Apparently a BIOS update was released that lets you disable optimus on the 1080p 165Hz model. This review was finalized on June 21st and this was not the case then, the review unit was since returned and it was not something I was able to personally verify, however if true then expect a reasonable performance boost in games, as outlined here: ruclips.net/video/6mWies_4oDs/видео.html This would be a good move if so and make sense, as it would make less sense that they have two different motherboards with MUX built in for the other screen options.
As I wrote in my comment yesterday, it works and it's a fair improvement in performance. The other recommendation is to Update the RAM to Low Density RAM.. for Tomb Raider these to options increase the performance by ~20%, so the laptop is pretty much on par with other competitors.
Yes, Dell did update BIOS to enable MUX switch on R5, so you will see an option called "Enable Hybrid Graphics" on the page right there at 12:17. This could be the weirdest move in marketing, as release a product lacking an important feature but bring it back afterwards.
My experience with my M15 R5 has been fantastic. I have the 5900hx with the RTX 3070, 16gb ram 3200MHz, 1TB SSD, cherry mechanical keyboard, 240 Hz screen with ComfortView Plus, NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus, I am not disappointed. I will upgrade to faster ram in do time but the gains from that will be icing on the cake. I think the issue was the model that was tested. Once it was hooked up to the monitor and pulling straight from the GPU the FPS shot up. Not an issue with my configuration.
what about your CPU temp? I've heard that the Ryzen based processor is not being cooled as much due to heatsink not making a great contact with the CPU. Some say tweaking via Ryzen Controller does help but I want to know if it affected yours? I have my R5 on its way with the exact same specs as yours except that I got the inferior screen of 1080p 165ms. Thanks!
@@ailhamtiaraTemps have been decent for me. I play games like, cyberpunk, witcher/skyrim/call of duty/fortnight, Madden ect.. My temps are between 90 and 100, I have no thermal throttling at all. Keyboard stays cool. Also I play on an elevated surface that allows good air flow. That might have somthing to do with it as well. Frames have been solid during game play.
In NZ, our options for 3070 laptops are pretty meagre. For me, the two it came down to were this and the Legion 5 Pro. But this was a few hundred bucks cheaper, was way nicer to type on (I didn’t go for the Cherry one - way too loud), felt and looked more premium, and for a 1080p screen that looks as good as this it was worth not paying more to get the Legion (I had a 1440p laptop before this one and I barely notice the difference to be fair). Stuck some new ram in it, got a cooling pad, and boom what a machine. It runs great on ultra/extreme settings on all my games and is so comfortable for working on too. Being quiet as a mouse is also a huge plus. Ik many hate this laptop, but for me it’s the perfect balance between work and play.
Alienware r&d, innovation and quality has been degrading gradually. Their products have been becoming expensive and quality otherwise. Command center is pathetic and till date not fixed for bugs.
@@lalitsehgal21 - yes. A colleague of mine purchased it in early 2020 despite the recommendation of staying away from it. He isn't happy with the unit.
it would be really cool to see an R7 5800h/ RTX 3060 version of both this Alienware and Dell G15 compared! They seem to have very similar internals, but with a rather large price gap
Basically its just the same machine on a different chassis. Both has the same Motherboard and everything except for RGB and case. So theoretically there will be no difference after all!
This might go unnoticed but i was wondering if you could a comparison of Alienware M15 R6 and the Lenovo Legion 7. Would really appreciate it if you would.
@@HUSTLER1346 Why do you say that? Both Legion 7(i meant 7i) and the m15 r6 have similar specs (again i am specifically looking for the i7 and 3070 varient) except the lower wattage for m15.
@@STORMFIRE07 apple might have left the overheating club with their M1 devices However dell still thinks 100°C on load as the industry standard for an ultra premium laptop
Thank you for the fair and honest review. I had this laptop. After extended game play it would start suttering, presumably from thermals. I do have the i9 x17 3080 now, its much better. Unfortunately you MUST have an external monitor to game. 4k without AO are too many compromises, IMO. When I need to learn about a laptop I come to this channel. Thanks Jarrod!
Great review! Will you check out the 2021 nitro 5? It improved a lot from last year and just because it has ryzen and much cheaper it's better than it's bigger brother the Helios 300
I curious how it improved a lot? Made 1 GPU heatpipe thicker but about the same size with what you found in Legion 5. Need high fan speed in order to cool properly. No MUX, 95/100W GPU. Build quality on par, if not worse than even Ideapad Gaming.
@@genexis_x9040 it's much better thermally, my personal nitro 5 5800H 3060 95w rig runs at around 81 on the CPU with around 4.1-4.2 and the GPU runs around 71 at full load during a Double stress test. Besides it was a deal for me simply put it was $100 cheaper than the next chapest model with the same specs (TUF), $180 than an omen, $225 than a legion 5, $270 than a 5 pro
+ Magnum build, + mechanical keyboard, + good QHD screen, G synk etc. + Upgradable SSD and RAM, + nice RGB & customization, + Dell custom cooling system + Good peeformance if Razen7 + TGP 125 enough if RTX 3060. + Good Battery Edit: - Overpriced in most countries. - Sometimes IPS screen lights, - HOT if Razen9 and better RTX - Just regular touchpad. ...
I'm not surprised. The M15 R4 with an i7 we had in the shop would hit 105 on the CPU pretty much if you just looked at it. They really skimped on cooling for this generation.
I'm surprised you went with the 165Hz display (normally that configuration comes with the QHD)... If you updated the BIOS a couple days ago you will have noticed that it enabled the MUX switch. Yes, a BIOS update provided access to the MUX switch. That will have a massive effect on the performance.
You'll also notice that at the 4:56 mark, you have the dreaded high-density RAM (modules on one side) which also HUGELY affect performance. Dell has made some REALLY bad decisions with this laptop but with some tweaking (and time since they seem to be updating it to be better), and the sales you get, it's a bargain. I haven't received mine yet but I already ordered HyperX 3200 CL20 RAM to ensure the best performance.
@@Smiley-zm1rp I mean if you mean go up in smoke cuz it runs so hot, yes you're right lol it's a good laptop AFTER you tweak it a lot. Out of the box? It's terrible and performs worse than other "Max-Q" 3070s
What price are you purchasing this laptop at? Apparently dell has a lot of discounts on this one and it’s actually significantly cheaper than most laptops with same specs (at least here in Australia).
A bios update was released so you can disable optimus which results in more performance and if you replace the ram you will get a 20% performance boost. This laptop is actually really good just get it on a sale :)
@@rrrr2150 Well, replacing ram to get a better performance also happens on laptops of Lenovo, Asus, and other brands. It's due to the global shortage of chipsets, so most OEMs are affected.
@@SpewtGG their problem wasn't the action of swapping RAM, I think, more like that you have to spend extra money to make this laptop reasonably good, and RAM prices aren't good, atleast in my country. And I don't see them mentioning ROG and Lenovo. In general, bottlenecking your product to make the customer pay extra isn't a very consumer friendly tactic.
I just bought the Alienware - m15 R5 With AMD Ryzen R9 5900HX , NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 360HZ Screen For 1799.99 on Bestbuy and it has option to disable optimus in bios. I upgrade RAM to 32Gb Kingston Fury and this is the best laptop i have ever owned. I have the M17 R3 Before with the 2070 Super and i7 i needed a lighter laptop and i can tell you the M15 r5 Is the best i have used. I Purchased a Hp Omen 16.1 i7 With 3060 and it was absolute trash i took it back the next day and got the M15 r5. This M15 is absolutly amazed me. Also you can use external Monitor with hdmi and get full refresh rate but Type c to display is lot more convenient.
Thanks for including the R23 on battery to compare against AC power. What accounts for the 45% drop in multicore score when the Asus machines are seeing just ~15% drop? What are they doing different and what are they doing the same when on battery?
Man, Alienware missed the mark on this one. I had this, the Legion 7, an the Scar 15 in my top 3 to replace my previous rig. Ultimately went with the Scar. I can't believe what the price bump is going from a 3070 to 3080! Right now, 3080 laptops just are NOT worth the substantial increase in price, so I have the Scar 15 with the 3070 an QHD 165Hz. The difference between the Ryzen 5800 an 5900 is marginal to me as well, so I got a pretty good deal at around $1,900 shmeckles hunting around for a bargain, an it's been terrific. No need for a MuX in my use-case, as it pretty well sits on my desktop 95% of the time with 2 other monitors, (I just like a minimalist desk with limited clutter). In the end, it was up to the Legion 7 or Scar 15/17. Deal-breaker on the Legion is that it has poor implementation on adjusting fan speeds. HUGE, not-necessarily-needed power brick. (I know there is a slimmer 240w replacement, but that's yet another cost. Corsairs' RGB software is just garbage. An although 16:10 is great for productivity, I'm using this mainly gaming, an in that case, a ton of games will just add black bars top an bottom anyway if they don't have the "odd" resolution size in the options. I COULD have saved a bit more with the standard Strix 15/17, but believe it or not, I wanted the opti-mechanical keyboard an that little extra LED strip just under the screen. If I'm going to rock a stupid unicorn-puking machine, might as well go all out! Only thing I felt I had to do to my Scar is add a second nVme, an a faster set of SODIMMS. (Hyper X).
