Review: Alienware M16 R1 AMD

Today we’re reviewing Dell’s Alienware M16 R1 AMD laptop. This is the first mid-range gaming laptop we’ve tested. It features the same design as the Alienware M18 R1, but in a 16″ format.

The Dell Alienware M16 R1 is available for €2,889. 50 in the R9-7845HX, RTX 4070 and 32 GB RAM version we’re testing here. The price has been lowered to €2,589.50 during this year’s sales.

Thanks to Dell for providing us with this copy.

[nextpage title=”The Dell Alienware M16 R1″]

The Alienware M16 R1 is a 16-inch laptop with a 2560x1600p IPS panel and a 240 Hz refresh rate. The processor is an AMD Zen4 Ryzen9-7845HX and an Nvidia RTX 4070 GPU, accompanied by 32 GB DDR5-4800 RAM, a 1 TB NVMe SSD and powered by an 86 Wh battery.

We start by unpacking the device, which comes in a suitcase-style box. Next to it we have the 330W charger.

The charger is a 330W power supply unit using special connectors to be plugged into the back of the laptop.

Presentation

To begin with, we have the weight with 3.3 Kg on the scale, it holds perfectly in place and the screen can be opened with a single finger even if a little stiff. The overall design is mainly aluminum, with a plastic screen. All in all, this Alienware M16 R1 exudes quality and offers the same high-end performance as the M18 R1. When I unpacked it and put it into operation for the first time, it was the first laptop under test to make me think “I want the same thing”.

We begin our tour with the keyboard, which is quite pleasant to use. We regret, however, that the choice of mechanical keyboard is not available in AZERTY. With the rigidity of the laptop, we have an excellent, quiet keyboard. There’s no numeric keypad here, which isn’t a bad thing, as it would have been to the detriment of its overall ergonomics.

Moving on to the trackpad, it’s extremely smooth and really pleasant to use. It’s large enough to use the laptop without a mouse. There’s no fingerprint reader here. The PC will be secured by password or via the camera.

Let’s move on to the audio section. Here, we have a large audio section on top of the keyboard and two woofers at the rear. The sound is very good, and this laptop is not very noisy when gaming, which means it can be used without headphones.

Then there are the connectors, a very complete solution. We have nothing on the right-hand side of the laptop. On the left we have 1 USB type-A 3.2 gen 1 port, a headphone jack and an RJ45 Ethernet port. Finally, on the rear we have 2 USB type-C 3.2 gen 2 ports, 1 SD card reader, an HDMI port, a mini-DiplayPort and, last but not least, a USB type-A 3.2 gen 1 port and a charger socket. So there’s plenty of connectivity here, even if you’ll need a dock for USB type-A keyboard, mouse and headphones.

As for the camera, it’s an FHD (30 fps @ 1080p) with infrared, and is relatively acceptable for troubleshooting or videoconferencing.

[nextpage title=”Configuration overview”]

The configuration of this Dell Alienware M16 R1 is based on an AMD Zen4 platform. The CPU used (R9-7845HXHX) has the same configuration as the R9-7900X found on desktop PCs.

The various components :

We start with the CPU, motherboard and RAM, here on CPU we can see that the M16 R1 is equipped with an R9-7845HX. For RAM, the sticks are 16 Gb for 32 Gb of RAM in total, using Sk Hynix M-die modules in single rank at 4800 Mt/s CL40. It will be possible to push RAM to 5200 Mt/s by opting for a replacement kit, as we’ll see at the end of the test. Expect to pay €125.90 for 32 Gb of 5600 Mt/s CL40 RAM and €232.90 for 64 Gb of 5600 Mt/s CL40 RAM (running at 5200CL38 here).

Let’s move on to the graphics card. This is an interesting solution on paper for a notebook PC. Indeed, the RTX 4070 mobile features specifications halfway between the RTX 4060 Ti and the RTX 4070. In terms of performance, we’re on a par with the RTX 3060 Ti to the RTX 4060 Ti.

