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

The Alienware M17x ships in a large heavy duty cardboard box with the Alienware logo on both sides.

Inside this box is another box, this time featuring some very attractive Alien artwork.

A third box, this time containing all the accessories, which can be adjusted on the system specification page. Alienware include a branded, high grade mouse mat, software discs, user manual, power adapter and regional specific power plug.

The Delta branded power adapter is large, but Dell have managed to reduce the thickness. It is rated to work worldwide between 100-240V at 19.5V/12.3A.

Inside the main inner box alongside the accessories, is the laptop itself. It is shipped between sculpted foam and is wrapped inside a lovely black felt cover to protect against scuffing during transportation.

The laptop is available in either black or red colours. I prefer the ‘Nebula' Red option, but we received the plain black model for review. There is no price difference between the two colour options. The body is thick, well constructed and features the custom angular lines that have made this machine so popular in the past.

The left side of the Alienware M17X R4 features a Gigabit Lan connector, VGA port, HDMI out connector, Mini Displayport connector, 2x high speed USB 3.0 connectors, S/PDIF, microphone and two headphone ports. The right side features the optical/bluray drive, multicard reader, two more high speed USB 3.0 ports, eSATA port and HDMI in (ideal for using the M17X as a portable screen for a console, such as the Playstation 3).

A total of four USB 3.0 ports is fantastic and Alienware deserve a bonus point for placing two on either side.

The rear of the M17X has two large fan vented air ducts, and a simple power connector in the middle.

The angular styling of the Alienware machines appeals to me, I love the front corners with mesh covers which glow according to the AlienFX colour scheme you have selected.

The 17 inch screen is glossy with a full high definition resolution of 1920×1080. The quality, as expected is excellent, with decent viewing angles. In direct sunlight it is hard to make out, but we can't see too many people using this machine to check email on the move.

The multitouch trackpad is higher quality than many available on the market, although we do tend to use a bluetooth or USB mouse when possible. Both buttons are responsive and as far as trackpads go, this is great. The outer ring on the trackpad can also glow according to the colour scheme set via the software.

The two images above were shot with a 4 point flash directly in front of the M17x. It gives a good indication of the ‘mirror like' reflection of the glossy screen tilted against the keyboard. This machine is designed for gamers, so they would demand a high contrast screen to enjoy games and experience high definition movies.

The keyboard is a full sized model, with numpad on the right. It is a great keyboard, although it falls short of the tactile nature of the leading model on the Lenovo Thinkpad X1. We do like the Star Trek style font however as it makes the keyboard stand out against other machines. If, like me, you have bigger hands, then the size is perfect.

The keyboard features a row of function keys across the top, which allow for adjustments to screen brightness, and to use the HDMI in connector on the right side of the machine. Just below the screen is a row of media keys which adjust the volume. You can mute the volume completely and enable or disable the wireless capabilities.

There are a series of media play, pause and stop buttons and a drive eject button here. The main power button is the Alien head in the middle of the chassis, underneath the screen.

Colours for all of these sections can be configured via the software, which is included.

Underneath the machine is a metal plaque, which can be customised on check out. There are two fan vents underneath for a dual fan cooling system.

Onboard sound is handled by a Klipsch system and almost matches the class leading M18x. It certainly won't replace a dedicated sound system, but it is surprisingly capable. Treble frequencies are clear, midrange is focused and there is even a little bass impact.

The battery is removed with a simple lever system, there is also a battery check button on the battery itself which highlights across a light readout. The Alienware M17X design is similar to the M18x laptop which we reviewed last year. Simply remove two screws and slide the back panel outwards, exposing the components underneath.

This machine is powered by the Intel Core i7 3610QM processor. It is a 45w design clocked at 2.3ghz, with a turbo boost up to 3.3ghz. It is cooled by a heatsink connected to a dual copper heatpipe and fan. The AMD HD7970m is cooled in a similar fashion, by another dual heatpipe heatsink cooler. Our machine features 8GB of Samsung 1,600mhz DDR3 (2x4GB), a 64GB SSD drive, and a 500GB mechanical drive for storage.