@@JarrodsTech and preferably only the ones with advanced Optimus as those will be the most sought after. Considering that most people that watch these reviews know what the deal is with mux switches
I have the same laptop except with advanced optimus QHD and 32 gb ram … this laptop does not perform like in this video. It needs some tweaking and it can be amazing, I’ve scored much higher timespy scores and better temps maxing out at 85 degrees on the CPU
The QHD model offers G-Sync, and therefore disables optimus, so yes we are expecting it to perform quite a bit better even if the CPU/GPU are the same.
@@JarrodsTech I understand that, I wrote it in my comment and you mentioned it in the video and even made a comparison. It would be nice if you were able to review the highest spec model…
@@dopemanplease make a fan curve on the Alienware command centre settings, make sure you have max fans on with fn+f1. I used to use Ryzen controller too but I’ve recently repasted my R5 and discovered that the reason for the terrible temps was simply because the contact with the heat sink was , average… really not that good. So I ordered a 3mm copper shim and sandwiched it with the thermal paste, the max temps I’m getting now is 85 degrees 11k graphics score and 10k cpu score on timespy
You need to buy the model with 32GB or upgrade RAM. The 16 GB Is high density RAM which is causing big performance issues also on the X-Series. So dont expect better results on the x15! Despite of that it has a lower wattage gpu than the R5. @MashIT
I really hope I didn’t make a mistake ordering this computer… reviews have not been so great. I did get the qhd and I will be upgrading the ram to 32gig but I’m worried about it getting too hot or not performing well.. I haven’t had a computer in years and am really looking forward to get back into gaming. I originally wanted to order a legion 7 gen 6 but those are 4+ months out and didn’t want to wait that long. At least I have 30 days to return the m15 r5 ryzen edition if it really isn’t that good. It’s too much money to be just ok..
Its a good laptop, just use tcc and drop the temperature to your liking and upgrade the ram(i got better results than legion 5 pro). Had to uninstall Acc though due to poor battery life with that thing installed for some reason.
@@user-hy5hn5rc2w I like it. If you don’t control temps they can get high. But I use ryzen controller and keep my cpu in the 70s and gpu in the 80s with a custom fan profile in acc. Full speed is just a bit loud with the fans. I did want the Legion 7 at the time but they weren’t available yet. Had they been available I’d probably had gotten that one. But I also wanted to try amd. And paired with the 3070 it doesn’t disappoint
I'm currently looking for a gaming laptop, I'm quite confused between the legion 5 pro and the omen 15 and the g14 and g15, my budget is below 1500 usd
It depends on what ur priorities are if u want 16:10 screen then go for the 5 pro with 3070 but if that does matter then the g15 would be a better choice as its much thinner and lighter than the 5 pro also the omen 15 imo is a bit meh as it is just a spec refresh and is bit boring and the g14 is a bit compromised and has too high specs for its thermal capacity
Aim for a laptop with a 6gb of vram (166ti, 2060, 3060). Also consider gpu max wattage. Also, don't ignore the past year models, virtually the same, but much cheaper
On 1:56 : Can you test the camera on normal light environment please? I think you're using studio environment which doesn't give us real world situation, which the norm would never have softbox light inside the bedrooms and would use 1-2 lights per room.
Every time Jarrod releases a new video I get more pissed by nvidia... Look at the amount of performance difference between 3070's... I hope AMD implements more advantage laptops soon, nvidia deserves a good old spanking
I don't why R4 has never been mentioned by him. It is apparently the machine with the best value in the alienware product line and the performance is really good with the high tdp gpu.
@@finished502 it really frustrates me that these reviewers keep ignoring the most competitive product. I got my r4 (3070) at around 1560 bucks including tax, and I have yet to find another device within the similar price range that has similar performance. r4 is cheaper than r5, thinner than r5 and more powerful than r5 in terms of gaming performance. You can even see r3 in the table of this video and you can't find r4, is it just me or is it actually weird?
@@zachzach8171 It’s pretty strange though in the comment section of this video Jarrod did say that he declined getting the r4 sent to him and he prioritized getting the r5 instead. Though it’s really strange with other youtubers. For example, Dave2D compared the r4 to the r5 yet he never made a review on it.
@@finished502 Mash IT is one of the few youtubers who reviewed r4. He also has a very good undervolting tutorial in case you don't know it. It helps to bring the temps down.
Before the Blade 14 was announced this was the laptop I was about to pull the trigger on. I think it's Dave2D who talked me out of it and said there were a lot of things that felt cheaper than past versions and they held back because of the m15x. Glad I waited it out and got the Blade 14 3070. Love your reviews man.
Got my m15 r4 (10870h + 3070) for 1560 USD (tax included). Pretty happy with my purchase and the performance of the 140W 3070 is superb. I was wondering how come m15/17 r4 never appears in your review. R4 is apparently the one with the best performance/cost ratio in the entire Alienware product line and it has never been mentioned in your review.
@@ameet6384 I just checked, the price of this device went up a little bit somehow (by 50 bucks), but I guess it is still worth it. In order to replicate the deal, you first need to register a new account on Dell's official website, you will have a chance to get a 10% off discount coupon for the new users. I got it 10 days after I registered, but i heard some people got it right away. It seems to be random. Then you need to use the offer on your Amex credit card given you own one. There is a "spend 600 get 120 back" offer for any purchase on the dell's official website. This offer's deadline is 7/28 for me. You need to hurry up as even if you purchase it now, the invoice date may be much later and you will not have this discount if your invoice date is later than 7/28. And note not everyone gets this offer. A friend of mine doesn't have this offer on his Amex card. If you manage to get both discounts, you can buy it at around 1600 bucks. In terms of portability, it is very decent for a gaming laptop with that kind of performance. Note it is thinner than r5. The battery life is okay, after some optimization, I can get around 6.5 hours of battery life for video streaming. If I use the default settings, the battery only lasts for around 2.5 hours for video streaming. This kind of battery life is expected on a gaming laptop like this.
@@ameet6384 Sorry about that. I guess you can have a look at Slickdeals, on which you can find a lot of good deals. You may find a very good deal later.
@Big Jim Congrats! That is a very nice deal you got there.I received it a month ago. The unit arrived two weeks earlier than the est. delivery date. So probably you can get it sooner than you think.
Whew that laptop looks ugly. Surprisingly bad given that I thought Alienware was a premium gaming brand. I am addicted to seeing where the Legion 5 Pro continues to land in all of the metrics.
I have this laptop with the 240hz QHD panel & AO, 5800H 512GB SSD. I added a second SSD (had to reach out to dell for the bracket) and now I upgraded the ram to 64GB of the dual rank stuff. It definitely gets hot in games and I use Ryzen controller to limit the temp to 90C on the CPU. The GPU one mine has reported using upto 168W on boost but it does seem to hit 135W regularly in games. I am not sure how they control the actual GPU wattage but it is all over the place. I have the standard keyboard and it is "ok" but definitely not as good as the per-key RGB one I had on the M17 R4. My FPS in games is actually quite good with 185FPS in OW Ultra (100% Res scale 1440p) and 130ish fps in COD CW High Mixed settings. I use the max fan profile for games.
I'm getting one soon similar to this, is the 16gb ram already installed in the laptop alright? And also does limiting the temperature make an impact on performance?
@@rjjz Limiting the temp does make an impact on performance, but it isn't as big especially in some games which don't use as much CPU. The GPU has tons of power available to it especially with the most recent bios. The 16GB installed in the laptop is the slower high density memory (atleast in the one i purchased). I can tell you though to get the QHD screen, maybe buy one on ebay that is still in warranty and then extend the warranty if anything. The QHD screen is what makes this laptop worth it. Otherwise just look for something else.
@@Jimster481 I currently have a lenovo legion 5 with almost the same specs apart from the gpu and screen so I am assuming that I will be fine with 16gb ram
@@rjjz 16GB of ram is fine, im just saying that high density leaves some performance on the table. You can get a 16GB kit that isn't high density and it will have better performance. Its called Dual rank vs Single Rank. Single rank has lower performance.
