Alienware m18 review - What a shame!

The Alienware m18 is one of a few 18" laptops for 2023, does it run cooler and faster than the Alienware m16?
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Alienware m16 review:
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Specs:
18" 2560 x 1600 IPS level 165Hz
Advanced optimus
IR Windows Hello
1080p webcam
i9 13900HX CPU
175W MGP RTX 4080 12GB
16GB DDR5 4800Hz RAM
1TB SSD
97Wh battery
$2600 after tax at Dell.com
Timeline:
00:00 Introduction & Find The Geek
01:14 specs
02:01 thermals and benchmarks Balanced vs High Performance
02:55 Cooling the Alienware m18
04:27 Stuttering in Hogwarts Legacy
04:54 inverted motherboard
05:09 chassis temperatures
05:17 Alienware control center software
06:19 Build quality
06:32 keyboard
07:02 Inside the m18
07:12 battery life
08:06 fan noise
08:16 speakers
08:20 ports
08:58 weight
09:13 size vs a 17" 16:10 laptop
09:21 Power issue
09:48 webcam
09:55 Ghosting and backlight bleed
10:02 Panel color gamut, brightness and contrast
10:18 conclusion and more benchmarks
#alienwarem18

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The $5 Steam Gift card has been won. The Geek was at 5min 18 secs. Thanks for everyone taking part! Keep an eye out for him on the next video :)

[@medved4030]

Great review. I would love to see you do a review on the MSI GT77 Titan.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@medved4030 thanks! I'm working on that one now 👍

[@sunrisenight2771]

Hi, one help , actually i want a laptop only for gaming, Which one you. Recommend for me. Alienware m18 4080 or 4090 Rog strix 4080 around 2500 usd Rog strix scar with 7945hx with 4080 gpu. Or 4090 Msi raider 4080 Lenevo 7i pro with 4090 Lenevo 7i pro 4090 is 16 inch , small screen but 4090 gpu and alienware m18 4080 price is pretty close.. only screen is big in m18 with 4080 but lenevo provide 4090 with another 200 usd . Your recoomendation? Is 4090 16 gb worth for gaming in 2k, do we really need or 4080 is enough

[@nathandrake4895]

$5 Steam gift card LoL

[@kimmythegoat34]

​@@sunrisenight2771 4090 gets around 15% better performance compared to 4080

[@DavyDave1313]

Ordered my M18 with i9 10980HX, RTX 4090 and 64GB RAM. This thing is a beast I can’t wait for it to arrive 🤩

[@anthonbakkalian2352]

You mean 13980HX

[@DavyDave1313]

@@anthonbakkalian2352 yeah that one. 13th gen i9. I finally got it, turned everything to max settings on cyberpunk and the benchmark was 24-37fps. Needless to say I am very disappointed. But I’m gonna stay positive and say it’s because I haven’t optimized the settings and whatnot.

[@anthonbakkalian2352]

@@DavyDave1313 You have to tweak it. Make sure to install all the driver updates and choose OC profile. M18 is one of the most performing laptop out there. You shouldn’t be disappointed .. you just have to play with the settings and tweak it correctly.

[@Maaguaa]

@@DavyDave1313cyberpunk is an unoptimized game

[@DavyDave1313]

@@Maaguaa cyberpunk maxed out runs at 140+ fps on my M18. On my R15 with the RTX4090 24GB, it runs maxed out with path tracing on at 62fps DLSS off, and 100+ fps DLSS on(4k Samsung Odyssey Ark monitor).

[@XXAvenger115XX]

My m18 thermal throttles just loading games. Great honest review!!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! Appreciate it 😀. Try my steps to have it running cool. Good luck !

[@josephchristianruiz6581]

The rubber barrier is the cause as to why the thermals are bad, there's a lot of counter pressure onto the heatsink that's causing the factory TIM (Element 31) to overpump due to unforeseen airgaps onto the very plate itself where the silicone die should have been making contact. I've tried doing a barrier method the thinnest possible that I could do with the alienware m15r3 almost a year ago and it failed on my first attempt. By the second attempt without the custom barrier was only when the temps became a whole lot better than factory. Gotta tone down the clockspeed and undervolt alot for the cpu and not to settle on high/ultra settings so it wouldn't cause the TIM to overpump, ensures that the power related mosfets won't get overworked/shorts out. Although performance will drop by 15-20+% but atleast the unit will last a lot longer after the maintenance.

[@user-nb2gu2do9r]

Thx for the review .I had a Rog strix 16 but i returned it because of the intolerable coil whine. Ever since im looking for another brand's gaming laptop. After the review now im starting to hesitate between the m18 or the msi gp78hx upcoming.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks, glad you liked my review. I reviewed the GE78HX so I suspect the GP78HX will be somewhat similar. Certainly cooling was better and I found that I had no stutters in any game. No advanced optimus though.

[@Enragedurso]

Interesting video. Do you have a vídeo on the Razor Blade 18 or Origin Evo17x?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Jack. Unfortunately I don't once I get through what I have on hand I can reach out to them for a review unit.

[@ramimator]

Very nice detailed review Stephen, I live in europe and I received my M18, 3 weeks ago with the 4090 GPU ( I received the slim charger with the 4090 laptop), I mainly used this laptop for 3D work apps, after almost three weeks of hard work (around 8 hours a day) the Laptop started to heat and freeze a lot and then bluescreens forever, for info I always had it in balanced mode, and now all I get is just blue screens with different codes even when I try to reinstall windows. It's certainly related to a hardware issue, in fact the laptop was constantly running hot maybe motherboard/cpu couldn't handle the heat, I have no clue, I contacted DELL and that's the best thing about Dell is the support, they are great in that part, they will replace it but I am worry that I will have the same issue with the new laptop as it could be a serious problem with all new M alienwares. Maybe it's just my unit that is defected, I will test and see when I receive the new one. Crossing my fingers. Thank you!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Rami, glad you liked my review. Really sorry to hear about the issues you have had. Sounds like a hardware issue to me too. I have an Alienware desktop I used for mining. The motherboard went out and the CPU broke. They came twice to my house to fix it which was great, especially since the last time was like 5 days before my warranty expired. I agree, they have very good support and I am sure they will fix it for you. Let me know how you get on please!

[@josephchristianruiz6581]

there's a defect with the solder balls under the cpu that causes bsods once electricity flows on 2 solderballs that already bridged. So sad to say it's a defect with the chips post solder mount, gotta have that cpu reballed or need the entire mobo replaced in the process for it to be functional again.

