The Announcement of Dell’s Alienware X-series line in 2021, which was designed to address the need for thin and powerful gaming laptops, caused a stir in the gaming industry. At CES 2023, Alienware unveiled two new additions to the x range: the Alienware x16 and the Alienware x14 R2, which are designed to take the place of the previous X14. Dell bills the Alienware x16 as the “world’s most premium gaming laptop,”
Both of these devices come equipped with the industry’s most powerful processors and GPUs, including the brand-new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40-series GPU, which made its debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). The Alienware x16 weighs 6 pounds and has more powerful configuration choices than its lighter (4.6 pounds) sibling, the Alienware x14. Both have a design that is comparable to one another.
The chassis of the X16 is made of Lunar Silver Legend 3.0, and it measures approximately 18.57 millimeters in thickness. The Alienware x16 offers users the option between three different 16-inch displays: a QHD+ display with a resolution of 2560 * 1600 @ 165 Hz, a QHD+ display with 240 Hz, or an FHD+ display with 480 Hz and 1920 × 1200. Dolby Vision High Dynamic Range (HDR) is supported by all three of the panels, which also each have a response time of 3 milliseconds. The display also houses an IR FHD webcam for Windows Hello-based logins.
Dell provides a selection of Intel Raptor Lake-H CPU options with the Alienware x16, some of which include the Core i7-13620H, Core i7-13700H, and Core i9-13900HK. Integrated into them are the most recent Nvidia Ada RTX 40 Laptop GPUs, including the 140 W RTX 4050 6 GB, the 140 W RTX 4060 8 GB, the 140 W RTX 4070 8 GB, the 175 W RTX 4080 12 GB, and the 175 W RTX 4090 16 GB.
Gallium-silicone Element 31 serves as the foundation for the thermal interface materials that are used for the CPU and GPU in all Alienware x16 models. According to Dell, vapor chamber cooling is implemented in configurations that are based on the RTX 4080 or the RTX 4090 graphics card. A consistent supply of power is provided by a 12-phase voltage regulator module (VRM), which enables the GPU to continue performing at its peak level even during long sessions of gameplay.
For the Core i9-13900HK model of the Alienware x16, customers have the option to select RAM options of up to 32 GB of LPDDR5-6000, and the Alienware x16 can support up to 4 TB of PCIe storage. Additionally, the device can be kitted with either a CherryMX ultra-low-profile mechanical keyboard or an Alien X Series keyboard, both of which have per-key AlienFX RGB lighting. AlienFX effects may also be applied to the touchpad, which Dell claims is 15% larger than the one found in the Alienware x17 R2 system. These effects can be found in certain configurations of the system.
The networking requirements can be handled by a WLAN card with Bluetooth 5.3 compatibility, such as the Intel Killer Wi-Fi 6E AX1675 or AX1690. Dolby Atmos certification is available for each and every model of the Alienware x16 series.
Beginning in the first quarter of 2023, the Alienware x16 will be available for a starting price of $3,099. At a later time, a base model that has a starting price of $2,149.99 will be made available to customers. In the second quarter of 2023, Alienware will release a new model that features AMD-powered processing options.