Alienware M17X Review System Specification:

Processor : Intel Core I7-3610QM

Display : 17.3″ WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD

Camera : Integrated Skype HD Certified FullHD Camera with dual digital microphones 1 S

LCD Back Cover : Soft Touch – Stealth Black

Memory : 8192MB (2×4096) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel

Hard Drive : 64GB mSATA Boot Drive + 500GB SATA (7,200rpm)

Optical Drive : BluRay Combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read & write)

Battery : Primary 9-cell 93W/HR LI-ION 1 S

Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M

Sound Card : Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software

Wireless : Intel 2230 Wireless Card + BT

Keyboard : Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard

Operating System : English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64 BIT)

Software : Datasafe Local 2.0 Basic

Software : Dell Support Center 3.0

Avatar : Alienware Logo

Antivirus : McAfee SecurityCenter 30 Days Trial 1 S

AlienFX Colour : Plasma Purple 1 S

Standard Service – 1 year of Next Business Day coverage included with your PC 1 S

Cost £1,457.51, Delivery £16.66. Total including VAT £1,769.01.

The install is clean, although Dell continue to insist on installing a trial version of McAfee SecurityCenter, a program that we don't particularly like.

The system scores very highly, 7.2 points overall. Unfortunately this tool just uses the lowest common denominator for the final score, rather than an ‘average'.

The Alienware M17X R4 system we are testing uses the latest Ivy Bridge Intel Core i7 3610QM processor, which is a quad core design with hyperthreading (4+4). It has 6MB of level 3 cache and it built on the 22nm manufacturing process. There are more expensive options available such as the i7-3720QM and i7-3820QM. The memory is configured to 1,600mhz with 11-11-11-28 timings.

The Core i7 3610QM is clocked at 2.3ghz, with a turbo option to 3.3ghz. More information on the processor is available here.

We tested the turbo frequency when all cores were loaded 100%. The clock speed sat solid at 3.1ghz as shown in the image above.

We couldn't unfortunately get a GPUZ readout of the AMD HD7970M as the software would crash. We tried GPU Cap Viewer as well, but sadly the same thing happened. We know that the HD7970M is fully Direct X11 compliant, with 1280 pixel shaders. The core clock runs at 850mhz and the memory at 1200mhz connected via a 256 bit memory interface. On paper it is a very powerful mobile graphics solution.

Catalyst Control Center is the hub for adjusting the switchable graphics settings between Intel HD4000 and AMD HD7970M. It all works very well and we didn't run into any switching issues during the last week of testing.

We would recommend a larger solid state drive for boot as when the machine is first powered on, there is only around 21GB free. Its not a huge issue as applications can be installed to the storage drive, but I would personally opt for a slightly more expensive 128GB model as the boot/OS drive.

Comparison Systems (for specific synthetic test compares):
Asus G74SX-91013Z (featuring Core i7 2360QM)
Dell XPS 14z (featuring Core i7 2640M).
AlienWare M18X (featuring Core i7 2960XM Extreme Edition).
MSI CX640 (featuring Core i5 2410M).
Intel Core i7 2600k desktop processor.
Intel Core i5 2500k desktop processor.

Software:
3DMark Vantage
3DMark 11
PCMark 7
Cinebench 11.5 64 bit
FRAPS Professional
Unigine Heaven Benchmark
CrystalDiskMark
Cyberlink PowerDVD Ultra 11
Cyberlink MediaEspresso
HQV Benchmark V2.
Alien V Predator.
Dirt Showdown.
Total War : Shogun 2.

Technical Monitoring and Test Equipment:
Asus BluRay Drive
Lacie 730 Monitor (Image Quality testing)
Thermal Diodes
Raytek Laser Temp Gun 3i LSRC/MT4 Mini Temp
Extech digital sound level meter & SkyTronic DSL 2 Digital Sound Level Meter
Kill A Watt Meter
Nikon D3X with R1C1 Kit (4 flashes), Nikon 24-70MM lens.

SiSoftware Sandra (the System ANalyser, Diagnostic and Reporting Assistant) is an information & diagnostic utility. It should provide most of the information (including undocumented) you need to know about your hardware, software and other devices whether hardware or software.

Sandra is a (girl’s) name of Greek origin that means “defender”, “helper of mankind”. We think that’s quite fitting.

