Alienware Picked a Good Time to Get Back on Board With AMD

It ’s been more than a decade since Alienware last put an AMD CPU in any of its laptops , but all that is changing with the m15 R5 . Not only does the m15 R5 supporting a range of AMD ’s former Ryzen processors , it also sports a vamp design , a bunch of newfangled display option , better cooling , and even a mechanically skillful keyboard if you care to pay excess . And while there ’s a small part of me that wish well Alienware had fully embraced AMD atomic number 14 for both its C.P.U. and GPU , the m15 R5 delivers splendid execution in a silken , updated software .

An Unapologetically Alienware Design

For them15 R5 , Alienware kept the same canonical pattern as its predecessors , but made a few pinch that ensue in a unique design language . For better or worse , this wo n’t get misguided for any other laptop blade on the market place .

Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition

What is it ?

Photo: Sam Rutherford

A 15 - column inch gaming laptop power by AMD central processor

Price

beginning at $ 1,300 ( $ 1,650 as configured )

Photo: Sam Rutherford

unequaled invention , passel of config options , decent stamp battery life for a gambling laptop , good larboard extract , improved chill

Do n’t Like

Photo: Sam Rutherford

Photo: Sam Rutherford

Slightly costly for the performance , pillow slip is a little chunky , smallish touchpad , no RTX 3080 option

With RGB lighting built into the logo on the lid , its tycoon push , keyboard , and a strip that runs around the hind end of the system , there ’s certainly no deficit of neon , though sadly , the lighting in the keyboard is restricted to a few zone or else of being full per - key RGB . And while Alienware relies on a membrane keyboard for its base config , you still get a courteous bouncy feel that work for both typing and gaming . Due to them15 R5’supward fire speakers ( which sound reasonably respectable ) , the m15 ’s touchpad does feel a bit minuscule and more hamper than you might expect .

Along the side , Alienware rearranged its connectivity , moving everything but Ethernet , audio , and two USB - A ports to the back . Alienware tell this was done to help streamline the system , and overall , I think the company for the most part succeeded . That said , I wish Alienware had n’t ax the built - in microSD card slot available on former simulation , and I think trade the placement of the rearward USB - C porthole with the side - mounted Ethernet tar would make more signified based on how often those ports are typically used .

Photo: Sam Rutherford

Photo: Sam Rutherford (In-House Art)

On the interior , Alienware has redesign the m15 R5 ’s cooling with a prominent vaporization chamber and more powerful fans , so even though them15 R5can get a piece steamy under full burden ( but honestly , what gaming laptop does n’t ) , in more normal consumption , fan racket is less perturb than on many of its rival .

Weighing in at around 5.5 pounds and measuring 14.02 x 10.73 x 0.9 inch at its chummy , them15 R5isn’t an peculiarly small or great laptop for its size ( it ’s just a tactual sensation slurred thanAsus ’ ROG Strix guanine 15 Advantage ) . Thanks to its darker colour scheme , if you may bear incapacitate your RGB light for a time , you might even call it stealthy .

Fast, Faster, and Fastest Displays

cavort a matte coating across its 15.6 - column inch non - touch display , them15 R5’sscreen is clear designed for gambling . Our $ 1,650 followup social unit came with the system ’s al-Qaida 165Hz 1920 x 1080 full HD screen , which offers undecomposed brightness that tops out at 354 nits and a relatively wide though not overly saturated colouration gamut .

To me , that infrastructure 165Hz screen is a solid pick for general gaming because it ’s a good match for the functioning from our review unit ’s Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU . But for those looking to hit really eminent skeleton rates in more competitive game like CS : GO , Alienware also offers a higher - res 2560 x 1440 display with a 240Hz refresh rate and G - Sync living , or an even faster 360Hz exhibit with G - Sync , which matches the best panels on other gambling notebooks when it come to the fast refresh rates you may get on a laptop computer .

A Good Time to Embrace AMD

Even though Alienware does n’t admit options for an AMD - based GPU , include sustenance for an AMD CPU for the first time in more than a decade is a refreshing change — and a well - clock one at that . AMD ’s belated clutch of Ryzen 5000 - series roving CPUs have really started take exception Intel ’s chip for gaming superiority , and we can see a lot of those benefits already , especially when it get to general productivity .

