Gaming tank. Big, heavy and a case full of fast hardware describes the new Alienware 17. Especially hardcore gamers will be interested in the GeForce GTX 880M, which is one of the fastest single chip GPUs. But can the overall package support the good initial impression?
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Alienware-17-GTX-880M-Notebook-Review.117238.0.html
Thanks for your reviews, they are some of the best on the net, but please can you update your stress testing regime. Furmark is not a useful representation to show whether a notebook GPU throttles or not. This is because NVidia have (since the Fermi cards) artificially made their cards throttle when the Furmark.exe was detected. Because it's an artificial limitation imposed by NVidia for the Furmark program specifically, then it is not representative of whether the GPU will throttle during a gaming experience. Please can you use Unigine Heaven Benchmark to test throttling behaviour. Heaven Benchmark is really good for this purpose because it provides a 100% sustained GPU load, but in a way that a game would, it's not a 'power virus' like Furmark. This way you will be able to provide useful evidence that the card will throttle or not in gaming loads. Furmark is useless with today's GPU's, and serves nothing more than to confuse matters and provide misleading information on throttling behaviour & maximum temperatures.
(Sure, the 880M is known to throttle heavily, even under gaming loads, and this specifically would have been useful for you to investigate, but not under the guise of the useless Furmark for the reasons explained).
Why the "No SSD" contra if it comes with one? :o
Thanks for the review. But I am extremely disappointed that Alienware decided to use a cheap screen for its premium gaming laptop. It has low contrast and is not even an IPS screen, which has become a standard among high-end gaming laptops. The noise test did not mention if Alienware still has the old problem of pulsating noise where the fan spins up in short bursts, which is very annoying to many users.
Honestly anyone can still get this configuration for at least 500$ cheaper from other brands.Alienware laptops not worth the money,unless you want to donate extra money for dell.Many of us can afford it without any difficultys,do not misunderstand me,personally is just hate when a company is trying to sell me a product for twice of the price it what worths.
With the starting price at just an arm and a leg, you can own a Alienware 17 too!
Check for the new A17-2842 with the i7 4910MQ and 32 GB RAM and 256 GB SSD combined with 1TB HHD. he graphic card is the same. ;)