[@fractalelf7760]

@@josephchristianruiz6581 Curious, how did you become aware of this very specific issue?

[@GeezEU]

what CPU and GPU temperatures you had during the 8hrs work?

[@jiawenxian3785]

Great review as always. You video actually helped me in deciding to wait another year haha. I was thinking of moving to lenovo legion but I really like that 18in screen and those cherry mx keyboard. Hopefully either the legion will get a bigger chassis or maybe AW will launch an x18 or m18r2 with better hardware. I just don't understand why dell with their inverted motherboard, it has been an issue since they launch.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks, glad it helped you. I was hoping Lenovo would have launched an 18" too. Missed opportunity I think.

[@graelstream2353]

Can you do a repaste guide as well Stephen for the M16 and m18 as well? Keep it up! Your contents are helpful as always be it newer or older gaming laptop users :)

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks my friend! Unfortunately I sent it back to Dell. Sorry!

[@mephandr6479]

​@@OWNORDISOWNAre you getting a m18 replacement or did you return it because of so many issues being reported? I would appreciate your response

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@mephandr6479 I returned it because of its issues, which could be mitigated by changing that TCC setting to max 85 degrees, but I like to be able to repaste when needed and that inverted motherboard would make that more difficult. I once repaste such a laptop and it took 6 attempts to get it to work again, each time I had to fully disassemble it due to a loose cable under the motherboard

[@mephandr6479]

@@OWNORDISOWN Thanks for your response, so from a reliability and longevity perspective you would not recommend the Dell m18? I am concerned because already bought it, but after reading your response, not sure if I should return it Considering how expensive an i9 + rtx 4090, I really need a very reliable laptop that will last a very long time. I've been buying Lenovo for many years and for the most part no issues but their current prices for the specifications I want are much higher. Please advise, thanks

[@mephandr6479]

@@OWNORDISOWN I purchased a refurbished m18 directly from Dell so it is supposed to have all the issues fixed and better than brand new. Once it arrives next week, I'll be able to test it, is it worth it to test it or should I return it right away? Please advise, thanks

[@greebj]

That instant-off when unplugged "feature" sounds like a battery protection current limit kicking in. I have had it happen a couple times to this big Clevo laptop when drawing huge power (500W+) from dual chargers while benching, but it has modified firmware in which I've raised all kinds of power limits... not a stock unit sold at retail. That suggests there's very little threshhold on power delivery and even if you could cool it with exotic means, there wouldn't be much headroom?

[@jeremywinslow7345]

Mine does not do that and I have the Intel gpu disabled in the bios

[@OWNORDISOWN]

That's good to know Jeremy :) I was hoping mine was an isolated issue. A friend had an Area 51m that it happend too.

[@Monoville]

@@OWNORDISOWN Happens on my 51m, but only if it's got a lot going on (like Unreal Engine or a high end game running) which makes sense considering the power needed from the two power packs to run it in those situations.

[@sausyyy]

so I have an alienware m18, and i'm not defending dell with any of what I'm about ready to say, but mine literally has none of these problems. It runs cool, AWCC runs fine (minus the stupid presets), and the performance is insane. I have the 4090 version, so of course it's going to be different, but all of the cpu socres I had were waaay highere than the unit tested in this video. also, what the heck was that with the computer turning off when you unplugged it?!? I've never seen that. Something else mine doesn't do. Very odd. Dell has had a shoty histoy of bad tim applications, so I'm not suprised your's has this problem. I'm more surprised mine does not.

[@anne4524]

I'd like to ask how did you able to get the CPU watts in Msi Afterburner? I can't to get mine to work.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I did a guide on that a while back kzbin.info/www/bejne/o2TMZ5iAaZZneZY

[@natoooop]

I really want to get the M18 but the reviews and comments I’ve seen have been discouraging. I’ve owned a razer and it’s never given me problems. Now thinking about getting the razer blade 16. The M18 design is beautiful though.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It is nice, I really wanted to keep it. I ended up getting the Cyberpowerpc Tracer vii. Took 3 attempts to get one that worked but once I did I like it alot. It's a 17" though. I really liked have an 18" display.

[@user-uv8yy2hq7i]

@OWNORDISOWN please answer, for the m16 there is an option to put AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX , is cpu gonna be still same hot?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I heard that Alienware has fixed their paste job, and with there being less cores on the 7845hx I would expect it to run a bit cooler.

[@user-uv8yy2hq7i]

@@OWNORDISOWN so would you suggest still take it with i9 or not to risk and take it ryzen? And will it really affect FPS in games?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Влад Михальчук the viewer who said he returned his because it overheated and the replacement was fine said he put his results in a reddit thread. It may be worthwhile seeing if you can find some up to date data on Reddit. If unsuccessful I would probably stick with the Ryzen , your frame rate will largely be unaffected.

[@Iyswift]

nice review

[@Monoville]

You must have gotten lucky (or I got unlucky) with your M18, mine has very irritating whistling due to the honeycomb vents on the left and right side of the base cover. Only way to stop it is to cover the vents. And it seems to run hot for even basic tasks. Reading online it seems to be a pretty common issue. Only had it a few days so will likely just return it for a refund and upgrade my desktop instead (also have a 51m 2080 laptop which I have no issues with)

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I had the 16 inch version too and that also ran hot. Easy to manage via TCC option. But still, I have the Tracer VII same specs and it runs cool

[@Feelsgudd]

I ordered Legion Pro 7 4080/13900HX but how is it over this? I’m confused

[@botrax]

Has anyone tried to install Windows 10? Do the drivers all work or does nothing work?

[@pavelborysiuk7631]

I wonder what temperatures the amd processor will show. did not find any video with the amd version . in your opinion amd will be cooler?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I think it will be a bit cooler, but the 7945HX in the Asus ROG strix scar 17 wasn't particularly cool.

[@allstargaming2500]

The laptop costs $4200 in my country. And there aren't a lot of customisations. Furthermore the Asus Rog Strix Scar 16 seem to be much more reasonable at $3400 with the mini LED

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I think that 240Hz mini LED display will be great. Wish there was an 18" one.