I just need to say your shirts are amazing, and stone's reach is one of my favorite melodic death metal albums ever. I love your videos but your shirts are the cherry on top. Held in Hollows has such an epic intro riff.
hi jarrods, love your review, yeah somehow bought the Alienware M15 R5 with the same specs as yours latest bios 1.09 in July 2021 give access to MUX SWITCH BIOS I found that immensely improved my gaming performance -- eg Forza Horizon on Ultra previously was 120 FPS improved to 150-165 FPS
Hey Jarrod, Your reviews are amazing, and you make sure to include all the details. I ordered the M15 R6 instead of the R5. Going by this review, I'm hoping the 240Hz QHD would act as the saving grace given advanced optimus and G-sync. Are you getting the R6? I'd really like to see your review on it
@@LeslieTheSteez intel and amd mobile processors this generation are actually more or less the same performance except amd has focused more on battery power while intel yeeted battery power for performance. both have the same heat output so its pretty interesting.
Hey @Jarrod'sTech. Even the variant with the 165Hz Screen has a MUX Switch, you need to download the latest BIOS. This will add the option to deactivate Optimus and as well an option to reduce the target temperature for the CPU. And the other issue in the 16GB Version is the High Density RAM. I updated to 32GB Kingston HyperX (HX432S20IBK2/32) The RAM change alone gave me 113fps in Tomb Raider with Optimus activated. Without Optimus I achieved 120fps on the internal Screen and 121fps on an external display. Before the changes I got pretty much the same results as you (99fps@internal and 110fps@external). I think that's not to bad in comparison to other 3070 laptops. All results in the balanced fan profile and the max CPU set to 90°C.
I’m actually disappointed in this review coming from you. So much changes available with software updates that greatly improve performance and only takes an update. That’s not including the change of ram as well considering this comes with the lower tier ram. That’s something you pointed out on other models but fail to mention for this laptop. I got a sense that you over all didn’t like this laptop for some reason. I don’t get it you just seem biased and disappointing compared to your other reviews.
@@whatgaca and then the excuses he makes in response to other comments questioning the bs review. I’m just disgusted really if you want Lenovo’s money just talk great about their products. Now we know why ppl love to say “ I was paid by such and such but I promise that does not go into what I truly think about the product “.
What are you talking about? I bought the M15 R5, it ran hot, loud, and GPU performance on par with Strix G15 (with RTX 3060) and worse 5800H performance to date! Returning it was the best decision. All other laptops shipped these days have this single rank dense memory issue, and they still performance better than M15 R5. If you're butt hurt about your poor purchase decision don't take it on others. Or are you a Dell employee?
"I don’t get it you just seem biased and disappointing compared to your other reviews" perhaps because I am disappointed? This laptop costs a lot of money and ultimately fails to deliver. 100c under load and performing worse than other laptops with same CPU/GPU, does that sound great? As for the RAM, it uses different memory compared to the Legion 5 Pro and Strix G15 Advantage. Just because there aren't chips on one side doesn't mean it's the same memory. As for "software updates that greatly improve performance" not sure what you're rereferring to. I've already done two dedicated videos covering the CUDA core update performance before and after on this laptop, so it can't be that. Some people are saying there is an update that lets you disable optimus, that did not exist while I had the laptop for review. This video was finalized on 26th June 2021, I just didn't get around to posting it for a while as I try to stick to a 3 video per week schedule to avoid burn out, and to be completely honest, there was more interesting content to post first given as mentioned, I'd already done two videos covering m15 R5 performance.
@@whatgaca No, $700 is not worth it, yes it will vary by region greatly and I cannot cover them all unfortunately so stick to US and my own, I am sure prices have changed vastly since I made the video 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately I cannot do further retesting with either, as borrowed review units they all get sent onto the next reviewer.
I change my ram to xmp ram after seeing the ram change video you made. The laptop i changes the ram for was the msi raider ge76 with i7-10870h 3080 gpu, and now i am getting 141 fps in shadow and 140 fps in far cry 5 with the same settings :) run it couple of times and checked the settings to see if it was correct. Thx jarrod :)
@@thefisherman4380 yes, I did that:) laptop chips get insanely hot very fast though. But I got my i9-10980hk to a multi core score of 10400 in a stable 30 Minute Cinebench run and a pc mark 10 score of over 9000, so I think I got my laptop tuned pretty well without overdoing it, effort-wise:)
Which Vbios did you flash? There was a subsequent Vbios to the initial one. It was released on 22 Jun 2021 and has the version number 94.04.42.40.16, A01. Also, which system bios were you using? I don't recall you mentioning it in your video. **EDIT** I see you're using 1.0.8 which was released in May. There was a new bios released on July 2nd which improves system performance.
A bios update was released so you can disable optimus which results in more performance and if you replace the ram you will get a 20% performance boost. This laptop is actually really good just get it on a sale :)
You should check the Dell g15 ryzen edition, it has literally the same specs than the M15 up to the rtx 3060 and even uses the same motherboard, the interesting thing is that they added a mux switch or i guess enabled it on the latest bios update all for a fraction of the cost I think it's a way better deal than the M15 specially with the mux switch.
@@SpewtGG he hasn't reviewed it yet, and no it isn't better because they say literally the same laptop just that the Dell is cheaper because it doesn't have the Alienware branding and only goes up to a 3060 and r7, and even recently it was sold at 1100 us, u didn't know that Dell also added a mux switch to the m15 but hey now both have one
@@jaredhernandez333 lmao it is better xD the g15 is locked in so many areas resulting in a more steady and cool experience the m15 gets hot and processes so fast for gamers. Alienware also feature better colour gamat screens and thinner bezels. The design and cooling process is a lot more expensive and don’t even get me started on the differences of motherboards
@@SpewtGG watch a video on the g15 and you'll be surprised it has the same motherboard as the Alienware I didn't say literally for no reason, they also use the same screen for the 165hz model, may be the cooling solution is a little better in the m15 but I doubt it since they both use the same chasis shape it could be that the m15 has more heat pipes tho
It seems that r4 is nonexistent for him. I never saw him mention that model. But apparently r4 has the best performance in terms of gaming and it is also the cheapest one in the m series.
@@evgasrx They offered it a couple weeks before the R5, which I also knew was on the way after the announcement, so that combined with the fact it was a 10th gen model when I already had months of work ahead of me gave me reason to decline it. I don't have time for everything but will always accept current gen models, but I had been turning down last gen for weeks already at that stage from all brands. Prior to the R5, I had only been offered stuff that had already been out for a year after all the Twitch streamers are done with them, as they get priority here to produce paid content.
It would be great if you could do a review on the new zen book pro duo ux582. I’m interested in it since they added a rtx 3070 and gave it the lifted second screen.
Looks like it will use the exact same chassis as the r5 but who knows, maybe dell dislikes amd or they have a contract with intel to make amd products inferior.
Thanks for the review, full, completed, interesting. By the way, is there anybody who can explain, why I can't upgrade ram on this model?? When I insert tho new ram sticks, each 16 gb, the laptop starts blinking, two red and one blue?? Greatly appreciated any replies, Thanks!
@@JarrodsTech thanks for a really eye opening review! I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on the cheaper G15 Ryzen myself. I wanted the M15 R5 to be great but as you noted there are too many small issues (that keyboard deck flex!) adding up to a pretty big disappointment for the price point. I have been running with the Dell 7567 (IPS + i7/1050Ti version) since new in 2017 and I feel that the G15 Ryzen with the 165Hz screen will be able to punch above its weight for the price just like the 7567 has done.
I just ordered the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 with 3060. Will I get the improved performance from using an external monitor like you suggested for the model that you have reviewed?
Hi Jarrod, I was confident about getting the m15 r5, but I became very hesitant after watching your review given the issues you highlighted. Would you recommend me getting the m15 r6 instead? Also, whad do you think about buying the m15 r4, which is the model of the last year?
I’m not Jarrod but yes. The R4 has better thermals, built quality, and a 140 watt 3070. Only real downfall is the battery life if you for the 300hz option. If you go for the 144hz then battery shouldn’t be too bad.
@@afraza5946 Then the R4 will 100% be better in every way for gaming. Just be aware that if you end up buying the r4 your order may get delayed like mine did due to shortages.
@@finished502 144 hz model is actually superior and cheaper imho. It comes with advanced optimus and gsync, which both are very important. The former gives you much longer battery life, and the latter offers you much better 3A game experience, especially when your fps is lower than the refresh rate.
have you managed to to get any ryzen 5 5600h + rtx 3060 laptops to review? would be interesting to see as it would be a solid performer in the midrange laptops
I finally had the money to get an Alienware and I got the m15 ryzen r5. It was advertised with a 1440p screen but mine came with a 360 1080p. Also it crashed when I first started it. Now they expect me to wait 32 days for the replacement and they still won't honor my original order. I've had games crash when I plugged in my headset lmao
I think you'd better off buying an Intel model of Alienware or even the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. This is probably underperforming too bad for it to be justifiable, unless you get the Ryzen 7 model. Better of skipping this one entirely.
