Alienware 17 R4 (7820HK, QHD, GTX 1080) Laptop Review

[Redaktion]

Bigger, faster, louder. It's not often that a notebook gains weight and girth in successive generations. In this case, the new Alienware 17 R4 utilizes the extra space wisely for an overall stronger experience that more than makes up for the added mass.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-17-R4-7820HK-QHD-GTX-1080-Laptop-Review.214918.0.html

[dthrp]

Great review, but I'll never understand folks who buy Alienware.

[ricesan]

3 heat pipes on a 1080 and HK cpu lol. Can always count on Dellienware for a good joke.

[Propete10]

Well I repasted mine and now I game BF1 at 4K with max OC on GPU and 4 GHz CPU for hours on end with no throttling. Some small work makes a big difference. Dell has done an amazing job with this unit. Haters are just jealous...

[Papusan]

And DELL still continue pushing out Alienware's with TRIPOD temp mess(3 legs aka the wellknown Tripod cpu heatsink overheating). Yeah, It's by design and hopless QC by DELL!! These CPU overheating problems was promised fixed early December said Dell's Vice President for the Alienware and XPS line's Mr. Azor. Now we're soon halfway through May. Not much has changed from the Dell Camp. Yeah, Dell because Alienware is DELL now. I can see the reviewer haven't mentioned the other welknown overheating problems those Aw models have... PCH and ssd overheating!! All of the ALIENWARE BGA Echo models released from early 2015 and now into 2017 is all crippled in some way. Alienware is now under the Dell's umbrella. Can't recognize this brand anymore.
This is a big 17,3 inches <high end> laptop who sahll replace desktops. Dell's Gaming flagship... A wimpy setup for a big laptop. Crippled down aka 1/2 sized 3rd M.2 ssd slot, Only 2 ram slots,  2 USB Type-A ports,  2 video-out ports, Only 2 audio ports, ZERO SD reader, ZERO Optane support, mDP port is version 1.2 instead of 1.3 and forget ZERO fan controll as other brands now have implented in their own software... Yeah, Alienware and Dell has started going backwards into the future. BTW. Nice with unlocked processor, who can't hold Dell's advertised max Turbo boost in normal tasks. Can this be worse? i don't know!! Maybe.

[vitha]

I have had my 17 r4 for 3 months. not one issue at all. I purchased a open box at micro center for 400 under the price of new. It has the gtx 1070 that runs everything great even BF1 at 4k for 5 hours straight.
The only thing I can plain about is I wish I had more storage space. it came with the 256 pci and 1 tb 7200. Enough for standard install of a few games on the ssd and slower programs on 7200 spinner. I have not had any over heat issues at all, even as I encode and edit video when I am on the road. editing 4k video is a breeze and it takes about same amount of time as my 7700k 24gb dd4 with 1080 desktop.

Gaming wise no issues on lag or coverage range with wifi. I can even game bf1 while I am hot spotting from my cell phone. In the bios you have pre programmed overclocks level 1, 2, and 3. it also has a customized setup you can do your self. I think 3.9ghz level 3 is good enough for most basically everything. The two, 3.0 usb ports are fine, since when on the road I use just one port. At home I have a nice pedestal for cooling, a 3.0 powered hub, and my HDMI 2.0, 27 inch 4K Gsync, keyboard, mouse, and gigabit network access.

I do have the Alienware Graphics Amplifier, but don't use it with this laptop. Once the GPU gets outdated for software and games I can bump it up while at home.

Noise wise is not a issue, the fans can be adjusted you just have to search for the software. While I am editing I have my Bluetooth head set on so I can not hear it. The same with gaming.

Battery wise I can say 10 fold better with the bigger battery. I can easy get 8 to 12 hours of use if I am not gaming or editing. editing I get 3 to 4 hours and the same with gaming.

As with Dell, and since I purchased at micro center, a certified seller and you can use your dell preferred account at Microcenter. I have the 4 year coverage plan. you can break your computer every year, and they will replace it for free every year. They also cover every aspect of the computer repair for 4 years, hard drive, monitor, motherboard, cpu, gpu, ram, and hard drives. If you want to be a dick head you can simply pour water on keyboard burn the machine up, and go to micro center and get a new laptop every year. If they don't sell, or make what you bought, they will upgrade you to the next version out for free. So dell alienware team up with microcenter is the best thing out there.

