planning to do a few vs videos to help people make the right choice, I have a m17r4, razer blade pro and the recent legion range at the moment. The msi and asus are hard for me to get hold of but I will keep trying
@@MashITTech thank you so much for responding as always. I requested Dave 2d but still nothing lol but I appreciate it’s hard to keep up. Also loving these performance deep dives.
Great review. I'm writing this on my trusty 17 R5, and agree with your point about the keyboard - I find the numpad useful for 3D modelling. However, once this laptop dies I'm planning to go down the Dan A4 route simply from a repairability perspective.
@@MashITTech Yes, I saw your Dan A4 video - another great video, and it cemented my plan. Since my (very expensive) MBP 2017 started failing with keyboard and flexgate issues I'm uneasy about spending so much on proprietary laptops which can't easily be repaired in future.
Looks like a great machine. I agree it’s sad it doesn’t have a number pad or adv. optimus on all monitors and no mux. That’s almost a deal breaker in today’s age.
Thank you for this amazing review! Most of time I will use x17 with external display, will we have a bit external display data in your perf deep dive video? oh and I believe they mentioned for X series we will have new option in bios to manually shift power between GPU and CPU, will that also affect the gaming perf?
Will take a look at that vid as I didn’t notice that in the bios. External display will attach directly to nvidia so better performance. I will cover that in the deep dive
Great video as always Dave! I ordered m17 r4 with RTX 3070 3 days ago, but I’m so confused now after you said that the fan noise “is annoying” compared to x17. Really love the 360Hz Gsync screen on m17 compared to this 165Hz. Can anyone relate to this and tell me if the fan noise is really “that bad” in m17, don’t remember that Dave said it is really “that bad” in his review video. Thank you, and have a great day ✌️.
It’s not that bad at all. They just have a bit of a whine as it uses slim fans very much like a lot of slim gaming laptops. The x17 although slim didn’t have a whine, more of a whoosh
Thank you for the fast answer sir, now I can sleep safely 😁 !!! I will undervolt it anyway using your Throttlestop guide. You are the best Dave !! Have a good one! Cheers 🍻✌️
I have the x17 on order right now. 16gb, 11800H, RTX 3080, and 165hz screen. I am really upset the 360hz screen has not been available since day one from Dell themselves. The only way to get it is from Best Buy paired with a 3070. I want the RTX 3080 paired with the 360hz screen which features both Optimus as well as G-Sync. I will probably return and reorder if it comes in stock within the first month (I keep getting conflicting answers from customer service reps. Some said one week, some said "at least 3-4 weeks").
Sadly since I ordered it came into stock in the U.K. as I would have ordered that panel too and it will have a mux if it’s like the m15r5 qhd with advanced Optimus
Nice review👍🏻 I just ordered a m17r4 but I’m having second thoughts about cancelling that and get the x17 instead while watching. I know you have reviewed both m17r4 and this, Do you think this is better/worth the upgrade? My config is 360hz, i7 3070, 32gb. I didn’t see the 3080 option when I ordered it but I really want a 3080:/ I’m mainly going to just play games on it and maybe a little video editing. Thanks and have a great day!
Thanks, I am actually in the middle of making a comparison video that should be out tomorrow. They are both great laptops and have their own merits. Hopefully my video will answer all your questions
Thank you for the review! I have been contemplating getting this model for a few days now but unsure which would be better for gaming (Guild Wars, WoW, COD, etc)? i7 or i9? Some say the i9 the CPU gets too hot? Others say it is fine? Any thoughts? Thanks!
I think you should save your money and get the i7. Also working on a video at the moment as I have managed to undervolt and overclock the 11800h so performance is pretty incredible.
@@MashITTech Thank you for your quick reply, sir! :). Really appreciate it. Your videos are a lifesaver for someone like me who knows very little about this stuff.
I can only afford the base mode with the GeForce 3060. Am I better off buying the standard x17 with 3060? Or m15 R6? Trying to get my kid on for her bday. She loves gaming and I’m broke. Would prefer the bigger screen. But I won’t the best computer for her. Thanks in advance.
