Total War - Organizer

6:46 pm | March 13, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: AMD, CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Alienware m17 R5: Two-minute review

Is AMD Advantage - the red team’s moniker for machines using its Ryzen/Radeon combo rather than mixing and matching with Intel and Nvidia - truly the advantage its name suggests? That’s the unavoidable premise of this Alienware M17 review, but we won’t drag out the answer: it’s yes.

The fact is that, AMD focus or not, this is one heck of a gaming laptop. It is as smooth as butter covered in grease on a plate made of Teflon. That feeling could easily be attributed to its ludicrous 120Hz 4K screen, were its numbers are not so strong. As it stands, the all-AMD m17 can muscle through your games as well as any.

As well it should, given the investment you’ll need to make to get it going. At $2,350 (around £1,950 / AU$3,410), you’re talking the same spend as a fully-kitted-out gaming desktop PC, one which comes with a clearer upgrade path. You can switch out the RAM and SSDs here - an extra chunk of storage would not be a bad idea - and we doubt the processing package is going to feel dated any time soon, but that restriction is always a consideration when shelling out on a premium laptop.

Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage test unit on a table — (Image credit: Future / Alex Cox)

And this laptop really is premium. The chassis is an utter beauty, constructed not only with tough-enough materials and just the right amount of RGB lighting but with some very clever design touches. The sticky-out rear end gets rid of exhaust gasses, makes room for ports, and shoves the screen forward into your face; those ports which do make it onto the m17’s flanks are the ones you need for peripherals, placed exactly where you’ll want those peripherals attached.

The keyboard - not, on our review machine, the upgraded mechanical version but Dell’s membrane board - is decent, holding its own in gaming and eschewing a not-really-needed number pad in favour of giving itself room to breathe and your fingers room to move. The trackpad, slightly off-centre, works just fine. Even the battery lasts longer than you’d expect.

And none of that matters, because this is a big expensive gaming machine, and this Alienware m17 AMD Advantage review is proof that AMD has gained back any ground it might have once lost against Nvidia in the graphics department. It does get noisy when you’re pushing it, but the results speak for themselves.

Alienware m17 R5: Price and availability

AMD Advantage is a USA-only spin for now
Drop the specs if you’re looking for savings

Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage: Spec Sheet

Here is the Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Octa-core AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX 3.3GHz (4.9GHz boost), 16 threads
Graphics: 12GB AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (discrete), AMD Radeon 680M (integrated)
RAM: 32GB DDR5 @ 4800MHz
Screen: 17.3” 3840 x 2160, 120Hz, 3ms refresh
Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD
Optical drive: None
Ports: 3x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 (one with PowerShare), 1x USB4 Type-C Port, audio combo jack, HDMI 2.1, RJ45 ethernet
Connectivity: MediaTek Wi-Fi 6 MT7921 2x2 and Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p, 30fps RGB-IR webcam
Weight: 7.3 pounds (3.3 kg)
Size: 15.6 x 11.8 x 1.06 inches (39.7 x 29.9 x 2.7cm; W x D x H)

If you’re not in the US, you’re out of luck at the time of writing: Dell isn’t offering the Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage spin in any other region. Specced as our review model is, it’ll cost you a not insignificant $2,350 (around £1,950/AU$3,410) - though if you’d prefer to step down from a Ryzen 9 to a Ryzen 7 6800H (and take the forced downgrade to an RX6700M GPU) you can cut $300 from that amount.

Further switching out for a 1080p screen (in delightful 360Hz form) and putting up with an entirely reasonable 16GB RAM and 512GB storage can bring the price down to an achievable $1,700. Ditching the AMD Advantage gimmick altogether and speccing down further to an RTX 3050 Ti and 165Hz FHD screen brings us to $1,250 - close to half of the price of our full-throttle example.

If you’re in other regions, you can still get the Alienware m17 R5 in a whole host of specs. Dell’s website is the place to go to find out exactly what each will cost - but AMD graphics aren’t yet available.

Price score: 4 / 5

Alienware m17 R5: Design

Gorgeous, well-laid-out chassis
Clever cooling paths and port placement
Heavy - but worth it

Alienware’s big-boy laptop shell - also seen, in slightly slimmer form, on the x17 line - remains possibly the sexiest laptop design on the market. That’s a subjective assessment, one which assumes that you prefer curves, subtle hexagons and a noticeably rotund rear end over the harsh gamer angles of certain competitors. But we’re sticking by our assessment: it’s lovely.

Practical, too. The junk in the m17’s trunk is far from just an aesthetic touch. It pulls the screen forward around 3cm (1 3/16”), putting the action closer to your face, allowing the exhaust to leave peacefully, and leaving room for power, HDMI 2.1, and one each of Type-A and DisplayPort-compatible 10GBit/sec Type-C out of the way on the rear. The hexagonal intake grille offers the internals a huge amount of air without compromising the looks or rigidity of the base and gives the onboard Atmos audio every opportunity to shine.

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The Dell design genius doesn’t stop there. The company’s beloved central screen hinge is here and it’s both plenty rigid and the perfect way to disguise what might otherwise be a fairly chunky chin. A scalloped-in base works to trick the eye into ignoring the understandably fat internal dimensions. Side ports are limited to a pair of Type-A sockets on the right - leaving lefties to trail a mouse cable around the back - and 2.5G Ethernet and audio on the left. It’s not a setup that feels cumbersome or cluttered if you’re gaming on a desk.

You may indeed be tempted to leave this firmly on a flat surface, given that it’s on the weightier end of the laptop spectrum at 7.3lbs/3.3kg, though it’s not necessarily as heavy as its bulk might suggest - nor as bulky as its hardcore internals could have led Alienware to make it.

It’s upgradeable, to an extent. Beneath the bottom panel are a pair of PCI-E SSD slots, and the DDR5 is supplied by a pair of SODIMMs rather than some soldered-on package. You could also switch out the wireless card if you want the extra bandwidth of Wi-fi 6E since this features the 2x2 MediaTek MT7921, which tops out at Wi-fi 6.

A note here on the lighting. Our review model of the Alienware m17 came with the middle-spec keyboard fitted, which offers per-key RGB - the lower spec offers a single zone, while the highest sports per-key lighting beneath Cherry MX switches for an extra fee. Aside from that - and the cute little Alienware logo - you’re not bombarded with a focus-breaking light show at the front; the rear does illuminate, and we think that’s enough.

Besides, the screen itself is plenty bold enough to scorch your retinas by itself. Dolby Vision support and a very generous 120Hz speed ensure that this 17.3” panel is as impressive as it is large.

Design score: 5 / 5

Alienware m17 R5: Performance

Slick gaming performance
Great feeling keyboard
Automatic APU/GPU switching is cool

Alienware m17 R5: Benchmarks

Here's how the Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 57530; Fire Strike: 28132; Time Spy: 11788
Cinebench R20 Multi-core: 5056 points
GeekBench 5: 935 (single-core); 5811 (multi-core)
PCMark 10: 7013 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 6 hours and 27 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 86.5 fps; (1080p, Low): 202.7 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 42.4 fps; (1080p, Low): 43.1 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 109.7 fps; (1080p, Low): 185.2 fps

For the money, you’d expect the Alienware m17 to offer barn-burning performance, and it doesn’t disappoint. Our review model - mashing together AMD’s outrageous octa-core Ryzen 9 6900HX and the company’s up-and-coming 12GB Radeon RX 6850M XT GPU - slices merrily through almost everything, and its screen looks magnificent while doing it.

There’s an ‘almost’ there, but we’re not sure it’s something we should critique this m17 for. Playing Cyberpunk 2077 felt smooth enough - its recent addition of FSR 2.1 support probably doesn’t hurt - but its benchmark numbers didn’t reach the kind of lofty heights we’d expect, hovering around 40-ish FPS no matter what settings we applied. We’re going to paint that as an anomaly; Dirt 5 felt like it had unlimited frame overhead, and was smooth even when pushed to the extremes of the m7’s resolution; Total War: Warhammer III proved a doddle.

Even without the luxury of the mechanical switch upgrade, the m17’s keyboard is tight and deep enough to provide the kind of positive feedback that makes gaming good; the layout is entirely satisfactory and comfortable, to the point where we never even thought of reaching for an external keyboard. This fulfils the brief, and it’s hard to pick any holes in it; if we must be critical, extreme situations can lead to an understandable and perhaps slightly excessive amount of fan noise, but the m17 is happy to calm itself down when doing desktop duties.

Admittedly shuffling windows around seems like too trivial a task for a machine of this price and game-friendly specification, but you’re going to be doing it so it’s not entirely irrelevant. The trackpad is large and responsive with a good click, the screen, running at full 4K res, is a delight, and smart no-reset switching between APU and GPU is a neat touch which goes some way to saving battery, too. Sure, you can work on the Alienware m17, if you can bring yourself to.

Let’s at least try to offer up the tiniest of nitpicks. Could the otherwise wasted space at the edges of the keyboard have accommodated a numerical pad? Yes, almost certainly - but given the m17’s primary purpose we’re glad the main keyboard layout wasn’t compressed. Could the trackpad have been central? We’re sure there’s some reason that it’s shifted slightly to the side, but it’s close enough to the middle that it didn’t bother us. Could the m17 have incorporated a better webcam? Again, yes: grainy 720p just doesn’t cut it, although our review machine also incorporated an IR sensor for Windows Hello support.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Alienware m17 R5: Battery life

Unspectacular longevity…
…but probably slightly better than you’d expect

Battery life assessment feels relatively irrelevant for a big hefty desktop replacement. We’d often come to this point in the review and make some kind of half-hearted apology for the machine in question, accepting that you’re going to get three hours and like it.

This bucks the trend: six and a half hours in our movie-looping test was a big surprise, and while (clearly) you’ll not get anywhere near that when stressing the GPU, this lasts long enough that it’s not disappointing. Three hours of gaming isn’t out of the question.

Battery life score: 3 / 5

Should you buy the Alienware m17 R5?

Buy it if...

You’re a hardcore gamer
You’ll have to be hardcore to reach as deep into your pocket as you’ll need to, but this has both the looks and the performance to suit those who need the full experience on the move.

You’ll appreciate a big, high-res screen
The higher-spec tiers of the Alienware m17 probably offer more pixels than your games truly need - but whatever the resolution, this is a bold, beautiful panel that refreshes fast.

You have a small desk
The ports of the Alienware m17 are brilliantly laid out - compact gaming is far easier without cables getting in the way. And who needs a bulky desktop and monitor combo when you have this?

Don't buy it if...

You value portability
You could sling this in a bag. You could. But we’d paint that as an occasional indulgence at best because although the m17 isn’t over-heavy it’s most at home in the home.

You’re wary of AMD
To be clear, you shouldn’t be. This package shows just what the red team can do. If you’re dead set on an Nvidia card, though, a different spec of the m17 would suit you better.

You’re concerned about your budget
This is no-compromises gaming, with a price tag to match. If you’re willing to sacrifice just a little, you can spec this lower - or buy a completely different gaming-friendly laptop.

Alienware m17 R5: Also consider

If our Alienware m17 R5 AMD Advantage review has you considering other options, here are two laptops to consider...

How we tested

We pride ourselves on our independence and our rigorous review-testing process, offering up long-term attention to the products we review and making sure our reviews are updated and maintained - regardless of when a device was released, if you can still buy it, it's on our radar.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2023

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review: this powerful desktop replacement lets us down in one key area

3:00 pm | March 12, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: Australia, Total War, UK, US | Comments: Off

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Two-minute review

As the next-gen GPUs are upon us, there are plenty of gaming laptops releasing this year that are already taking advantage of the powerful mobile cards. The Lenovo Legion Pro 7i is one of them, outfitted with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF, 32 GB DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC storage. This is an absolute beast of a gaming laptop, made to be a desktop replacement with its extremely high specs and gaming performance.

Design-wise, this is a visually below-average laptop. It comes in black, the most overused color in the market, and thick and bulky, which is par for the course for most desktop replacements. Due to the large screen size and thickness to accommodate the RTX 4080 inside, it’s pretty heavy to lug around as well.

There is a slight cool factor in the way the chassis is cute, lending it a sci-fi aesthetic that saves it from being downright ugly. However, its build quality is pretty high not to mention eco-friendly, with a metal chassis made of 50% recycled aluminum on the bottom cover and 30% post-consumer recycled polymers on the top cover.

There’s a healthy port selection: four USB-A 3.2 ports, one USB-C port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, one HDMI 2.1, one RJ45 ethernet, one power input, one electronic e-shutter switch, and one 3.5mm audio jack. What stands out, in particular, is the amount of USB Type-A ports this laptop has, which is a rarity nowadays. And the sheer variation means that you’ll always have a port for whatever need you may have.