Oh no it uses the crappy RAM sticks 4chip instead of the 8chip. Try to change to ramsticks that have 8chips (4 per side) instead it achually makes a big change in most games.
The amount of chips isn't really the issue, I didn't bother changing it as zentimings looked fine and it's different memory (micron) to the G15/L5P (samsung).
@@JarrodsTech I know you were mentioned in Linus' video about the laptop memory but his conclusion was that chip density was the difference. It might be worth testing that swap.
I see one of these at Best Buy with a ryzen 9, rtx 3070, and a 360hz screen. Is it a good or decent buy if it's not 165hz but instead 360hz screen? I know only a little about gaming computers.
I got the m15r4 (10870H / 3070 140W / advanced optimus) my laptop compared to this one it’s just sad, I don’t know where the r5 went wrong and how it’s getting beat by laptops with lower specs.
Well compared to the r4 a lot of laptops will look bad in terms of gaming performance lol. Though the R5 probably has low performance due to the horrible ram that comes included with it.
I'm waiting for X17 review. I wonder if Jarrod would recommend it (performance to price ratio) or not. Really interested to get X17 if it's really worth it.
Still have my Alienware 13 R3 model from I think 2017? It’s had its ups and downs which have made me consider looking elsewhere for my next laptop. The issues I’ve had with it whether it’s been with updates causing havoc to the system or annoying things like whenever I’d try to download games or run certain updates while on wifi, the internet connection in my house would drop to all other devices for some weird reason that the support assist COULD NOT explain or help me with. This would only happen whenever using this laptop to download games or run certain updates. The headaches of dealing with dell/Alienware support for when things eventually go wrong is in my opinion not worth the headache of going with this brand when considering the purchase of their laptops. On the other hand I own their Alienware aurora r2 desktop and have had no issues with that device which has ran beautifully. So take that into consideration. The prices are also extremely ridiculous, but you’re also getting a unique esthetic which I personally really enjoy. So it’s just some pros and cons to weight.
Hello Jarrod, when will you be able to revive 2021 Asus Tuf A15 RTX3070 240hz, I own one, and I'm pretty happy. Would like to see what you think about 2021 model.
Hey so off topic but I've been planning in buying a budget laptop so could you tell me whats better between the Msi gf63 and aser nitro 5? Or do u have something better for this very similar price range?
@@GerryReid despite what most people say, they are not overpriced. They are brilliant pieces of hardware and will last a long time. People like to shit on those with alienwares because they can’t afford them to justify their trash asus 😂. Don’t ever listen to those fools Alienware products will always be good
@@SpewtGG I have owned the M15 R2 and the M17 R4, I returned the R2 because it was too hot and unfortunately I returned the R4 because the GPU kept crashing, the M17 R4 is absolutely my favorite laptop of all time great build no flex, amazing keyboard, great screen, I now have a GE76 which is fine but just not as classy as the alienware
Hey can you tell me what is the best place to buy laptops in Australia ? I searched quite a few but the price were unreasonably high. Any websites or place info would be helpful Thank you
Damn... it looks the legion 5 3070 wins in every testing? I just placed an order, after some rebate it's 100 less than legion 5.. which one should I go with..?
Apparently a BIOS update was released that lets you disable optimus on the 1080p 165Hz model. This review was finalized on June 21st and this was not the case then, the review unit was since returned and it was not something I was able to personally verify, however if true then expect a reasonable performance boost in games, as outlined here: ruclips.net/video/6mWies_4oDs/видео.html This would be a good move if so and make sense, as it would make less sense that they have two different motherboards with MUX built in for the other screen options.
As I wrote in my comment yesterday, it works and it's a fair improvement in performance. The other recommendation is to Update the RAM to Low Density RAM.. for Tomb Raider these to options increase the performance by ~20%, so the laptop is pretty much on par with other competitors.
Yes, Dell did update BIOS to enable MUX switch on R5, so you will see an option called "Enable Hybrid Graphics" on the page right there at 12:17. This could be the weirdest move in marketing, as release a product lacking an important feature but bring it back afterwards.
That's good because I can save some money by not upgrading to the 240hz panel with advanced optimus
Hey jarrod
Would you recommend it if its $1180( how its now on sale)
With rtx 3060 ,256 ssd, 16g ram, ryzen 5800h??
@@kobalt9299 Sounds reasonable in terms of a 3060 laptop compared to other options, especially if it lets you disable optimus to boost performance.
My experience with my M15 R5 has been fantastic. I have the 5900hx with the RTX 3070, 16gb ram 3200MHz, 1TB SSD, cherry mechanical keyboard, 240 Hz screen with ComfortView Plus, NVIDIA G-SYNC and Advanced Optimus, I am not disappointed. I will upgrade to faster ram in do time but the gains from that will be icing on the cake. I think the issue was the model that was tested. Once it was hooked up to the monitor and pulling straight from the GPU the FPS shot up. Not an issue with my configuration.
On a previous video it was mentioned that the 32Gb ram model does not have the ram speed issue. Maybe 32GB m15 R5 owners can confirm?
Is yours the one with 1440p 240hz?
@@ittbelitt8409 yes
what about your CPU temp? I've heard that the Ryzen based processor is not being cooled as much due to heatsink not making a great contact with the CPU. Some say tweaking via Ryzen Controller does help but I want to know if it affected yours? I have my R5 on its way with the exact same specs as yours except that I got the inferior screen of 1080p 165ms. Thanks!
@@ailhamtiaraTemps have been decent for me. I play games like, cyberpunk, witcher/skyrim/call of duty/fortnight, Madden ect.. My temps are between 90 and 100, I have no thermal throttling at all. Keyboard stays cool. Also I play on an elevated surface that allows good air flow. That might have somthing to do with it as well. Frames have been solid during game play.
In NZ, our options for 3070 laptops are pretty meagre. For me, the two it came down to were this and the Legion 5 Pro. But this was a few hundred bucks cheaper, was way nicer to type on (I didn’t go for the Cherry one - way too loud), felt and looked more premium, and for a 1080p screen that looks as good as this it was worth not paying more to get the Legion (I had a 1440p laptop before this one and I barely notice the difference to be fair). Stuck some new ram in it, got a cooling pad, and boom what a machine. It runs great on ultra/extreme settings on all my games and is so comfortable for working on too. Being quiet as a mouse is also a huge plus. Ik many hate this laptop, but for me it’s the perfect balance between work and play.
what ram are you using? I want to update mine, M15 R5 5900hx, Im from NZ too
m series have been reduced to decoy products so that dell can sell more units of their upcoming X series
Sheesh... I stayed away from buying an Alienware in 2019 and purchased a Helios 300 instead i7-9750h, 1660ti.
That was a great machine at the time!
Well then Alienware was great only now it sucks.
@@JarrodsTech - I agree. I think it would be a good companion to me for atleast 2 more years, assuming nothing major goes wrong.
Alienware r&d, innovation and quality has been degrading gradually. Their products have been becoming expensive and quality otherwise. Command center is pathetic and till date not fixed for bugs.
@@lalitsehgal21 - yes. A colleague of mine purchased it in early 2020 despite the recommendation of staying away from it. He isn't happy with the unit.
it would be really cool to see an R7 5800h/ RTX 3060 version of both this Alienware and Dell G15 compared! They seem to have very similar internals, but with a rather large price gap
Basically its just the same machine on a different chassis. Both has the same Motherboard and everything except for RGB and case. So theoretically there will be no difference after all!
Can you do the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition? There seem to be a few similarities between the two. A comparison would be great!
This might go unnoticed but i was wondering if you could a comparison of Alienware M15 R6 and the Lenovo Legion 7. Would really appreciate it if you would.
Legion 7 is much more superior, I would say a good comparison would be with the Legion 5.
@@HUSTLER1346 Why do you say that? Both Legion 7(i meant 7i) and the m15 r6 have similar specs (again i am specifically looking for the i7 and 3070 varient) except the lower wattage for m15.
Razer: we charge a premium for "build quality". Dell "we charge a premium for. . . reasons"
We charge a premium for premium temperatures
MacBook pro quality thermals in your nearest Alienware M15
Don't delay
Buy today
@@99Teutons
The irony is that the new M1 Macbooks don’t even overheat like the intel MacBooks
Well I mean when dell decides to not scam people (rarely) they make some pretty nice laptops
@@STORMFIRE07 apple might have left the overheating club with their M1 devices
However dell still thinks 100°C on load as the industry standard for an ultra premium laptop
Thank you for the fair and honest review. I had this laptop. After extended game play it would start suttering, presumably from thermals. I do have the i9 x17 3080 now, its much better. Unfortunately you MUST have an external monitor to game. 4k without AO are too many compromises, IMO. When I need to learn about a laptop I come to this channel. Thanks Jarrod!
