• Welcome to TechPowerUp Forums, Guest! Please check out our forum guidelines for info related to our community.

Alienware Announces its New Alienware m15 and Finally Succumbs to the Thin Gaming Laptop Trend

Joined
Sep 25, 2018
Messages
84 (0.04/day)
There was a time when gaming laptops were as monstrous in performance as in size and design. There was no such thing as "less is more", and manufacturers always seemed interested in surprising us with grotesque designs that were far away from the aesthetics of ultrathin laptops.

But that has changed, and the new generations of discrete graphics cards for laptops has ushered us to a new generation of machines in which thinness is finally a virtue, not a symbol of weakness. The Dell Alienware m15 is the first gaming laptop from this manufacturer that bets on this kind of design, and the result seems to be a well balanced machine that represents a good compromise between power, thinness and weight.




Alienware seemed reluctant to give up in the field of "bulky" designs, and the truth is that its proposal is interesting especially when compared with the Alienware 13 that precedes it: it is 14% thinner, but even being a laptop with a 15.6 inch screen (versus Alienware's 13 13.3 inches) its weight (2.2 kg) is 20% lower than that model.

The specs reveal small sacrifices, however: we can choose between an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 or a GTX 1070 Max-Q, while for the CPU we can choose between an quad-core Intel Core i5-8300H or a six-core Intel Core i7-8750H. The entry model brings us a 1080p 60 Hz panel, but from there we can go to 1080p 144 Hz or even a 4K 60 Hz resolutions and refresh rates. These machines came loaded with up to 32 GB of RAM and up to a 1 TB SSD plus another 1 TB hybrid drive. The standard Alienware m15 has a 60 Whr battery, though we can jump to a 90 Whr version that offers 10.6 hours of continuous video playback according to Dell.

The Alienware m15 will be available on October 25th, and will have a starting price of $1,299.

View at TechPowerUp Main Site
 
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
3,208 (1.23/day)
Location
North East Ohio, USA
System Name My Ryzen 7 7700X Super Computer
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling DeepCool AK620 with Arctic Silver 5
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 EXPO (CL30)
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Storage Samsung 980 EVO 1 TB NVMe SSD (System Drive), Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD (Game Drive)
Display(s) Acer Nitro XV272U (DisplayPort) and Acer Nitro XV270U (DisplayPort)
Case Lian Li LANCOOL II MESH C
Audio Device(s) On-Board Sound / Sony WH-XB910N Bluetooth Headphones
Power Supply MSI A850GF
Mouse Logitech M705
Keyboard Steelseries
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/liwjs3
ARG!!! Seriously... stop with this "thin for the sake of thin" crap. If you can't pick up a fifteen pound notebook because it's too heavy then you really need to think about doing some light weight training.
 
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
5,453 (1.42/day)
Location
Everywhere all the time all at once
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
15Lbs.... really, for a laptop ?????

Although I agree with your "thin" sentiments, do you really think today's lazy, bloated-ass, couch-potatoed wimpy pussyfoots are gonna be willing to tote that around for even 5 mins....

The last time I picked up a lappy that heavy was back in the early 90's, which was a rubber-clad tank called the "Panasonic ToughBook" designed for the military to use on the battlefield...
 
  • Like
Reactions: aQi
Joined
Mar 6, 2017
Messages
3,208 (1.23/day)
Location
North East Ohio, USA
System Name My Ryzen 7 7700X Super Computer
Processor AMD Ryzen 7 7700X
Motherboard Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite AX
Cooling DeepCool AK620 with Arctic Silver 5
Memory 2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z5 NEO DDR5 EXPO (CL30)
Video Card(s) XFX AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE
Storage Samsung 980 EVO 1 TB NVMe SSD (System Drive), Samsung 970 EVO 500 GB NVMe SSD (Game Drive)
Display(s) Acer Nitro XV272U (DisplayPort) and Acer Nitro XV270U (DisplayPort)
Case Lian Li LANCOOL II MESH C
Audio Device(s) On-Board Sound / Sony WH-XB910N Bluetooth Headphones
Power Supply MSI A850GF
Mouse Logitech M705
Keyboard Steelseries
Software Windows 11 Pro 64-bit
Benchmark Scores https://valid.x86.fr/liwjs3
Maybe I was exaggerating but you get the idea. This whole "thin for the sake of thin" is infecting everything. Just how the hell are you supposed to do proper cooling when the device is thin? I blame Apple for this crap, talk about putting form before function.
 