It works along the lines of other Windows utilities, however it tries to go beyond them and show you more of what’s really going on. Giving the user the ability to draw comparisons at both a high and low-level. You can get information about the CPU, chipset, video adapter, ports, printers, sound card, memory, network, Windows internals, AGP, PCI, PCI-X, PCIe (PCI Express), database, USB, USB2, 1394/Firewire, etc.

Native ports for all major operating systems are available:

• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x86)
• Windows XP, 2003/R2, Vista, 7, 2008/R2 (x64)
• Windows 2003/R2, 2008/R2* (IA64)
• Windows Mobile 5.x (ARM CE 5.01)
• Windows Mobile 6.x (ARM CE 5.02)

All major technologies are supported and taken advantage of:

• SMP – Multi-Processor
• MC – Multi-Core
• SMT/HT – Hyper-Threading
• MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE 4.1, SSE 4.2, AVX, FMA – Multi-Media instructions
• GPGPU, DirectX, OpenGL – Graphics
• NUMA – Non-Uniform Memory Access
• AMD64/EM64T/x64 – 64-bit extensions to x86
• IA64 – Intel* Itanium 64-bit

Initial performance results from the new Ivy Bridge Core i7 3610QM processor is positive, performing at a similar level to the previous 2960XM Extreme Edition. Memory bandwidth is slightly better than any other laptop system we have reviewed recently, over 20GB/s.

PCMark 7 includes 7 PC tests for Windows 7, combining more than 25 individual workloads covering storage, computation, image and video manipulation, web browsing and gaming. Specifically designed to cover the full range of PC hardware from netbooks and tablets to notebooks and desktops, PCMark 7 offers complete PC performance testing for Windows 7 for home and business use.

The system scores 4,680 points aided by the solid state drive and excellent HD7970M graphics performance.

CINEBENCH R11.5 64 Bit is a real-world cross platform test suite that evaluates your computer’s performance capabilities. CINEBENCH is based on MAXON’s award-winning animation software CINEMA 4D, which is used extensively by studios and production houses worldwide for 3D content creation. MAXON software has been used in blockbuster movies such as Spider-Man, Star Wars, The Chronicles of Narnia and many more.

CINEBENCH is the perfect tool to compare CPU and graphics performance across various systems and platforms (Windows and Mac OS X). And best of all: It’s completely free.

The Core i7 3610QM scores 6.08, which is considerably more than the desktop Core i5 2500k processor. The Core i7 2960XM Extreme Edition still tops this chart, although the i7 3610QM is not that far behind, highlighting the architectural improvements with Ivy Bridge.

Unigine provides an interesting way to test hardware. It can be easily adapted to various projects due to its elaborated software design and flexible toolset. A lot of their customers claim that they have never seen such extremely-effective code, which is so easy to understand.

Heaven Benchmark is a DirectX 11 GPU benchmark based on advanced Unigine engine from Unigine Corp. It reveals the enchanting magic of floating islands with a tiny village hidden in the cloudy skies. Interactive mode provides emerging experience of exploring the intricate world of steampunk.

Efficient and well-architected framework makes Unigine highly scalable:

• Multiple API (DirectX 9 / DirectX 10 / DirectX 11 / OpenGL) render
• Cross-platform: MS Windows (XP, Vista, Windows 7) / Linux
• Full support of 32bit and 64bit systems
• Multicore CPU support
• Little / big endian support (ready for game consoles)
• Powerful C++ API
• Comprehensive performance profiling system
• Flexible XML-based data structures

We use the following settings: 1920×1080 resolution. Anti Aliasing off. Anisotrophy 4, Tessellation normal. Shaders High. Stereo 3D disabled. API: Direct X 11.

AMD's HD7970M is a mobile powerhouse! This is the first time we have seen 56 frames per second from a single GPU powered laptop.

Futuremark released 3DMark Vantage, on April 28, 2008. It is a benchmark based upon DirectX 10, and therefore will only run under Windows Vista (Service Pack 1 is stated as a requirement) and Windows 7. This is the first edition where the feature-restricted, free of charge version could not be used any number of times. 1280×1024 resolution was used with performance settings.

A fantastic score, and around the same as the M18X which featured the Core i7 2960 Extreme Edition processor with two GTX560m's in SLI.

3DMark 11 is designed for testing DirectX 11 hardware running on Windows 7 and Windows Vista the benchmark includes six all new benchmark tests that make extensive use of all the new features in DirectX 11 including tessellation, compute shaders and multi-threading.