[@AA-yk3bj]

6000$ in my previous country

[@allstargaming2500]

@@AA-yk3bj MSI Titan GT77 2023 with 64GB Ram costs $6200 in my country. Almost costs more than a car which is ridiculous as it doesn't perform in par with even the RTX 4080 Desktop

[@shiftto]

@@allstargaming2500 unbelievable a laptop skyrocket price to 6000$, what are they thinking or money be bad inflated like that

[@niebuhr6197]

​@@shiftto there's been 6k laptops before

[@graelstream2353]

Btw sir Stephen, MashIt tested the 2230, it was able to read 1tb and 2tb on the larger 2230. I hope this helps!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

That's good to know. I thought it would :)

[@vdhazer]

I don't like that power turning off when the charging cable detaches. Is that the same with all Alienware devices??

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The only time I have heard of it before was a friend had an Area 51m , he found out when there was a power cut. Its not normally something people test. I found out by accident when I pulled the laptop and the cable came out. Don't know if it is a widespread issue. Hopefully not.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

I tried this on mine and it didn't reboot. If it did, I'd absolutely RMT that, it's a critical fault and not a minor inconvenience.

[@Alexander_Sannikov]

I just double checked on my m18 r2 -- I plugged in/out the AC cable 10 times in a row while running Elden Ring and it didn't reboot, no problems. Yours must have had a faulty PSU or the motherboard.

[@TabalugaDragon]

The weight is insane considering above average cooling. 4 kilograms? Are we back in 2016? And power limits aren't that great and thermals aren't very good anyway, so why 4kg? Yes it's thinner, but at what cost? Might as well buy an MSI Titan, which is, laughably, lighter. Also what happened to smaller and lighter 330w GaN charger they had a couple years ago? Seems like a downgrade. Thanks for the review!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Sergei! Yeah, using that old brick is a bit frustrating. Someone said they received a thinner brick with their 4090 model so perhaps they are slowly switching them over...

[@intraspec]

Certainly is a shame. I wonder how replacing the thermal paste with some like Honeywell PTM7950 would help. It be a lot of work with the upside motherboard

[@Smoke_Weed_Everyday_]

I repasted mine with conductonaut. 65C on CPU (110W), 50C on GPU (175W) in 300W sustained. #19 world rank in timespy laptop GPU score.

[@hurricaneaquatics]

Been a while since I watched anything on Alienware. Ii owned about 7 consecutive Alienware m17 and Area-51M R2 a couple of years ago. All bought brand new from Dell at full price. Every single one had something wrong with it. Dead pixels, bad cpu, something inside the chassis broken or missing when you took the bottom cover off, just ridiculous QC. I had the first 18 inch Alienware back in 2013. This one is tempting, but it seems they haven't changed a bit. I LOVED my Area-51M R2 design and bulk. Too bad I couldn't get a good one to save my life.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

That does suck. I remember that 18" from 2013. Awesome. I asked Frank Azor will they be making another 18" and he basically said that I was stupid, people want thin and light. Hope he is watching my video now, lol

[@hurricaneaquatics]

@@OWNORDISOWN LOL, that would be the only reason I would attempt another Alienware. If you were buying a gaming laptop and budget was no option, which would you choose? I've been watching since you started, you've come a long way, congratulations. Keep up the great work!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Hurricane Aquatics thanks mate! Appreciate you sticking with me for so long. It's been a roller-coaster journey that's for sure. I have always liked two types of laptops. The first are 2-1's with a dedicated GPU. I take lots of hand written notes so one of one Yogas I guess. I also like desktop replacement so I'm excited to test the new Clevo x370.

[@wolfstorm5394]

Inverted motherboards are really something of pure evil, had to deal with this on my last Dell laptop, i truly dreaded having to open it up, that's why i moved over to Lenovo Legion

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I agree. Can be a nightmare and screw it up wave goodbye to your warranty. Give me a standard design any day of the week.

[@wolfstorm5394]

@@OWNORDISOWN Lol I kid you not, literally every time I opened it up I'd end up with less parts than I started with because something new would break off each time, it's crazy!

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@wolfstorm5394 LOL, i hear your pain. I once repasted my Acer Triton 500, and I has no display even though the cable was in. Took 5 more tries to finally get it to work. Put me off for good , lol

[@Jjnoriega900]

After watching your last video, my CPU temps are between 78-90°c. Thank you for that info

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Glad it helped you too :) Thanks for the feedback.

[@warrenwest407]

I knew I wasn't crazy, I noticed there were some slight stutters when gaming, and you just confirmed it has bad 1 percent lows, along with its screen being mediocre compared to its competition, it also blows hot air into my hand when using the mouse, and don't get me started on AWCC I ended up returning it, such a shame because I really loved its build quality and design.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, it was a shame. The 16" was the same. What laptop are you thinking of going with?

[@warrenwest407]

@@OWNORDISOWN if I do decide to get a laptop this generation, I'm thinking bout going with the HELIOS 18 due to the only 18 inch laptop with mini led display, but they're all sold out however I might just skip this generation altogether if the other 18 inch laptops brands don't update their displays with mini led

[@Blazer8496]

Great review! How would you say this machine compares to ASUS ROG Strix G18?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! My colleague Chris is getting that one in very soon so stay tuned :)

[@Blazer8496]

@@OWNORDISOWN that's awesome!

[@gto2084]

hi, how come this series doesn't have a mux switch?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It does, it has advanced Optimus.

[@Unicornpirate]

I don't get why they put the SD card slot on the back and the ethernet port on the left side. It should be the opposite. Those who use SD cards will take that out of the machine more often than unplugging an ethernet cable.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes, I agree. Its very awkward having to reach over the panel

[@super.spartan]

it's the same on my Alienware m15 r7 AMD, very stupid

[@siyzerix]

Great review stephen. A real review is nice to see these days. Wish alienware would've included oled options too. Or glossy ips ones. I'm actually as exited as you stephen. 18' laptops with ultra thin bezels should be the standard gaming laptop. Easier to fit in bags, etc.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Eric! Yes, I really liked the 18" screen. I hope we see more options going forward 🙂

[@dvu3765]

And that’s why I don’t plan to purchase a new Alienware laptop anytime soon. I’ve owned the 1st gen Area-51m for almost 4 years. I still love it. I wish Alienware stuck with the upgradeable laptop approach, instead of resorting to the thin and light laptop approach. Oh well.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Totally agree 👍

[@siyzerix]

The last true alienware laptop was the 13' OLED r3 with a full 1060 and i7 7700hq. Had a great panel, great battery life, still upgradable and maintainable, tanky build, portable, etc.