I have a 3 year old msi gaming laptop with the 3630qm and 780m. It is lighter and more flimsy and I like it for a old laptop, the new r4 will hold up much better to me.

Dell is not a company I care to deal with, however this 17 r4 with 7820hk gtx1070 is a good laptop for under 1700 dollars. not counting tax!

[Doesn't understand]

So what's wrong with it then, "dthrp"? What's the issue with Alienware?

[dthrp]

@Doesn't understand:

Not much, except for the fact that the competition is relatively superior.
The most obvious issue is the price. Price on gaming laptops are usually determined by performance-weight ratio, or performance-battery life-weight ratio in the case of laptops with Nvidia Optimus. On a same config, the bigger and heavier the machine, the easier it becomes to cool so it's cheaper to produce.

Currently, the lightest rigs are Gigabyte's P3X, Aero, Aorus lineups, MSI's GS series, ASUS' GLX01 series and Razer Blade. On average, the weighting are as follows: 17.3" - 1080 - 3.2 kg, 17.3" - 1070 - 2.7 kg, 15.6" - 1070 - 2.5 kg, 15.6" - 1060 - 2 kg, 14" - 1060 - 1.8 kg, and 14" - 1050 Ti - 1.7 kg. And these numbers are going to get lower when they finish adopting the Max-Q design. Compared to this, the Alienware 17 R4 (1080/1070) is 4.5 kg, 15 R3 (1070/1060) is 3.6 kg, and 13 R3 (1060/1050 Ti) is 2.5 kg. That's about a kilogram more for every display-dGPU size category, and you pay almost the same amount or just slightly less for more weight.

I'm not a fan of bulky and heavy laptop as I rarely commute on foot but rather prefer to carry a mini form-factor gaming desktop if needed. On a daily basis though, I use a lightweight gaming or workstation laptop with 8~10 hour battery life because I don't want a desktop or any other peripheral PC.

Having said all that, reviews including NBCs' and user forums all tell me that Alienware's performance is garbage, which isn't surprising at all. QC is one of the worst too and under Dell's management, it's actually gotten worse as opposed to what some people may claim. Performance and quality wise, I'd rate MSI>Clevo>Gigabyte(+Aorus)>Asus>Acer>Dell Alienware, without counting Razer because I won't buy a quad-core laptop with soldered ram.

So really, the only advantages Alienware have are the relatively durable build quality and the unique combination of large batteries with Nvidia Optimus and some people say a better keyboard, but I disagree on that. The problem though, is if I wanted all that while sacrificing some game-specific features like G-Sync and 120Hz Panel, I have Lenovo Thinkpad P, Dell Precision 7000, and HP Zbook lineups that are much better in all those areas, with extra perks like business security, more storage bays and ports, pen-touch displays, oh and also being a kilogram lighter. And with mobile workstations, there're always "holiday+business" discounts that go up to 50% so that the price becomes pretty justifiable for an average consumer.

So other than to get that OLED screen on the 13 R3, you see why I don't understand people who buy something so expensive and isn't worth the price tag.

[plot]

@ dthrp
It depends on where you live, I guess. I'm currently in Spain and with Dell's Cyber Monday deals, I was able to get an AW 17 R4 (same specs as this review unit) for 2.7k€. For that same price, the only thing I could get that's remotely in the ballpark would be an Aorus X7 v7 that has almost the same specs except for the GPU (the Aorus has a GTX1070) or an MSI that rocks the same internal specs but has a 1080p screen instead of a 1440p one.
Probably at full price it doesn't make sense to go for AW, but if you can get a good deal like this one (500€ less than full price), I think it's a pretty good choice!

[tekM]

That CPU is a big deal for me along with a decent vid card. I am wondering if the one with the 1070 runs quieter then what is noted in this 1080 review. Noise is a big deal for me and that price is hard to beat.

[Jacksd3wdwd]

Could you please review the new alienware 17 R5 with core i9-8950HK and GTX1080OC version.