Um, can you tell me how long is an extended gameplay?
Like 2 hours or 3?
Great review! Will you check out the 2021 nitro 5? It improved a lot from last year and just because it has ryzen and much cheaper it's better than it's bigger brother the Helios 300
Thanks, I bought one a week ago.
@@JarrodsTech can you please check the Helios 300 2021 edition with RTX 3060
@@JarrodsTech could you compare the r5 rtx 3070 with the r4 rtx 3070?
I curious how it improved a lot? Made 1 GPU heatpipe thicker but about the same size with what you found in Legion 5. Need high fan speed in order to cool properly. No MUX, 95/100W GPU. Build quality on par, if not worse than even Ideapad Gaming.
@@genexis_x9040 it's much better thermally, my personal nitro 5 5800H 3060 95w rig runs at around 81 on the CPU with around 4.1-4.2 and the GPU runs around 71 at full load during a Double stress test.
Besides it was a deal for me simply put it was $100 cheaper than the next chapest model with the same specs (TUF), $180 than an omen, $225 than a legion 5, $270 than a 5 pro
1:56 When I resumed the video from here, a chill went down my spine as I thought my speakers were busted ^^
+ Magnum build,
+ mechanical keyboard,
+ good QHD screen, G synk etc.
+ Upgradable SSD and RAM,
+ nice RGB & customization,
+ Dell custom cooling system
+ Good peeformance if Razen7
+ TGP 125 enough if RTX 3060.
+ Good Battery
Edit:
- Overpriced in most countries.
- Sometimes IPS screen lights,
- HOT if Razen9 and better RTX
- Just regular touchpad.
...
I'm not surprised. The M15 R4 with an i7 we had in the shop would hit 105 on the CPU pretty much if you just looked at it. They really skimped on cooling for this generation.
Alternative Title: Not all RGB light fests mean 150% boost in laptop quality
And performance
Bit long but that could work🤣
Please review the Dell g15 ryzen edition (ryzen 7, 3060 for around 1100$ rn)
@Itch-HeSay you bought it? How is the performance? I'm tryna get one in canada too but kinda indecisive
@Itch-HeSay thanks for that incredible review buddy. Also, what kinda 'flaws' do you think it has?
I've been trying to get it for months but they still don't have review unit availability for me.
@@JarrodsTech oh okay, thanks for the reply.
@Itch-HeSay I thought the update was for the M15 r5 ryzen edition?
I'm surprised you went with the 165Hz display (normally that configuration comes with the QHD)... If you updated the BIOS a couple days ago you will have noticed that it enabled the MUX switch. Yes, a BIOS update provided access to the MUX switch. That will have a massive effect on the performance.
You'll also notice that at the 4:56 mark, you have the dreaded high-density RAM (modules on one side) which also HUGELY affect performance. Dell has made some REALLY bad decisions with this laptop but with some tweaking (and time since they seem to be updating it to be better), and the sales you get, it's a bargain. I haven't received mine yet but I already ordered HyperX 3200 CL20 RAM to ensure the best performance.
Lol he need to take his time in learn. This laptop will smoke most non Alienware laptops
@@Smiley-zm1rp I mean if you mean go up in smoke cuz it runs so hot, yes you're right lol it's a good laptop AFTER you tweak it a lot. Out of the box? It's terrible and performs worse than other "Max-Q" 3070s
What price are you purchasing this laptop at? Apparently dell has a lot of discounts on this one and it’s actually significantly cheaper than most laptops with same specs (at least here in Australia).
not surprised, it seems like this one's a filler for the Alienwarebrand
A bios update was released so you can disable optimus which results in more performance and if you replace the ram you will get a 20% performance boost. This laptop is actually really good just get it on a sale :)
@@SpewtGG you have to replace the ram to get a good performance? yeah no this isn't a good laptop
@@rrrr2150 it’s the same with Lenovo’s legion and asus Rog series. Not my fault you can’t do the simple task of swapping ram 😂
@@rrrr2150 Well, replacing ram to get a better performance also happens on laptops of Lenovo, Asus, and other brands. It's due to the global shortage of chipsets, so most OEMs are affected.
@@SpewtGG their problem wasn't the action of swapping RAM, I think, more like that you have to spend extra money to make this laptop reasonably good, and RAM prices aren't good, atleast in my country. And I don't see them mentioning ROG and Lenovo. In general, bottlenecking your product to make the customer pay extra isn't a very consumer friendly tactic.
I just bought the Alienware - m15 R5 With AMD Ryzen R9 5900HX , NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 1920 x 1080 (Full HD) 360HZ Screen For 1799.99 on Bestbuy and it has option to disable optimus in bios. I upgrade RAM to 32Gb Kingston Fury and this is the best laptop i have ever owned. I have the M17 R3 Before with the 2070 Super and i7 i needed a lighter laptop and i can tell you the M15 r5 Is the best i have used. I Purchased a Hp Omen 16.1 i7 With 3060 and it was absolute trash i took it back the next day and got the M15 r5. This M15 is absolutly amazed me. Also you can use external Monitor with hdmi and get full refresh rate but Type c to display is lot more convenient.
Thanks for including the R23 on battery to compare against AC power. What accounts for the 45% drop in multicore score when the Asus machines are seeing just ~15% drop? What are they doing different and what are they doing the same when on battery?
Man, Alienware missed the mark on this one. I had this, the Legion 7, an the Scar 15 in my top 3 to replace my previous rig. Ultimately went with the Scar. I can't believe what the price bump is going from a 3070 to 3080! Right now, 3080 laptops just are NOT worth the substantial increase in price, so I have the Scar 15 with the 3070 an QHD 165Hz. The difference between the Ryzen 5800 an 5900 is marginal to me as well, so I got a pretty good deal at around $1,900 shmeckles hunting around for a bargain, an it's been terrific. No need for a MuX in my use-case, as it pretty well sits on my desktop 95% of the time with 2 other monitors, (I just like a minimalist desk with limited clutter).
In the end, it was up to the Legion 7 or Scar 15/17. Deal-breaker on the Legion is that it has poor implementation on adjusting fan speeds. HUGE, not-necessarily-needed power brick. (I know there is a slimmer 240w replacement, but that's yet another cost. Corsairs' RGB software is just garbage. An although 16:10 is great for productivity, I'm using this mainly gaming, an in that case, a ton of games will just add black bars top an bottom anyway if they don't have the "odd" resolution size in the options.
I COULD have saved a bit more with the standard Strix 15/17, but believe it or not, I wanted the opti-mechanical keyboard an that little extra LED strip just under the screen. If I'm going to rock a stupid unicorn-puking machine, might as well go all out!
Only thing I felt I had to do to my Scar is add a second nVme, an a faster set of SODIMMS. (Hyper X).
Please do a review on Alienware x15 and x17 R1 with 360hz display. We would appreciate it
I've requested them, hopefully they can deliver.
@@JarrodsTech if they don't deliver just roast those models😂😂
@@JarrodsTech and preferably only the ones with advanced Optimus as those will be the most sought after. Considering that most people that watch these reviews know what the deal is with mux switches
I have the same laptop except with advanced optimus QHD and 32 gb ram … this laptop does not perform like in this video. It needs some tweaking and it can be amazing, I’ve scored much higher timespy scores and better temps maxing out at 85 degrees on the CPU
what did you use to get a better timespy score? Im using the Ryzen controller for temps i have the same model as you
The QHD model offers G-Sync, and therefore disables optimus, so yes we are expecting it to perform quite a bit better even if the CPU/GPU are the same.
@@JarrodsTech I understand that, I wrote it in my comment and you mentioned it in the video and even made a comparison. It would be nice if you were able to review the highest spec model…
@@dopemanplease make a fan curve on the Alienware command centre settings, make sure you have max fans on with fn+f1. I used to use Ryzen controller too but I’ve recently repasted my R5 and discovered that the reason for the terrible temps was simply because the contact with the heat sink was , average… really not that good. So I ordered a 3mm copper shim and sandwiched it with the thermal paste, the max temps I’m getting now is 85 degrees 11k graphics score and 10k cpu score on timespy
@@sultangreen Why would you make a fan curve then max out the fans lmao
You need to buy the model with 32GB or upgrade RAM. The 16 GB Is high density RAM which is causing big performance issues also on the X-Series.
So dont expect better results on the x15! Despite of that it has a lower wattage gpu than the R5. @MashIT
I'm getting this model for 1299$ (ryzen 7 5800H, 3060, 16gb Ram, 512 ssd) and in genuinely considering it. Is it a good deal?
I personally feel the design is sick
Hi, I would tell you to buy a laptop with 1tb ssd, system and everything takes out aprox 150gb 😬
There’s one for 1399$ (ryzen 7 5800h, 3070, 16gb ram, and 512 ssd) I’m wonder if you bought the laptop is it good? And is this a good deal?