Sound quality is quite solid as well, with large speakers on the sides of the laptop. The webcam is 1080p as well, also a rarity in laptops nowadays. The keyboard has some gorgeous and customizable RGB lighting, with nice wide keys for easy typing and a num lock pad for extra convenience. The trackpad is also large and nicely sensitive.

Not only does the 16-inch Quad HD display give you some impressive screen real estate of over 90%, but it also has an incredible refresh rate of 240Hz and an unreal screen brightness of 500 nits.

Paired with excellent specs and performance, this is a true gaming machine that’s ready to go right out of the box. The customizing software is easy to use and especially good for adjusting fan speed and overclocking, though I noticed that when I actually tried to overclock, the GPU was throttled and the framerate dipped tremendously for some reason.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Price & availability

black gaming laptop with rgb lit keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

Starting at $2,299.99 (around £2,085 / AU$2,800)
Available now in the US, UK, and Australia

Pricing for the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro is a bit high as expected of a hardcore gaming machine. Its starting price is $2,299.99 (around £2,085 / AU$2,800), which is steep but not bad considering that it’s still packing an RTX 4070 GPU and a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU. The review model I received is a bit pricey at $2,749.99 (£3,499.99 including VAT / AU$4,759), but this version comes with a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF CPU and an RTX 4080 GPU.

Availability is excellent as well, as you can purchase this laptop in the US, UK, and Australia with little difficulty. However, only the more expensive models are available in UK and Australia, with only the US having a lower-end one with the 4070.

Price score: 4.5 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Specs

closeup of stickers on laptop — (Image credit: Future)

The specs for the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i review unit sent to me are as follows: Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 GPU, a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF, 32 GB DDR5-5600MHz RAM, and 1 TB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 TLC storage.

The lowest possible specs for the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro are available in the US and feature a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900HX CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4070 GPU, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB SSD storage. Interestingly enough, the base model in the UK has 512GB of storage but with all other specs matching the review model that I received.

My review model featured a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF CPU, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080 12GB GDDR6 GPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD storage. This bad boy is enough to run pretty much any game well above 100fps but if you want an even more impressive rig, the most powerful model has a 13-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF CPU, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X GPU, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD. In all three regions, you can’t upgrade past 1TB of storage, which is a little disappointing, but at least that’s enough to last you quite a while until you need to invest in external storage.

You can only upgrade your laptop in the UK and Australia, with the US having pre-set models instead. This wouldn’t be such an issue except for the fact that US models tend to sell out quickly, meaning if you can’t get your hands on a beefier laptop, you’ll either have to settle for a slightly weaker one or wait for a restocking. Despite that, there’s a nice amount of variety all around, with even the lowest model having impressive components.

Specs score: 5 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Design

closeup of rgb lit keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

Excellent port selection
Not very attractive
Solid build but ugly

If you’re looking for a gorgeous laptop that’s guaranteed to stop traffic, the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro is not for you. It prizes performance over looks, which shows in spades. The laptop is all black, the most common and boring of any laptop color, with nary a highlight or contrasting color to liven it up.

It does have a cool sci-fi aesthetic going on that saves it from being truly hideous, and the chassis itself is built sturdy enough to withstand some punishment. The best part is that it’s made of 50% recycled aluminum on the bottom cover and 30% post-consumer recycled polymers on the top cover.

Its port selection is extremely healthy: it has four USB-A 3.2 ports, one USB-C port, one Thunderbolt 4 port, one HDMI 2.1, one RJ45 ethernet, one power input, one electronic e-shutter switch, and one 3.5mm audio jack. This is easily one of the best selections I’ve ever seen on a laptop, gaming or otherwise. And this laptop having four USB Type-A ports alongside two Type-C ports is an absolute boon.

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back view of black gaming laptop with rgb lit keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

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side view of black gaming laptop with rgb lit keyboard — (Image credit: Future)

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closed black gaming laptop — (Image credit: Future)

The size and weight are somewhat doable with the right bag to carry it in, but between the 16-inch display and it weighing over six pounds, it’s very difficult to lug around. Unless you really need to transport it, this laptop is best at its duty of being a stationary desktop replacement.

One benefit of the larger size is the full-sized keyboard, a feature I can always appreciate. Not only does it have larger keys that make typo-free typing a breeze, but it also has a numlock pad. And the touchpad, while nothing particularly special, is a great size and sensitive. Speaker quality is also high. Whether playing games or complex orchestrated pieces, the sound is sharp and can reach a loud volume while sacrificing very little clarity.

I wish the webcam quality was a little better, though being 1080p does improve image quality quite a bit as long as you have solid lighting. Anything less will result in a graining image, especially since there’s no real way to adjust the lighting and image quality on the laptop itself. There's also a handy switch on the side that controls the shutter, but it's not a physical one which is bad for security.

Design score: 4 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Performance

black gaming laptop with cyberpunk running — (Image credit: Future)

Gaming performance is incredible
Blows away all benchmark tests
Do not try to overclock it

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Benchmarks

Here's how the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 70,196; Fire Strike: 29,766; Time Spy: 18,366; Port Royal: 11,897
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 29,766 points
GeekBench 5: 2,028 (single-core); 20,580 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 8,247 points
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 2 hours, 30 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 133 fps; (1080p, Low): 324 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 123 fps; (1080p, Low): 87 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 83 fps; (1080p, Low): 209 fps

Performance-wise, the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro really does earn its desktop replacement designation. It blows away pretty much every benchmark test, getting scores much higher than gaming laptops released last year that still use 3000-series GPUs and 12th-gen CPUs. While the GPU scores have reached ludicrous numbers, the CPU test scores should be higher than they are.

But that could be due to throttling, thanks to the powerful graphics cards. Something similar happened to the Alienware Aurora R15 gaming PC, but it remains to be seen how other gaming machines will score in that regard. But it’s no cause for concern, as it performed productivity tasks quickly and efficiently, making it a solid work machine as well.

In terms of gameplay performance, this throttling has very little impact on it as framerates continue to exceed expectations. For instance, on Ultra with all graphical settings maxed out, Cyberpunk 2077 maintains an excellent 87fps. When you enable DLSS 3, that number shoots up to 137fps on average. Dirt 5 also maintains a great 81-83fps on Ultra settings and Total War: Warhammer III is at around 133fps on Ultra Run.

Other titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered run butter smooth on the laptop. With maxed-out graphical settings and ray tracing on, there’s no noticeable stuttering or slowdown, even during web-swinging or hectic action scenes. It doesn't hurt that the refresh rate is a ludicrous 240Hz, which ensures that latency issues are a literal non-issue.

There is a problem I noticed with ventilation. Despite having three large vents located on the sides and back of the laptop, there’s still an overheating problem. Nothing drastic enough to burn your lap or affect gameplay, but it does get very warm after being on for a long while. However, this is easily fixed by adjusting the fan settings through the excellent Lenovo software.

That same software can let you adjust overclocking as well. However, I highly recommend that you don’t bother with it. First, games run perfectly well without doing so, and second, if you do overclock framerate drops dramatically. In Cyberpunk 2077, for instance, it dipped from 87 to 27, and even with DLSS 3 enabled the framerate refused to rise over 30. But as long as you don’t bother overclocking, you’ll have no performance issues whatsoever.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Battery

closeup of battery and date/time — (Image credit: Future)

Horrible battery life
Fast charge time

Like any other desktop replacement gaming laptop, the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro has an awful battery life. This is by far the worst battery life I’ve seen on a gaming laptop, lasting barely over two hours. This is clearly made to be plugged into an outlet and never let off AC power, because even under basic use, the battery will die in no time.

The good thing is that said battery doesn’t drain much if you’re carrying it around, so at least you can expect to have plenty of time to get it to a charger. It also charges very quickly - as in full battery charge within 30 minutes.

Battery score: 1 / 5

Should you buy the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i?

Buy it if...

You want a desktop replacement gaming laptop
This is the ultimate in desktop replacement, a gaming laptop that has one of the most powerful GPUs on the market and delivers in performance.

You want a powerful gaming machine
The performance on this machine is beyond outstanding, able to play any PC game on its highest settings and maintain incredibly high frame rates.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget
Even the lowest configurations here are expensive, and the highest configurations approach the very premium mark.

Lenovo Legion Pro 7i: Also consider

If the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i has you considering other options, here are two more gaming PCs to consider...

How I tested the Lenovo Legion Pro 7i?

I tested the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro for about a week
I tested PC games at both low and high settings
I used a variety of benchmarks as well as general gameplay to test performance

First, I tested the general weight and portability of the Lenovo Legion 7i Pro by carrying it around in a laptop bag. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to test out both the processor and graphics card, as well as in-game gameplay performance. Finally, I stress-tested using titles like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Cyberpunk 2077 in various settings to see both overall performance and ventilation quality.

The Lenovo Legion 7i Pro is a dedicated desktop replacement gaming laptop, which meant the brunt of my testing revolved around checking game performance and looking for any ventilation issues. I also tested out battery life to see how long it could last off AC power.

I've tested plenty of gaming PCs and laptops, making me more than qualified to understand benchmark test results and how to properly stress test machines to see how well they work during both casual and intense gaming sessions.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2023

Alienware Aurora R15 review: this next-gen gaming experience comes with a hefty price tag

9:21 pm | March 4, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: PC, Total War, UK, US | Comments: Off

Alienware Aurora R15: Two-minute review

The Alienware Aurora R15 is the latest refresh in the Aurora line of PCs, coming after the Alienware Aurora R13. The latter was a performance monster, so much so that the weak CPU cooler couldn’t keep up and caused massive overheating issues. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the R15.

Alienware is Dell’s premium brand of gaming PCs and laptops, and for good reason too. Not only do the gaming machines have some of the most unique and visually appealing designs and color palettes out there, but they’re also some of the best performing with the highest quality of specs out there.

The Alienware Aurora R15 is no exception to this golden rule, and it has received substantial upgrades. Notably, the cooling and ventilation system has had a massive overhaul. It now features 240mm liquid cooling that’s upgradable to 240mm Cryo-tech liquid cooling, five 120mm fans, a hexagonal side-venting for better airflow, and voltage regulator heatsinks on the motherboard for better cooling.

Long story short, I haven’t experienced a single issue with overheating or even just regular heating. The PC could be running Cyberpunk 2077 for three hours, and it wil still maintain an excellent internal temperature.

Its other specs are quite impressive — even the lowest priced one at $1,399.99 (around £1,175 / AU$2,085) has a respectable 13th-gen Intel Core i5 13400F, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, and 256GB of SSD. The one I received for review is the most powerful version, which is priced at a whopping $4,499.99 / £4,799.00 including VAT (around AU$6,700) and features a 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF, Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD (boot) along with 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (storage).

And while the pricing is outrageous, it matches the premium quality of both the absolutely stunning side glass chassis and the components themselves. The PC comes in two colors: Dark Side of the Moon and Lunar Light, which are both equally gorgeous and solely depends on your aesthetic preference.

Thanks to its specs, it is a bit on the heavy side, but it is surprisingly tame compared to other slightly larger PCs. It also has an impressive port selection that fits any possible need you may have for this PC. And thankfully the front batch of ports is not on the top of the PC, so less of a chance of getting dust in them.

Alienware Aurora R15: Price & availability

Alienware Aurora R15 on a table — (Image credit: Future)

Starting at $1,399.99 (around £1,175 / AU$2,085)
Available now in the US and UK

Dell’s Alienware line has always been premium in both price and quality, and the Alienware Aurora R15 is no exception, as most configurations are quite expensive. However, Dell does offer one that, at the time of this writing, is a solid deal at $1,399.99 (around £1,175 / AU$2,085) - at least for those in the US. The UK only has the two most expensive configurations available, and Australia has none at all.

The unit I received for review is the most expensive model you can purchase, costing at the time of this writing $4,499.99 (£4,799.00 including VAT / around AU$6,700). This version comes with top-tier specs including a 13ᵗʰ Gen Intel Core i9-13900KF processor and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 graphics card.

Price score: 4.5 / 5

Alienware Aurora R15: Specs

The specs for the Alienware Aurora R15 review unit sent to me is as follows: 13th-gen Intel Core i9-13900KF processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X graphics card, 32GB of DDR5 RAM, and 1TB NVMe M.2 PCIe SSD storage. As you can tell, this is the highest possible configuration that you can get for this unit, and it chews up and spits out any PC game on the highest settings.

If you’re in the US, you can also purchase a much cheaper model with a solid configuration, though you’ll probably have to upgrade the RAM and storage space. This model comes with a 13th Gen Intel Core i5 13400F processor, an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 graphics card, 8GB of DDR5 RAM, and 256GB SSD storage.