[@Guitar_Dude09]

Man I just bought this model, I really wanted to get MSI but no one offers 480hz refresh rate screens 😕😕, I hope it doesn’t come with overheating issues cpu side on my end because my GE76 struggles for dear life lol thanks for the video

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! I have my fingers crossed for you. From what I have heard from viewers is that Alienware has corrected the paste job and things are now better .

[@Guitar_Dude09]

@@OWNORDISOWN Wow thanks for that info! I was hoping to get my computer this week but Dell delayed it till the 25th… L, hopefully it’s a massive performance gain from 10875H to the 13980HX in gaming, thank you again 😄

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@Guitar_Dude09 you are welcome. Yes, I'm sure you will see a nice boost 😀

[@DavyDave1313]

@@Guitar_Dude09have you got a chance to use yours yet?? I ordered mine yesterday and the wait is killing me!!

[@Guitar_Dude09]

@@DavyDave1313 Yes I have & I have to say it’s a major upgrade from my MSI GE76 in terms of everything but mainly wanted to upgrade due to CPu bottleneck being such a big issue, the only issue I got is that it runs really really hot like it idles like at 70-80 degrees

[@DrFaust]

will there be heat issues with the Nvidia 4060?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

It's the CPU that gets hot so more than likely.

[@vasudevmenon2496]

I don't think the owners of m18x be happy with this. Inverted motherboards are a pain to disassemble and do a quick thermal test.

[@sdfasdfvccvvc]

It baffles me why Alienware/Dell still insists on allowing such high CPU power limits when their cooling system clearly can't handle that power. They have been doing it for a long time and still continue doing this. Oh, and yea, sucks that they don't provide OLED option - after dealing with many IPS displays on laptops (each and every of which had noticeably uneven backlighting) I don't ever want to deal with such inferior display technology. Even their m16 models do not offer this.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yes, even balanced pushes too many watts to the CPU. Do they even field test these things before launch? The mini LED on the GT77HX is nice, no backlight bleed at all. Shame it was only 144hz , a 240hz one would be nice .

[@IonorRea]

My Alienware 18 from 2014 with upgraded graphics in 2016 had a backlight issue solved by increasing the gap between the plastic display lid and the display itself. I found that this unfortunate machine assembled in China had likely lower manufacturing tolerances or being just poorly designed in some areas compared to my older Dell XPS M1710 assembled in Ireland but once you pull plastic display lid slightly away from display as if you want to disassemble it to create gap and plastic stopped pushing on display, bleeding near bottom edges disappeared and backlight illumination homogeneity become far better...

[@kamalsaidi3805]

I bought the m18 a couple days ago I’m not an expert but now I little bit confused about my decision, was it a bad choice to buy m18😔😔😔😢😢😢😢

[@OWNORDISOWN]

My main gripe was the inverted motherboard which makes repasting harder . Most people won't repaste and will just send it in to a repair center. The thermals can be controlled by adjusting the TWCC is 85 degrees in the AWCC. It has a lot to like about it. Big panel, mechanical keys and plenty of storage options. If you like it that is all that counts 😀

[@theguard1]

I feel like with the introduction of the X lineup, the M lineup was always second tier and they didn't put a lot of R&D into it. Even though there is no X18 (yet), they still put low effort into this M18... Disappointing.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, you are probably right. I would like to test one of their X series.

[@bensterWasHere]

X series has its own flaws

[@theguard1]

@@bensterWasHere absolutely. The thermal headroom is severely constrained and the Alienware Command Center is completely trash; but the speakers are phenomenal.

[@fractalelf7760]

It’s worth noting not all reviewers have thermal issues, some report very good thermals.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

From what I understand is that the early batch was bad. Many people were having issues and the replacements coming back are much better. It basically goes to show that they don't tests them before they go out. I think that is true for most of them though

[@mephandr6479]

​@@OWNORDISOWNcould you please do a video to show what are all the issues to watch out for in the m18? how do you know if the m18 is early batch?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@mephandr6479 you will be able to tell how early your batch is from the Bios revision number

[@mephandr6479]

@@OWNORDISOWN what if the device is refurbished and Dell updates BIOS to latest version? how would you know if the batch is not good in that scenario?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@mephandr6479 When you say the batch is not good are you referring to the Bios that inhibits some of the changes in the Bios such as changing the power limits? From what I understand even if undervolting and changing the power limits is removed they still have the TCC option on the AWCC software and that is the most useful one for lowering the CPU temperature. If you mean the effectiveness of the thermal paste then the only way to determine this is to test it. This is something you need to do on any new computer. Install HWinfo and MSI afterburner to monitor the thermals and power levels and see what they look like. Check frame rates and see if you get stutters.

[@James-wc1mt]

when do you suppose the "ti" laptops will come out?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Probably around end of the year would be my guess

[@TabalugaDragon]

I think next year, as usual.

[@MurdahBassRecords]

I paid 2300usd (3500cdn) for a 4090, ryzen 7945hx, 512 gig ssd, 16 gig 4800mhz, qhd+ 1600 rez sceeen and 1 year accidental protection. I used a 5% off dell coupon (10% didnt work. I got 10% cashback with rakutan, and dell was giving 200 dollars off for the ryzen over the intel chip. For a 4090 18" laptop, you cannot beat the price.

[@anthonbakkalian2352]

Did you order in Canada or US and if so how long did it take for you to receive the cashback from Rakuten?

