• 3 hours ago
Transcript
00:00Hey, how's it going? Dave2D here.
00:01So the Alienware 17 has always been a pretty powerful gaming laptop,
00:05and you can get some really good configurations for like $1,500, $1,600.
00:08This is a little bit different. This is their most powerful system they've ever had.
00:12This is codenamed the Baller configuration. It's decked out.
00:16It's got the i9-8950HK, so that new 6-core CPU that can clock up to 5 GHz.
00:22It's got a GTX 1080 that's running slightly overclocked.
00:24It has 32 gigs of RAM, a ton of storage. It's ridiculous.
00:28It's their most packed configuration. It's expensive, but good God, it is powerful.
00:32So the thing that makes this thing special is the CPU.
00:35It's incredibly fast, even at stock.
00:37So CPU-dependent apps and games will just fly on this thing.
00:40CPU-dependent anything will perform really well.
00:43The GTX 1080 in here complements the CPU really nicely.
00:46If you're doing heavier video edits or 3D work or any kind of thing that's graphically intense,
00:50this laptop can crush it, but it does specialize in gaming.
00:53The frame rates I was getting from this machine were just incredible.
00:56Really good-looking graphics, really smooth frame rates. This thing just delivers.
01:00Now, the screen on here is actually one of the more unique screens I've seen on a 17-inch gaming laptop.
01:04So a lot of devices with big screens will have 1080p with high refresh and stuff like that.
01:09This is a 1440p, 120Hz G-Sync panel, and games just look incredible on it.
01:15It's super smooth and super sharp at the same time.
01:18So it's brighter than your average panel, and it's also pretty color accurate
01:21if you want to use your laptop for photo or video work.
01:23It is a TN panel, but unlike the vast majority of garbage TN panels out there, this one's really good.
01:28It's actually the best screen that Alienware makes, and I think it's actually better than a lot of their IPS panels.
01:33It's definitely the best screen that's available on the Alienware 17.
01:36It's a really good panel.
01:38Okay, the CPU in here, 6-core, very powerful, but this one has the ability to be overclocked to 5GHz,
01:44which in theory is awesome, but I couldn't get it to maintain at that boost clock.
01:49So I could get it to run at full tilt at stock speeds.
01:52The vapor chamber they're using is doing a good job, and even at 4.8GHz, it was not bad,
01:57but at 5GHz, it gets dicey.
01:58There is some very noticeable spiking in the clock speed.
02:01The thing is, that's a really big overclock for a laptop.
02:04At stock speeds, I'm pretty happy considering what this thing's able to push out.
02:08If you wanted to, though, if you really, really wanted to, you could probably repaste it
02:11or run some liquid metal and get some even better thermals,
02:13but I'm happy with what this thing comes with at stock.
02:16And the fan noise when it's being pushed isn't even that loud.
02:19It also has Tobii eye tracking, so there's some cameras down here that'll track what you're looking at,
02:23and you can use it for controls.
02:25And the technology is cool, the idea is cool, but it's still a very niche product to me.
02:29So all the other good stuff that comes with Alienware comes on this laptop as well.
02:33Very well built. It's probably the best built 17-inch laptop that I've used this year.
02:37It's built like a tank. The chassis remains the same, but they have this new black color.
02:42It's kind of like a stealth look.
02:43I've always liked the Alienware gray, but there's something about this all-black murdered-out version
02:47that I find pretty cool.
02:49The ports also have not changed. It's running four USB slots, two of them which are Type-C,
02:53and there's also no SD slot, so keep that in mind.
02:56You get easy accessibility. Inside, you have two RAM slots, the four drives, and the Wi-Fi card.
03:01You also get a great keyboard. It's pretty unique.
03:03It's not mechanical, but it's very plush travel, and it's very gamer-friendly.
03:07The layout does take some time to get used to, especially with the macro keys so close on the left,
03:11but yeah, once you get used to it, you'll enjoy this keyboard.
03:13The speakers on the Alienware devices are always good.
03:16The Alienware 17 has the best speakers of the bunch.
03:18They're loud, they're well-positioned, and it's got good bass.
03:21Alienware laptops have some of the best exterior lighting in the business.
03:25It's got the light-up trackpad, the really cool side lighting, the alien head.
03:28They do a really good job at it.
03:30That being said, I think that their interior lighting, like the keyboard lighting, is starting to show its age.
03:35See, Alienware was one of the first companies out there to put RGB lighting on the keyboard.
03:39It looked really cool at the time, but now, like years later, everybody's got individually-lit keys.
03:45These guys are still using zoned lighting, and just on a flagship device like this, their keyboard lighting isn't that impressive.
03:51The trackpad they have also isn't a Windows Precision one.
03:54It's running Synaptic drivers.
03:55They've always been okay.
03:57The touchpad tracking was never bad or anything, but the gesture detection on Synaptic software isn't good.
04:02The dedicated buttons are nice, though, and that light-up surface always looks cool.
04:06Now, the battery life is short.
04:08I was expecting it to be short, because it's a 17-inch screen, it's running G-Sync, so there's no Optimus,
04:12and the battery is limited to just 99 watt-hours.
04:15It's a big battery, but it's a big laptop.
04:17And with everything off, like LED off, Tobii eye-tracking off, I'm getting around 4 hours of battery life.
04:23It's not terrible, but it kind of limits the ability to use this thing all day without the charger.
04:28The charger's also really big.
04:30330 watts, it's a brick.
04:32But you do need something like that to juice this system, because it's a very, very powerful laptop.
04:36Now, obviously, this isn't for everyone.
04:38If you're a student and you have, like, four classes a day on campus, you're not going to be bringing this thing around.
04:42It's very thick, it's very heavy, but if you're looking for one of the most powerful systems you can get right now,
04:47check this thing out, because it is a beast.
04:50Okay, hope you guys enjoyed this video.
04:51Thumbs if you liked it, subs if you loved it.
04:53I'll see you guys next time.