Last edited:
Joined
Oct 18, 2013
Messages
5,453 (1.42/day)
Location
Everywhere all the time all at once
System Name The Little One
Processor i5-11320H @4.4GHZ
Motherboard AZW SEI
Cooling Fan w/heat pipes + side & rear vents
Memory 64GB Crucial DDR4-3200 (2x 32GB)
Video Card(s) Iris XE
Storage WD Black SN850X 4TB m.2, Seagate 2TB SSD + SN850 4TB x2 in an external enclosure
Display(s) 2x Samsung 43" & 2x 32"
Case Practically identical to a mac mini, just purrtier in slate blue, & with 3x usb ports on the front !
Audio Device(s) Yamaha ATS-1060 Bluetooth Soundbar & Subwoofer
Power Supply 65w brick
Mouse Logitech MX Master 2
Keyboard Logitech G613 mechanical wireless
Software Windows 10 pro 64 bit, with all the unnecessary background shitzu turned OFF !
Benchmark Scores PDQ
Agreed, normally what Apple starts they usually end up finishing, and it appeared for quite some time that they were winning the "thin as can" be race, as we watched each new generation of their lappys (and iMacs too) get thinner & thinner....

Then the WinTel crowd figured they could also cash in on the trend and said "hey, apple is selling a shitload of thin lappys, so we can too".... too bad they initially overlooked what was at that time apple's real winning cards....their OS and their build quality.

But then, they finally got their shit together and started making some really nice machines that were almost as good as macbooks, and the rest as they say, is history :)

And for everyones FYI, I witnessed all of this first hand, as I owned several apple & wintel lappys during this era and saw apple's dominance and QA/QC go downhill to the point when they finally gave up and starting working towards everything iOS related...

what a waste :(
 
Joined
Apr 4, 2016
Messages
21 (0.01/day)
As a happy owner of a current gen AW13 I think there is not much to see here. They simply made the 13 wider and thinner, so essentially you gave the same heat-exchanging area. It might be visually more appealing and offering a larger screen size, however they took away the gorgeous OLED display option and the machine is wider and deeper so IMHO it's less convenient to handle. I think it was a simple trade-off, as the AW13 was already light enough to carry it around as your daily driver.

As for weight-critical design methods I agree with you, that it is waay overdone, but some of the earlier (and even current gen) 17" laptops really are heavy, not to mention the Acer twenty something inch behemoths....
 
Joined
Jan 29, 2012
Messages
6,431 (1.44/day)
Location
Florida
System Name natr0n-PC
Processor Ryzen 5950x/5600x
Motherboard B450 AORUS M
Cooling EK AIO 360 - 6 fan action
Memory Patriot - Viper Steel DDR4 (B-Die)(4x8GB)
Video Card(s) EVGA 3070ti FTW
Storage Various
Display(s) PIXIO IPS 240Hz 1080P
Case Thermaltake Level 20 VT
Audio Device(s) LOXJIE D10 + Kinter Amp + 6 Bookshelf Speakers Sony+JVC+Sony
Power Supply Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 80+ Gold 650W
Software XP/7/8.1/10
Benchmark Scores http://valid.x86.fr/79kuh6
My friend got some newer alienware laptop with a 1060 in it.They are really well made and powerful too. It's super thick though.
 