There are also several other models in the US to choose from, with my personal favorite for those who want to have a powerful gaming machine without breaking the bank too much. This configuration comes with a 13th-gen Intel Core i7 13700F processor, an AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT graphics card (which is nearly comparable to the RTX 3070), 16GB of DDR5 RAM, and 512GB SSD storage, and it’ll set you back $2,249.99 (around £1,883 / AU$3,344).

Specs score: 5 / 5

Alienware Aurora R15: Design

Striking design with a daring oval-shaped chassis
Nice port selection
Extensive cooling

One of the most prominent features of nearly any Alienware device is how striking and downright stunning each PC and laptop design is. The Alienware Aurora R15 continues this trend with a daring oval-shaped chassis complemented by both a glass side and one of two gorgeous color palettes to choose from.

The oval chassis not only creates a stark contrast to the more mainstream box look but also helps to shave off pounds from the overall unit. While it’s still a bit heavy, it’s more than possible for a single person to lift on their own, which I tested out by moving it around my apartment.

The overall port selection is quite excellent, with several USB Type-A and Type-C ports available for use in both the front and back. However, I do wish more Type-C ports were placed in the front, at least two of them versus only one since having to use the three in the back can be a bit annoying.

There are tons of other ports like a headset port, audio/microphone port, optical S/PDIF port, coaxial S/PDIF port, ethernet port, several HDMI ports, center/rear/side surround ports, an external antenna port, and line-in/out ports. There are also two slots for security: a Kensington security-cable slot and a padlock slot. There’s a port for pretty much any need you could possibly have.

A huge shoutout to the massively improved ventilation system on this PC. As I mentioned before, the previous R13 model has significant overheating issues due to the weak CPU heatsink. But this time around, Dell has gone above and beyond in its efforts to prevent this with 240mm liquid cooling that’s upgradable to 240mm Cryo-tech liquid cooling, five 120mm fans, a hexagonal side-venting for better airflow, and voltage regulator heatsinks on the motherboard for better cooling.

While it seems a little over the top, if you’re purchasing the model with an RTX 4090 graphics card, you need the extra cooling since a not-less-than-zero percentage of those cards like to catch on fire when overheated.

Design score: 5 / 5

Alienware Aurora R15: Performance

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Performance beyond incredible
Ventilation keeps PC cool at maxed-out settings

Alienware Aurora R15: Benchmarks

Here's how the Alienware Aurora R15 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 92,439; Fire Strike: 44,258; Time Spy: 30,392; Port Royal: 25,124
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 35,033 points
GeekBench 5: 2,176 (single-core); 22,813 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 9,609 points
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 201 fps; (1080p, Low): 488 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 154 fps; (1080p, Low): 155 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 183 fps; (1080p, Low): 254 fps

The performance of the Alienware Aurora R15 is beyond incredible, blowing any gaming PC outfitted with previous-generation hardware out of the water with ease. I compared the R15 with another desktop PC I recently reviewed, the Acer Predator Orion 7000, to see how current-gen components would fair in benchmarks, and the differences in performance are like night and day.

Keep in mind that the Orion 7000 is no slouch, outfitted with a 12th-gen Intel Core i7 processor and an RTX 3080 graphics card. But for instance, when running the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark on both PCs on Ultra settings, the Orion 7000 averaged at a great 63FRS while the R15 ran at 154FPS, nearly twice the framerates (this was without DLSS turned on). Comparing Dirt 5, the former averaged at 82FPS and the latter managed 183FPS, over 100 points difference.

Deciding to push things a little further, I tested out both Cyberpunk 2077 and Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, the latter of which is a technical marvel on PC, to some excellent results. I completely maxed out graphics settings on Cyberpunk and set the framerate requirement to about 240, then ran the benchmark with and without DLSS. The latter managed to stay at a consistent 27FPS, while the former immediately shot up to and stayed at an average of 59FPS.

Meanwhile, maxing out Spider-Man’s graphics with DLSS on and setting the framerate requirement to about 160FPS, I tested out web-swinging through the metropolis and combat on the hardest difficulty with tons of civilians and gun-wielding bad guys around. The former scenario saw the framerate stay above 100FPS, and in the latter, I never saw the framerate dip before 150FPS. It was staggering how incredible the graphics and performance were while running butter smooth all the while.

And the best part was that ventilation made for an experience that kept the PC running nice and cool. It seems that Dell took to heart the missteps of the R13 and created a cooling system that could fully support the power of its components.

Performance score: 5 / 5

Should you buy the Alienware Aurora R15?

Buy it if...

You want a beautiful gaming PC
Between the gorgeous oval chassis that comes in two colors and the side glass panel that lights up to showcase the components, this is a showstopping PC.

You want a powerful gaming machine
The performance on this machine is beyond outstanding, able to play any PC game on its highest settings and maintain incredibly high framerates.

You need top-notch ventilation
Learning from its past mistakes, this PC has several fans, liquid cooling, and improved vents around the chassis to ensure it never overheats, even during intense sessions.

Don't buy it if...

You're on a budget
While the cheapest option is nice to see, it's still not a budget machine and the highest configurations are eye-watering in cost.

Alienware Aurora R15: Also consider

If the Alienware Aurora R15 has you considering other options, here are two more gaming PCs to consider...

How I tested the Alienware Aurora R15

I tested the Alienware Aurora R15 for about a week
I tested PC games at both low and high settings
I used a variety of benchmarks as well as general gameplay to test performance

First, I tested the general weight of the Alienware Aurora R15 by lifting it up and around my apartment. After I set it up, I ran several benchmarks to test out both the processor and graphics card, as well as in-game gameplay performance. Finally, I stress-tested out titles like Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Cyberpunk 2077 in various settings to see both overall performance and ventilation quality.

The Alienware Aurora R15 is specially made as a gaming PC, which meant the brunt of my testing revolved around checking game performance and looking for any ventilation issues.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed March 2023

Acer Predator Orion 7000 (2022) review

11:33 am | February 19, 2023

Author: admin | Category: Computers Gadgets | Tags: CPU, HDR, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Acer Predator Orion 7000: Two-minute review

The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is an absolute beau of a gaming machine, with gorgeous RGB lighting and exquisite cable management. Of course, its massive size and heavy weight are also nothing to sneeze at, making it difficult to move around or lift without a second person. Once it’s in place, however, the massive chassis will be most likely under your desk meaning that it shouldn’t be an issue. And it’s designed to pull apart easily for tool-less access to the insides.

The internals aren’t just for show, though they make quite the gorgeous one, as the state-of-the-art fans and liquid cooling system ensure that this PC will never overheat even when overclocking it with high-end titles. And if you need a handy way to overclock and ramp up the fans in response, the PredatorSense feature allows for precise control over both.

Acer Predator Orion 7000 Key Specs

Here is the Acer Predator Orion 7000 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080
RAM: 32 GB DDR5
Storage: 1TB M.2 PCIe Gen 4 SSD and 2TB 7200RPM SATA III hard drive
Optical drive: 2.5-inch USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C hotswap drive bay
Ports: 6 USB 3.2 Type-A, 2 USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 2 USB 2.0 Type-A, 1 Universal Audio Jack, 1 HDMI 2.1 port, 3 DisplayPorts 1.4a
Connectivity: Intel Wireless WiFi 6E AX211, Bluetooth 5.2

In terms of pure performance, the Predator Orion 7000 is a top contender for the best gaming PC you can buy off the shelf out there, with some truly solid benchmark performances. For instance, it completely blows away the Maingear Turbo in both the Geekbench5 and CinebenchR23 benchmarks thanks to its more powerful processor, and it more or less matches the Turbo across the 3DMark suite of GPU tests.

However, those same impressive scores don’t translate to improved gaming performance, since even though the general performance is excellent it doesn’t reach the standards of the Turbo’s extremely high framerates playing the best PC games. But gaming is still effortlessly smooth on the Orion 7000, even when pushing it to the max, so only those running endless benchmarks will notice any nuances in the performance

For all these premium specs and features built into the PC, you’re sure to pay a premium price for them. The setup we were sent will set you back $3000 and includes an Intel Core i7-12700H, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 32GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage.

The configurations being offered in Australia and UK are quite different from the US ones, with the former offering an Intel Core i9-12900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, 16GB DDR5 RAM, and 512GB of storage. The latter has an Intel Core i9-12900K, Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090, 32 GB DDR5 RAM, and 1TB of storage. This means that the configurations outside the US are more powerful and expensive machines at the cost of more choices in the configuration.

But considering what’s under the hood, the starting prices are mostly a steal. As, despite falling prices for the best GPUs and best CPUs, these prebuilt and customizable PCs are the best value ways to get your hands on some top-tier specs.

Acer Predator Orion 7000: Price and availability

An Acer Orion 7000 on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? $3,000 (£3,300 / AU$5,500)
When is it out? It is available now
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US, UK, and Australia, though it's difficult due to low stock

As expected from a high-end gaming PC, the Acer Predator Orion 7000 fetches a pretty penny on the market. In the US, the one we received is $3,000, while the cheapest ones in the UK and Australia respectively are priced at £3,300 and AU$5,500, with prices going as high as AU$7,200 for the latter region.

However, considering the chips, cooling system, and aesthetics we would argue that this is a PC worth investing in if you want to essentially future-proof it.

Value: 4.5 / 5

Acer Predator Orion 7000: Design

Stunning RGB lighting and see-through chassis
Great port selection and cable management
Too heavy

Watching the glow of the RGB lighting illuminate the RTX 3080, fans, and beautifully managed cables never gets old. Then there’s also the fact that said chassis is built for practicality as well, as it can be pulled apart without the use of tools.

It’s a well-made machine, with a sturdy chassis that houses an excellent port selection. It includes six USB 3.2 Type-A ports, two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, two USB 2.0 Type-A ports, one headphone jack, one microphone jack, one HDMI 2.1 port, and three DisplayPort 1.4a. Even better, three of the Type-A, one of the Type-C, the disc drive, and the headphone/microphone jack are located at the top front of the chassis for convenience.

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The only real complaint against the Orion 7000 is its size and weight. This is a gamer’s gaming PC and as such all that hardware, including the state-of-the-art fans and liquid cooling system, plus the size of the casing itself makes it bulky and hard to transport. We found it requires at least two people to safely move the PC around.

With the powerful combination of fans and liquid cooling, near-perfect circulation is all but guaranteed. We didn’t notice as much as a whisper of heat coming from the PC, and this was on the standard settings without using the PredatorSense tool to further modify the fan speeds. The sound while wearing headphones is phenomenal, crisp and sharp audio that’s perfect for picking up subtle cues or for feeling dropped right in the middle of all the action.

And the fact that it comes with a decent gaming keyboard and mouse is just icing on the cake.

Design: 5 / 5

Acer Predator Orion 7000: Performance

No game can stand against it
No overheating issues
Has ray-tracing, HDR, and more

Benchmarks

Here's how the Acer Predator Orion 7000 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 75,573; Fire Strike: 32,056; Time Spy: 16,938
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 21,288 points
GeekBench 5: 1664 (single-core); 14,050 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 8874 points
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 97fps; (1080p, Low): 272fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 63fps; (1080p, Low): 126fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 82fps; (1080p, Low): 255fps

The Acer Predator Orion 7000 is a beast when it comes to playing PC games, no matter how demanding the task is. For instance, we completely maxed out every option in Final Fantasy VII Remake including 4k resolution, HDR, ray-tracing, and 120FPS.

To our extreme surprise, the Orion 7000 exceeded all of our expectations, performing at max 256FPS with all those settings turned on. Meanwhile, it runs Hitman 3 butter smooth, at 84FPS on average for the Dartmoor benchmark, and a whopping 103FPS on average for the Dubai benchmark.

Then there’s the PredatorSense tool, which allows you to both overclock your PC and increase fan speeds to overcompensate for it, to your exact specifications. It’s a great feature that’s incredibly easy to use and customize.

The Orion 7000’s configuration, which is equipped with the RTX 3080 and Core i7, churned out some phenomenal benchmark scores. Not even the Maingear Turbo, which uses a stronger graphics card, could beat this computer.

It’s interesting how the mostly tied or superior scores didn’t translate into superior framerates for the suite of PC games we benchmarked with, compared to the Turbo. Though considering the slight improvement in the chips department it makes sense.

That said, the Orion 7000 is still a high-quality, high-end gaming PC that eats demanding and poorly optimized games for breakfast. And thanks to the well-constructed cooling system, it keeps running smoothly without turning into a furnace under your desk.