For storage, we have a Western Digital SN810 PCIe 4.0 x4. The performance of these WD SSDs is as good as ever, as these benchmarks show.

As for the screen, we’re on a 2K IPS panel (2560x1440p) capable of reaching 350 nits.

Disassembly, repair and upgrade:

Disassembly is achieved by removing the 8 screws on the back of the device, then using plastic tools as in the ifixit kits. For any modification or manipulation, you’ll need to disconnect the battery, especially when changing the DDR5, which dies quite easily if still supplied with 5V.

A little extra when disassembling, two screws that unclip the rear panel when unscrewed, really appreciated. Disassembly takes just a few minutes.

From a modification point of view, we have easy access to the 2 so-dimm DDR5 slots, as well as to the 3 M.2 PCIe 4.0 x4 slots in miniature 2230 and 2280 formats. The Wi-Fi card is also easily accessible. It should be noted, however, that the cooling system is located on the back of the motherboard, and disassembling it could prove risky. It’s also worth noting that the placement of the various components is the same as in the Alienware M18 R1.

[nextpage title=”Test protocol”]

The test protocol has been revised to offer something more complete. We now have software for autonomy measurements, as well as a thermal camera for surface heating measurements.

New e-sport video games have been added to the test as well as a few titles benefiting from Nvidia DLSS and/or Ray tracing.

The protocol :

1. Screen measurements
2. Autonomy and heating
3. Synthetic CPU test
   Cinebench R20
   Cinebench R23
   Geekbench 3
   Geekbench 5
   3DMark CPU Profile
   Aida 64
4. Synthetic GPU performance
   3DMark Timespy
   3DMark Timespy extreme
   3DMark Firestrike
   3DMark Firestrike Extreme
   3DMark Firestrike Ultra
   3DMark Speedway
5. Productivity performance
   PCMark 10 Extented
   PCMark 10 Applications test
   Blender Benchmark
   PugetBench Davinci Resolve
6. Gaming performance Resterisation (1080p ultra / 1440p ultra)
   Shadow of the tomb raider
   Anno 1800
   Cyberpunk 2077
   COD MW2
   War thunder
7. Gaming performance Esport
   Counter strike : Global offensive
   Raimbow 6 siege
8. Gaming performance RTX & DLSS/FSR (1080p/1440p ultra)
   Shadow of the tomb raider
   Cyberpunk 2077
   War Thunder
   COD MW2
9. RAM changes

Tests were performed with NVIDIA driver version 535.98.

[nextpage title=”Screen measurement with probe”]

Screen measurements

We began our test with the panel, and in order to find out the colorimetric quality of this screen out of the box, we took screen measurements.

For this test, we didn’t use the 10-bit mode for this panel, but we did run the tests with the graphics card in discrete mode. Measurements are better in this mode, and it’s possible to get a better rendering after calibration.

This was tested on DisplayCal following 51 color patches with the sRGB profile as the target.

As can be seen, the calibration is rather disappointing from the outset, with 6800K for the 6500K expected, which is within the specs. The delta E is over 2.82 ‘average deviation and 6.93
u maximum.

In terms of brightness, the screen can climb to 344 cd/m², with a contrast ratio of around 1160:1.

Gamut is :

• 99.8 u sRGB
• 87.9 u Adobe RGB
• 98.6 u DCI P3

Impossible here to make an acceptable calibration, as each time the result was too close to the original.

As for screen reflectance, we have a matte panel, a good choice for use in bright environments, even if it does reflect light.

[nextpage title=”Autonomy and heating”]

Autonomy

Battery life was measured using PCMark10’s built-in battery benchmark. The modes tested were video, productivity and gaming. Power management remained in normal mode and the GPU in hybrid mode. Screen brightness was set to 200Cd/m² without HDR, and sound was output via headphones plugged into the M16 R1’s jack.