@@aquafountain7680 Best Buy? Lol
@@Skurbbz dell website lol
I really hope I didn’t make a mistake ordering this computer… reviews have not been so great. I did get the qhd and I will be upgrading the ram to 32gig but I’m worried about it getting too hot or not performing well.. I haven’t had a computer in years and am really looking forward to get back into gaming. I originally wanted to order a legion 7 gen 6 but those are 4+ months out and didn’t want to wait that long. At least I have 30 days to return the m15 r5 ryzen edition if it really isn’t that good. It’s too much money to be just ok..
Its a good laptop, just use tcc and drop the temperature to your liking and upgrade the ram(i got better results than legion 5 pro). Had to uninstall Acc though due to poor battery life with that thing installed for some reason.
How did yours perform? We’re the temps in the 90’s?
@@user-hy5hn5rc2w I like it. If you don’t control temps they can get high. But I use ryzen controller and keep my cpu in the 70s and gpu in the 80s with a custom fan profile in acc. Full speed is just a bit loud with the fans. I did want the Legion 7 at the time but they weren’t available yet. Had they been available I’d probably had gotten that one. But I also wanted to try amd. And paired with the 3070 it doesn’t disappoint
I'm currently looking for a gaming laptop, I'm quite confused between the legion 5 pro and the omen 15 and the g14 and g15, my budget is below 1500 usd
same here
It depends on what ur priorities are if u want 16:10 screen then go for the 5 pro with 3070 but if that does matter then the g15 would be a better choice as its much thinner and lighter than the 5 pro also the omen 15 imo is a bit meh as it is just a spec refresh and is bit boring and the g14 is a bit compromised and has too high specs for its thermal capacity
Aim for a laptop with a 6gb of vram (166ti, 2060, 3060). Also consider gpu max wattage. Also, don't ignore the past year models, virtually the same, but much cheaper
@@Amogh-Dongre So overall after looking at all laptops, I'm left to choose between the legion 5 pro and the omen
@@Praneel132 I'd say the legion 5 pro is better because it has a mux switch
I'm not being biased i own an omen 15
What would be the best way to run 2 external monitors with this laptop. 1 in hdmi, 1 in usb-c or use a docking station
On 1:56 : Can you test the camera on normal light environment please? I think you're using studio environment which doesn't give us real world situation, which the norm would never have softbox light inside the bedrooms and would use 1-2 lights per room.
Every time Jarrod releases a new video I get more pissed by nvidia... Look at the amount of performance difference between 3070's... I hope AMD implements more advantage laptops soon, nvidia deserves a good old spanking
I was debating between this and the R4, Thank god I went for the R4.
I don't why R4 has never been mentioned by him. It is apparently the machine with the best value in the alienware product line and the performance is really good with the high tdp gpu.
@@zachzach8171 Ikr? In fact it looks like only a few youtubers actually reviewed the r4 and even less have mentioned it.
@@finished502 it really frustrates me that these reviewers keep ignoring the most competitive product. I got my r4 (3070) at around 1560 bucks including tax, and I have yet to find another device within the similar price range that has similar performance. r4 is cheaper than r5, thinner than r5 and more powerful than r5 in terms of gaming performance. You can even see r3 in the table of this video and you can't find r4, is it just me or is it actually weird?
@@zachzach8171 It’s pretty strange though in the comment section of this video Jarrod did say that he declined getting the r4 sent to him and he prioritized getting the r5 instead. Though it’s really strange with other youtubers. For example, Dave2D compared the r4 to the r5 yet he never made a review on it.
@@finished502 Mash IT is one of the few youtubers who reviewed r4. He also has a very good undervolting tutorial in case you don't know it. It helps to bring the temps down.
Before the Blade 14 was announced this was the laptop I was about to pull the trigger on. I think it's Dave2D who talked me out of it and said there were a lot of things that felt cheaper than past versions and they held back because of the m15x. Glad I waited it out and got the Blade 14 3070. Love your reviews man.
The razer 14 is 95 watt 😂
Got my m15 r4 (10870h + 3070) for 1560 USD (tax included). Pretty happy with my purchase and the performance of the 140W 3070 is superb. I was wondering how come m15/17 r4 never appears in your review. R4 is apparently the one with the best performance/cost ratio in the entire Alienware product line and it has never been mentioned in your review.
Nice deal that you got on the r4. Would i be still able to replicate this deal? And hows the portability aspect of the r4 including battery life?
@@ameet6384 I just checked, the price of this device went up a little bit somehow (by 50 bucks), but I guess it is still worth it.
In order to replicate the deal, you first need to register a new account on Dell's official website, you will have a chance to get a 10% off discount coupon for the new users. I got it 10 days after I registered, but i heard some people got it right away. It seems to be random.
Then you need to use the offer on your Amex credit card given you own one. There is a "spend 600 get 120 back" offer for any purchase on the dell's official website. This offer's deadline is 7/28 for me. You need to hurry up as even if you purchase it now, the invoice date may be much later and you will not have this discount if your invoice date is later than 7/28. And note not everyone gets this offer. A friend of mine doesn't have this offer on his Amex card.
If you manage to get both discounts, you can buy it at around 1600 bucks.
In terms of portability, it is very decent for a gaming laptop with that kind of performance. Note it is thinner than r5.
The battery life is okay, after some optimization, I can get around 6.5 hours of battery life for video streaming. If I use the default settings, the battery only lasts for around 2.5 hours for video streaming. This kind of battery life is expected on a gaming laptop like this.
@@zachzach8171 Too Bad, I don't have a Amex card. Also checked with one friend who has the card but no deal for him :(
@@ameet6384 Sorry about that. I guess you can have a look at Slickdeals, on which you can find a lot of good deals. You may find a very good deal later.
@Big Jim Congrats! That is a very nice deal you got there.I received it a month ago. The unit arrived two weeks earlier than the est. delivery date. So probably you can get it sooner than you think.
Thank you so much for your review i was this close buying it
Whew that laptop looks ugly. Surprisingly bad given that I thought Alienware was a premium gaming brand.
I am addicted to seeing where the Legion 5 Pro continues to land in all of the metrics.
I like the RGB ring on the back :(
it doesnt look ugly , it looks way better than legion 5 pro
@@SpewtGG I think it would look alright if it wasn't for the bland colours.
@@doge-of-venice personally i like the clean look with no flashy colours
I have this laptop with the 240hz QHD panel & AO, 5800H 512GB SSD. I added a second SSD (had to reach out to dell for the bracket) and now I upgraded the ram to 64GB of the dual rank stuff. It definitely gets hot in games and I use Ryzen controller to limit the temp to 90C on the CPU. The GPU one mine has reported using upto 168W on boost but it does seem to hit 135W regularly in games. I am not sure how they control the actual GPU wattage but it is all over the place.
I have the standard keyboard and it is "ok" but definitely not as good as the per-key RGB one I had on the M17 R4.
My FPS in games is actually quite good with 185FPS in OW Ultra (100% Res scale 1440p) and 130ish fps in COD CW High Mixed settings. I use the max fan profile for games.
I'm getting one soon similar to this, is the 16gb ram already installed in the laptop alright? And also does limiting the temperature make an impact on performance?
@@rjjz Limiting the temp does make an impact on performance, but it isn't as big especially in some games which don't use as much CPU. The GPU has tons of power available to it especially with the most recent bios.
The 16GB installed in the laptop is the slower high density memory (atleast in the one i purchased). I can tell you though to get the QHD screen, maybe buy one on ebay that is still in warranty and then extend the warranty if anything. The QHD screen is what makes this laptop worth it. Otherwise just look for something else.
@@Jimster481 I currently have a lenovo legion 5 with almost the same specs apart from the gpu and screen so I am assuming that I will be fine with 16gb ram
@@rjjz 16GB of ram is fine, im just saying that high density leaves some performance on the table.
You can get a 16GB kit that isn't high density and it will have better performance. Its called Dual rank vs Single Rank. Single rank has lower performance.
I just need to say your shirts are amazing, and stone's reach is one of my favorite melodic death metal albums ever. I love your videos but your shirts are the cherry on top. Held in Hollows has such an epic intro riff.
hi jarrods, love your review, yeah somehow bought the Alienware M15 R5 with the same specs as yours
latest bios 1.09 in July 2021 give access to MUX SWITCH BIOS
I found that immensely improved my gaming performance -- eg Forza Horizon on Ultra previously was 120 FPS improved to 150-165 FPS
What’s the panel you have? 165hz? 😮
If you haven’t already try switching out the ram when you can since the r5 uses the same ram as the 5 pro.
Such a good detailed review. The touch pad on the R5s are notorious for bad quality control.
