The Alienware Area-51 m15x is a 15.4-inch high performance notebook targeted specifically at gamers. It is in the desktop replacement category and weighs seven pounds. Our review unit is configured as follows:
- 15.4" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p)
- Alienware AlienFX System Lighting
- 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX
- Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 800MHz FSB)
- 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 2048MB
- Intel Turbo Memory (1GB)
- Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit
- 200GB 7200RPM (16MB Cache)
- 320GB 5400RPM (8MB Cache) Smart Bay
- 2x Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Burner (BD-R, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
- Internal Intel Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
- Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
- AlienFX Illuminated Keyboard
As of writing, the m15x starts at $1,799; a $1,499 configuration is in the works. Our test unit as configured is around $4,500. The most expensive options on it are the Extreme processor ($900), 8800M-GTX ($500), Blu-ray burner ($400), 1200p display ($300), and 320GB Smart Bay ($300). Expect to spend close to $3,000 for a balanced configuration.
Design
Like the M17x, the front of the M15x has the angular looks of the redesigned Chevy Camaro. Our system had a Nebula Red finish, but it’s also available in Lunar Shadow (silver) and Cosmic Black. The red coloring only extends as far as the outer lid, sides, and chassis, so the inside and front of the system is black. The magnesium-alloy chassis is a departure from that of its predecessor, the Area-51 M15x, which experienced an issue with the plastic frame cracking due to overheating issues. Still, it adds to the size; this 14.9 x 12.2 x 1.9-inch heavyweight checks in at 9.0 pounds—and that’s without the AC adapter.
There aren’t any visible screws anywhere but on the customized aluminum name plate, which resides on the underbelly of the beast. Alienware managed to cram customizable color lights in several places, including the Alienware logo below the 15-inch (1920 x 1080-pixel resolution) display, along the touchpad, under the keyboard, on the Alienware head-shaped power button, and even on the back of the lid. The end result is that the M15x makes a very strong impression even before you fire up a single game.
Performance
When it came to our traditional benchmarks, the Alienware M15x performed about as we expected. Which is to say, it kicked ass. On PCMark Vantage, which measures overall system performance, the M15x scored 6,543, surpassing every other production notebook we’ve tested. It beat out the M17x (which uses a 2.53-GHz Intel Core 2 Duo QX9300 CPU and 8GB of RAM) by almost 1,300 points, and theToshiba Qosmio X505 by about 1100 points (which has an Intel Core i7 720QM, 6GB RAM, and a 64GB SSD). Needless to say, it left the desktop replacement average (3,885) in the dust.
Graphics Performance
Alienware didn’t put the most powerful graphics card it could have in the M15x, which showed in its 3DMark06 score of 11,662. While the Nvidia GeForce GTX 260M GPU and 1GB of video memory is certainly strong (it almost doubled the category average), it doesn’t compare to the dual GTX 280M GPUs in the M17x, which notched 13,463. However, the M15x handily beats out the GTS 250M graphics in the Qosmio X505. In 3DMark Vantage, the M17x pulled even further away, scoring 11,904 to the M15x’s 5,719. Even the ASUS W90 scored a better 8,399 in this test.
Gaming Performance
Of course, the M15x is designed to play games, and play them well. In Far Cry 2, we averaged 113 frames per second with the resolution set to 1024 x 768, and graphics set to optimal. This almost doubles the category average, and beat out everything else—the M17x and ASUS G51J came closest, both notching 99 fps. Likewise, when we cranked the resolution up to native (1920 x 1080 in the case of the M15x) and set the graphics to Very High, the notebook was still able to register a very playable 41 fps. While it couldn’t touch the M17x (69 fps), the latter system utilized dual GTX 280M graphics cards.
When it came to other games, the M15x was excellent, too. In Call of Duty: World at War, we averaged 42 fps with the resolution set to 1920 x 1080; running through Pacific island jungles, action was smooth and crisp. We also had equal success running Left 4 Dead, where we had an average frame rate of 56 fps in full HD. In Batman: Arkham Aslylum, the frame rate dropped to 37 fps, but was still very playable. Batman’s cape flowed smoothly through the air as we spin-kicked perps inside the insane asylum.
Video Transcoding
When we transcoded a 5-minute-and-5-second MPEG-4 file to AVI using HandBrake, the M15x took 2:40; that’s less than half the category average (6:02), and about 20 seconds faster than both the Toshiba Qosmio X505 and ASUS G51J. We then converted the same file using vReveal, a CUDA-enabled application. In this, the Qosmio X505 performed the best, finishing in 1:29, almost a minute faster than the M15x.
Lastly, we used Oxelon Media Converter, an application that’s capable of multithreading and can effectively use all four cores the M15x has to offer. In this test, the M15x finished in 54 seconds; that’s 4 seconds faster than the Qosmio X505, and 7 seconds faster than the ASUS G51J.
Summary:
The Alienware M15x may very well pack more computing power into a relatively small package than any laptop on the market. Serious gamers and others for whom performance is the only valid criterion will be find this unit most appealing. For most people, the price tag is likely to be an obstacle. Though it’s pretty competitively priced in its base configuration, we don’t think that most consumers who are drawn to the likes of Alienware are likely to be satisfied with this or any other basic unit.
Niciun comentariu:
Trimiteți un comentariu