Alienware is releasing its first laptop with an AMD CPU since 2007. Its parent company, Dell, today announced the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5, alongside a lower-end Dell G15 Ryzen Edition and a Dell G15 refresh with Intel chips.
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 will use AMD's Ryzen 5000 H-series chips paired with Nvidia GeForce RTX 30-series GPUs. Like the Asus ROG Zephyrus Duo 15 SE, it will go up to a Ryzen 9 5900HX, which might give it enough power for consideration on our list of the best gaming laptops (we'll have to review it first, of course).
The last Alienware laptop to pair with an AMD CPU and an Nvidia GPU was the Aurora mALX, last seen in 2007. That line went up to 19 inches and featured an AMD Turion 64 ML-44 and two Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX cards in SLI.
The new m15 Ryzen Edition R5 will also be the first 15-inch Alienware laptop going to DDR4 memory at 3,200 MHz, and that memory will be user-replaceable.
Specs
| Header Cell - Column 0 | Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 | Dell G15 Ryzen Edition | Dell G15 |
|---|---|---|---|
| CPU | Up to AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX | Up to AMD Ryzen 7 5800H | Up to Intel Core i7-10870H |
| GPU | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3070 | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 | Up to Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 |
| RAM | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200MHz, user-replaceable | Up to 32GB DDR4-3200 | Up to 16GB DDR4-2933 |
| Storage | Up to 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) | Up to 2TB (PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD) | Up to 2TB (PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD) |
| Display | 15.6-inches: FHD at 165 Hz, QHD at 260 Hz or FHD at 360 Hz | 15.6 inches: FHD at 120 Hz or 165 Hz | 15.6 inches: FHD at 120 Hz or 165 Hz |
| Release Date | April 20 (United States), April 7 (China), May 4 (Global) | May 4 (Global), April 30 (China) | April 13 (Global), March 5 (China) |
| Starting Price | $1,793.98 | $899.99 | $899.99 |
The m15 Ryzen Edition will come only in the black "dark side of the moon paint job," as Dell put it, and feature a new two-toned finish, marking the first real change to Alienware's "Legend" design language. Inside, the laptop uses what Alienware refers to as "Silky-Smooth High-Endurance" paint, which it claims reduces stains and feels like a more premium product.
Alienware’s AMD machine will also benefit from the option of the Cherry MX keyboard it introduced recently on the m15 R4. Additionally, the m15 Ryzen Editionfeatures Alienware's proprietary cooling, dubbed "Cryo-Tech."
There are three display options on the new Alienware: A 1080p (1920 x 1080), 360 Hz display for eSports aficionados, a 1440p (2560 x 1440) 240 Hz panel and a 1080p screen at 165 Hz.
The Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 will start at $1,793.98 and go on sale first in China on April 7, in the U.S. on April 20 and with a global release on May 4.
New Dell G15 Gaming Laptops
The two new Dell G15 models use the redesigned chassis that the company introduced in China in March, with more aggressive angles and some new colors. The Dell G15 Ryzen Edition model will go up to an AMD Ryzen 7 5800H CPU and an Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060, while the Intel version will go up to a 10th Gen Intel Core i7-10870H (the Ryzen version uses the faster RAM, while the Intel version does not).
Both G15s will offer 15.6-inch displays with 1920 x 1080 resolution at either 120 Hz or 165 Hz.
The two Dell G15 laptops will start at $899.99, with the Intel version launching globally on April 13 and the AMD option hitting on May 4.
Update, April 14, 2:48 p.m.: Dell has updated the pricing on the Alienware m15 Ryzen Edition R5 to $1,793.98. We have updated the pricing in this article accordingly.