[@teddym2808]

6 total USB ports is impressive and how it should be on a large laptop (Asus take note) however all the USB A are gen 1.. 4 of them! That's just weird don't you think? Overall I am over this one as well, it's out of the running.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, you want HDR too so this isn't cutting it. I bought that Alienware 34" UW OLED monitor and HDR on that is awesome :)

[@ShawnConde4567]

Am I the only one that had a issue with turning on my computer, I had to return it and get a new one 😢 hopefully this doesn’t happened again

[@iamdalibor]

Great job covering this laptop. I always like the way alienware computers look even though performance wise they can be lackluster sometimes. Nice that it has 4 cooling fans although why have the MoBo upside down? That's just disappointing it's one of the reasons why I love my GF75 sucker is easy to get into & do whatever once inside. Feel like all laptops need to go this route since making computers uses up a lot of resources on Earth same with these smartphones that you can't even change out the batteries in unless you tear it down which can be a hassle & be tricky. Keep up the great work. Also I watched an ad that was over 2 minutes long and the one after made some coffee so I hope you got some moolah for that haha.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks, appreciate it! Actually you only have to watch 30 seconds of an I believe... I agree, an inverted motherboard makes no sense. I'll be uploading my MSI GT77 review soon and that is one hell of a beast. Runs 20 degrees cooler than the Alienware

[@iamdalibor]

@@OWNORDISOWN I'll definitely check it out Yeah the MOBO being upside down is a bad idea since heat rises anyways. If it's upright more heat could escape the top of the chassis if it has some holes or some ventilation on the top of the chassis. Luckily you didn't have to take apart the motherboard. In all reality it might not be to hard to remove but still.. just have it upright in my opinion

[@graelstream2353]

This is another m18 I've seen underperforming Jesus mate. I'm kinda glad I was able to buy the M16. The 1st was gizmo techs now yours. Another was a small youtube channel but I think it's kind of weird why the m18 would run hotter compared to the M16 tbh as the thicker chasis should be more than able to dissipate the heat. I've also seen most M series has a issue with p core 3 only throttling and massively affect ing the whole die so maybe that's the issue here as well. I hope we can get this fixed sir.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I hope so too. I would have thought the m18 would be cooler than the m16 so was disappointed there. I have the 17" Tracer VII with same hardware and that doesn't go above 90 degrees and performs the same as this

[@graelstream2353]

@@OWNORDISOWN I saw a repaste vid using the honeywell ptm7950, temps went down but still in the 92 range. I think the pads and the barrier are the cause for the thing heating up. Especially when you said that there was an issue before that the thermal pads used in a previous gen dell laptop wasnt making any proper contact. what do you think about it sir Stephen?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@graelstream2353 I think it is a possibility but I think the main cause is the inverted motherboard. If it was the other way around cool air would be brought in from underneath and sucked over the vapour chamber cooling it down. But now, the back of the motherboard is shielding it. Case in point was the lack of serious improvement when on a cooling pad with fans blowing air into the bottom vents. There are some viewers saying theirs run cool, but I am interested to see what their CPU watts are..

[@graelstream2353]

@@OWNORDISOWN let me try this on mine with the gt500. Should I run it stock or with the thing cranked up?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@graelstream2353 Might as well run it as hard as you can..

[@healman1000]

Awesome Review as usual, Owned Alienware laptops since the 17 R2, Liked the Design , But the heat man.. always an issue, MSI or Asus Have much better Cooling by far.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks Omar! I agree, the GE78HX and GT77HX were both cooler, as is the Tracer Vii which I bought.

[@turbanelite]

Such a shame, thanks for review.

[@guiT39]

What I think it's a shame is how Alienware has clearly downgraded in quality compared to it's older versions. I used to have a 2009 Alienware M15x, and it was RIDICULOUS (in a good way) in terms of build quality. Metal plating, Speakers/shaping of the laptop looked so good and different, it had the BEST LOOKING RGB I've ever seen on a keyboard, and it had a "rubbery" feel to it, didn't seem like plastic at all. Even the plastic around the keyboard was texturized, and the thing felt SOLID, like you could drop it on the ground and nothing would happen. At the time, alienware pretty much ruled alone among laptops, it was the top-tier gaming notebook to get. One would think that after all this competition arrived, they would improve a notch in quality to try and remain at the top, even though it would be the most expensive, but it has always been... But no. Oh well. What a shame. It was so good though... My old laptop. Great deal.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I had the same machine and I agree 100%. They were built like a tank back then. I recall having a 17" one that could even accept an HDMI input signal. The speakers at the front glowing like Alienware eyes. Dell spoilt the brand.

[@itz_akuma]

Yeah I have the mx17 I think 2011 . It's amazing

[@guiT39]

@@itz_akuma oh and I forgot to mention the keyboard was THE BEST I've ever experienced. Better than my current MX-blue switches' mechanical keyboard and better than my praised thinkpad x1 carbon keyboard. It was AMAZING.

[@manonanisland88]

Really lame they went with the inverted Mobo. Had that with my old GS65 and made repasting a nightmare. Though I can't even get the bottom cover off my Legion 7 so I suppose it's six of one, half a dozen of the other.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Totally agree on the motherboard. That was the deal breaker for me. Your Legion, is that the 7i from last year with the metal around the side? That was the only laptop I couldn't get into. I even bent a bit of the metal over a USB port, lol. Fortunately it was a review unit.

[@rustyharden2716]

Idk my m18 seems to do fine for 2800 I guess you could spend 4-5k on something and still have heat issues or you could just buy a 20$ fan just for helping temps

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Or you can just apply the tweaks I mentioned for 5 minutes of your time and spend nothing extra

[@Giratina143]

geez how do you screw up cooling with 2 extra fans lmao

[@OWNORDISOWN]

LOL, perhaps they should have one big fan in there covering the whole motherboard :)

[@Smoke_Weed_Everyday_]

​​@@OWNORDISOWNExcept the cooling isn't screwed up, ruining the whole point of this video. The factory pasting job is what's screwed up. Repasted mine with conductonaut and the results deliver: 50C on GPU, 65C on CPU (300W sustained), #19 world rank on timespy laptop GPU score.

[@user-nj6zl1qj7y]

I am really confused. Which is better quality M series or X series?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I think the X series is supposed to be there more premium line

[@super.spartan]

@@OWNORDISOWN with horrible cooling compared to the M series, tried every one of them from the x15 R1, R2, and x17 R1/ R2. Tested them at a store using Cinebench, the moment you throw anything at them the instantly reach 100C and thermal throttle down to 2.8GHz. Even doing something as simple as unzipping a 1GB file causes the same instant rise temps. I then got myself an Alienware m15 R7 AMD and temps never go above 90C in any situation. I did however repaste it with Noctua NT-H2 which reduced temps by 5C

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@super.spartan nice 👌

[@jeremywinslow7345]

I have one of these and while gaming I see Temps in the low 80s... that with games like forza 5 on max everything pushing 160fps. I do get hitching in hogwarts but I have also never seen any pc not hitch in hogwarts, I think its a game flaw not computer flaw. Again I rarely see a temp in the 90s unless I'm purposely trying to do so even then the highest I saw was 96° for under a second. Shadow of the tomb raider also runs in the mid 80s for me.

