Dell releases new Alienware 18 gaming laptops

Dell has introduced a new 18.4″ Alienware laptop. The American company calls the top model the most powerful notebook of all time. That top model costs EUR 4200 converted. The cheapest model of the Alienware 18 series costs EUR 2300 converted.

Dell has equipped the new Alienware laptop with Intel’s Core i7 quad-core processors from the Haswell series. The four possible versions are equipped with the 4710MQ, 4910MQ and 4940MX, which can achieve speeds of up to 3.5, 4.1 and 4.4GHz respectively. The overclocked CPU can also be upgraded if necessary. There is 16 to 32GB of DDR3L RAM on board, with a speed of 1600MHz. Also standard in the 18-series is a sli setup of video cards. Users can choose from two Nvidia GeForce GTX970Ms or two GTX980Ms with a total of 12 and 16GB of vram respectively.

Compared to last year’s 18″ models, not much has changed. The 2014 models had the same processors on board, but had a slightly lower clock speed; for example, then the 4910MQ ran at 3.9GHz. The laptops also received a maximum of 16GB of ram along and the Nvidia cards came from the 800 series.

To keep things cool, the laptops are equipped with an air intake at the bottom and three fans and exhausts at the back. The heatsinks are made of copper. It is striking that Dell has opted for a full-HD screen. This choice was probably made to make the 8-cell battery last longer. There is no more information about how long the battery should last. Due to all the equipment, the laptop weighs about 5.5 kilos. The dimensions are 45.6 by 32.8 by 5.7 centimeters.

Each 18″ model has a 7200rpm HDD and the top model also has an SSD with 512GB storage capacity. In total there is room for four 7mm-thick drives. Finally, there is support for bluetooth 4.0, ac-wifi, hdmi 1.3 and 1.4 output, and there are 4 SuperSpeed ​​USB 3.0 ports.The Alienware Command Center software allows users to control things like keyboard and touchpad lighting effects and performance.The laptops come with Windows 8.1, but can use Microsoft’s free upgrade to windows 10.

At the beginning of this year, Dell refreshed the Alienware laptop line, but then the 18 still fell by the wayside. It is not yet known about the availability and prices of these laptops in the Benelux.