Performance: 5 / 5

Should you buy an Acer Predator Orion 7000?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

First reviewed February 2023

How We Test

Read more about how we test

Dell XPS 17 (2022)

2:40 am | July 26, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Laptops Windows Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's note

Original review date: July 2022
Newer Dell XPS 17 with updated components now out
Launch price: $1,749 / £2,099 / AU$3,999
Target price: $1,599 / £1,599 / AU$2,999

Update: January 2024. The model we reviewed here is almost two years old now, but it still remains one of the best laptops you can buy. This is because its powerful components are still very good, and the slim and light design remains one of the best you'll find on a 17-inch laptop, which can often be big and bulky due to their larger screens. This particular model is no longer sold directly by Dell, but can be found at other retailers, often with a nice price cut that makes it better value. Dell has also released more modern models of the XPS 17, so if you fancy getting this larger laptop with even more powerful components, you've got that option as well. The rest of this review remains as previously published.

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Two minute review

If the Dell XPS 17 looks familiar, that’s because it is. Physically, this revised 2022 model is a dead ringer for last year’s XPS - and the one from 2020, too. But that’s no bad thing given this is one of, if not the slickest and sleekest laptops around.

What actually is different can be found inside, most notably Intel’s latest 12 Gen CPUs. Our review unit is rocking the Intel Core i7-12700H, which packs six performance cores plus eight efficiency cores and turbos up to 4.7GHz.

Honestly, it ought to be enough CPU for even the most demanding users, making it one of the best laptops around for productivity and business users. But if you really insist you can pay extra - and an awful lot extra because the upgrade typically forces more expensive components in other areas - for Dell to stick in a Core i9-12900K, which has the same core count but peaks at 5GHz. We wouldn’t bother, since you’ll barely feel the difference, if at all.

Dell XPS 17 (2022) Key Specs

Here is the Dell XPS 17 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core 17-12700H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050
RAM: 32GB DDR5
Screen: 17-inch 3,840 x 2,400, 500 nits
Storage: 512GB NVMe SSD
Ports: 4 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, 1 x 3.5mm combo jack, 1 x SD card reader
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p with IR
Weight: 4.79 lbs | 2.17 kg
Size (W x D x H): 14.74 x 9.76 x 0.77 ins (375 x 248 x 20 mm)
Battery: 97WHr

Elsewhere, one thing the XPS isn’t is an out-and-out gaming laptop. Our configuration runs an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 GPU with 4GB of graphics memory. It’s dandy for a spot of casual gaming and will also add some welcome grunt to GPU-accelerated productivity and content creation apps. But it’s not a 4K powerhouse, nor is the RTX 3060 chip offered as an upgrade, which it ideally would need to be given the specification of the XPS’s screen.

Indeed, we’ve got the optional upgrade panel which packs 3,840 by 2,400 pixels - more than standard 4K thanks to the taller 16:10 aspect ratio. It’s a stunner of a screen rated at a punchy 500 nits and with 100 percent coverage of the Adobe RGB gamut, so it’s fully capable of content creation workflows. It also supports HDR, but isn’t a new-fangled mini-LED panel, so keep expectations in check. The HDR experience is OK rather than eye-popping.

The screen looks all the better thanks to those signature Dell XPS slim bezels on all four sides. It’s a design feature that keeps this two-year-old design looking bang up to date, and also minimizes the laptop’s overall footprint. It’s not just the screen that stands out, so does the sound quality. The XPS 17 really packs an audio punch, with remarkably dynamic sound including decent bass, good stereo separation and strong volume.

Rounding out the best bits of this revised 2022 model of the Dell XPS 17 is battery life of over 10 hours during light workloads, which is outstanding for this big a beast. On the other end of things, this isn’t anywhere close to being as portable as the best Ultrabooks, but no 17-inch laptop will ever score very highly in that regard.

But if you do take it with, you can genuinely get a day’s work done away from the mains, which makes it one of the best student laptops for anyone about to head off to uni in a couple of months.

So whether you're a student, a content creator, or just want a gorgeous device, the Dell XPS 17 (2022) retains its place as possibly the best Dell laptop ever made that's not called the XPS 13.

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Price and availability

A Dell XPS 17 (2022) on a table — (Image credit: Future)

Starting price looks appealing
Quickly gets pricey with options

The Dell XPS 17 (2022) kicks off at $1,749 in the US, £2,099 in the UK and AU$3,999, the apparent discrepancy outside of the US accounted for by a higher spec base CPU. Anyway, if that’s not exactly cheap, things only get worse when you add upgrades.

The gorgeous UHD+ touchscreen, for instances, adds $300 / £300, doubling the RAM to 32GB will sock you for $150 / £200 and the 1TB SSD costs an extra $100 / £100. All told, as configured here, you’re looking at $2,749, £2,599 in the UK and AU$4,798 down under.

Value: 3.5 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Design

Super slim bezels
Gorgeous build quality

The design of the Dell XPS 17 (2022) is a dead ringer for last year’s model and the year before, but we're grateful for that.

The XPS is super sleek and beautifully built, with the main chassis and screen cover in machined aluminum and the palmrest in carbon fiber. It still looks modern too, thanks to ultra-slim bezels on all four sides of the display. And that despite still squeezing in a 720p webcam up top with Windows Hello facial recognition support.

The chassis is very solid and the keyboard bed fairly stable, though a little flex is present. The large trackpad is about as good as it gets on a Windows laptop. Only Apple’s MacBooks do trackpads better.

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Of course, this is still a big machine weighing in at well over 2kg and measuring in excess of 14 inches across, but that's the case with all of the best 17-inch laptops; they're simply never going to be compact. That said, the slim bezels ensure about as small a footprint as possible and ensures that if you've got to have something this large you at least get the absolute most out of its size.

The XPS 17 is about as haulable as 17-inch laptops get, with the possible exception of the featherweight LG Gram 17, which is slightly wider in terms of footprint but much lighter at 1.35kg.

If we do take issue with the XPS’s proportions, it’s how they map to the port selection. On the one hand, the quartet of USB-C ports all support full Thunderbolt 4 functionality with power delivery and DisplayPort alt mode, which is great.

There’s also a full-sized SD card slot and an audio jack. But that’s it. There’s no USB Type-A, no full sized HDMI socket nor a LAN port, but that's the price you pay for the slick looks and chiselled chassis sides.

Design: 4.5 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Performance

Grunty 12th Gen Intel CPUs
Good cooling
Not a true gaming laptop

With six performance cores and eight efficiency cores, the XPS 17’s Intel Core i7-12700H has as many cores as the top Core i9 processor from Intel’s latest 12th Gen Alder Lake CPU family. It just runs at slightly lower clockspeeds, but not that you’d notice.

As CPU performance goes, this laptop has everything you could ask for. It’ll tear through everything from video encodes to 3D renders with ease. Alder Lake’s world-beating single-core performance also guarantees that this laptop feels snappy in day-to-day tasks like web browsing.

Indeed, with fully 32GB RAM, you’re rarely going to run out of memory, which makes multi-tasking a breeze. With that much RAM, swapping application data to the SSD will hardly ever happen. Even if it does, there’s a fast PCIe Gen 4.0 SSD ready to minimise the performance hit of disk swapping. Overall, it really is a very speedy machine, this XPS 17.

Benchmarks

Here is how the Dell XPS 17 (2022) performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark Night Raid: 27,398; Fire Strike: 11,908; Time Spy: 5,439
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 17,747
GeekBench 5 Single-core: 1,682; (Multi-core) 13,725
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,810
Battery Life (Techradar movie test): 10:14
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 48 fps; (1080p, Low): 121 fps
Dirt 5 (1080p, Ultra): 44 fps; (1080p, Low): 96 fps

If there is an exception, it involves graphics performance and gaming. As tested, our review unit runs Nvidia’s GeForce RTYX 3050 mobile GPU with 4GB of video memory. It is a big step up over plain old integrated graphics, to be sure. As our benchmarks show, you can get playable frame rates at 1080p in modern games. But only just. It’s not a truly high performance gaming GPU.

You can optionally go for the RTX 3060, which will improve your frame rates. But even that GPU isn’t nearly powerful enough to play games at the XPS’s native 4K-plus screen resolution. Even Nvidia’s fastest mobile GPU, the RTX 3080 Ti, is only just capable of that.

Anyway, the point is that the XPS is certainly up for some casual gaming. But if gaming is one of your top priorities and you can afford this class of laptop, we’d recommend going with one of the best gaming laptops instead with at least an RTX 3070 GPU, something which is certainly available at this price point.

Performance: 4 / 5

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Battery Life

Impressive battery life for a large machine
Full workday battery life is doable

Large powerful laptops like the Dell XPS 17 (2022) used to be nailed-on certainties for awful battery life. Not these days. In light workloads like watching video and web browsing, you can expect over 10 hours of battery life. That’s true all-day performance.

Admittedly, if you do anything remotely demanding, that number will tumble dramatically, despite its ginormous 97WHr battery. But this certainly isn’t one of those old-school desktop replacement rigs that had you worrying about battery life the moment you unplugged from the outlet. This thing has legs.

Battery Life: 4 / 5

Should you buy a Dell XPS 17 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider

Dell XPS 17 (2022): Report Card

First reviewed July 2022

How We Test

Read more about how we test

Acer Nitro 5 (2022) review

8:00 pm | June 23, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, HD, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: June 2022
• Launch price: Started at $999 / £1,099 / around AU$1,600
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $999 / £999 / AU$1,500

Update – July 2024: Acer's Nitro budget gaming brand is still truckin', though the humble Nitro 5 is no longer the star of the show as new Nitro 16 and Nitro 17 laptops have now arrived on the scene.

The exact Core i5 model from 2022 reviewed here is no longer available to buy directly from Acer (although it can still be found at some third-party retailers), though there are newer models still available - hence the lack of a significant price drop in the above target pricing. The current-gen configuration comes with a newer Nvidia GeForce RTX 4050 graphics card, making it a straight upgrade without a bump in price; always a welcome sight.

While the Nitro 5 isn't the best laptop on the market, it was never trying to be. Instead, it aims to be the best cheap laptop - and indeed, for a while in 2022 it occupied the 'best budget' spot on our ranking of the best gaming laptops. It might be starting to show its age a bit now, but the Acer Nitro 5 is still a solid choice of gaming machine for buyers on a budget.

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Two minute review

The Acer Nitro 5 (2022) is an excellent option for anyone looking for a budget gaming laptop, considering how the current market demand for more affordable gaming PCs and laptops has soared in recent months.

For the most part, the Nitro 5 is one of the best cheap gaming laptops around thanks to its great performance, offering a well-rounded gaming experience for its price point. In terms of specs, the Acer Nitro 5 sports some beefy specs for a budget machine, which means it runs most games at 30 FPS at least with maxed-out settings and much higher under more reasonable settings.

Jump to

Price and availability
Design
Performance
Battery Life
Should I buy?

The screen is a 15.6-inch display with thin bezels to maximize the space but unfortunately no anti-glare, which means it’ll be that much harder to game when you’re outside in direct sunlight. The keyboard is simple but smooth and easy to use, with wide keys and a tenkey numpad on the right side. It’s also backlit for easy gaming in the dark or dimmer lighting. The touchpad is also smooth and very responsive with no noticeable input delays.

The chassis feels solid and well-built and while it’s not thin and lightweight by any stretch of the imagination, it’s still lighter than many other bulkier gaming laptops and relatively easy to carry around. It’s also well ventilated, using a dual-fan and four-exhaust setup to keep the temperatures low.

Its battery life is easily the worst feature, as it runs out of power in about four hours with regular, non-gaming use. The cable it comes with is a very slow charge, so you’ll have to splurge for a fast charging one yourself to take advantage of the built in Thunderbolt 4 support. The second worst is the 720p webcam with an average-at-best clarity, but unlike some other budget laptops you at least have one built in.

It supports Wi-Fi 6E, which means a much faster internet connection whether at home or on the go. This is a great option for streaming games when you can’t tether your laptop, though it does hinge on whether the Wifi used supports it.

The Acer Nitro 5 is a well-rounded gaming laptop that has some solid performance falling right in line with its competition, except when it comes to its below average battery life. Though not the sexiest, it’s fairly portable with a large screen size and very affordable as well, which is a definitely a bonus nowadays.

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Price and availability

An Acer Nitro 5 sitting on a desk — (Image credit: Future)

How much does it cost? Starting at $999/£1,099
When can you get it? It is available now in the US and UK.
Where can you get it? You can get it in the US through Best Buy, and in the UK through the Acer online storefront.

The Acer Nitro 5 is available in the US through Best Buy and in the UK through the Acer online store, with Australian availability yet to be announced. The configuration on offer features a 12th-Gen Intel Core i5-12500H, Nvidia RTX 3050 Ti dedicated graphics, 16GB DDR4 RAM, and a 512GB PCIe SSD. Look out for any Acer promo codes that could bring the cost down.

Value: 4/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Design

A very no-frills, sturdy design
Well-designed and practical keyboard

When you think of the best gaming laptops, the first thing that pops in your head might be one on the thicker side, with a simple black metal exterior, and a bezel that’s thin but nothing out of the ordinary. In other words, a fully functional design that does little to stand out. And the Acer Nitro 5 fits that to a T.