eidairaman1

The Exiled Airman
Joined
Jul 2, 2007
Messages
40,435 (6.59/day)
Location
Republic of Texas (True Patriot)
System Name PCGOD
Processor AMD FX 8350@ 5.0GHz
Motherboard Asus TUF 990FX Sabertooth R2 2901 Bios
Cooling Scythe Ashura, 2×BitFenix 230mm Spectre Pro LED (Blue,Green), 2x BitFenix 140mm Spectre Pro LED
Memory 16 GB Gskill Ripjaws X 2133 (2400 OC, 10-10-12-20-20, 1T, 1.65V)
Video Card(s) AMD Radeon 290 Sapphire Vapor-X
Storage Samsung 840 Pro 256GB, WD Velociraptor 1TB
Display(s) NEC Multisync LCD 1700V (Display Port Adapter)
Case AeroCool Xpredator Evil Blue Edition
Audio Device(s) Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZxR
Power Supply Seasonic 1250 XM2 Series (XP3)
Mouse Roccat Kone XTD
Keyboard Roccat Ryos MK Pro
Software Windows 7 Pro 64
My friend got some newer alienware laptop with a 1060 in it.They are really well made and powerful too. It's super thick though.

Yup only those keep cool
 
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
847 (0.40/day)
Location
Haswell, USA
System Name Bruh
Processor 10700K 5.3Ghz 1.35v| i7 7920HQ 3.6Ghz -180Mv |
Motherboard Z490 TUF Wifi | Apple QMS180 |
Cooling EVGA 360MM | Laptop HS |
Memory DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz CL16 | LPDDR3 16GB 2133Mhz CL20 |
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix 3080 (2100Mhz/18Ghz)|Radeon Pro 560 (1150Mhz/1655Mhz)|
Storage Many SSDs, ~24TB HDD/8TB SSD
Display(s) S2719DGF, HP Z27i, Z24n| 1800P 15.4" + ZR30W + iPad Pro 10.5 2017
Case NR600 | MBP 2017 15" Silver | MSI GE62VR | Elite 120 Advanced
Audio Device(s) Lol imagine caring about audio
Power Supply 850GQ | Apple 87W USB-C |
Mouse Whatever I have on hand + trackpads (Lanchead TE)
Keyboard HyperX Origins Alloy idk
Software W10 20H2|W10 1903 LTSC/MacOS 11
Benchmark Scores No.
While looking nice, its likely to have the same faults as all the models since the 2015 "Echo" series. Last decent laptop AW released was the AW 17 R1
 
Joined
Apr 3, 2012
Messages
4,355 (0.99/day)
Location
St. Paul, MN
System Name Bay2- Lowerbay/ HP 3770/T3500-2+T3500-3+T3500-4/ Opti-Con/Orange/White/Grey
Processor i3 2120's/ i7 3770/ x5670's/ i5 2400/Ryzen 2700/Ryzen 2700/R7 3700x
Motherboard HP UltraSlim's/ HP mid size/ Dell T3500 workstation's/ Dell 390/B450 AorusM/B450 AorusM/B550 AorusM
Cooling All stock coolers/Grey has an H-60
Memory 2GB/ 4GB/ 12 GB 3 chan/ 4GB sammy/T-Force 16GB 3200/XPG 16GB 3000/Ballistic 3600 16GB
Video Card(s) HD2000's/ HD 2000/ 1 MSI GT710,2x MSI R7 240's/ HD4000/ Red Dragon 580/Sapphire 580/Sapphire 580
Storage ?HDD's/ 500 GB-er's/ 500 GB/2.5 Samsung 500GB HDD+WD Black 1TB/ WD Black 500GB M.2/Corsair MP600 M.2
Display(s) 1920x1080/ ViewSonic VX24568 between the rest/1080p TV-Grey
Case HP 8200 UltraSlim's/ HP 8200 mid tower/Dell T3500's/ Dell 390/SilverStone Kublai KL06/NZXT H510 W x2
Audio Device(s) Sonic Master/ onboard's/ Beeper's!
Power Supply 19.5 volt bricks/ Dell PSU/ 525W sumptin/ same/Seasonic 750 80+Gold/EVGA 500 80+/Antec 650 80+Gold
Mouse cheap GigaWire930, CMStorm Havoc + Logitech M510 wireless/iGear usb x2/MX 900 wireless kit 4 Grey
Keyboard Dynex, 2 no name, SYX and a Logitech. All full sized and USB. MX900 kit for Grey
Software Mint 18 Sylvia/ Opti-Con Mint KDE/ T3500's on Kubuntu/HP 3770 is Win 10/Win 10 Pro/Win 10 Pro/Win10
Benchmark Scores World Community Grid is my benchmark!!
15 lbs. ?
2.2 Kilograms = 4.85016977 lbs.