In Blender , them15 R5posted faster CPU and GPU render times than both theMSI GP66 Leopardand theRazer Blade 15 Advanced , despite both having even more expensive Intel / Nvidia setup . The m15 R5 took just 3 minutes and 27 instant to complete the CPU render test and 5:58 for the GPU tryout , compare to 3:55 and 6:39 for the GP66 , and 5:59 and 8:14 for the Razer Blade 15 , respectively . And despite the fact that the GP66 boasts an as - configure Leontyne Price ticket $ 250 higher than them15 R5 , the Alienware still deal to eke out a slimly faster time in our telecasting conversion mental test , taking 7:17 to encode a 4 K pic to 1080p versus 7:19 for the GP66 .

When it total to gambling , the combining of a Ryzen 5800H CPU and Nvidia 3060 GPU make its own , with them15 R5pumping out an norm of 95 Federal Protective Service in Far Cry 5 at full HD and ultra preferences , compared to 120 and 109 fps for the GP66 and the Razer Blade 15 . That ’s pretty good considering both organisation cost a lot more than our m15 and both include RTX 3070 graphics card . It ’s a similar story in Shadow of the Tomb Raider , where them15 R5posted an average Federal Protective Service of 93 fps at 1080p and highest preferences , versus 112 for the Blade 15 and 118 for the GP66 .

The one minor wrinkle is that when liken toAsus ’ ROG Strix G15 Advantage , which features both an AMD CPU and GPU for a similar price , the G15 routinely edged out the m15 R5 in every test , which really does show off the perks of AMD ’s newAMD Advantage weapons platform . In Far Cry 5 , the G15 Advantage posted an fair Federal Protective Service of 98 ( versus 95 for the m15 R5 ) , an intermediate fps of 109 in Shadow of the Tomb Raider ( versus 93 for the m15 ) , and a really potent average Federal Protective Service of 80 in Metro Exodus on Ultra ( versus just 50 Federal Protective Service for the m15 ) .

Now technically , them15 R5was announce almost two calendar month beforeAMD even rent the wraps off its new 6000 - series mobile GPUs , so it ’s hard to harp on Alienware too much stick with an Nvidia GPU . But still , this really underlines the penury for all the major gambling laptop Almighty to hug components from all the big chip makers . Seeing AMD CPU again is certainly an encouraging starting signal , but I ’m really hoping Alienware will dilate that support to GPUs soon too .

Decent Battery Life for a Gaming Laptop

One pleasant surprise with the m15 R5 is that it offer pretty decent battery liveliness , even for a gambling notebook . On our video rundown test , the m15 R5 endure a respectable 7 hour and 27 minutes , which is less than what I get from the G15 Advantage ( 8:22 ) , but substantially than both the Razer Blade 15 ( 7:10 ) and the GP66 ( 4:35 ) .

A Tough Choice

If you ’re just see at arrangement with Nvidia GPUs , the Alienware m15 R5 offers a compelling economic value , come in at hundreds less than more powerful systems with RTX 3070 cards while propose 90 % to 95 % of the performance . However , if you ’re really looking for the good smash for your clam , the G15 Advantage reigns sovereign , costing about the same as them15 R5while pump out even better fps in games and faster time in productivity benchmark .

The effect is that there are n’t a net ton of other AMD Advantage laptop on the grocery store just yet , and go with the G15 Advantage mean you ’ll also have to lodge some of its quirks , like the lack of webcam and even more aggressive styling .

TheM15 R5remains an attractive choice , but the substantial wise money suggests you might want to wait until later this summertime when even more AMD Advantage laptops become available . The m15 R5 ’s starting monetary value of $ 1,300 is tempting , but that bag model ’s RTX 3050 Ti GPU probably is n’t what you want . If you ’re already sold on Alienware ’s styling and esthetics , it ’s also worth considering thenew X15 , which crams a fate of Alienware ’s best bits and update part into an even thinner figure .

You ca n’t really go awry with them15 R5 , but with so much competition in this space , its funding of only AMD CPUs at this fourth dimension results in a system that is n’t quite as enticing as it could be . But with Intel and Nvidia having had such a lock chamber on gaming laptop computer parts over the last few old age , it ’s nice to see Alienware fire up financial backing for AMD again , even if it ’s only AMD CPUs for now .

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