After running the tests 3DMark gives your system a score with larger numbers indicating better performance. Trusted by gamers worldwide to give accurate and unbiased results, 3DMark 11 is the best way to test DirectX 11 under game-like loads.

If you want to learn more about this benchmark, or to buy it yourself, head over to this page.

The combination of Ivy Bridge processor and AMD HD7970M deliver really strong results in 3DMark 11, scoring 5,792 points.

A very important part of overall system responsiveness is down to hard drive performance. We use two of our favourite benchmark utilities Crystalmark X64 Edition and HD Tach to rate performance from the onboard SATA controller.

The Solid State Drive isn't the fastest you can buy today, however in real world terms it seems very responsive with fast boot times and quick application loading. The mechanical hard drive delivers good sequential read and write scores, over 110MB/s. A good result for a 2.5 inch mechanical drive – which will be used primarily for storage.

The ATTO Disk Benchmark performance measurement tool is compatible with Microsoft Windows. Measure your storage systems performance with various transfer sizes and test lengths for reads and writes. Several options are available to customize your performance measurement including queue depth, overlapped I/O and even a comparison mode with the option to run continuously. Use ATTO Disk Benchmark to test any manufacturers RAID controllers, storage controllers, host adapters, hard drives and SSD drives and notice that ATTO products will consistently provide the highest level of performance to your storage.

Similar results, around 280 MB/s read and 175 MB/s write from the SSD drive and 110MB/s read and write from the mechanical unit.

Cyberlink PowerDVD 11 is one of the finest solutions for the BluRay experience on Windows and we found this software to work perfectly with this chipset. We tested with the new extended Bluray Disc of Lord Of The Rings.

The M17X R4 has plenty of free time left to handle other tasks, only taking 9 percent of the CPU time to play back 1080p bluray content. Excellent results.

The Matroska Media container is a very popular, open standard Multimedia container which is usually found as .MKV files. It is a very popular format in enthusiast circles and can be played directly in Windows Media Player with suitable codecs installed. We use the Combined Community Codec Pack (CCCP).

We ripped our BluRay disc of Sniper Reloaded to 1080P MKV and use Windows Media Player to playback the file.

MKV contained high definition files can put a heck of a load onto a system, however the Alienware M17X R4 has no problems dealing with the task. Again plenty of CPU cycles left over for multitasking duties.

Many people using this system will be enjoying Flash related content so we feel it is important to test with some of the more demanding material available freely online. Full hardware acceleration is enabled.

Flash video isn't the most optimised, however the 7970M handles some of the on the fly decoding demands. Only 10% load is a fantastic result, ensuring a responsive system able to handle other duties in the background.

CyberLink MediaEspresso 6 is the successor to CyberLink MediaShow Espresso 5.5. With its further optimized CPU/GPU-acceleration, MediaEspresso is an even faster way to convert not only your video but also your music and image files between a wide range of popular formats.

Now you can easily playback and display your favourite movies, songs and photos not just on your mobile phone, iPad, PSP, Xbox, or Youtube and Facebook channels but also on the newly launched iPhone 4. Compile, convert and enjoy images and songs on any of your computing devices and enhance your videos with CyberLink’s built-in TrueTheater Technology.

New and Improved Features

• Ultra Fast Media Conversion – With support from the Intel Core i-Series processor family, ATI Stream & NVIDIA CUDA, MediaEspresso’s Batch-Conversion function enables multiple files to be transcoded simultaneously.
• Smart Detect Technology – MediaEspresso 6 automatically detects the type of portable device connected to the PC and selects the best multimedia profile to begin the conversion without the need for user’s intervention.
• Direct Sync to Portable Devices – Video, audio and image files can be transferred in a few easy steps to mobile phones including those from Acer, BlackBerry, HTC, Samsung, LG, Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, and Palm, as well as Sony Walkman and PSP devices.
• Enhanced Video Quality – CyberLink TrueTheater Denoise and Lighting enables the enhancement of video quality through optical noise filters and automatic brightness adjustment.
• Video, Music and Image File Conversion – Convert not only videos to popular formats such as AVI, MPEG, MKV, H.264/AVC, and FLV at the click of a button, but also images such as JPEG and PNG and music files like WMA, MP3 and M4A.
• Online Sharing – Conversion to video formats used by popular social networking websites and a direct upload feature means posting videos to Facebook and YouTube has never been easier.

