MSI Crosshair 16 HX (E14W) vs Dell Alienware m18 R2

Please select specific configurations for the laptops to get a more accurate comparative review
Display 2560 x 1600
CPU
GPU
RAM
Storage

Review

Evaluation of MSI Crosshair 16 HX (E14W) and Dell Alienware m18 R2 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
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Value for money (Beta)

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Key Differences

What are the key differences between the notebooks
Advantages of the MSI Crosshair 16 HX (E14W)
  • Significantly easier to carry: weighs 1930 grams less (around 4.26 lbs)
  • Thinner bezels and 6% higher screen-to-body ratio
  • 50% sharper screen – 189 versus 126 pixels per inch (PPI)
  • Much smaller footprint: 25% more compact case (151.7 vs 203.5 square inches)
Advantages of the Dell Alienware m18 R2
  • Higher screen refresh rate: 480 versus 240 Hz
  • Higher number of cutting-edge USB Type-C ports: 3 versus 2
  • Features a bigger (~21%) battery – 97 against 80 watt-hours
  • Better webcam recording quality

Tests and Specifications

Comparison table of test results and technical specs

Case

Weight 2.3 kg (5.07 lbs) 4.23 kg (9.33 lbs)
Dimensions 363 x 269.7 x 21.95-25.45 mm
14.29 x 10.62 x 0.86-1 inches
410.3 x 319.9 x 24.1-25.1 mm
16.15 x 12.59 x 0.95-0.99 inches
Area 979 cm2 (151.8 inches2) 1313 cm2 (203.3 inches2)
Screen-to-body ratio ~75.8% ~71.6%
Side bezels 9.2 mm 11.3 mm
Colors Black Black
Material Plastic Aluminum
Transformer No No
Opening angle - 135°
Size comparison
Cooling solution
Cooling system Active Active
Vapor chamber No Optional
Liquid metal No Yes
Number of fans 2 4
Noise level (max. load) - 56.6 dB

Display

Size 16 inches 18 inches
Type IPS LCD IPS LCD
Refresh rate 240 Hz 480 Hz
PPI 189 ppi 126 ppi
Aspect ratio 16:10 16:10
Resolution 2560 x 1600 pixels 1920 x 1200 pixels
HDR support - No
Sync technology No G-Sync
Touchscreen No No
Coating Matte Matte
Ambient light sensor No No
Screen space comparison
Alienware m18 R2
18″ (16:10 ratio) = 145.6 in2
Crosshair 16 HX (E14W)
16″ (16:10 ratio) = 115.1 in2
~26% more screen space
Display tests
Contrast - 1000:1
Adobe RGB profile - 100%
DCI-P3 color gamut 100% -
Response time 3 ms 3 ms
Max. brightness

Battery

Capacity
Voltage - 11.4 V
Full charging time - 2:00 hr
Battery type Li-Po Li-Ion
Replaceable No No
Fast charging Yes Yes
Charging via USB (Power Delivery) Yes, 100 W Yes
Charging port position Left Bottom
Charge power 240 W 280 / 360 W
Weight of AC adapter - 1076 grams

CPU

CPU name
Base frequency 2.2 GHz 2.2 GHz
Turbo frequency 5.2 GHz 5.2 GHz
Cores 16 (8P + 8E) 16 (8P + 8E)
Threads 24 24
L3 Cache 30 MB 30 MB
Integrated GPU Intel UHD Graphics (16EU) Intel UHD Graphics (16EU)
Fabrication process 10 nm 10 nm

Benchmarks

Geekbench 6 (Single-Core)
Geekbench 6 (Multi-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Single-Core)
Cinebench 2024 (Multi-Core)

Graphics Card

GPU name
TGP 115 W 140 W
Nvidia Optimus - MUX
Type Dedicated Dedicated
Fabrication process 5 nm 5 nm
GPU base clock - 2295 MHz
GPU boost clock - 2370 MHz
FLOPS 14.9 TFLOPS 16 TFLOPS
Memory size 6 GB 8 GB
Memory type GDDR7 GDDR6
Memory bus 128 bit 128 bit
Memory speed ~24 Gbps ~16 Gbps
Shading units (cores) 2560 3072
Texture mapping units (TMUs) 80 96
Raster operations pipelines (ROPs) 32 48
GPU performance 14.9 TFLOPS 16 TFLOPS

GPU Benchmarks

Steel Nomad Lite Score
Blender GPU 2973 3566
Solar Bay 43845 53453
Expected FPS based on average performance across 9 popular games. Details

RAM

RAM size
Channels 2x8 GB 1x8 GB
Clock 5600 MHz 5600 MHz
Type DDR5 DDR5
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 2
Max. ram size 96 GB 64 GB

Storage

Storage size
Bus PCI-E Gen 5.0 (4x) PCI-E Gen 4.0 (4x)
Storage type SSD (M2) SSD (M2)
Channels 1x1024 GB 1x512 GB
Upgradable Yes Yes
Total slots 2 4
NVMe Yes Yes

Sound

Audio chip - Realtek ALC3254
Speakers 2.0 2.0
Power 2x2W 2x2W
Dolby Atmos No Yes
Loudness - ~82.5 dB
Microphones 2 2

Connectivity

Wi-Fi standard v6E v7
Bluetooth v5.3 v5.4
Fingerprint No No
Infrared sensor No Yes
Optical drive No No
Webcam Above the display Above the display
Webcam resolution 1280 x 720 1920 x 1080
Ports
USB-A 3x USB 3.2 3x USB 3.2
USB Type-C 2x USB 4.0 3x USB 4.0
Thunderbolt No Thunderbolt 4
HDMI 1x HDMI 2.1 1x HDMI 2.1
DisplayPort No No
VGA No No
Audio jack (3.5 mm) Yes Yes
Ethernet (RJ45) Yes Yes
SD card reader No Yes
Proprietary charging port Yes Yes

Input

Keyboard
Keyboard type Island Mechanical
Numpad Yes Yes
Backlight Yes Yes
Key travel 1.7 mm 1.8 mm
Touchpad
Size - 13.1 x 8.0 cm
Surface Plastic Glass
Windows Precision Yes Yes
Further details
Notes on Alienware m18 R2:
    - A 32GB memory option supports 6400 MHz via XMP, while others max out at 5600 MHz.
*Disclaimer! Ports, speakers, display, and other specifications can vary depending on the laptop's specific configuration or region.

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