Heavier than my lappytop but, I only have HD4000. Mostly useless as a gamer, except for some older indie games...
 
Joined
Jul 3, 2018
Messages
847 (0.40/day)
Location
Haswell, USA
System Name Bruh
Processor 10700K 5.3Ghz 1.35v| i7 7920HQ 3.6Ghz -180Mv |
Motherboard Z490 TUF Wifi | Apple QMS180 |
Cooling EVGA 360MM | Laptop HS |
Memory DDR4 32GB 3600Mhz CL16 | LPDDR3 16GB 2133Mhz CL20 |
Video Card(s) Asus ROG Strix 3080 (2100Mhz/18Ghz)|Radeon Pro 560 (1150Mhz/1655Mhz)|
Storage Many SSDs, ~24TB HDD/8TB SSD
Display(s) S2719DGF, HP Z27i, Z24n| 1800P 15.4" + ZR30W + iPad Pro 10.5 2017
Case NR600 | MBP 2017 15" Silver | MSI GE62VR | Elite 120 Advanced
Audio Device(s) Lol imagine caring about audio
Power Supply 850GQ | Apple 87W USB-C |
Mouse Whatever I have on hand + trackpads (Lanchead TE)
Keyboard HyperX Origins Alloy idk
Software W10 20H2|W10 1903 LTSC/MacOS 11
Benchmark Scores No.
15 lbs. ?
2.2 Kilograms = 4.85016977 lbs.

Heavier than my lappytop but, I only have HD4000. Mostly useless as a gamer, except for some older indie games...
All of the actual gaming laptops I have owned have reached or have been 10LBS+
 
Joined
Jun 27, 2016
Messages
290 (0.10/day)
System Name MacBook Pro 16"
Processor M1 Pro
Memory 16GB unified memory
Storage 1 TB
Maybe I was exaggerating but you get the idea. This whole "thin for the sake of thin" is infecting everything. Just how the hell are you supposed to do proper cooling when the device is thin? I blame Apple for this crap, talk about putting form before function.
You shouldn't blame Apple for this. They make their laptops for documents and just office use, so the case is very different with Alienware. But to be honest I do prefer thin laptop for very light gaming than carry big heavy coffin with me with 15 minutes of battery life.
 
Joined
Dec 27, 2013
Messages
887 (0.24/day)
Location
somewhere
The Thin laptop/device trend is stupid. Sure it's nice to not have a bulky device, but when it's literally like paper it's getting silly. I'd rather have a bigger battery and better cooling in a Gaming Laptop than it being "thin" because, uh, it "looks cool"?
 
Joined
Feb 13, 2014
Messages
487 (0.13/day)
Location
Cyprus
Processor 13700KF - 5.7GHZ
Motherboard Z690 UNIFY-X
Cooling ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III 360 (NF-A12x25)
Memory 2x16 G.SKILL M-DIE (7200-34-44-44-28)
Video Card(s) XFX MERC 7900XT
Storage 1TB KINGSTON KC3000
Display(s) FI32Q
Case LIAN LI O11 DYNAMIC EVO
Audio Device(s) HD599
Power Supply RMX1000
Mouse PULSAR XLITE V2 MINI (RETRO)
Keyboard KEYCHRON V3 (DUROCK T1 + MT3 GODSPEED R2)
Software Windows 11
Benchmark Scores Superposition 4k optimized - 20652
Agree, these thin laptops can't even properly cool the U series quad-cores(8250u / ryzen 5), when you can't cool a 15w CPU that means the design is flawed imho. \
Besides that CPU can't even turbo at even close to max speeds due to that watt limitation
 
Top