For our testing today we are converting a 3.3GB 720p MKV file (2h:12mins) to Apple Mp4 format for playback on a portable device. This is a common procedure for many people and will give a good indication of system power. We are using the newest version which has been optimised for Sandybridge processors.

Hardware acceleration is enabled.

A total time of 11 minutes and 26 seconds is a great achievement and one of the best times from a laptop since we started using this software. By comparison, an Intel ATOM processor will take around 1 hour and 15 minutes to complete the same task.

Shogun 2 is set in 16th-century feudal Japan, in the aftermath of the Ōnin War. The country is fractured into rival clans led by local warlords, each fighting for control. The player takes on the role of one of these warlords, with the goal of dominating other factions and claiming his rule over Japan. The standard edition of the game will feature a total of eight factions (plus a ninth faction for the tutorial), each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths.

We tested first with the built in benchmark via the STEAM client. 720p was perfectly smooth – averaging over 90 frames per second. The 1080p test failed with the error message above. We double checked that the Catalyst Control Center was highlighting the ‘performance mode' for Shogun 2 (HD7970M, not Intel 4000), and it was configured properly.

We decided to load the game directly, rather than rely on the built in benchmark.

Even though the above screenshot shows the Intel HD Graphics 4000 as active, we were getting 60+ frames per second in game at the above ‘high' settings @ 1080p, which is impressive. We would imagine that a future driver revision from AMD will fix this minor bug.

Great performance overall from the M17X system.

Aliens V Predator has proved to be a big seller since the release and Sega have taken the franchise into new territory after taking it from Sierra. AVP is a Direct X 11 supported title and delivers not only advanced shadow rendering but high quality tessellation for the cards on test today.

To test the cards we used a 1080p resolution with DX11, Texture Quality Very High, MSAA Samples 1, 16 af, ambient occulsion on, shadow complexity high, motion blur on. We use this with most of our graphics card testing so cards are comparable throughout reviews.

This is one of the few laptop systems that can maintain smooth frame rates at 1080p with high image quality settings. The HD7970M is certainly a mobile powerhouse and delivers an average of 55 frames per second. Excellent results.

Dirt Showdown is the latest title in the franchise from Codemasters, based around the famous Colin McRae racing game series, although it no longer uses his name, since he passed away in 2007.

Above: These are intensive settings normally associated with a desktop gaming computer.

The Alienware M17X has no problems powering through the game at these high image quality settings, only dropping once for an instant below the sweet spot of 25 frames per second.

We measure from a distance of around 2 foot from the chassis with our Extech digital sound level meter to mirror a real world situation.

KitGuru noise guide
10dBA – Normal Breathing/Rustling Leaves
20-25dBA – Whisper
30dBA – High Quality Computer fan
40dBA – A Bubbling Brook, or a Refridgerator
50dBA – Normal Conversation
60dBA – Laughter
70dBA – Vacuum Cleaner or Hairdryer
80dBA – City Traffic or a Garbage Disposal
90dBA – Motorcycle or Lawnmower
100dBA – MP3 player at maximum output
110dBA – Orchestra
120dBA – Front row rock concert/Jet Engine
130dBA – Threshold of Pain
140dBA – Military Jet takeoff/Gunshot (close range)
160dBA – Instant Perforation of eardrum

The Alienware M17x R4 is a two headed beast. When idle, or when watching a bluray movie, it is not intrusive and barely audible.

When under gaming load however the fan system kicks into overdrive and produces a high level of noise. It would be masked by a set of speakers when gaming, but it is clearly audible. I am not sure if this would annoy a hard core gamer, but it certainly was a ‘borderline' noise emission for me.

The tests were performed in a controlled air conditioned room with temperatures maintained at a constant 23c – a comfortable environment for the majority of people reading this. Idle temperatures were measured after sitting at the desktop for 30 minutes. Load measurements were acquired by running Furmark and Cinebench together.

The Core i7 3610QM remains well within the tolerance thresholds. AMD's HD7970M runs quite hot under extended load, although the fan system ensures that it is perfectly stable at all times.

We also attached 5 diodes to the underside of the machine to measure the load temperatures of various parts of the chassis. These were measured after 1 hour of intensive work.