@@LCJammer as someone whose done work in a repair shop throughout college, the amount of fan replacements in systems is basically none in contrast to anything else, honestly even at full tilt 24/7 id not even bat a eye or worry in the slightest
I really love my Alienware X17, but my only gripe about is is that the side bottom edges of the display has extremely little clearance, so if you open the laptop lid around the middle area where the mouse pad is, or open the lid near the edges (not the sides).. the display will slightly bend since it is a big laptop.. and because there is little clearance, the edge makes a slight noise, therefore "scratching" the bottome side edge.. and eventually some of the paint will come off if you keep opening the laptop via right side or even the left. I opened my laptop four times, and it already has a scuff. I ordered a Rustoleum spray paint in order to correct the scuff. I think the build quality is amazing, but every user has to be careful eveytime they open their X17 laptop. I love the laptop, but they should have fortified the back of the display with metal instead of a plastic to eliminate any bending.
That’s really odd the two I have had did not do this! I am going to have a play when I get in the office later but I wonder if yours is slightly out of alignment?
Maxed out M15 R5 (with Ryzen 9, RTX3070 and 165Hz panel) and X15 base (with i7, RTX3060 and 360 Hz) panel are currently waiting in my cart waiting for your X15 review. When is your X15 arriving? 🤩 PS: Dell doesn’t offer higher FPS panels for the M15 R5 or R6 here 😞
@Mash IT, finally got my X17 i7 3080 4k but noticed that when I fired it up for the very first time and got it configured, I had all the usual Windows Power Plans and in ACC I could see Balance and High Performance as options. But then did a bunch of updates, now I only have Balanced as an available plan on Windows or ACC, do you have the same issue? Great videos and active participation in the comments, great job bud!
Have you had the chance to review the Asus M16 and if so. Which laptop do you like better? I have the M16 and im thinking about returning it and getting the x17. The 360hz 1080p screen keeps me away from switching though. I love the screen on the asus laptop.
My X17 i7 rtx 3070 came in. Some thermal throttling on cinebench multicore so I undervolted 0.075mv with xtu. Cinebench score still same at @ 13,500 but 10 degrees lower at 90c and rock solid 4.18ghz all cores no tjrottling.
Nice work Scott, yes I also get a little throttling but with a 0.5mv undervolt I can also maintain 4.2ghz (my first X17 managed a -.1mv UV but this second model is pretty poor with the UV)
@@hardkore360 If the Lenovo is an aluminum chassis but it certifies the quality well because there are many reviews that it is too flexible and not of the best quality, and it certifies well because the Alienware is not a plastic chassis
You sure can and I have done it many times in the past. There will be no problems but some panels scale non native resolutions than others and if they don't scale well the textures look a little soft. If you look at my legion 5 pro or 7 videos when I games I used the native 2560x1600 then downscaled to 1920x1200 and the games still looked great and to be honest I could hardly notice it is not native. You may want to also try running games at 2560x1440 on the 4k panel, the 3070/3080 can easily cope with 1440p res 👍
I really like the look of this laptop. The only worry is that i have the Alienware m15 r2 and it's been a nightmare of breakdowns and hardware failures. It's just bluescreens on me again, i think i will have to sell it broken
Sorry to hear about your m15r2, sounds like you got a dud :( I have had 2 X17's in and also having chatted to many friends and viewers with the laptop it seems pretty robust so far, no major complaints
@MashIT when doing the follow-up deep dive, could you please also run an encoding test? Not only to check software encoding on longer projects, but also to check if the QSV from TigerLake's Xe nets better quality encodes at same bitrates, encoding speed improvements and maybe even encoding output size differences with same CQ/CR when compared to software only using the 11th gen H45 Intels, to SW encoding and HW acceleration in the 10th gens and the mobile Amperes...