Can't wait for your alienware X17 review !
Hey Jarrod,
Your reviews are amazing, and you make sure to include all the details.
I ordered the M15 R6 instead of the R5. Going by this review, I'm hoping the 240Hz QHD would act as the saving grace given advanced optimus and G-sync.
Are you getting the R6?
I'd really like to see your review on it
@@whatgaca
It does cost more, but the GPU wattage is same as R5 - max 125W
Need to see a ALIENWARE X17 Review. And Comparison between other Laptops
I wanna seen AMD in the X17 chassis I’m sure the gains would be interesting
@@LeslieTheSteez intel and amd mobile processors this generation are actually more or less the same performance except amd has focused more on battery power while intel yeeted battery power for performance. both have the same heat output so its pretty interesting.
Jarrod, can you please include the Asus G15 Advantage Edition scores for all the games you already tested? Thanks
Sorry not sure what you mean, results from that laptop are on the game comparison graphs?
Please review the Alienware x15 soon, thanks !
Hey @Jarrod'sTech. Even the variant with the 165Hz Screen has a MUX Switch, you need to download the latest BIOS. This will add the option to deactivate Optimus and as well an option to reduce the target temperature for the CPU. And the other issue in the 16GB Version is the High Density RAM. I updated to 32GB Kingston HyperX (HX432S20IBK2/32) The RAM change alone gave me 113fps in Tomb Raider with Optimus activated. Without Optimus I achieved 120fps on the internal Screen and 121fps on an external display. Before the changes I got pretty much the same results as you (99fps@internal and 110fps@external). I think that's not to bad in comparison to other 3070 laptops. All results in the balanced fan profile and the max CPU set to 90°C.
Have you managed to get your hands on the legion slim 7?
I’m actually disappointed in this review coming from you. So much changes available with software updates that greatly improve performance and only takes an update. That’s not including the change of ram as well considering this comes with the lower tier ram. That’s something you pointed out on other models but fail to mention for this laptop. I got a sense that you over all didn’t like this laptop for some reason. I don’t get it you just seem biased and disappointing compared to your other reviews.
@@whatgaca and then the excuses he makes in response to other comments questioning the bs review. I’m just disgusted really if you want Lenovo’s money just talk great about their products. Now we know why ppl love to say “ I was paid by such and such but I promise that does not go into what I truly think about the product “.
What are you talking about? I bought the M15 R5, it ran hot, loud, and GPU performance on par with Strix G15 (with RTX 3060) and worse 5800H performance to date! Returning it was the best decision.
All other laptops shipped these days have this single rank dense memory issue, and they still performance better than M15 R5.
If you're butt hurt about your poor purchase decision don't take it on others. Or are you a Dell employee?
"I don’t get it you just seem biased and disappointing compared to your other reviews" perhaps because I am disappointed? This laptop costs a lot of money and ultimately fails to deliver. 100c under load and performing worse than other laptops with same CPU/GPU, does that sound great?
As for the RAM, it uses different memory compared to the Legion 5 Pro and Strix G15 Advantage. Just because there aren't chips on one side doesn't mean it's the same memory.
As for "software updates that greatly improve performance" not sure what you're rereferring to. I've already done two dedicated videos covering the CUDA core update performance before and after on this laptop, so it can't be that. Some people are saying there is an update that lets you disable optimus, that did not exist while I had the laptop for review.
This video was finalized on 26th June 2021, I just didn't get around to posting it for a while as I try to stick to a 3 video per week schedule to avoid burn out, and to be completely honest, there was more interesting content to post first given as mentioned, I'd already done two videos covering m15 R5 performance.
@@whatgaca No, $700 is not worth it, yes it will vary by region greatly and I cannot cover them all unfortunately so stick to US and my own, I am sure prices have changed vastly since I made the video 3 weeks ago. Unfortunately I cannot do further retesting with either, as borrowed review units they all get sent onto the next reviewer.
I change my ram to xmp ram after seeing the ram change video you made. The laptop i changes the ram for was the msi raider ge76 with i7-10870h 3080 gpu, and now i am getting 141 fps in shadow and 140 fps in far cry 5 with the same settings :) run it couple of times and checked the settings to see if it was correct. Thx jarrod :)
it gets a little hotter I think, but it's worth it
@@maegnificant you can always change the cpu paste to something better or use a cooling pad :)
@@thefisherman4380 yes, I did that:) laptop chips get insanely hot very fast though. But I got my i9-10980hk to a multi core score of 10400 in a stable 30 Minute Cinebench run and a pc mark 10 score of over 9000, so I think I got my laptop tuned pretty well without overdoing it, effort-wise:)
Jarrod, when are you going to review the Legion 5 (not Pro) with RTX 3070? Thanks
Still waiting on the Tuf a15 review 😅
honestly, it's not that great
@@iihamed711 Why so?
@@Procrastinatingtiger Poor cooling, bad screen and cheap build quality, and probably more...
@@Procrastinatingtiger thermal performance is pretty bad especially for its price
When are you going to review X15 and X17?
Which Vbios did you flash? There was a subsequent Vbios to the initial one. It was released on 22 Jun 2021 and has the version number 94.04.42.40.16, A01. Also, which system bios were you using? I don't recall you mentioning it in your video.
**EDIT** I see you're using 1.0.8 which was released in May. There was a new bios released on July 2nd which improves system performance.
Unfortunately, I had to send the laptop back, so I no longer have it to confirm this.
@@JarrodsTech when did you write the review then? Seems like a long time ago, but you're only just getting around to posting it now?
Jerrod is the Intel M15 R6 a better choice? Are you able to do a comparison?
This configuration should have been in the x15 & x17 chassis
Show do a legion vs alien ware comparison series…even i am going to buy one of them this week
9:27
Was that an Easter Egg for an upcoming TUF A15 review? XD
genius he already reviewed it.
@@mememanlol no he hasn't. Look it up
He hasn’t
@@IcyB-xg6xs my bad, i was thinking of last years review
Dell has been making crap for years now they cheap out waaaaay too much
A bios update was released so you can disable optimus which results in more performance and if you replace the ram you will get a 20% performance boost. This laptop is actually really good just get it on a sale :)
@@SpewtGG nope
@@tanishqbhaiji103 Why
@@SpewtGG agreed only good value when on sale. Build quality is quite good and looks pretty good
@@pancakeninja445 yeah well it’s slightly over priced but when on sale it’s perfect so yeah
You should check the Dell g15 ryzen edition, it has literally the same specs than the M15 up to the rtx 3060 and even uses the same motherboard, the interesting thing is that they added a mux switch or i guess enabled it on the latest bios update all for a fraction of the cost I think it's a way better deal than the M15 specially with the mux switch.
its not better, the alienware now has a mux switch, jarrod reviewed this laptop on the 21st of june .
@@SpewtGG he hasn't reviewed it yet, and no it isn't better because they say literally the same laptop just that the Dell is cheaper because it doesn't have the Alienware branding and only goes up to a 3060 and r7, and even recently it was sold at 1100 us, u didn't know that Dell also added a mux switch to the m15 but hey now both have one
@@jaredhernandez333 lmao it is better xD the g15 is locked in so many areas resulting in a more steady and cool experience the m15 gets hot and processes so fast for gamers. Alienware also feature better colour gamat screens and thinner bezels. The design and cooling process is a lot more expensive and don’t even get me started on the differences of motherboards
@@SpewtGG watch a video on the g15 and you'll be surprised it has the same motherboard as the Alienware I didn't say literally for no reason, they also use the same screen for the 165hz model, may be the cooling solution is a little better in the m15 but I doubt it since they both use the same chasis shape it could be that the m15 has more heat pipes tho
i really wish you reviewed the M15 R4 instead of the R5 , cause honestly i'm in love with my 3070 140W R4. But still a great review nonetheless.
It seems that r4 is nonexistent for him. I never saw him mention that model. But apparently r4 has the best performance in terms of gaming and it is also the cheapest one in the m series.
You're right. I have struggled to get Alienware laptops sent to me. This is the first one I've received in a long time.
@@JarrodsTech yes but you said you dropped out the r4 and asked for r5 when it was offered earlier ?
IMO R4 is better than R5&R6.
@@evgasrx They offered it a couple weeks before the R5, which I also knew was on the way after the announcement, so that combined with the fact it was a 10th gen model when I already had months of work ahead of me gave me reason to decline it. I don't have time for everything but will always accept current gen models, but I had been turning down last gen for weeks already at that stage from all brands. Prior to the R5, I had only been offered stuff that had already been out for a year after all the Twitch streamers are done with them, as they get priority here to produce paid content.
So glad I came here 1st. I was just about to buy this but decided to see a review
I bought bought the m17 r3 with 2070 super back in October. No complaints. Shreds all AAA titles I've thrown at it.