Spec Sheet

Here is the Acer Nitro 5 (2022) configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: Intel Core i5-12500H
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050 Ti
RAM: 16GB DDR4
Screen: 15.6-inch IPS, FHD, 144Hz
Storage: 512 PCIe SSD
Ports: 3 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, 1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C, 1 x Thunderbolt 4, 1 x power port, 1 x HDMI 2.1, 1 x SD Card Reader, 1 x Combo Jack, 1 x Kensington Slot
Connectivity: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: 720p
Weight: 5.51lbs | 2.5kg
Size (W x D x H): 14.19 x 10.67 x 1.06 ins | 360.4 x 271.0 x 26.9 mm
Battery: 57WHr

It has a sturdy and high quality build that’s fitting for a gaming computer. It has a good amount of heft to it, so you’ll definitely feel its weight if you carry it around with you, but its size isn’t excessive enough to cause genuine stress either. As long as you have a good quality laptop bag with some decent space, it doesn’t take up too much room and won’t overburden you either.

If there’s anything about the Acer Nitro 5 that stands out, it’s the keyboard. The keys are black with a white outline, lay mostly flat, and are wider than a standard keyboard’s keys. This gives it a very distinctive look that may be visually polarizing but serves a more practical purpose, which is to make typing on them much easier for those who have thicker fingers or generally shaky hands.

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The smooth and flat surface also means it’s easier for fingers to glide from key to key, which is extremely important when in an intense gaming session that requires fast input. There’s also a numlock pad on the right, putting number keys in an easy to reach position.

The thin bezels are somewhat notable, as they help to maximize the screen real estate while also preventing the screen itself from having to increase in size and make the whole laptop larger and clunkier.

Its port selection is standard but in a good way, with a nice variety of ports and slots to suit most needs. There are three USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-As and one Type-C, an HDMI port, an SD Card Reader, a headphones jack, and a Kensington Slot for added security. It also comes with a Thunderbolt 4 port, which is excellent for fast charging though you’ll have to purchase the cable yourself.

Design: 3/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Performance

Performs well graphically for its configuration
Good quality HD screen

One of the most important yet underrated features of any gaming laptop is the circulation. No matter how cutting edge the specs are, if the airflow is terrible your PC is heading down to crash town. But the Acer Nitro 5 has a solid setup which includes dual-fan cooling, quad exhausts located on each side, and even an upper air intake situated above the keyboard. This translates to a very well cooled machine that hasn’t overheated in the countless hours I played around with it.

Benchmarks

Here is how the Acer Nitro 5 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark: Night Raid: 35,782; Fire Strike: 13,238; Time Spy: 5,831
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 11,085 points
GeekBench 5: 1,691 (single-core); 8,596 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 6,536 points
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 2 hours and 31 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 3 hours and 56 minutes
Total War: Warhammer III (1080p, Ultra): 52 fps; (1080p, Low): 130 fps
Cyberpunk 2077 (1080p, Ultra): 76 fps; (1080p, Low): 135 fps

In terms of performance during a gaming session, it runs most graphically demanding titles pretty smoothly. We tested it using both Total War: Warhammer III and Cyberpunk 2077 and without any of the magic of ray-tracing and integrated graphics, both games are able to maintain about 30-50 FPS in Ultra settings and between 70-130 FPS in Low settings. And considering that this laptop’s benchmarks are actually a bit higher than two of the other budget competitors, it makes sense that it’s able to hold its own.

Complementing the visuals is a competent sound setup made of dual 2W speakers. While not groundbreaking in any way, the music and sound effects are immersive and support the graphics well. The keyboard is smooth, responsive, and feels satisfying to use; not to mention the red backlight is always a nice touch, especially during late night gaming sessions.

Also complementing the visuals is the 15.6-inch QHD screen, with a resolution of 2560 X1440. This is further supported by the 165Hz refresh rate and 3ms response time, meaning that not only do the graphics look nice but the visuals are crisp and smooth.

The webcam is nothing to write home about, as it’s a substandard 720p resolution that looks okay but not super crisp and clear. It’s good for Zoom meetings and will manage during streams, but don’t expect anything polished either.

All around this laptop performs pretty well for a budget machine, passing nearly every benchmark handedly. Framerate is better than you’d expect from the hardware it has, which is no doubt the CPU carrying its full weight. It has a great circulation setup, which no doubt contributes to its overall performance, and the sound supports the visuals perfectly with no breakups or other quality issues.

Performance: 4/5

Acer Nitro 5 (2022): Battery Life

Does not last long at all
Has a Thunderbolt option for charging

If there’s one thing that weighs down the Acer Nitro 5 and it’s the abysmal battery life. Even under normal working conditions the battery can’t seem to go past a few hours before needing a recharge, and the charge time itself is rather slow. Do yourself a favor and buy a Thunderbolt 4 charger instead.

When we ran a standard 1080p movie test, which involves looping a movie at normal settings until the battery life runs out, the battery didn’t even make it to the four hour mark before dying. The results of the PC Mark 10 Battery Life benchmark were a bit more surprising, as the laptop matched its two competitors pretty closely with its score of 6536. This is despite the other two laptops having a battery life of at least eight hours.

Battery life: 1/5

Should I buy an Acer Nitro 5 (2022)?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

First reviewed June 2022

Asus ROG Flow X13 review

10:02 pm | March 24, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: March 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $1,699 / £1,499 / AU$2,999
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at £1,749 / £1,699 / AU$2,059

Update – September 2024: The Asus ROG Flow X13 has enjoyed a major specs bump since we reviewed this model back in 2022, with the base configuration leaping all the way up from an Nvidia GTX 1650 graphics card to the far superior RTX 4050, with even beefier 4060 models available too - effectively nullifying the need for an external GPU that we remarked on in the below review.

That does mean pricing has crept up a bit in most regions, although strangely Australia has a budget version without a dedicated GPU (it uses Radeon 780M integrated graphics instead) - and while that means a far lower entry price, I would strongly recommend opting for the AU$2,499 RTX 4050 model - that's still cheaper than the older version in Australia.

If you're actually looking for a lightweight work device and only plan to do casual gaming, that 780M model might be fine - but I'd advise checking out the best ultrabooks instead.

Original review follows.

Two-minute review

The Asus ROG Flow X13 takes on a rather unusual look if you’re more accustomed to the usually chunky chassis and large displays seen on other Asus ROG gaming laptops. This 13-inch ultraportable 2-in-1-style gaming laptop actually offers a few interesting benefits though, namely that you can purchase an additional eGPU (short of external graphics card) to bump up the graphical performance of the device.

A few slim gaming laptops have appeared in recent years, with the likes of the Razer Blade 14 offering power and versilitility, all in a compact design that won't hurt your back to haul around, and eGPUs are hardly a new concept, but seeing the two benefits coexisting is still an unusual sight.

The XG Mobile eGPU doubles as a hub for all your gaming peripherals and gear by including connections for USB, Ethernet and DisplayPort, as well as boosting the GTX 1650 built into the Flow X13 up to Nvidia's RTX 3080. Sadly, our review unit didn't come with the eGPU so this review will be based solely on the performance of the unassisted ROG Flow X13.

The Asus ROG Flow X13 from a front view — (Image credit: Future)

Even without the eGPU, the Flow X13 is a decent little gaming laptop, with emphasis on 'little'. It’s a far cry from the performance you can expect from devices that are natively equipped with more powerful GPUs, but it's AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS processor makes it well suited for demanding applications, and you can happily run low-demand titles with few issues.

Its 13-inch size is uncommon given most folks want more screen real-estate to play games, but if you needed something compact then it could be exactly what you're looking for. It's even a 2-in-1 device, so you can transform this into a tablet to edit images or sketch if you use it with the stylus that it ships with, but the palm rejection is frustratingly bad so you'll need to be careful to not touch the display.

It's quirky, with plenty of unique features that will impress your friends even if they're already pretty familiar with gaming laptops, but that doesn't mean its offering the very best of both worlds. We're unable to test the eGPU, so we can't advise if buying one alongside the ROG Flow X13 makes it a worthwhile purchase, but as a standalone device there are better offerings out there that won't leave you feeling as if you've purchased an incomplete system, like beautiful car with no engine.

Price and availability

Spec sheet

Here is the Asus ROG Flow X13 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650
RAM : 32GB 4200MHz DDR4
Display: 13.4-inch 16:10, 3840 x 2400 pixel, multitouch, 60 Hz
Storage: 1TB NVMe SSD
Ports: 1 x USB-C, 1 x USB-A, 1 x HDMI, 1 x headphone jack, 1 x external GPU port
Connectivity: Dual-band WiFi 6 (802.11ax) + Bluetooth 5.0
Camera: 720p HD camera with physical privacy shutter
Size: 11.77 x 8.74 x 0.62 inches
Weight: 2.87 pounds / 1.36 kg

The Asus ROG Flow X13 is available now, from $1,699 / £1,499 / AU$2,999, with the XG Mobile RTX 3080 Laptop GPU priced at an additional $1,499.99 / £1,299. We couldn't find an official price for the RTX 3080 eGPU in Australia, but then, we couldn't find the Flow X13 at all on the Australian Asus website.

If you wanted to buy the two as a bundle, then there's good and bad news. The good news is that the two are frequently bundled together, but both pricing and regional availability for this is all over the place. There are a few different listings for the same variant of the ROG Flow X13 that we reviewed at $3340 / £2899, but ran into similar issues trying to find something for Australia.

It’s also possible to buy the laptop with an RTX 3050 or RTX 3050 Ti GPU and weaker Ryzen 9 5900HS processor, at a similar price to the version running with an older GTX 1650 which could give a little RTX boost to creative applications and games that allow DLSS.

Design

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The keyboard on the Asus ROG Flow X13 — (Image credit: Future)

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As far as gaming laptops go, the ROG Flow X13 is rather conservative, but that plays in well with it's marketability towards working professionals who need a portable workstation by day and a gaming beast over lunch and when you clock off for the day. At 3 lbs / 1.3kg and just 0.6 inches / 158mm thick, this won't be weighing down a bag on your morning commute and will easily fit into a standard satchel or backpack.

The black design is modern and simple, though it still retains a lot of that iconic ROG styling we've come to love from Asus. The 13.4-inch screen of the Flow X13 is very bright, clear and sharp, with a full HD 1080p resolution and a peak brightness of just under 300 nits. That's not mind-blowing, and you'll struggle to work in bright environments but the the visual quality is decent, with vivid colors coming through in gameplay and while streaming media.

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The ports shown on a side view of the Asus ROG Flow X13 — (Image credit: Future)

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There are two display options to choose from, either 3,840 x 2,400 at 60Hz or 1,920 x 1,200 at 120Hz with the latter being the version reviewed here.

There are a few productivity benefits too, such as the display dimensions being 16:10 rather than 16:9 like many gaming laptops still use. The additional space is great as you get noticeably more vertical space with a 16:10 resolution which will result in less scrolling.

The keyboard is comfortable, with generously sized LED-backlit keys for such a small gaming device. There are dedicated buttons at the top of the keyboard control the volume, mute the microphone and launch the ROG Armory Crate control software (required to optimize GPU and other components). You're not getting a numpad, but...well, just look at the size of the laptop and don't ask for the earth.

The touchpad is also large and responsive. We certainly wouldn't suggest trying to use this to play games on, but it does a decent enough job if you're whipping it out on a train to get some work done. Still, consider grabbing a decent wireless mouse will save a lot of frustration, and models like the Razer Orochi V2 also double as a fantastic gaming peripheral if you don't want multiple mice hanging out in your bag.

A view of the Asus ROG Flow X13 from the top down with lid closed — (Image credit: Future)

Sadly, as is usually the case with smaller laptops, you're not getting many ports on the Flow X13. On the right you'll find a single USB-A 3.2 port and a USB-C 3.2 port you use for charging (no support for the newer Thunderbolt 3 or 4). The left side sports a 3.5mm audio jack, an HDMI port, and the proprietary XG Mobile external GPU port that's covered by a silicone cover.

The power button on the ROG Flow X13 is replaced rather precariously along the side of the device, so as to not interfere with it while in tablet mode but this does have its own set of issues. Though 2-in-1 laptops usually have power buttons on their sides, this was especially sensitive, and we did manage to accidently put the device to sleep on a few occasions.

