Dell Alienware M17x (2012) review

When it comes to performance, the M17x is like no laptop we’ve seen. Its Core i7-3610QM processor is a quad-core model with Hyper-Threading, so appears at eight cores in Windows. It managed a huge 86 in our video-encoding test, which is up there with lower-end Core i5 desktop processors, but the four cores and Hyper-Threading really helped in the multitasking test, where the laptop managed 108; even faster than our desktop Core i5-2500K reference processor. Overall the M17x managed a score if 100, which makes it the fastest laptop we’ve ever seen.

Our test model came fitted with a 64GB SSD boot disk and a 500GB disk for data. The SSD boot disk makes it quick to boot and helps Windows 7 feel snappy, but it’s very small for a system partition. You will have to be careful to install your programs to the second drive to avoid running out of room. We think the small SSD would have been better used as a cache for a hard disk, to speed up performance while maintaining a large boot drive. If you’d rather not have the SSD, you can specify a 500GB hard disk and save £130.

It’s also the quickest laptop we’ve ever come across in games. In our Dirt 3 laptop test, which we run at 1,280×720 with 4x anti-aliasing and High detail, we saw a huge 73fps. When we turned up the resolution to the laptop’s native 1,920 x 1,080 and put the detail up to Ultra, we still saw 62fps. We also ran our Crysis 2 test, which we normally only use to test desktop PCs. Here we saw 36.7fps at 1,920 x 1,080 and Ultra detail, which is good enough for smooth gameplay and, astonishingly, quicker than a desktop Radeon HD 7950 in this test. This is a laptop that can play any game at 1080p and maximum detail levels – but be prepared to put up with a whoosh from the cooling fans.

All this power does come at the cost of battery life; the M17x is no Ultrabook, but neither is it a short-lived disaster. We saw two hours and forty-five minutes in our light-use test, so at least you can get through a film in a power cut. The laptop could also loop our Crysis 2 benchmark for an hour and ten minutes on battery, so you can even fit in some gaming away from the mains.

Dell’s Alienware M17x is astonishing. Its 2D and 3D power is astounding for a laptop and puts many mid-to-high-end desktop PCs to shame. This power is backed up with a fantastic screen, but it’s a shame about the flexy keyboard. If you’re after extreme power, though, there’s nothing quite like it.