Alienware's new x15 gaming laptop boasts a Razer-thin profile with a quad fan cooling...

[Humza]

In a nutshell: At Computex, Alienware unveiled its new X-series of thin and powerful gaming laptops. The lineup includes two models called the x15 and x17, and they're the thinnest Alienware machines in their respective size categories (15.6- and 17.3-inches). Featuring Alienware's updated 'Legend 2.0' design language, the x15 and x17 are launching with a choice of Intel 11th-gen Tiger Lake and Nvidia 3000-series chips, alongside a custom cooling system that utilizes four fans and a new thermal interface material called Element 31.

Dell's gaming arm, Alienware, claims the new x15 is the world's most powerful sub-16mm gaming laptop available right now. Coming in at 15.9mm thin, the sleek x15 is just a hair's width thicker than the recently-refresh Razer Blade 15.

The base Alienware x15 comes in at $300 cheaper than its Razer rival, packing the same CPU (8C/16T Intel Core i7-11800H), GPU (RTX 3060), and RAM (16GB DDR4). The configuration differs when it comes to the display spec and storage. Here the x15 offers a 1080p/360Hz or 165Hz panel and 256GB of NVMe storage vs. Razer's QHD/240Hz screen and a 1TB SSD.

A fully loaded x15, meanwhile, comes equipped with an 8C/16T Core i7-11900H, an 8GB RTX 3080 (90W), 32GB RAM, a 2TB m.2 SSD (up to 4TB in RAID 0), and a QHD/240Hz display. To cool all this hardware inside the x15's slim chassis, Alienware has installed the latest version of its Cryo-tech cooling system.

This solution consists of four fans that can spin/stop independently with Smart Fan control technology and includes Element 31, Alienware's proprietary gallium-silicon liquid metal that acts as a thermal interface, which the company claims offers a 25 percent improvement in thermal resistance over previous Alienware laptops. This material is also said to last longer than conventional pastes, though buyers should be aware that Alienware will only apply it on RTX 3070- or 3080-equipped x15s and x17s.

The latter 17.3-inch model starts at $2,099 and is able to pack beefier internals than the x15 due to its larger size and thicker dimensions (20.9mm). This includes a more powerful 130W variant of the RTX 3060 on the base model, while a fully kitted-out version packs a 16GB RTX 3080 (165W), an 8C/16T Core i9-11900HK, 64GB RAM, and a similar storage configuration as the x15. The latter's FHD displays are also available on the x17, alongside an additional 4K/120Hz option and the ability to spec 1.8mm Cherry MX ultra-low profile mechanical switches for the keyboard.

Both X-series models come with an 87Whr battery, Windows Hello-capable 720p webcams, but interestingly, they lack Alienware's Graphics Amplifier port on the rear. In a statement to The Verge, Alienware notes that it removed the proprietary port since its Graphics Amplifier solution would have been unable to take full advantage of the latest desktop GPUs and offered limited performance improvement over the laptops' onboard graphics. Consequently, dropping the port allowed Alienware to add extra ports and gain more thermal headroom.

Featuring a magnesium alloy chassis, the Alienware x15 and x17 laptops are initially launching with limited configuration options. However, buyers will be able to choose from the complete range from June 15 onwards.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/89882-alienware-new-x15-gaming-laptop-boasts-razer-thin.html

 

[Dimitriid]

The running theme for laptops lately is "Man, I might be inclined to get this if only it was a Ryzen laptop instead"

Which is of course bad news for intel, but not the greatest news for AMD either: It means that while DIY enthusiasts are already fully on-board at Zen 3 AMD has to maintain their dominant position for just so much longer for markets like laptops and datacenters since we know the enterprise world is so much slower to change this big contracts and such

 

[Theinsanegamer]

A even thinner alienware?

So its going to be louder than sin and boil water anywhere near the vicinity.

I'll pass.

 

[QuantumPhysics]

Sexy Alienware

 

[oldikes]

A even thinner alienware?

So its going to be louder than sin and boil water anywhere near the vicinity.

I'll pass.

Did you read anything in the article apart from that?

I also dont know why alienware has gotten this reputation from anyone in the online community - every single intel gaming laptop that even mentions "thin" in its product description gets hot enough to boil water. I blame intel.

 

[fluffydroid]

There is a lot to like in the Alienware laptops. It is unfortunate that most models have awful battery life.

 

[Rayneofpayne]

Did you read anything in the article apart from that?

I also dont know why alienware has gotten this reputation from anyone in the online community - every single intel gaming laptop that even mentions "thin" in its product description gets hot enough to boil water. I blame intel.

Well Alienware always had that reputation for having great performance at the cost of it being overly hot, It's not an Intel perse thing, it's an Alienware thing.

 

[Theinsanegamer]

Did you read anything in the article apart from that?

Yeah, did you? Unless alienware has figured out how to teleport heat to another universe, they are using more thinner fans. They already had issues with airflow, now there's gonna be less of it per fan.

I also dont know why alienware has gotten this reputation from anyone in the online community - every single intel gaming laptop that even mentions "thin" in its product description gets hot enough to boil water. I blame intel.

Alienware has a LONG history of heat problems, from using to slow fo fan profiles, to small of heatsinks, 3 screw CPU mounts that provided inadequate pressure, ece. Dell also has a long history of either allowing components to ramp up to 95C before blasting fans full speed OR limitng GPU temps to 67C and kneecapping performance. If you dont know where they get their reputation from, the only thing I can say is that you have not been paying attention to forum complaints about alienwares.

 

[pcnthuziast]

Dell is a brand informed consumers avoid like the plague. They cut more corners than most and yet still charge more than most. That is literally their business model.