Performance

Benchmarks

Here's how the Asus ROG Flow X13 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark: Night Raid: 27,670; Fire Strike: 7,763; Time Spy: 3,308
Cinebench R20 Multi-core: 4,374 points
GeekBench 5: 1,506 (single-core); 7,941 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home Test): 5,781 points
PCMark 10 Battery Life: 4 hours and 3 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 3 hours and 38 minutes
Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, Ultra): 22 fps; (1080p, Low): 87 fps
Metro Exodus (1080p, Ultra): 23 fps; (1080p, Low): 82 fps

The Asus ROG Flow X13 is equipped with some pretty impressive kit for its diminutive size, rocking an AMD Ryzen 9 5980HS processor and a whopping 32GB of speedy RAM. This isn't just good for gaming, it also makes it a pretty good at managing creative applications too, especially those that will lean more on the CPU than graphics.

Even while running 10 tabs in Google Chrome (a browser known to be a memory hog), while also streaming music on Spotify, a muted video on one of the Chrome tabs and then attempting to edit some images on Adobe Photoshop, the Flow X13 keeps up. While the fans do kick in and things can get pretty dang warm, it doesn't appear to struggle with the workload, though we would suggest you don't try this while the device is on your lap.

We can't speak for how the Flow X13 performs when docked into the XG Mobile Dock eGPU, but that little GTX 1650 runs surprising well regardless. Sure, you're hardly going to be playing brand new release titles like Elden Ring on anything close to an enjoyable framerate if you don't slap the settings on their lowest possible options, but there are still some beautiful games that will run just fine.

Horizon: Zero Dawn manages an admirable 31fps on standard settings, while The Witcher 3 runs along happily at 36fps, and while both are getting on a bit in age, they do show you won't be restricted to just running indie or retro titles.

The usual low-demand Battle Royale games like Fortnite and Valorant will also play well on the system, but that's hardly surprising given those titles are designed to run on just about anything. If you wanted a new laptop for work or school that you can also play a few rounds on during breaks, this isn't a terrible option.

The Asus ROG Flow X13 in tablet mode — (Image credit: Future)

Still, if you're not keen on playing games around 30fps you'll need to buy the additional eGPU or look for something with a little more power behinds it's graphics. As it stands, the Flow 13 has more in common with something like the Dell XPS 13 than other gaming laptops - a powerful, portable workstation, but once that's a tad gutless for gaming.

Our actual benchmarks are...okay for a laptop in this price range given its other features, but you'll certainly get more for your money if you want more power for the same budget. You can buy an Asus TUF A15 for $1,300 (£1,300, around $2,000), and while it gets bested by the Asus ROG Flow X13 in productivity benchmarks like Geekbench 5, with the TUF A15 scoring 1,175 (single-core); 7,708 (multi-core) against the Flow 13's 1,506 (single-core); 7,941 (multi-core) score, It dominates the 2-in-1 at gaming capabilities, and still manages to stay fairly professional looking.

Battery life

Ther Asus ROG Flow X13 in tablet mode — (Image credit: Future)

Many workstation laptops can offer some pretty impressive battery life despite having powerful components, and similarly, we see that some older or budget-friendly gaming laptops can also chug along for a while thanks to them using older hardware that's less demanding on power.

The Flow X13 manages to suck in both of these regards. Battery life is pretty poor, and the 2-in-1 lasts just 4 hours and 3 minutes in the PCMark 10 Battery Life benchmark that simulates a selection of daily activities. Similarly, our looped video test only runs for 3 hours and 38 minutes, and while both scores are fairly on point for a beefy gaming laptop...this isn't.

In actual gaming, it runs dry in just under two hours, which is pretty abysmal. If you're looking for a gaming laptop that can actually run for a while away from a power outlet, consider the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 which in the same looped video test lasts an incredible 8 hours and 10 minutes.

Webcam

Webcams on any laptop tends to be a bit lacklustre, but having one included on a gaming device at all is a modern day miracle. Thankfully, the ROG Flow X13 does include a camera, and while its a far cry from anything on our list of the best webcams, the 720p resolution is fine for video conferencing or having a quick chat with friends.

The sensors are pretty bad though, so you'll want to make sure you're facing a decent light source. In dim light there's a lot of background noise in shot, and even if used in a well lit room the colors can look washy. It also doesn't have IR sensors or privacy shutters, so you won't be able to log in with your face using Windows Hello.

Buy it if...

The underside of the Asus ROG Flow X13 — (Image credit: Future)

Don't buy it if...

Alienware X14 (2022) review

4:00 pm | February 11, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: February 2022
• Launch price: Starts at $1,649 (about £1,250, AU$2,300)
• Target price now: N/A

Update – September 2024: R.I.P. to 14-inch Alienware laptops, I guess. Yes, Dell has killed off the X14 gaming laptop line entirely since we reviewed it back in 2022, with the company now focused only on 16- and 18-inch models. It's no longer available for purchase, although you might be able to pick one up second-hand.

Back in 2022, the Alienware X14 certainly was worthy of standing among the ranks of the best gaming laptops around, so it's a shame to see it disappear from Dell's gaming lineup. It's doubly sad given that there's no obvious replacement here either; Dell's own-brand G-series gaming laptops only come in 15- and 16-inch flavors.

Original review follows.

Two-minute review

Thin and light gaming laptops like the Alienware X14 are becoming more common as mobile PC components become more power efficient and PC makers get better at designing cooling systems that don't take up as much space. We've already seen a few laptops try to pack high power and light weight in a single chassis, but now Alienware is throwing its legendary hat - and design into the ring.

And, it ends up with one of the thinnest and lighting gaming laptops we've ever used. This laptop is just 0.57 inches thick and weighs just under 4lb, making it easy to carry in your backpack. But it doesn't sacrifice power to fit in that chassis. The model we reviewed comes with an Intel Core i7-12700H, 32GB of RAM and an RTX 3060. That's not the most powerful hardware on the market, but its more than what you'll find in most laptops this size.

But with that high power in such a portable chassis, you're going to have to pay. The model we got in for review will cost a whopping $2,299 (about £1,700, AU$3,200) in the US, quite a bit more expensive than an equivalent Razer Blade 14, though it is a bit thinner and lighter. With the high price of entry, the Alienware X14 really is a gaming laptop for people that want something that can play the best PC games at high settings, but without weighing them down. And the fact that it uses USB-C charging instead of a giant power brick definitely helps, too.

Price and availability

SPEC SHEET

Here is the Alienware X14 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i7-12700H (14 cores, 24MB cache, up to 4.7GHz Turbo)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060
RAM: 32GB
Screen: 14-inch 1080p LED, 144Hz, 7ms
Storage: 1 X 2TB M.2 SSD
Optical drive: N/A
Ports: 1x USB-A,2 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB-C with DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI, 1 x microSD card reader, audio combo jack
Connectivity: Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2x2 ), Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: HD 720p Webcam
Weight: 4.06 pounds (1.8 kg)
Size: 12.66 x 10.35 x 0.57 inches (321 x 263 x 14.5 mm; W x D x H)

The Alienware X14 is available today, starting at $1,649 (about £1,250, AU$2,300). That will get you a 12th-generation Intel Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3050. That would be enough for most esports games, and should be more than capable of handling most AAA games, especially if you use DLSS.

If you want a bit more gaming power, though, you can up the GPU to an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 with 16GB of RAM and a 1TB SSD for $1,849 (about £1,360, AU$2,580) . This is the configuration we'd recommend for most people, and the price is actually pretty good, and about what you would pay for other gaming laptops with similar specs - including our favorite low-profile gaming laptop, the Razer Blade 14.

The configuration reviewed here will set you back $2,299 (about £1,700, AU$3,200), and comes with 32GB of RAM and a 2TB SSD. This is definitely an overkill amount of RAM and storage space, especially in a gaming laptop that maxes out with an RTX 3060. But as far as Alienware laptops go, this max configuration is actually pretty tame.

In fact, we wish Alienware pushed a little further with the X14. Even if it just included a 3070 configuration for people that want to play some Cyberpunk 2077 on the go or something. But it's likely that would have added to the bulk of the device, and it would have lost some of its charm.

Alienware X14 on a table, playing Hitman III — (Image credit: Future)

Design

It is immediately striking how thin the Alienware X14 is when you pull it out of the box and look at it. And then, when you pick it up and notice how light it is, it's easy to forget that this is, in fact, a gaming laptop.

This is a laptop that measures just over half an inch thick and weighs just around 4lb. In a lot of ways, it's a similar profile to a MacBook Pro or a Dell XPS 15, just with a little bit of extra gaming juice behind it. The one thing that does bulk up the laptop's profile a bit, though, is the protrusion on the back.

A lot of the hot air is channeled through the vents back here, and this is also where every single port is found. However, while it's convenient in the moment when you have it on a table or something, it does unfortunately add to the footprint of the Alienware X14. This protrusion makes it a bit more difficult to fit in a bag, and if you were just barely fitting a 14-inch laptop in your bag before, you might need to get a bigger backpack. This packs away more like a 15-inch laptop than a 14-inch laptop.

However, the smaller charging cable makes up for it. This is the first Alienware laptop we've ever used that uses a USB-C charger as its primary method of charging. The charger that comes in the box is exactly the same one as comes with the XPS 15, and it works just fine with our MacBook Pro charger as well. With more and more devices using USB-C charging, it's nice having a gaming laptop that we don't have to also pack a special charger for.

As far as the ports around back that we mentioned earlier, there are two Thunderbolt 4 ports, one standard USB-C for charging, an HDMI, one USB-A port and a microSD card reader - and of course a headphone jack. As far as most gaming laptops go, this would be a bit lacking, but considering the size of the laptop, it's more than we were expecting. Luckily we haven't reached a time when gamers have to live the dongle life as well - at least not yet.

And for such a thin laptop, the keyboard is surprisingly solid. Travel is nice and deep, and bottoming out on the keys isn't as solid and shocking as on other chiclet-type keyboards. The trackpad is also surprisingly good, accurate and has a nice clicking mechanism.

Even the speakers are pretty good considering the size of the device. The only place they're lacking is in bass response. Listening to "Billions" by Caroline Polachek, the entire song comes through loud and clear. However, the deep bass in the background gets muffled by the weak woofers on the Alienware X14. In games, this means things like explosions and gunshots aren't as clear as they should be, but you should be using a gaming headset for stuff like that anyway - a shame there's only one USB-A slot though.

The display is also very good. It's a 14-inch 1080p display with a 144Hz refresh rate. It hits an average of 377 nits of brightness, which should be plenty for most people. It also manages to reach 109% of the sRGB color spectrum, which means it's extremely colorful. It's definitely not the most beautiful or bright display on the market, but it's fast, and it's accurate enough that gamers are going to love it.

Finally, because this is a gaming laptop in 2022, there is of course some delightful RGB lighting. The fan exhaust on the back of the laptop is surrounded by an RGB light bar and the Alienware logo on the lid of the laptop also features user-adjustable lighting. The keyboard also features RGB lighting, and by default comes in a gorgeous static blue setting.

Alienware is definitely a company that wants you to show off your laptop, and trust us, you're going to want to show off the Alienware X14.

Performance

Benchmarks

Here's how the Alienware X14 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark: Night Raid: 41,366; Fire Strike: 15257; Time Spy: 6716
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 13686 points
GeekBench 5: 1567 (single-core); 13531 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home test): 6830 points
PCMark 10 Battery life: 5 hours and 27 minutes
Battery life (Techradar movie test): 6 hours and 13 minutes
Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, Ultra): 52 fps; (1080p, Low): 177 fps
Metro Exodus (1080p, Ultra): 46 fps; (1080p, Low): 150 fps

While this is a thin and light gaming laptop, it definitely isn't specced out like one. This is equipped with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, and unlike the one you would find in, say, the XPS 17, this is a 75W version of the mobile GPU - which is very nearly the full-fat 80W maximum for this piece of silicon.

Dell was able to do this by utilizing a similar cooling solution to what's found in the X15 and X17, just with a two-fan configuration rather than four fans. That's likely why this laptop is limited to just an RTX 3060 and a Core i7, but it's definitely effective. While the laptop does get loud under load, temperatures are kept in check, and it allows the laptop to perform admirably.

In Metro Exodus at Ultra settings at 4K, the Alienware X14 manages just under 50 fps, and as soon as you turn on DLSS (which you should), that will easily hit 60 fps. Likewise, in Total War: Three Kingdoms, this laptop manages 52 fps on the Ultra preset.

This gaming laptop can absolutely play the latest AAA games at high settings at 1080p, but you are going to have to fiddle around with some of the settings if you want to hit the magical 60 fps mark. This is why we would have loved an RTX 3070 configuration. Maybe next time around, Dell will find a way to fit a slightly more powerful GPU in here.

As for the CPU in here, Alder Lake-H continues to impress. This is a Core i7 configuration and has no problem absolutely wiping the floor with its 11th-generation equivalent. It even manages to match an 11th-generation Core i9 processor in much thicker laptops like the Dell XPS 17 and the Alienware x17.