[@jeremywinslow7345]

Just to add I ran new tests since disabling the Intel on board gpu in the bios... Never passed 84° in shadow of the tomb raider in performance mode. Still get hitching in hogwarts making me think it's a hogwarts issue and I get no hitching in anything else.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

What is your CPU power at? Have you enabled resizable bar in the BIOS? Hogwarts runs fine on my 3070ti laptop. It ran OK on the GE77HX , on the Asus Scar 17 I think it was generally OK, the Tracer Vii it is better than the M18 and M16 but not as good as the rest. When I disabled 6 e cores on the m16 it ran well but not the m18 so perhaps it's an RTX4000 issue...I am interested to hear what your CPU watts are.

[@jeremywinslow7345]

@OWNorDisown I have not touched the power setting in the bios. Also with hogwarts I found the issue. There is s bad DLSS dll that can be replaced with a new version and the stuttering vanishes. It is a software issue not hardware.

[@JayfkProductions876]

New Alienware BBQ Grill Master? 🤣 🤣 🤣

[@OWNORDISOWN]

LOL

[@tintinzerreitug2686]

This is very expansive for a hair dryer

[@slickrounder6045]

Cooling is so subpar considering the sheer size of the m18.. Even having an actual top tier power efficient chips like the Dragon Range Zen 4 (such as the 16 core 7945Hx or better yet the 8 core 7745Hx) probably wouldn't be enough to salvage it (allegedly the ryzen chips will be coming to alienware). Undervolting won't be enough either. Alienware just can't stop dropping the ball sadly..

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, and the 7945x is also a hot chip. It's going to cook in this Alienware unfortunately.

[@slickrounder6045]

@@OWNORDISOWN Yeh ideally the 7745Hx is an option when it launches, since its more power efficient with only 1 ccd with 8 cores.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@slickrounder6045 Yeah, I think that will run cooler. Hopefully I can get one to test :)

[@greebj]

1) all I can see for now is the AMD M18 is "AMD Advantage" which means a midrange 7600M GPU 2) the problem with Zen4 is heat density and single core turbo, you'll still have the same basic issue on only 1 CCD in games & other stuff that isn't hammering >8 cores 3) what we need in laptops is the insane efficiency of the 3D vcache CPUs..........

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@bennyg yes, very true. And that is an ace card AMD should use. I had this discussion in Discord. I think AMD'S focus in laptops is the lower end. That is where they have seen a larger increase in market share. It's not the high end. It's a shame really.

[@sunrisenight2771]

Hi, one help , actually i want a laptop only for gaming, Which one you. Recommend for me. Alienware m18 4080 or 4090 Rog strix 4080 around 2500 usd Rog strix scar with 7945hx with 4080 gpu. Or 4090 Msi raider 4080 Lenevo 7i pro with 4090 Lenevo 7i pro 4090 is 16 inch , small screen but 4090 gpu and alienware m18 4080 price is pretty close.. only screen is big in m18 with 4080 but lenevo provide 4090 with another 200 usd . Your recoomendation? Is 4090 16 gb worth for gaming in 2k, do we really need or 4080 is enough

[@OWNORDISOWN]

The 4080 will be enough, especially as more games should have frame generation in the future. I have the Legion 7i pro 4080 to review. Personally, I like having a larger panel. I had the Legion 7 for a bit and then went to a 17" and liked it better. If you don't mind the plastic build the strix scar 17 with the 7945hx is very good. I reviewed that one. The m18 is nice, but not as portable and you need to tweak it to get the best out of it. Both thermally and performance. I liked the larger panel and mechanical keyboard. The MSI GE78HX was one of my favorites. I just wish it had advanced optimus, bit I saw no tearing and it had better 1% lows than the rest. Great speakers.

[@sunrisenight2771]

@@OWNORDISOWN thank you sir for the nice information

[@scarface406]

thank god i bought their x17 r1 instead of waiting for such a device * i didnt know thiis would come out back then but looking back at my x17 purchase the x17 is so much better *

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Glad your x17 R1 is working great. Reading my comments, most seem to have thermal issues, a couple seem to have a good unit. One guy keeps getting blue screens and it locks up. I wonder if these OEMs test them before they go out. I bought the CyberpowerPC Tracer VII and the speakers didn't work. Surely that was an easy test, lol

[@scarface406]

@@OWNORDISOWN yea it really is wierd that they don't seem to test

[@hooda24ma]

Is there any difference between the M16 and the M18 in terms of performance??

[@OWNORDISOWN]

No, not really

[@hooda24ma]

@@OWNORDISOWN does the CPU in the m16 power limit throttle after applying the oc mode??

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@hooda24ma not that I recall. Alienware does a good job of keeping the watts quite high, but it thermal throttles.

[@hooda24ma]

@@OWNORDISOWN Do I have to stick to balanced mode after applying the undervolt from bios to be effective in the m16 and m18? As I saw some comments on Reddit saying that if you changed to high performance mode after applying the undervolt from bios it will revert back to 0

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@hooda24ma I don't have the laptop to test anymore, but I would have thought that once the undervolt is set in the bios it should remain. Changing power profiles should just change the power limits. If it does change you can always allow overckocking in the bios and use XTU or Throttlestop to apply the undervolt. I still think the best way to control the thermal issue is the TWCC option in their control center.

[@gregsimpson621]

Why oh why do they have that inverted motherboard? I simply don't understand the logic.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, it beats me too. I think they want to upsell their tech support. I think that's about $200 to renew.

[@fuckyoutubrforchangingthis]

that cpu temp needs undervolted, show us that tech bro

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Already done bro, kzbin.info/www/bejne/b3qmo5uer8l1i6csi=i8eU6DFE5BPNocEw

[@simonh7954]

Published I have an alien wear M 18 Ryzen 9 4080. I have had three service calls. For issues like this… The battery went unplugged last about 26 minutes with nothing running. So they replaced the battery and the port connection. It didn’t help at all. So then they came out a second time, and they replaced a couple more ports. It didn’t help at all. So then they made an appointment to replace the motherboard, but at that point none of the port worked, the USB-C is nothing… Constant, audio, tearing, and stutters… Whenever it goes to sleep mode, it wakes up and wants to restore windows because it says it shut down incorrectlyand I mean every time it goes to sleep you cannot have it in sleep mode. There’s just endless issues. So now they’re just replacing the entire laptop which I’ve had for two weeks! I’m concerned because they’re just gonna replace it with the same piece of garbage that I got. Obviously there’s issues with this system.

