Alienware m18 FHD+ 480Hz Gaming Laptop – AMD Ryzen 9 7945HX – 32GB Memory – AMD Radeon RX 7900M – 1TB SSD – Dark Metallic Moon

The Alienware m18 R1 AMD is the zero-compromise gaming laptop from the future. Included in the box is the 18-inch laptop itself, the power cable, quick start guide and 2 metallic Alienware stickers. Although only a quick start guide is included in the box, extensive documentation including a 94-page service manual is readily available on Dell’s website. The first thing I noticed when unboxing the m18 is the weight. Clocking in at 8.9lbs this laptop is no featherweight; however, this is expected for performance of this caliber. Reflecting the weight, aluminum construction is rugged with no deck flex whatsoever. On first boot, Alienware SupportAssist program prompts to register for the 1-year premium warranty and automatically prompts for a driver update. The SupportAssist program also can automatically optimize performance, network, and clean files. SupportAssist is a first-rate maintenance program provided for their line of computers. 330-watt power brick is huge yet necessary for powering this beast of a laptop as I measured peak CPU power draw of 100 watts and peak GPU draw of 266 watts during testing. RGB keyboard is tactile and has superb key stabilization on all keys. Keyboard includes a number pad. Per-key RGB is controllable through the Alienware Command Center app. Large “glass” trackpad is superb. The large 18-inch screen has a matte finish which I prefer as it cuts down on glare. 1080p display has exceptional color, a 3ms response time, and a mind-boggling 480hz refresh rate. Display covers 100% of the DCI-P3 color gamut which is 25% wider than SRGB. Additionally, the display supports adaptive sync technologies and has exceptionally wide viewing angles. 300 nits peak brightness is on par with many higher end laptops. Even with all this tech, the bezels on this laptop are remarkably thin. One thing which I find most impressive is how quiet the laptop stays under load. The keyboard and deck stay relatively cool as hot air is exhausted out the rear and sides of the laptop. Benchmark Scores: • 3DMark Time Spy Extreme: o Overall Score: 9212 (Legendary) o GPU: 9013 o CPU: 10535 • Unigine Superposition (1080p Extreme): o Score: 10965 o Avg FPS: 82.02 • BMW27 Blender Render: o CPU: 01:11:10 o GPU: 00:20:13 • Crystal Disk Mark (NVME SSD Profile): o Sequential 1MiB read: 7043.78 MB/s o Sequential 1MiB write: 5739.13 MB/s o Random 4KiB read: 3757.69 MB/s o Random 4KiB write: 2659.74 MB/s • GTA V Benchmark: o Average Framerate: 125 o Average Frametime: 8 MS • CS:2 Simple FPS Benchmark: o Average Framerate: 360 The numbers speak for themselves. Benchmarks and in-game performance blow all other gaming laptops I have seen out of the water. Ryzen 9 7945HX and Radeon RX 7900M are an unstoppable duo in terms of computational power and raw gaming performance. Paired with 32 GB DDR5 4800 of ram (upgradeable to 64 GB), this laptop is well suited for workstation use, video editing and rendering as is evident with the blazing fast Blender render results. It even beat my 9th Gen Intel i9 equipped desktop in CPU rendering. Although CPU temps reached 100 degrees Celsius during certain tests, fans never ramped up and thermal throttling was not recorded. Kioxia 1TB NVME SSD is blazing fast as well. There is a second slot in the laptop to install an additional NVME SSD too. BIOS is basic yet does allow for 2 levels of CPU overclocking. This option is vague yet in testing it seems to boost the base clock speed. Alienware Command Center allows for different performance levels to be selected which corresponds to the OC levels found in the bios. I/O: • Rear: o Barrel Charger Port o Full Sized SD Card Reader o Mini DisplayPort o Full Sized HDMI 2.1 o 2x USB 3.2 Type-C w/ DisplayPort o USB 3.2 Type-A w/ PowerShare • Sides: o Slim Ethernet Port o 2x USB 3.2 Type-A Ports o USB 3.2 Type-C Port I/O is impressive. Appreciate the Full-size SD card slot as it is useful for offloading pictures from cameras. Stereo 2-watt speakers sound adequate for laptop speakers, yet I would recommend wearing headphones for any serious gaming. Alienware Command Center integrates with Dolby Atmos too. 1080p webcam and integrated dual-array microphones are sufficient for video calls and include Windows Hello facial recognition. Hello is a huge plus as you are logged right into Windows upon opening the laptop. Overall, the Alienware m18 R1 AMD is the ultimate, somewhat portable, gaming powerhouse. Have been reviewing performance gaming laptops for years and am genuinely impressed by the capabilities of this machine. Truly desktop level performance in a laptop form-factor.