CPU heavy workloads like photo and video editing are going to be a breeze, and the Efficiency Cores in the Core i7-12700H will make sure that pesky background tasks don't get in the way of you getting things done.

Battery life

Battery is, simply put, the Achilles Heel of the Alienware X14. This gaming laptop just lasts around 5 and a half hours in the PCMark10 battery benchmark, and just about 6 hours in our video playback test.

This is likely because there is only an 80Whr battery in the X14, rather than the 99WHr batteries found in most gaming laptops these days. That was probably in interest of keeping the laptop as thin and light as it is, but it does mean that you're likely going to need to carry around a charger. But, again, the bright side of that is that you can charge this laptop with pretty much any USB-C charger you have lying around.

It's definitely a compromise we wish we didn't have to make. We don't really go anywhere where we can't plug a laptop in, but if you're hoping to have this thing last you through an international flight - it's probably not going to manage that.

Camera

Good webcams are more important than ever before now that telecommuting is becoming more common, and the Alienware X14's camera is pretty lackluster. It's a 720p sensor, and the images it captures aren't very detailed. The lighting is pretty awful as well, which means it's probably not a laptop we'll be taking video calls on any time soon.

It does have IR, so it supports Windows Hello, but that's pretty much the only good thing about the webcam here. Dell has been putting better webcams into its other laptops, we don't know why this laptop was neglected, especially since livestreaming has become so popular.

Features and software

Just like any other Alienware or Dell laptop, the Alienware X14 is loaded with Dell's own software. However, it is all conveniently contained in one launcher this time around, called My Alienware. From here, you can get updates, launch Alienware Command Center, and other various support-flavored tasks.

Alienware Command Center continues to be where you're going to find all the performance profiles and controls for RGB lighting. It also will let you scan your PC for games, so you can launch your whole library from that one app instead of juggling around a bunch of different storefronts. Definitely a nice touch, though you can get the same effect by just downloading GOG Galaxy.

Should I buy the Alienware X14?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

MSI Raider GE76 2022 review

5:00 pm | January 25, 2022

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: January 2022
• Launch price: Starting at $1,599 (about £1,280/AU$ 2,320)
• The MSI Raider GE76 2022 is still available, but availability might be limited

Update – September 2024: The MSI Raider GE76 2022 is a fantastic gaming laptop, but at current prices, you might be better off with one of MSI's other gaming laptop offerings, many of which are going to feature updated specs and possibly better pricing.

Still, if you can find the MSI Raider GE76 2022 model for substantially cheaper than its launch price, this could be a fantastic bargain come Black Friday or other holiday shopping sales in the months ahead.

Original review follows.

For years, the MSI Raider GE76 has been a great gaming laptop for showcasing what the latest mobile hardware from Intel and Nvidia is capable of. And now, in 2022, with the launch of the Intel 12th-generation Alder Lake processors and the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, we have a laptop that's basically on the level of a full-fledged gaming PC, but fits in a (large) backpack.

While the high power of this gaming laptop means it doesn’t have the best battery life in the world – only reaching about five hours – it is one of the first gaming laptops we’ve used that we would genuinely call a '4K gaming laptop'. In fact, with DLSS, this laptop should have no problem playing even Cyberpunk 2077 with high settings at 4K with ray tracing enabled. But because this is a 1080p gaming laptop with a 360Hz display, all that power is instead directed to providing an incredibly smooth gaming experience.

However, this much power comes at a price. The configuration we reviewed, with an Intel Core i9-12900HK, 32GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, will set you back a whopping $3,999 (about £3,000, AU$5,600). That’s a lot of cash to throw at a gaming laptop, but at least you're getting something that’s both incredibly powerful and fits in your bag.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 back of laptop, where you see some ports — (Image credit: Future)

Price and availability

SPEC SHEET

Here is the MSI Raider GE76 configuration sent to TechRadar for review:
CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core i9-12900HK (20 cores, 16MB cache, up to 5.0GHz Turbo)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti
RAM: 32GB
Screen: 17-inch LED, 360Hz, 3ms
Storage: 2 X 1TB M.2 SSD
Optical drive: N/A
Ports: 3x USB-A,1 x USB-C with Thunderbolt 4, 1 x USB-C with DisplayPort, 1 x HDMI, 1 x MiniDisplayPort, SD card reader, audio combo jack
Connectivity: Killer WiFi 6E AX1675 (2x2 ), Bluetooth 5.2
Camera: FHD 1080p Webcam
Weight: 6.9 pounds (2.5 kg)
Size: 15.63 x 11.18 x 1.02 inches (397 x 283 x 25.9mm; W x D x H)

The MSI Raider GE76 will be available in early February 2022, and will start at $1,599 in the US. The spec that’s going to be available at that price hasn’t been announced yet, so we can’t speak to whether or not it’s going to offer good value.

However, the price goes all the way up to a whopping $4,199 (about £3,120, AU$5,900), for which you're getting an absolutely overkill spec sheet. We didn’t review quite the top-end configuration, and the configuration listed to the right will cost you $3,999 (about £3,000, AU$5,600).

That’s about $500 more expensive than the top-end spec for last year’s model goes for in the US right now, though that’s likely due to the fact that it includes a more-powerful RTX 3080 Ti, rather than its non-Ti equivalent. But due to the chassis design, you’re getting no-compromises gaming performance, which may be worth the large price increase, especially if you really want to play the latest and best PC games without having to worry about upgrading anytime soon.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 side of gaming laptops with some ports — (Image credit: Future)

Design

One look at the MSI Raider GE76 and there's no mistaking that it is a gaming laptop. There are plenty of sharp angles, a gunmetal-gray lid, and more ports than you can shake a stick at. Oh, and there’s the giant RGB light bar on the front of the keyboard deck that we can’t figure out how to turn off.

The laptop looks like a tank, and it’s kind of built like one too. The entire chassis is made from metal, from the lid to the bottom of the laptop where all the ventilation is found. The MSI Raider GE76 is definitely a laptop that can withstand a beating, although that does mean it’s quite heavy.

The laptop is about an inch thick and weighs 6.9lb, which means it’s definitely noticeable when it’s in your bag. To add to the weight, you’ll need to carry the charger around with you, which is also quite heavy and bulky. So while this is definitely more portable than a gaming tower, it’s still not something you’re going to want to carry with you as you commute to work every day – unless you really want a workout.

But thanks to the size of this laptop you do get a full keyboard with a numpad. There are some compromises to fit it in this chassis, with the buttons on the numpad being quite narrow. It takes some getting used to, especially if you don’t want to accidentally hit the right arrow key when you’re going for the 0 key, but that’s something that will come with time.

The keyboard is also quite comfortable to type on, with plenty of travel. They’re still chiclet keys, but they feel much more substantial than on most laptops. However, we do notice that sometimes the spacebar will repeat, and we’ll have to hit backspace a few times to get back to where we were. It’s a small issue, but something that does get annoying after a while.

Perhaps more impressive, though, is that even with that full-sized keyboard, MSI was able to fit top-firing speakers. They sound incredible for a laptop, and listening to Tear You Apart by She Wants Revenge we could clearly hear the bass guitar, even when all the other instrumentation (and even the vocals) are bassy themselves. As for games, Guardians of the Galaxy sounds more clear than on many gaming laptops, and loud enough to render the fans inaudible.

The display, meanwhile, looks incredible. While it is just a 1080p panel, the colors here are bright and accurate. Everything looks absolutely vibrant, whether you’re blasting aliens in Guardians of the Galaxy or digging around the colorful new menus in Windows 11, and you don’t have to worry about compromising on image quality just to get that 360Hz refresh rate.

And of course, because this is a thick gaming laptop in 2022, there are plenty of ports on offer. You get two USB-C ports, one of which is Thunderbolt 4, three USB-A, an Audio Combo jack, a dedicated charger, HDMI, Mini-DisplayPort, and an SD card reader. Basically, you don’t have to worry about a dongle further weighing you down here; MSI has all of its bases covered.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 bottom of laptop, showing ventilation — (Image credit: Future)

Performance

Benchmarks

Here's how the MSI Raider GE76 performed in our suite of benchmark tests:
3DMark: Night Raid: 53016; Fire Strike: 27515; Time Spy: 12615
Cinebench R23 Multi-core: 16345 points
GeekBench 5: 1847 (single-core); 13451 (multi-core)
PCMark 10 (Home test): 7892 points
PCMark 10 Battery life: 4 hours and 39 minutes
Battery life (Techradar movie test): 4 hours and 54 minutes
Total War: Three Kingdoms (1080p, Ultra): 104fps; (1080p, Low): 310fps
Metro Exodus (1080p, Ultra): 92fps; (1080p, Low): 187fps

The MSI Raider GE76 reviewed here is packed with an Intel Core i9-12900HK, 32GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti. So, in essence, it’s a behemoth of a gaming laptop.

This thing absolutely tore through our benchmark suite, blowing away every other laptop we’ve reviewed, and even came within reaching distance of some of the most powerful gaming desktops we’ve reviewed. The Core i9-12900HK is just 48% slower than the desktop version of the Core i9-12900K. That sounds like a huge difference, but we’re talking about a desktop chip with a PL1 (power level 1) that’s 2.7x higher than the 12900HK. Intel knocked the scaling out of the park, basically.

But it’s not just the CPU that’s impressive. The Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is capable of some blisteringly fast speeds, too. In Metro Exodus with Ultra settings, this laptop was 41% faster than the Razer Blade 15 with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3080, and was only 19% slower than the Alienware Aurora R13 – a desktop with an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090. This is truly desktop-level gaming performance.

Even in Guardians of the Galaxy, with the graphics absolutely maxed out – including ray tracing – we're constantly seeing framerates hovering around 120 fps. And that's without any form of DLSS or FSR running. This laptop is that powerful.

There isn’t a game out there, especially with a 1080p or 1440p panel, for which you won’t be able to just crank the graphics preset up to maximum and let it ride. Yes, this is an expensive laptop, but if you want no-compromises gaming performance, and you don’t mind dropping a small fortune on a gaming laptop, the MSI Raider GE76 is the device for you.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 front of the laptop rgb light bar — (Image credit: Future)

Battery life

While battery life in gaming laptops has come quite a long way in the last few years, you’re still going to take a massive loss when you’re running components that are this power-hungry.

The MSI Raider GE76 falls just short of five hours in both of our battery tests. That would be appalling performance if this was an Ultrabook, but really it’s about what we expect out of a gaming laptop of this caliber.

You won’t be able to take it with you to work without the power cable and just forget about it, but it should be able to get you through a short Netflix binge without dying on you. Yes, that charging cable is a bit heavy, but you’re going to want to pack it if you’re going to be carrying this laptop around with you.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 numpad — (Image credit: Future)

Features and software

As far as modern gaming laptops go, MSI doesn’t pre-install a lot of software on the Raider. MSI center does come pre-installed, but you can go through and manually pick which optional programs you want, rather than them all being shoving onto the SSD out of the factory. That’s the way we'd like it to be with more laptops.

On the other hand, it does come with Norton Antivirus preinstalled, which is something that’s absolutely unnecessary on such an expensive device in 2022. You do get a bit of a free window before it starts begging you to buy an expensive subscription, but our advice is to just uninstall it and get one of the best free antivirus programs instead.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 side of laptop with even more ports — (Image credit: Future)

Camera

Webcams are more important now than they’ve ever been, but the one in the MSI Raider GE76 is just, you know, there. It’s a 1080p sensor, but images look sort of flat, and it doesn’t pick up lighting super-well.

Then again, as this is a gaming laptop you’re probably not buying it to be in video meetings all day, so it probably isn’t a deal-breaker. You’re still going to be able to show up in a Zoom call relatively well – just don’t go thinking it’s going to use any kind of software to enhance the image, as the latest laptops from Lenovo or Apple are doing.

MSI Raider GE76 2022 back of laptop — (Image credit: Future)

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Asus Zephyrus G14 review

2:50 am | March 31, 2020

Author: admin | Category: Computers Computing Gadgets Gaming Computers Gaming Laptops | Tags: Battery Life, CPU, RAM, Total War | Comments: Off

Editor's Note

• Original review date: March 2020
• Launch price: Starts at $1,449 / £1,449 (about AU$2,351)
• Target price now (updated model): Starts at $1,599 / £1,499 (about AU$2,440)

Update – July 2024: Don't panic when you look at those updated prices - the Asus ROG Zephyrus G14 we reviewed here is now more than four years old, and the new versions that are currently available have seen a pretty huge redesign as well as a range of more powerful internal configurations.

Still, a lot of the points we loved about this older model continue to ring true, with the new iterations being even thinner than their predecessors while still offering top-notch performance and plenty of bang for your buck. In truth, most of Asus's ROG Zephyrus laptops are worthy of standing among the best gaming laptops.

