Alienware’s new 17 and 15 laptops are thinner, quieter and…powered by a RX 470?

That’s right – it’s a new year so of course we’re looking at a new line of Alienware laptops to break the bank and question whether you need a gaming laptop at all. Although this time, something is different. While Nvidia have already proven their worth with their Pascal range in mobile devices, AMD has yet to really make an impact. But Alienware is giving them a chance. And that chance is a full RX 470 being stuffed into a space probably no one though possible.

Alongside support for Nvidia’s 10-series, Alienware has revealed that the RX 470 will be made available as an optional configuration for their new range of laptops, bringing AMD into a space where they haven’t really competed for some time. The RX 470 itself is also a really great chip, and isn’t the expected “mobile” version of its desktop counterpart. It’s the real deal, stuffed into an Alienware chassis that’s a little thinner (if you can believe it), and runs a little cooler.

Of course it’ll come with all the over-the-top extras you’d expect, including an RGB keyboard and Tobii Eye-Tracking (on the 17 at least), which will automatically power up your machine when you glance at it. Both will also feature support for Alienware’s own external graphics card housing, which lets you transform your laptop into a fully-fledged desktop for a but of a steep overhead.

You can check out the rest of the specifications for each laptop below:

Alienware 17

• Intel Core i7 CPU up to 6820HK Dynamically Overclocked up to 4.1 GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5,
  AMD Radeon RX 470 with 8GB GDDR5, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5, and available in November, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 with 8GB GDDR5
• 8GB DDR4 2400 MHz memory up to 32 GB
• Various storage capacities across SATA and PCIe, including a 3 TB option:  1TB PCIe (boot drive), 1 TB PCIe (storage) and 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (storage)
• Networking includes Killer e2400 Gigabit Ethernet, wireless and Bluetooth

Alienware 15

• Intel Core i5 CPU up to Core i7 6820HK Dynamically Overclocked up to 4.1 GHz
• NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 with 6GB GDDR5,
  optional AMD Radeon RX 470 with 8GB GDDR5 or NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 with 8GB GDDR5
• 8GB DDR4 2133 MHz memory up to 32 GB
• Various storage capacities across SATA and PCIe, including a 3 TB option:  1TB PCIe (boot drive), 1 TB PCIe (storage) and 1TB 7200RPM SATA 6Gb/s (storage) Networking includes Killer e2400 Gigabit Ethernet, wireless and Bluetooth

They’ll be out relatively soon, with varying prices for the build of your choice. As always, don’t expect them to be cheap.

Last Updated: September 2, 2016