Home > Laptop comparison > Alienware m17 R4 or Alienware m17 R3 – what's better?

Dell Alienware m17 R4 vs m17 R3

46 out of 100
Dell Alienware m17 R4
VS
35 out of 100
Dell Alienware m17 R3
Dell Alienware m17 R4
Dell Alienware m17 R3
Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display
Battery 86 Wh
CPU
GPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of Dell Alienware m17 R4 and m17 R3 important characteristics
Performance
System and application performance
Gaming
Performance in popular 3D games
Display
Viewing angle, color accuracy, brightness
Battery Life
Potential battery life in light and average use
Connectivity
Ports, webcam and other interfaces
Portability
Design, materials, durability and usability
DeviceFacts Score
Pick the usage scenario that best matches your needs
Primary usage:

Value for money (Beta)

Please input up-to-date prices for the selected laptop configurations to get an accurate value-for-money index.
Currency
VS
13.9
(Bad)
Value Index
9.0
(Bad)

Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m17 R4
  • Can run popular games at about 110-150% higher FPS
  • Performs significantly better (up to 2.3x) in 3DMark Steel Nomad Lite
  • Around 2.1x better multi-core CPU performance in the Cinebench 2024 test
  • Features a much bigger (~54%) battery – 86 against 56 watt-hours
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m17 R3
  • User-upgradable RAM (up to 32GB)

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs
Laptop:
Alienware m17 R4
vs
Alienware m17 R3

Case

Weight 2.5 kg (5.51 lbs) 2.5 kg (5.51 lbs)
Dimensions 399.8 x 294.6 x 16.9-22 mm
15.74 x 11.6 x 0.67-0.87 inches		 399.8 x 294.2 x 22 mm
15.74 x 11.58 x 0.87 inches
Area 1178 cm2 (182.6 inches2) 1176 cm2 (182.3 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~70% ~70.1%
Side bezels 8.4 mm 8.4 mm
Colors White, Gray Black, Gray
Material Plastic Aluminum
Transformer No No
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber Yes Yes
Liquid metal No -
Number of fans 2 2
Max. fan speed (RPM) - 5000 RPM
Noise level (max. load) 50 dB -

Display

Size 17.3 inches 17.3 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 144 Hz 144 Hz
PPI 127 ppi 127 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:9 16:9
Resolution 1920 x 1080 pixels 1920 x 1080 pixels
HDR support No No
Sync technology G-Sync (configurable) G-Sync (configurable)
Touchscreen No No
Coating Glossy (Antireflective) Glossy (Antireflective)
Ambient light sensor Yes Yes
Display tests
Contrast 600:1 600:1
sRGB color space 100% 100%
Response time 7 ms 9 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Voltage 11.4 V 11.4 V
Full charging time - 3:00 hr
Battery type Li-Ion Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) No Yes
Charging port position Bottom Bottom
Charge power 240 / 330 W 130 / 180 / 240 / 330 W
Weight of AC adapter 1300 grams -

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.2 GHz 2.5 GHz
Turbo frequency 5 GHz 4.5 GHz
Cores 8 4
Threads 16 8
L3 Cache 16 MB 8 MB
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics 630 Intel UHD Graphics 630
Fabrication process 14 nm 14 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)
Submit your benchmark results

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 130 W -
Nvidia Optimus No, direct -
Type Dedicated Dedicated
Fabrication process 8 nm 7 nm
GPU base clock 1387 MHz 1375 MHz
GPU boost clock 1703 MHz 1645 MHz
FLOPS 13.8 TFLOPS 4.6 TFLOPS
Memory size 6 GB 4 GB
Memory type GDDR6 GDDR6
Memory bus 192 bit 128 bit
Memory speed 14 Gbps ~14 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 3840 1408
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 120 88
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 48 32
GPU performance 13.8 TFLOPS 4.6 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 2688 371
Solar Bay 39636 -
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details
Add your GPU benchmark result

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 2x4 GB
Clock 2933 MHz 2667 MHz
Type DDR4 DDR4
Upgradable No Yes
Total slots - 2
Max. ram size - 32 GB

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x) PCI-E Gen 3.0 (4x)
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x256 GB 1x256 GB
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 3 3
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Audio chip Realtek ALC3281-CG Realtek ALC3281-CG
Speakers 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers) 2.2 (2 tweeters and 2 woofers)
Power 4x4W 4x4W
Dolby Atmos No No
Loudness ~87 dB -
Microphones 2 2

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6 v6
Bluetooth v5.1 v5.1
Fingerprint No No
Infrared sensor No No
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1280 x 720 1280 x 720
Ports
USB-A 3x USB 3.2 3x USB 3.1
USB Type-C 1x USB 3.2 1x USB 3.1
Thunderbolt Thunderbolt 3 Thunderbolt 3
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.0
DisplayPort 1x v1.4 1x v1.4
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes Yes
SD card reader Yes Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Island
Numpad Yes No
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel - 1.7 mm
Touchpad
Size 10.4 x 7.8 cm 10.5 x 8.0 cm
Surface Plastic Glass
Windows Precision Yes Yes
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

Cast your vote

So, which laptop would you choose?
40 (59.7%)
27 (40.3%)
Total votes: 67

Comments

Write your opinion about the comparison of Dell Alienware m17 R3 and m17 R4 or ask any questions
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Avatar
Anthony Rossi August 4, 2021 at 03:48 PM
I have a 2017 Alienware m17 R4, for which I've increased the RAM from 16 to 32. I have a second hard drive, I use for my data and my touchpad has left and right buttons. Can I expand the RAM in the Alienware m17 R4? Does the new Alienware m17 R4 have the ability for a second hard drive for data? If so, is it an internal HD or is it a stick? Does the new Alienware m17 R4 have left and right buttons and if not, does the pad stop while typing?
+12 Reply
Avatar
Marion Adams June 2, 2021 at 08:09 AM
Colin, the Alienware M17 R4 with matching wireless mouse cost me $3240 USD with max everything. So, all you'd have to do is do a currency difference plus shipping, and you can come up with the total.
0 Reply
Avatar
Colin William Houghton April 17, 2021 at 06:21 AM
if I bought an m17 R4 with an i9 chip and all the most powerful features what would the cost be delivered to New Zealand?
0 Reply
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root April 17, 2021 at 08:16 AM
Hi! We only compare and review laptops :(
0 Reply
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