[@janfilak6202]

I was deciding between m18 alienware and msi titan. The Titan won thanks to a much better display...

[@SpottySword]

Титан в 2 раза дороже

[@gianaccetta8571]

can you upgrade it to a 16tb ssd?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

16TB SSD? I've not seen one of those. You can certainly do an 8TB one. There are 4 slots and 2 of them support 8TB, other two max out at 4TB

[@gianaccetta8571]

@@OWNORDISOWN Origin PC NT 17 allows 2 8tbs, but i fear that company a little haven't heard the best reviews

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@gianaccetta8571 looks like a Tong Fang chassis. Once you get one that works they are good machines. I have the Cyberpowerpc Tracer vii and it took 3 machines to get one that worked.

[@teddym2808]

The wattages are WAY higher on CPU and it's 2K cheaper than equivalent razer here.. so.. at 165W GPU razer 18 maxes out at 40W Cpu.. So it's night and day. 150w on GPU and 100 on CPU is impressive. That said, I expected better temps. I wonder how their X16 will be.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Supposedly their initial batches had a poor paste job which people are saying is better now. Still, you have that inverted motherboard...

[@epicmusicstation7748]

75-80c on idle Alienware king of temps

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Lol

[@jeremywinslow7345]

Mine idles at 55 to 65... looking at it right now it's 58 cpu 54 gpu...

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@jeremywinslow7345 Mine idled cool, when there is no load on it

[@Mandrillape]

2600$....? Where is Price?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Go to Dell.com. register your email to get 10% off. Simple

[@emresahindance]

I am quite disappointed that such a popular brand as Alienware has such a poor cooling design. Compared with the other 18-inch gaming brands, in its nonloaded stage, it produces too much heat. Turning its fans results in an even worse environment in terms of its extremely loud state. Furthermore, I would hope they would get to upgrade the speaker design as well as music quality is quite lacking too. I hope they can get to resolve these issues and I would buy from their brands in its upcoming versions.

[@simonh7954]

What’s frustrating is every time I tell them these are known issues because people have identified the exact exact issues that I am having they keep telling me they sell millions and that it’s a rare issue. That’s a bunch of BS! I have every issue everybody else has ever complained aboutand they’re replacing it for some reason so they know there’s a problem

[@MRALEX9870]

the x17 r2 chassis Was far better looking than the new m18

[@darrell9616]

What a shame is right. Dell continues with their tradition of doing 95% of the engineering work, then leaving the rest. There's no excuse for a company Dell's size to put out machines like this. Since these machines have been out for a little while, why have they not made these updates themselves? I had my eye on both Dell and Lenovo for a replacement laptop, and they disappointed me. It looks like I will wait another year to see if these vendors can sort out these machines.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I agree Darrell. I remember when I interviewed Mr Fox, he said he used to field test Alienware laptops before Dell bought them. I suspect they don't do that anymore....The GT77HX Titan I have tested ran cool as a cucumber, no issues of any kind. Same with the GE78HX.

[@darrell9616]

@@OWNORDISOWN For sure. I just can't go with MSI due to their lack of Advanced Optimus and unremarkable support options. I had to have one replaced years ago. Luckily, I bought local and the store exchanged it no questions asked. No such luxury anymore. I'm keeping my eyes open for Black Friday this year. I believe this year is going to be a good one. So much competition, and it wouldn't surprise me if sales have cooled dramatically after the early adopters bought.

[@user-jx5xq8hu9e]

its completely normal for a Intel CPU to run 100 degree. Not problem with that

[@baz69er13]

Im certainly not going to buy this now, I still have my Alienware Area 51m, l got a top spec unit that also had 3 years warranty with it from ebay, i had a problem with the Rgb lighting at the rear & also the alien head on the lid (The colors where fading & not showing true colours anymore) it would also crash if I used the preset overclocking settings (overheating) & one of the speakers was distorting, I sent off for repair & even after many emails & even writing on a piece of A4 paper what was wrong with it, it still came back the same over 3 weeks later, I returned it again & was left without it for roughly the same time, the lights where fixed but the overheating & speaker problem wasn't, so there is no way I would want to return a laptop to be re-pasted as it has to have a serious strip down.....I was given a £50 Dell voucher as a good will gesture, like I said in your previous video, ide like to go back to Msi but there are expensive, but at least you get 2 years warranty included......

[@OWNORDISOWN]

That sucks. I think they should have sent a tech to your house to fix it. I did the same thing with the Tracer Vii I sent in for repair, speakers not working so I wrote in big letters on an A4 sheet of paper. They will probably just roll it up and smoke it, lol

[@baz69er13]

I actually had the premium warranty, but it wasn't easy for them to come to my house to repair it due to work etc, It was a complete lack of communication on their side & I was told that they would not take notice of handwritten notes on a piece of paper attached to the laptop, well I think they should & if they didn't been they should of contact me, a complete waste of my time & there's.......

[@LamNguyen-dy5ep]

If anyone sees this in the future.... I'm sure alot of you m16 and m18 owners noticed that the machines run hot even on idle. It's because the CPU is constantly on Turbo Boost to the max even under zero load. The reason is because of the faulty Realtek Sound Driver. That driver stops the CPU from downclocking. I fixed it by deleting the alienware sound driver and installing an older Dell Realtek sound driver from another dell model. Had to waste a day of my life having to figure this out.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks for mentioning this

[@electricmiragemedia]

Great review! Dell has really fallen into a pit in the last 4 years or so.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Thanks! Yeah. I have one of their really old laptops, think the GPU is the 280m. They were cool back then. I'll have to fire it up and see how it gets on with current games...

[@jamesh446]

Decided to go with the X16 over them M16/18.

[@angelanguiano4338]

Why you decided for x16 over m16 or m18?

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I am interested to hear how the X16 is like when you get it

[@jamesh446]

@@OWNORDISOWN After getting my X16 I decided to send it back as I found it to be very loud in game on balanced mode when I was playing Sons Of The Forest and in the quiet mode while it was a lot better the performance at least in that game wasn’t acceptable. So now I’m stuck without a PC and I’m starting to wonder if I made a mistake sending it back whilst the fans were loud they were still the best sounding fans I’ve ever heard on a laptop

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@jamesh446 What were the temperatures like? Better than the m16? Is the motherboard still inverted?