The rear of the M17X can get warm under load, with all the warm air being pumped out of the bottom of the machine. Diode 4 and Diode 5 are focused on the fan areas to cool the Core i7 processor and AMD HD7970M.

To be fair, the the M17X is a desktop replacement and isn't ideally suited for extended ‘on the lap' use.

To test the battery today we put the machine through three sets of real world situations.

One as a media movie lover on the move, a person wanting to watch HD media on a train journey or bus with two thirds screen brightness (any less and quality suffers).

Secondly as a business man, using the machine for productivity with wireless enabled and balanced power settings with a mid way (around half) brightness setting.

Thirdly as a gamer on the move, with the AMD graphics card fully active and screen brightness up high.

Under light ‘office' use, the battery lasted almost three hours, which is actually quite impressive. When tasked however the battery is quickly sapped. Gaming drained the battery in just under an hour. Again, this is clearly a desktop replacement and more suited for moving around the house, rather than a business machine on the move.

The fourth revision of the Alienware M17X has been a very enjoyable machine to review, incorporating the latest high end components from both Intel and AMD.

The new Ivy Bridge Core i7 3610QM processor is a very capable design from Intel, and quite often not that far behind the previous mobile i7 2960XM flagship. It is perfectly suited for high resolution gaming, and can double up as a great option for 3D rendering, or video editing, on the move.

If this isn't enough processing power then Alienware can offer two upgrade options at extra cost, the Ivy Bridge i7 3720 and i7 3820. These add £200 and £430 to the overall cost, respectively.

This leads us nicely into discussing the AMD HD7970M. This discrete mobile graphics card is a gamers wet dream, delivering some incredible frame rates previously associated with Crossfire or SLI configurations. It only costs £160 more than the default GTX660M option and is certainly worth the investment.

The HD7970M was able to drive many of the latest Direct X 11 games we tested at native 1920×1080 resolution, offering good future proofing for the foreseeable future.

The Alienware M17X is an attractively designed laptop computer, following the same ethic as previous revisions. Dell have incorporated a quality panel into the M17X, delivering a high level of contrast and colour saturation. The viewing angles are quite good too, and the glossy finish make it an ideal option for high definition media and high resolution gaming.

Panel consistency is well above average, with only minimal backlight variance at the corners.

Like the M18x, the M17x utilises a class leading Klipsch onboard sound system which really is surprisingly good. We certainly wouldn't say it will replace dedicated speakers at home, but for ‘on the move' duties it is one of the best we have heard. There is even a little bass response, which is very unusual for a laptop.

The lighting system will appeal to gamers who love to attract attention. Various sections of the M17x can be tweaked and adjusted to suit, and the backlight keyboard options are fantastic. Both practical and visually appealing.

The chassis design is inspired, particularly as the back panel can be removed within the space of a couple of seconds. Swapping out the memory for instance is a painless procedure, and one that we wish other manufacturers would adopt.

As always, there are a few negatives which we need to mention.

The M17X can suck through a full battery charge in around an hour when gaming, although in less intensive environments we did manage to squeeze around 3 hours before a charge would be needed. For a desktop replacement this is pretty much par for the course.

With all the high end components, Alienware have had to incorporate a sophisticated cooling system within the M17X. The HD7970M is a powerful discrete video card and under gaming load, the dedicated fan has to react aggressively to maintain the thermal curve. The downside is that the M17X can create a high level of noise when pushed hard, but we would imagine that gamers will be either wearing a headset, or blasting the audio through a set of dedicated speakers. That said, outside gaming the M17x is generally reasonably quiet, even when watching a bluray movie.

If you are a gamer wanting a new high end desktop replacement with few compromises, then the Alienware M17X R4 is one of the best designed machines on the market. Just be sure to tick the AMD HD7970M box on the configurator.

You can configure your own M17x, over here.

Pros:

• Chassis design is class leading.
• lighting is attractive and customisable.
• screen quality.
• Klipsch sound system.
• AMD HD7970M is a powerhouse discrete card.
• Intel Ivy Bridge processors.

Cons:

• battery life.
• can get loud under gaming load.
• heavy.

Kitguru says: The Alienware M17X is a gamers wet dream, just be sure to select the AMD HD7970M.

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