@@MashITTech Guess the best option for automated testing purposes would have been to get one big/(extremely) high bitrate video, say an uncompressed/ or lightly compressed project of yours or if you do not want to or have such maybe take the streaming quality test videos of high bitrate/quality as the source (eg. those from jell.yfish.us/ or bbb3d.renderfarming.net/download.html or dl.ganjanetwork.ru/Files/Video%20Test%20Files/Bitrate/), process these either in FFMPEG or HANDBRAKE (either tool is quite ubiquituous, is free, and has console interface to script multiple tests using different source files and various combinations of encoders and their settings, including software only, different hardware accelerations QSV/NVENC/AMF-VCE/AppleT2, and video codecs eg. AVC/H264 and HEVC/H265, and speed presets - say veryfast, medium, slower). Output size comparison is pretty straightforward - % or better yet ‰ of original file size should suffice to compare output files and their encoding costs. Encoding speed can be in a total time taken for the encode (eg. scripted with time unix command and similar) or as an average encoding FPS. And finally for quality analysis one could utilise metrics such as VMAF as the simple one value solution or combinations of PNSR and MSSSIM or MSUD or VQM (check technical explanations here: www.compression.ru/video/quality_measure/info.html, or under tools.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-netvc-testing-08.html), obtained eg. using semi-free MSU Video Quality Measurement Tool (www.compression.ru/video/quality_measure/video_measurement_tool.html) or some free tools such as easyVMAF (ottverse.com/vmaf-easyvmaf/ or github.com/gdavila/easyVmaf or any other docker implementation - there are many similar projects) or ffmpeg-quality-metrics (github.com/slhck/ffmpeg-quality-metrics, you can also find it containerised as well) or Video Quality Measurement Tool (www.epfl.ch/labs/mmspg/downloads/vqmt/) or VideoBench for easy graphs and values (github.com/JNoDuq/videobench). Hope this helps preparing future deep dives ;)
Thank you mate. Yes it is really difficult as dell don’t make it obvious at all. I expect the 360hz model will have a mux but this is a bit of a guess as the qhd m15r5 with advanced Optimus has a mux.
Great review. I bought my M17R4 almost fully spec'd out and I use it 15 hours a day between remote work and gaming. My only complaint are the temps and ACC but other than that I'm happy with it. However, I feel kinda cheated because Dell marketed the m17 as their best and then replaced roughly 4 months later with the X series. Had I of known this I would of waited but now I can't afford spending this kind of money so soon. So I'm happy they made a good product but would of expected this to release around a year later not right after I bought my M17. Obviously they knew this was coming soon but still grabbed my money beforehand just a few months prior.
Yeah, I am really surprised they just left the R4 hanging! it doesn't feel like 5 minutes since we reviewed it! Did you check out my m17 and m15 tweaking videos? you can improve the temps quite a bit with throttle stop, TCC offset and MSI afterburner
@@MashITTech Yeah I run throttlestop, it works, I'm just saying they kind of dropped the X a little soon imo.. Do you think the X is the Area 51m "R3" killer? I was going to upgrade to something like that in about 2 years.
Well with the cooling system and new intel 11th gen chips it certainly seems so, I still love my area 51m r2 but if I hadn’t bought that not so long ago I would be considering this one. And you are so right with how quickly they released the x after r4 👍
@@MashITTech Thank you, yeah I will probably be looking at the X version in 2022/2023 to replace this M17R4 but I can't justify the cost right now when I already have the same hardware. But a nice GPU bump in the future and I'll be looking at this in an R2/R3 variant. Awesome review as always
Alienware owner. For anyone with interest in this laptop, please consider the following: This review is showing average of 50% usage of CPU reaching average of 80C; in GPU average 80% usage reaching 78C. There are no stress test on this review to show real max temps at 100% usage. IMO this laptop is going to have heavy throttle when maxing out its performance 100% usage. So it's 3080 variant more so, I could be wrong and I hope so as I would like to get one but I'll wait to see a proper test. Although you keep saying temps well in check, obviously when CPU is only used 50%, and GPU 80%. Play a bit of AC Odyssey (peaks at 100% CPU) and plug a 1440p external monitor (peaks 98% GPU usage) and then show temperatures. For people interested, I would wait to further reviews showing real test on this machine. P.s. Currently owning Alienware area 51m 2080 rtx 9700k. 100% CPU usage at 4.8ghz all cores temps max 90C, 120w 99% GPU usage max temp 75C/76C at 1925ghz 150/160w Balance thermal profile. Liquid metal & repasted.
Thanks for your feedback. please also note this was only running at balanced, the fans can rev up quite a bit so I don't see it being a problem even with heavily CPU utilised games. I am working on a performance deep dive at the moment so there will be more in depth testing of the thermal system, I don't go too heavily in the review itself as a lot of people aren't interested in that level of detail. Unfortunately I don't have AC but I have been testing the system with union valley and cinebencz at the same time to max out cpu and gpu so there will be more in this in the next video.