[@jamesh446]

@@OWNORDISOWN I think on balanced the CPU was 85c-91c I don’t think it hit 100c and I never opened it myself but I’m pretty sure every Alienware has an inverted motherboard, I’ve never repasted a CPU in my life nor do I plan to but even I think that’s stupid

[@tarum.06]

and now i dont know anymore which laptop i should buy😅 the razer blade 18 is way too pricey

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, that is really too expensive...

[@slickrounder6045]

"Element 31" is such a joke. "Liquid Metal" my ass, perfect analogy @3:30 with them being better off using Strawberry Jam. It's honestly disgraceful, even old shitty stock thermal paste was better, and this pales in comparison to quality solutions like the Honeywell Ptm7950 that Legion uses, or properly applied liquid metal like Conductonaut by certified resellers like HidEvolution or GenTechPc, complimented by things like Fujipoly Extreme Thermal Pads.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I agree. The heating issues are so widespread, not all of them can be bad applications?

[@slickrounder6045]

@@OWNORDISOWN GizmoSlipTech speculated that with the M18 it might be that the machine that is applying the "liquid metal" is actually missing part of the die, which is why he and many users were finding 1-2 cores with aberrantly bad cpu temps (thus causing the whole cpu package temp to be up, and causing thermal throttling). So there is a very high chance that there is an issue with the application, and there is just as high a chance that Dell won't $hit to fix it, atleast not this decade..

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@Slick Rounder yeah, you are probably right. I wonder how many units are getting returned ?

[@slickrounder6045]

@@OWNORDISOWN Well we will have an idea soon, once we start seeing the refurbished listings of the M18 on Dell's site.. I'm sure there won't be a shortage of supply. Wish we still had NBR and in particular the Alienware section, which had tons of useful information, and was a great way to keep in the know of the community writ large (including with many renowned experts like PremaMod, Papusan, MrFox etc) Speaking of returns, you reminded me of one of the highlights of gizmo's livestream of the M18 (from March 22, 4:25:36 duration, under the new "Live" section), it was @2:18:15 "I think the way to overlock this system, is to 1) Do a factory Reset 2) Shut it down 3) Pack into the box 4) Send it back to Alienware 5) Then Buy something else" . He was furious (the terrible Alienware Command Center was being particularly buggy and problematic on his M18, among other issues like not being able to Undervolt, although seemingly that is fixed for most m18 users), and despite his normally chill mood, he couldn't contain his frustration with it.

[@adityashekhar1090]

Why 1% lows aren't great in 13th gen. These CPUs are suppose to be faster

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I'm wondering if it's because of scheduling issues with so many threads?

[@kmorton54]

You would think by now in 2023 that Dell would have improved the cooling. Also, the inverted motherboard, a poor design in me 'umble opinion 😊

[@jamesw3722]

Oh no.. inverted mobo.. =(

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I would have kept it otherwise. Thanks for watching James.

[@TabalugaDragon]

and 4kg weight

[@user-qc7ej1pn6g]

3:41

[@riazalmaroof]

Alienware sucks this gen due to their chonky size and weight without giving any performance benefits compared to others. Also the low nit display is a deal breaker for me. Shame they can’t cool it even with 4 fans, Liquid Metal and with such huge size

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I would love to have been able to repaste it but I do believe that the inverted motherboard is to blame. Shame.

[@jakespeed]

I love how they say this sucks but the m18s are hitting the highest scores in benchmarks and games it really makes me laugh. Out of the box maybe but once it starts getting undervolted and a few tweaks its deffo a nice machine I've been enjoying tons tons of gaming hours on mine 0 issues.

[@karibes]

As always, great review. Dell has really... gone downhill because they had a chance to improve cooling with bigger chassis but... unfortunately that's not the case. Buuuut, why must they still keep that nightmare inverted motherboard!!!!!!! 🤬

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, that really puzzles me too. I honestly don't see any advantage of an inverted motherboard. Do you?

[@TabalugaDragon]

yeah inverted motherboards are a terrible decision

[@Aerospatial]

its a great laptop :)

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I liked it very much. The clincher for me was the inverted motherboard.

[@Aerospatial]

@@OWNORDISOWN true I wanted to like it . Because it's a great laptop with fantastic I/O. Have to see with other CPU models, i guess they will be releasing a AMD version also. However I'll be buying this soon with 4090. Thermal isn't a big issue for me as I enjoying tweaking it anyways 😬

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@Aerospatial Yeah, it has a lot going for it. I wanted an 18" laptop with an SD card reader and plenty of storage plus a mechanical keyboard so it checked all the boxes. Even the temps didn't bother me really, my tweaks sorted them out.

[@Aerospatial]

@@OWNORDISOWN awesome mate. There's a intel 13980HX version coming. Guess it will be more powerful. Dell has sent out that version for some reviewers.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

@@Aerospatial sweet! They send me diddly squat. I must have bought 14 Dell laptops to review since I started, lol.

[@smokeyarcade]

I returned 2 of these. AMD processors are AWFUL this year. Terrible job this year Alienware. I was getting stuttering and audio choppyness doing basic takss like just watching KZbin. Played Cyberpunk for roughly 5 minutes before it crashed consistently. Very disappointed.

[@fantasypilot70]

Have the same setup excellent gaming laptop. Sits on 100 dollar 3000rpm fan cooling pad and in balanced mode it runs about 75 degrees playing MSFS the benchmark as far as I’m concerned if your testing your laptops performance in gaming. Anybody that would run an expensive laptop without a descent cooling pad wants to buy a new one very soon or simply doesn’t understand.

[@Smart_boy2001]

Alienware is expensive & overrated...

[@OWNORDISOWN]

I certainly think they try and push too many watts to the CPU, it's just not needed. And that inverted motherboard makes no sense to me. As for price $2600 after tax for the hardware is pretty decent. Certainly compared to comparable MSI models. The GE78HX is $3100 to $3400 and GT77HX Titan is $4000

[@Smart_boy2001]

@@OWNORDISOWN you are 100% right

[@diuran1919]

Freaking alienware they still show us overheating crap that YOU need to solve all the issue. Inverted motherboard ehh go to hell Alienware I will never buy with that configuration, So difficulty and time-consuming repair if anything bad will happen.

[@OWNORDISOWN]

Yeah, I am convinced they do it to sell more extended warranties...

[@totalanonymous8180]

first mate