Alienware M17x R4 Review (i7 3610QM/ AMD HD7970M)

1. Introduction2. Alienware M17x R4 (Packaging & Accessories)3. Alienware M17x R4 (1)4. Alienware M17x R4 (2)5. Alienware M17x R4 (3)6. Review System Specification7. Installed Software, Hardware Configuration and Testing Methodology8. Synthetic: SiSoft Sandra9. Synthetic: PCMark 710. Synthetic: Cinebench R11.5 64 bit11. Synthetic: Unigine Heaven Benchmark12. Synthetic: 3DMark Vantage13. Synthetic: 3DMark 1114. Synthetic: Hard Drive Performance15. Real World: BluRay Playback with PowerDVD 1116. Real World: MKV 1080p Performance17. Real World: Flash HD Performance18. Real World: Media Encoding19. Gaming: Total War Shogun 220. Gaming: Alien V Predator21. Gaming: Dirt Showdown22. Technical: Acoustics Performance23. Technical: Thermal Dynamics24. Technical: Battery Life25. Closing Thoughts26. View All Pages

Today we are looking at the latest, 4th revision of the ever popular M17X laptop from market leader, Alienware. The M17X R4 features a quad core Ivy Bridge processor and AMD's Radeon HD7970M discrete mobile graphics solution for enhanced gaming performance. If you have a couple of grand spare is this the best way to blow it ?

The M17x R4 is a desktop replacement with cutting edge components and a large 17 inch full high definition screen to enjoy the latest Direct X 11 games and bluray movies.

The machine is designed like the previous version, with high quality onboard lighting easily controlled via the software. Rest assured, if you are a businessman on the move then you will be looking elsewhere, this is no ultraportable, weighing in at a back breaking 4.3kg.

The system we are reviewing today features the latest Core i7 3610QM with 8GB of 1,600mhz DDR3, SSD boot drive and AMD HD7970M graphics. The M17X R4 Dell sent us for review today costs £1,769.01 inc vat, although you can increase the system price to around £4,000 if you maximise all the upgrades.

Specifications available:

Processor

• Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
• Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
• Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

Operating System

• English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
• English Genuine Windows® 7 Professional (64 BIT)
• English Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate (64 BIT)

Memory

• 6144MB (1x2GB + 1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
• 8192MB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
• 12288MB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 (2x2GB + 2x4GB )
• 16384MB (2x8GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
• 24576MB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 (2x4GB, 2x8GB)
• 32768MB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 (4x8GB)

Video Card

• 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M
• 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M
• 2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M

Display

• 17.3″ WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
• 17.3″ 120Hz w/ 3D Bundle WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
• 17.3″ WideHD+ (1600 x 900 ) WLED LCD

Audio and Speakers

• Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di High-Definition 5.1 Audio with THX TruStudio Pro Software (Standard)
• 2.0 Speaker configuration
• Audio Powered by Klipsch®
• 7.1 Digital Audio out using HDMI out connection or S/PDIF Optical port .

Networking and Wi-Fi Options

• Integrated 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Ethernet NIC (Standard)
• Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 With Bluetooth 4.0 (Standard)

Hard Drive

• Up to 2048GB4 hard drive (5400RPM)
• Up to 1224GB4 Solid State hard drive
• Up to 1024GB4 hard drive (7200RPM)

Optical Drive

• Slot-Loading 8x SuperMulti Drive (DVD±R/RW) (Standard)
• Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)

Power

• High Capacity 9-cell Lithium Ion (90whr)

Camera

• 2.1 Megapixel Full HD Camera with dual digital microphones

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