Title explains it all. That’s it , go buy one. In all seriousness, this Alienware is one POWERFUL behemoth that will play anything you throw at it and not even break a sweat. I am used to the 14-16″ range, but this 18″ laptop is superbly built and looks soooo beautiful housing all the hardware needing to be called a King of gaming laptops. If I were to warn anyone going in on looking at this beast is to make 100% sure you know this is basically a DESKTOP REPLACEMENT. Unless your destination is like a 45 minute roundtrip, you are not gonna have a good time. Packaging is nice, simple and straight to the point. The m18 is well protected in the box along with it’s massive (not a lie) 330w power brick and a quick start guide. By the way, this bad boy weighs 8-9lbs and is HEAVY. Setup is your standard Windows 11 welcome. Good thing I like about Dell is they barely put any bloatware that you will want to uninstall to free up some space on the included 1 TB NVMe boot drive. They RGB is nice a touch on the keyboard and full programable within the Alienware software. Keyboard has a very nice tactile click and feel for even people like me with large hands. No discomfort what so ever leaving my wrists on the laptop. The trackpad is off center to the left and feels natural to use. Great and responsive and avoids accidental clicking and movement. Being a laptop, don’t go thinking the sound is going to blow your mind. It’s passible at best and lacks bass. Use either headphones or an external speaker system. Performance is what you will expect in not only in the price range, but also the great specs/hardware included. If only using the laptop itself for gaming and anything else, the included Ryzen 9 and RX 7900M is beyond overkill in my opinion. Reason is the max resolution for the screen isn’t FHD but not quite 1440p either. It’s FHD+(?) running at 1920×1200. In my gaming benchmarks, average FPS was over 200 and buttery smooth. Shadow of the Tomb Raider, GTA V, Baldur’s Gate III, Diablo IV, Resident Evil, etc. All settings maxed at High or Ultra (expect motion blur, worthless). If you’re like me and hook this up to an external monitor (mine is a 3440 x 1440 UW OLED), you will have an even better time. Games looked so nice and my averages depending on the game either maxed my monitor @ 165hz or was still well over 100. With great performance comes some annoyances. When playing demanding games, the cooling kicks in and I mean kicks in. The fans become little jet engines and are LOUD (but can be drowned out) but they do their job. Another thing to note is what I jokingly brought up earlier. This laptop NEEDS to be plugged in at all times. I tested the battery for fun, but it will only lasted me ~50 minutes to a little over an hour before the warning came on to charge it up. Upgrading was made easy by Dell. On the bottom you can remove 6 screws and loosen 2 of the corner capture screws (these don’t come out) and I used my fingernails to pop off the bottom shroud. Once off, you have easy access to the NVMe and to add other if you wish. Under the center black sticker is the removable DDR5 RAM and can be upgraded to 64GB from the included 32GB but not really worth doing except for bragging rights? You’re probably wondering why I rated this a 4 instead of a 5 after literally praising the m18 to death. I guess it’s a YMMV situation, but if you look at the pics I uploaded, you will see one where I paused on a dark/black screen and can see the crazy amount of light bleed. I mean, wow, it’s super crazy and should have had a slightly better QC on that but if you aren’t playing dark games, you’ll never notice. 2nd reason is the obnoxious sounding fans. 3rd is a personal preference, if you have so much amazing hardware and using an 18″ screen, would it really have hurt to make it at least a 1440p aspect ratio? Tests prove it could easily handle it and still beg for more. In the end, the Alienware m18 is a beast and proves it’s might. It will handle AAA gaming with ease for a long while. Performance is top tier for the price point and worth it.