If you're looking for a great deal on the current-gen ROG Zephyrus G14, you're in luck - we track the best Zephyrus G14 deals month-by-month to help you snag a bargain!

Two minute review

The Asus Zephyrus G14 was the laptop AMD used when it showed the world its Ryzen 4000 processors for gaming laptops, and now we kind of see why. This is a relatively thin and light device that delivers performance and battery life that we've never seen before in this category. Both AMD and Asus knocked it out of the park.

At $1,449 (about £1,170, AU$2,351), the Zephyrus G14 is a bit pricey, but compared to similar systems like the Lenovo Legion Y740, you can get an RTX 2060-equipped model at the same price, but with less RAM and a much weaker processor.

So, really, if you look at that high price tag in another context, Asus is positioning an AMD Ryzen 9-equipped laptop against Intel Core i7 systems that simply cannot compete. Sure, when it comes to design it's not quite as sexy as the MSI GS65 Stealths of the world, but if you're after a gaming system that's both powerful and packed with battery life, you shouldn't be looking at an Intel system right now.

Still, the Asus Zephyrus G14 is limited to an RTX 2060. The level of performance that the processor brings to the table leads us to wonder what a system with a more powerful GPU would be capable of, but at the end of the day, with a 1080p display it's more than enough to max out every single game on the market today – and then some.

As the first gaming laptop out of the gate with AMD's new Ryzen 4000 processors, the Asus Zephyrus G14 has a lot to prove. But in our time with the device, we can definitely see this laptop as a precursor to some of the most incredible laptops in history coming out later in 2020.

Spec sheet

Here are the specs of the Asus Zephyrus G14 sent to TechRadar for review:

CPU: 3.0GHz AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS (8-core, 12MB cache, up to 4.3GHz)
Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060 (6GB GDDR6)
RAM: 16GB DDR4 (3,200MHz)
Screen: 14-inch Full HD (1,920 x 1,080) IPS, 120Hz
Storage: 1TB SSD (PCIe)
Ports: 2 x USB 3.1 Gen2, HDMI-out, Gigabit Ethernet, 2 x USB 3.2 Gen1, 1 x Mic-in, 1 x Headphone-out
Connectivity: Intel Wi-Fi6 (802.11ax); Bluetooth 5.0
Weight: 3.53 pounds (1.60kg)
Size: 12.75 x 8.82 x 0.70 inches (32.4 x 22.4 x 1.79 cm); W x D x H

Price and availability

Currently, there's only one configuration of the Asus Zephyrus G14 listed on Asus' store page in the US, and it's the same as what's listed to the right. For $1,449 (about £1,170, AU$2,351), you're getting the Ryzen 9 4900HS, 16GB of RAM and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060. But things are a bit more complicated when we look at other territories.

In the UK, there are two models, coming in at £999 and £1,599, but neither of them have quite the same hardware. The £1,599 model is packing an AMD Ryzen 7 4800H, 16GB of RAM and the same GPU, but has a QHD (2,560 x 1,440) display, rather than the FHD 120Hz panel found in the model we reviewed here. The base model in the UK is limited to an AMD Ryzen 5 4600H and an Nvidia GeForce GTX 1650. We haven't tested a Ryzen 5-equipped laptop yet, so we can't really say whether £999 is a good price for this system. We can say that with just 8GB of RAM, it might be pushing it.

It doesn't look like the Asus Zephyrus G14 is available in Australia quite yet.

There are other configurations on the way, and they should be filtering out by June. But, if you want to get your hands on any of the configurations we explored, you can pre-order the laptop now.

When you look at the Asus Zephyrus G14 specs for the various configurations and how they change so drastically from region to region, making a recommendation is difficult. AMD Ryzen 4000 is a brand new platform, so we can only speak for the model we have in front of us right now. But that configuration is absolutely worth it.

Design

Considering the hardware on offer, the Asus Zephyrus G14 is thinner and lighter than you may expect. Coming in at just 0.7 inches thick and weighing just 3.53 lb, this is extremely portable for a gaming laptop. It's not as thin and light as, say, your average XPS 13, but it doesn't need to be.

Even compared to other thin and light gaming laptops like the Razer Blade 15 and the MSI GS65 Stealth, it's just as thin and even lighter than either of them, thanks to the magnesium alloy-equipped chassis. If you were after a thin and light gaming laptop that'll fit in your bag without weighing you down, the Asus Zephyrus G14 is it.

Being thin and light isn't everything, though, and the laptop needs to hold up elsewhere.

The Asus Zephyrus G14 has a general aesthetic that might be bordering a little much on the capital-G Gamer for some folks, but it's not too bad. The lid of the laptop is divided diagonally, with one half covered in these little dots. There is a version of this laptop that has these light up with white LEDs, and while we've seen that version at a ton of trade shows, that is not present in our review model, so we can't report back what kind of impact this has on usability or battery life.

There are a ton of vents all over the place, along with a very angular look. The way we see it, having all of these vents is ultimately a good thing for a device that's packing hardware on this level. When you're looking for a device to either play the best PC games or get some creative work done, you don't want to run into thermal limits.

The chiclet keyboard is extremely well spaced and comfortable to type on. This is surprising just because of how small of a footprint the device actually has. However, there will likely be some folks that are turned off by the softer feel of the keyboard, as it's not as tactile or clicky as some gaming laptops out there with mechanical keyboards.

What we really like about the keyboard, however is the dedicated buttons at the top. We don't know about you, but the ability to change volume on the fly without messing around with combining the Fn key with one of the Function Keys at the top is a nice touch. There's also a dedicated key for opening Armory Crate, which will let you control system performance and RGB lighting with supported Aura Sync-ready components. This is a nice touch, but because there's no RGB on the system we reviewed, we couldn't use our creativity to really put it to the test. For the record: we want RGB on everything.

The touchpad is generally serviceable. Multi-touch gestures work here, and it's accurate enough – basically it gets the job done. Because this is a gaming laptop and a lot of folks are going to be using this thing with one of the best gaming mice, the touchpad doesn't need to blow anyone's mind. Creative folks who are just after the awesome multi-core performance, however, will be able to get by with this touchpad. But, we recommend a mouse either away.

The display is also pretty amazing for the price you're paying. Sure, it's not one of these 4K OLED panels we're seeing on ultra-premium laptops, but that doesn't matter with the hardware on offer here. You're getting an incredibly solid 1080p display with a blazingly-fast 120Hz refresh rate. The display hits 100% of the sRGB spectrum so it's more than colorful enough for gaming. Plus, at just 14-inches, the display doesn't need to have a higher resolution anyway.

There's a trend in laptops where manufacturers are shoving in super-high-resolution displays, and we don't think it's worth it. You lose out on battery life and most people won't really tell the difference with a laptop this size. Plus, when it's paired with an RTX 2060, you can actually hit that 120Hz while gaming. Which we can.

We were able to play Doom Eternal at 1080p on Ultra Nightmare settings (though just Ultra textures, thanks 6GB frame buffer). Motion was so smooth on this display it feels close enough to playing on our premium gaming monitor.

As for speakers, we have to applaud Asus here: they're not on the bottom of the laptop. We do wish the speakers had a little more oomph to them, as Doom Eternal doesn't sound quite as bombastic as we'd like. Still, plugging in a gaming headset into one of the many ports available remedies that problem.

And when we say there are many ports, we mean there are many. With the Asus Zephyrus G14 you're getting two USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A ports and two USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C ports, one of which can be used for charging the laptop. You also get a dedicated charging port, a HDMI and a combo 3.5mm headphone/mic jack. In a laptop that's this easy to carry around, we absolutely adore the wide range of I/O here.

There's only really one thing missing here, but it might be kind of a big deal for certain users: no webcam. Now, we don't think that's a huge deal, as you don't really need a webcam for games unless you're streaming. And even if you are streaming, you're better off with one of the best webcams anyway. There is probably a certain subset of users that are looking to use this laptop for work, and they might run into some issues. Basically, it's just something to keep in mind. If having a built-in webcam is a deal breaker, you might want to look elsewhere.

Benchmarks

Here's how the Asus Zephyrus G14 fared in our suite of benchmark tests:

3DMark Sky Diver: 34,347; Fire Strike: 13,950; Time Spy: 5,872
Cinebench R20: 3,961 cb
Geekbench 4 Single-Core: 5,265; Multi-Core: 29,907
Geekbench 5 Single-Core: 1,202; Multi-Core: 7,815
PCMark 8 Home: 4,692
PCMark 8 Battery Life: 5 hours 37 minutes
Battery Life (TechRadar movie test): 8 hours 10 minutes
Total War: Three Kingdoms: 128fps (1080p, Low) 44fps (1080p Ultra)
Metro Exodus: 115fps (1080p, Low), 38fps (1080p, Ultra)

Performance

Wow, is that AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS something. Packed with 8-cores and 16-threads with a base clock of 3.0GHz and a boost of 4.3GHz, this is a speed monster. In all of our CPU-heavy testing workloads, this processor absolutely smashed the competition.

Even compared to the full-fat and overclockable Intel Core i9-9980HK found in the Alienware m17, we're seeing wins for AMD. For instance, in Cinebench R15, the AMD-powered Zephyrus gets a solid 1,782 points, compared to the Alienware's 1,182. That's a whopping 34% jump in performance, found in a laptop that's literally half the price of the Alienware m17 configuration we reviewed back in December.

The fun doesn't end there. In Geekbench 4 not only does the Zephyrus obviously win the multi-core contest with 29,907 points, beating the Core i9 by 24%, but even comes within margin of error when it comes to its single-core score of 5,265.

A lot of this is possible because of the move down to the 7nm AMD Zen 2 architecture on mobile. This, plus some creative engineering from the folks over at AMD, has allowed this processor to offer truly desktop-class performance on a laptop that weighs just over 3 lb.

But, of course, the Asus Zephyrus G14 is a gaming laptop, so gaming performance is perhaps more important than raw CPU power. And, well, thanks to the RTX 2060 Max-Q included here, the Zephyrus kills it in games too – up to a point.

With a 3DMark Time Spy score of 5,872 and the ability to run Metro Exodus on Ultra settings with a decent 38 fps frame rate, you can expect solid gaming performance here. And, we'll even reiterate: we're able to get a steady 120 fps in the recently-released Doom Eternal.

It's hard to compare this to a similarly specced system with an Intel chip, simply because there aren't a lot of laptops out there that pair an Intel Core i9 processor with the RTX 2060. It's strange that this pairing exists with the Asus Zephyrus G14, but AMD seems committed to avoiding the high-end of the market for now, so hopefully we'll be able to see exactly where these chips line up in terms of gaming with future systems – we'd love to see a gaming laptop with a Ryzen 9 and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 2080, and we don't think we're alone in that.

Battery life

AMD Ryzen 4000 CPU performance is definitely a huge reason to pick this laptop up, but battery life is far more interesting. But first, a bit of background.

Generally speaking, when it comes to gaming laptops, we've got to a point where we don't even expect them to break three or four hours of juice. If we're lucky, we'll see a gaming laptop hit 5 hours, but it's incredibly rare that we'll ever see one that you can use to work all day away from a charger.

Those days are over.

In our movie test, where we loop 1080p video back to back, the Asus Zephyrus G14 lasted an incredible 8 hours and 10 minutes. The HP Elite Dragonfly, a laptop that is sold based on its battery life scores 8 hours and 11 minutes in the same test. Plus, that's with a CPU that has less than half the TDP of the AMD Ryzen 9 4900HS – and with no dedicated GPU, either.

In the PCMark8 battery test, the Asus Zephyrus G14 scores 4 hours and 47 minutes. To put it in perspective with recent gaming laptops, the amazing Alienware m15 R2 only manages 2 hours and 45 minutes in that test.

We have never seen a gaming laptop that can reach this level of battery life or even anywhere near it. AMD has made some bold claims about Ryzen 4000 battery life, and it actually delivered. Intel should be taking notes right now.

Software and features

There are really only three pieces of software that Asus includes on the Zephyrus G14. ROG Game Visual, Armory Crate and GameFirst VI. All three of these pieces of software let you tinker with how the laptop performs. Game Visual lets you tinker with the display, swapping between different presets and allowing you to adjust color temperature.

GameFirst VI will help you optimize your network for online gaming, even helping you sniff out the strongest network in your proximity. We're in the middle of New York City, which means that the screen showing all the networks looks wild, but if you're in a home with access to multiple networks, this will help you pick the right one.

Then, Armory Crate lets you tinker with basically everything else. Through this software you can adjust everything from fan speed to RGB (through connected peripherals, there is no RGB built into the laptop). There's even a tab that will scan your computer for installed games and let you launch them from there, without worrying about sorting through the dozens of PC game services that we have to live with these days.

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

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