It would be great if you could do a review on the new zen book pro duo ux582. I’m interested in it since they added a rtx 3070 and gave it the lifted second screen.
Damn. Might as well wait for the R6. I hear it's gonna be pretty good
Looks like it will use the exact same chassis as the r5 but who knows, maybe dell dislikes amd or they have a contract with intel to make amd products inferior.
I think it's the same just with Intel instead.
Thanks for the review, full, completed, interesting.
By the way, is there anybody who can explain, why I can't upgrade ram on this model??
When I insert tho new ram sticks, each 16 gb, the laptop starts blinking, two red and one blue??
Greatly appreciated any replies,
Thanks!
Will you ever review the cheaper alienware Brother, the dell g15 with r7 5800h + rtx 3060 and 16gb RAM dual Channel?
Depends if they send it to me, I've been trying to get it for months.
@@JarrodsTech thanks for a really eye opening review! I am pretty close to pulling the trigger on the cheaper G15 Ryzen myself. I wanted the M15 R5 to be great but as you noted there are too many small issues (that keyboard deck flex!) adding up to a pretty big disappointment for the price point. I have been running with the Dell 7567 (IPS + i7/1050Ti version) since new in 2017 and I feel that the G15 Ryzen with the 165Hz screen will be able to punch above its weight for the price just like the 7567 has done.
@@JarrodsTech i hope dell send you a model soon.
I just ordered the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 with 3060. Will I get the improved performance from using an external monitor like you suggested for the model that you have reviewed?
Love your videos
it would be cool if you could review the Alienware m15 r4 model 3070
I turned that one down a few weeks ago and prioritized the newer R5 instead.
@@JarrodsTech OMG
You actually replied 🥺
Thanks so much
Just forget about the r4
This is awesome 😊
@@JarrodsTech please review that, also why didn’t you compare with ram upgrade.
Hi Jarrod,
I was confident about getting the m15 r5, but I became very hesitant after watching your review given the issues you highlighted.
Would you recommend me getting the m15 r6 instead? Also, whad do you think about buying the m15 r4, which is the model of the last year?
would you recommend it after all the software changes they made and a price of $1500 fot the rtx 3070 ryzen 9 version?
Is there any chance u'll get the dell g15 5515 laptop, wanna see a review on that laptop.
Hi, I'm curious about one thing, how many PCIe lines are connected between CPU and GPU? x8 or x16? Can you help me with this information?
Would you say the M15 r4 i7, 10780 rtx 3070 (140w) be better?
I’m not Jarrod but yes. The R4 has better thermals, built quality, and a 140 watt 3070. Only real downfall is the battery life if you for the 300hz option. If you go for the 144hz then battery shouldn’t be too bad.
@@finished502 my usage will be almost always plugged in and play only games esports and AAA both. and no other work like coding etc.
@@afraza5946 Then the R4 will 100% be better in every way for gaming. Just be aware that if you end up buying the r4 your order may get delayed like mine did due to shortages.
@@finished502 144 hz model is actually superior and cheaper imho. It comes with advanced optimus and gsync, which both are very important. The former gives you much longer battery life, and the latter offers you much better 3A game experience, especially when your fps is lower than the refresh rate.
@@zachzach8171 Crap, Forgot the 300hz model doesn’t have g sync. Looks like the 144hz option is the way to go.
Great Review! When is the Zephyrus M16 review coming out?
8:16 that asus stix g15 advantage is insane being that you can get it for as low as $1,500
have you managed to to get any ryzen 5 5600h + rtx 3060 laptops to review? would be interesting to see as it would be a solid performer in the midrange laptops
Please do the Alienware m15 r6 review when you get one! ✌️
itll be the same just worse
I appreciate your honesty! Thanks for the review!
Cheers!
Me: reads title of video....
Also me:...Jarrod this is NOT a Ryzen laptop.... It's A DELL/ALIENWARE.
that's why it sucks, lol
I finally had the money to get an Alienware and I got the m15 ryzen r5. It was advertised with a 1440p screen but mine came with a 360 1080p. Also it crashed when I first started it. Now they expect me to wait 32 days for the replacement and they still won't honor my original order. I've had games crash when I plugged in my headset lmao
Will you review the R6 ?
I think you'd better off buying an Intel model of Alienware or even the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition. This is probably underperforming too bad for it to be justifiable, unless you get the Ryzen 7 model. Better of skipping this one entirely.
With a budget of 1200-1700$ what's a good laptop?
Jarrod, try to review the Dell G15 5510!
I’m curious about it’s thermal capabilities, hope someday you can get it =)
and 5515 please !
hey, will you be doing the ailenware x15??
Oh no it uses the crappy RAM sticks
4chip instead of the 8chip.
Try to change to ramsticks that have 8chips
(4 per side) instead it achually makes a big change in most games.
The amount of chips isn't really the issue, I didn't bother changing it as zentimings looked fine and it's different memory (micron) to the G15/L5P (samsung).
@@JarrodsTech ohh thanks did not know that .
@@JarrodsTech I know you were mentioned in Linus' video about the laptop memory but his conclusion was that chip density was the difference. It might be worth testing that swap.
I see one of these at Best Buy with a ryzen 9, rtx 3070, and a 360hz screen. Is it a good or decent buy if it's not 165hz but instead 360hz screen? I know only a little about gaming computers.
I got the m15r4 (10870H / 3070 140W / advanced optimus) my laptop compared to this one it’s just sad, I don’t know where the r5 went wrong and how it’s getting beat by laptops with lower specs.
Well compared to the r4 a lot of laptops will look bad in terms of gaming performance lol. Though the R5 probably has low performance due to the horrible ram that comes included with it.
Nice be'lakor t-shirt 🤘
My m15 r5 witg rtx 3060 gets avg 104 fps in rise of the tomb raider . How strange that your 3070 is lower that that
How is the computer? I have exact same model coming in august.
@@arpandhakal3263 pretty good otherthan it runs a little on the warmer side
I'm waiting for X17 review. I wonder if Jarrod would recommend it (performance to price ratio) or not. Really interested to get X17 if it's really worth it.
Does the stock 16gb ram also suffers the issue from lenovo legion 5 pro and strix g15?
Still have my Alienware 13 R3 model from I think 2017? It’s had its ups and downs which have made me consider looking elsewhere for my next laptop. The issues I’ve had with it whether it’s been with updates causing havoc to the system or annoying things like whenever I’d try to download games or run certain updates while on wifi, the internet connection in my house would drop to all other devices for some weird reason that the support assist COULD NOT explain or help me with. This would only happen whenever using this laptop to download games or run certain updates. The headaches of dealing with dell/Alienware support for when things eventually go wrong is in my opinion not worth the headache of going with this brand when considering the purchase of their laptops. On the other hand I own their Alienware aurora r2 desktop and have had no issues with that device which has ran beautifully. So take that into consideration. The prices are also extremely ridiculous, but you’re also getting a unique esthetic which I personally really enjoy. So it’s just some pros and cons to weight.
Do you guys recommend tihs for rendering/archviz? I got 1300$ and it looks like a solid deal
Hello Jarrod, when will you be able to revive 2021 Asus Tuf A15 RTX3070 240hz, I own one, and I'm pretty happy. Would like to see what you think about 2021 model.
Hey so off topic but I've been planning in buying a budget laptop so could you tell me whats better between the
Msi gf63 and aser nitro 5? Or do u have something better for this very similar price range?
real step back for the Alienware keyboard, I really liked the previous keyboards
you can still get the classic membrane
@@SpewtGG that's good news be side it's a great keyboard , Alienware take steps back for example their speakers were great in the past not anymore
@@GerryReid despite what most people say, they are not overpriced. They are brilliant pieces of hardware and will last a long time. People like to shit on those with alienwares because they can’t afford them to justify their trash asus 😂. Don’t ever listen to those fools Alienware products will always be good
@@SpewtGG I have owned the M15 R2 and the M17 R4, I returned the R2 because it was too hot and unfortunately I returned the R4 because the GPU kept crashing, the M17 R4 is absolutely my favorite laptop of all time great build no flex, amazing keyboard, great screen, I now have a GE76 which is fine but just not as classy as the alienware
Hey can you tell me what is the best place to buy laptops in Australia ? I searched quite a few but the price were unreasonably high. Any websites or place info would be helpful
Thank you
centrecom
@@SpewtGG thank you my man
Aftershock and Metabox are well priced in Australia.
@@JarrodsTech thank you will check out for sure
Right now I have a Dell G3 is this alienware an upgrade for gaming? And can this alienware play New world?
Will you be doing the updated aero 15 oled with intel 11 gen and 3080 ?
Damn... it looks the legion 5 3070 wins in every testing? I just placed an order, after some rebate it's 100 less than legion 5.. which one should I go with..?