Finally, New Alienware and Dell Gaming Laptops Get AMD Ryzen CPUs
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For the first time in 14 years, AMD CPUs will sit at the heart of two new gaming laptops from Dell and Alienware.
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 and Dell G15 Ryzen Edition laptops will be released in April and May respectively, giving gamers new Ryzen-powered options in high-end and budget-friendly price ranges, with Nvidia GeForce RTX 30 Series graphics.
This is a significant development for fans of AMD and Dell’s laptops. The chip manufacturer continues to garner widespread praise for its latest Ryzen CPUs. Excellent performance and impressive power efficiency makes them ideal for powerful mobile gaming stations. And this is another big step in AMD’s partnership with Dell, following the launch of the all AMD-powered Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 Gaming Desktop PC, which Slickdeals recently praised in a full review.
Alienware m15 Goes Dark
The Alienware represents the more premium offering of the pair, and this year’s refresh brings updates both inside and out. The spotlight is, of course, on the eight-core Ryzen 7 5800H and Ryzen 9 5900HX CPU options, but Dell highlights several new features for this year’s m15.
New display options include a super fast 360Hz 1080p screen, aimed at seriously competitive gamers, and a 1440p display that offers sharper visuals at a slightly lower (but still insanely fast) 240Hz. Both will support Nvidia G-Sync for silky smooth variable refresh rate support. A 1080p 165Hz display (with no G-Sync support) will also be offered.
These displays will let you get the most out of the Nvidia RTX 3060 or 3070 GPUs available in the new R5, which are powerful enough to render ultra-high frame rate gaming and cutting-edge ray tracing effects.
Dell also boasts that the m15 will be the first 15-inch Alienware notebook to feature user-upgradeable RAM, with up to 32GB of DDR4 3200MHz memory available out of the box.
This has all been wrapped in a fancy-looking darker version of Alienware’s Legend industrial design. Dell says the updated m15 has been finished with a new silky-smooth high-endurance paint formula for enhanced stain resistance and more premium feel.
A slightly rearranged keyboard appears to bring the arrow keys back in line with the bottom row, while a CherryMX ultra low-profile mechanical keyboard option will also be offered.
All-Change for the G-Series
The more budget-conscious Dell G5 Ryzen Edition has undergone an even bigger evolution since last year’s model. At a glance, its new “gaming-inspired” design has clearly taken cues from the stunning 2020 Alienware m15 R4 chassis, which should prove very enticing to those who loved the look of the Alienware but couldn’t justify the expense.
The new G5 boasts a new cooling system, also “inspired by Alienware technology,” with wider heat pipes and air flow that mimics that of the Alienware. This will keep its new AMD CPUs cool, with Ryzen 5 5600H and Ryzen 7 5800H variants available.
Like the Alienware, 3200MHz RAM comes as standard, and will be user-upgradeable to allow for future improvements.
The Nvidia RTX 3060 GPU will be the only choice available in the G5, but that should provide enough grunt to throw graphics at the 1080p display options, with 120Hz and 165Hz versions offered at launch. Dell will release a faster 360Hz panel later in the spring.
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 will launch in the U.S. on April 20th, with a starting price of $1,793.98. If that (rather odd) number makes your wallet quiver in fear, hold out until the May 4th release of the G5 Ryzen Edition, which will start at a more palatable $899.99.
And if all this Ryzen malarkey means nothing to you, the new G5 will also be available with Intel chips, starting April 13th at the same entry price.
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