As we can see, we’re not dealing with a champion of autonomy, in fact it’s rather disappointing on this point, once again we have a Dell Alienware at the bottom of the ranking. There may well be a problem here.

Heating

To test the machine’s heating, we carried out three separate tests: firstly, IDLE heating, then heating under CPU load on Cinebench R23 for 10 minutes.

The cooling system

Exterior

On the outside, there’s an opening on each side of the laptop, right and left, and two large openings at the rear to expel hot air. Underneath, we have a large grille to draw in cool air via the fans we can see through it.

Inside

Inside are the fans, with the CPU fan on the left and the GPU fan on the right. These blow air through radiators connected to the chips by heat pipes or a steam chamber. Hard to tell without seeing them.

CPU heating alone

In IDLE

After 8 min of Cinebench R23

We start with the heat-up in IDLE and on Cinebench R23 after 10 min of stress. The CPU rose to 91°C in the first few minutes before stabilizing at around 96°C. Power consumption and frequency remained at 107 W and 4500 MHz during this stress test. On the surface, the maximum temperature on the keyboard side was 37°C.

[nextpage title=”Synthetic CPU performance”]

Synthetic CPU performance

Let’s take a look at what this machine has to offer, starting with CPU and memory performance on a few synthetic benchmarks. The R9-7945HX on this machine will be compared with the results obtained by the i9-13900HX and i9-13950HX.

Cinebench R20

We start with Cinebench R20, where the 7845HX is slightly behind the 13700K and 13950HX. But we’re still very close to these CPUs.

Cinebench R23

Continuing with Cinebench R23, here the 7845HX still lags behind the i9s, but still manages to outperform the i5 13600K. Once again, performance is very good, on a par with a Ryzen 9 7900.

Geekbench 3

On Geekbench 3, the 7845HX remains on a par with the Ryzen 9 7900, but here it’s mainly the RAM that could boost this score.

Geekbench 5

On Geekbench 5, the 7845HX falls behind the i5 13600K for the first time.

3DMark CPU Profile

On 3DMark CPU profile, the 7845HX once again trails the i9s.

Aida 64

For AIDA64, we mainly look at RAM, and here performance is in line with the memory kit used. Latency is close to 90 ns and data rates reach 60 Gb/s. Quite low speeds, even if we know that AMD processors are not the best for this benchmark.

[nextpage title=”Synthetic GPU performance”]

Synthetic GPU performance

Now that we know the performance of the CPU part, we can move on to the GPU on a few synthetic benchmarks. The RTX 4070 coupled with the R9-7845HX and 2x16Gb of DDR5 at 4800CL40 will be compared mainly with the scores obtained with the RTX 4090 and RTX 4050.

3DMark Timespy

Let’s start with 3DMark Time Spy, here the RTX 4070 Mobile of this M16 R1 is about half as powerful as the RTX 4090 mobile. As the core configuration is half as large, this is to be expected.

3DMark Timespy extreme

As with Time Spy, the same applies. Here, the difference with the RTX 4050 is almost 41%. A not inconsiderable performance gain for playing the latest games at ultra speed.

3DMark Firestrike

On 3DMark Firestrike, this RTX 4070 mobile performs very well, as does the CPU, which is almost on a par with the i9 13900HX and 13950HX.

3DM Firestrike Extreme

On 3DMark Firestrike Extreme, performance is once again very good for a laptop.

3DM Firestrike Ultra

On Firestrike Ultra, the RTX 4070 once again lags behind, with half the power of the mobile RTX 4090.

3DM Speedway

Last but not least, 3DMark Speedway is a graphics-only benchmark. Here, the differences in raw performance with Ray Tracing are clearly visible. The RTX 4070 performs 75% better than the RTX 4050, and still half as well as the RTX 4090 mobile.

[nextpage title=”Productivity performance”]

Productivity performance

In this section, we focus on productivity performance. That is, the machine’s performance on software such as Microsoft Office, Blender or DaVinci Resolve.

PCMark 10 Extented

On PCMark 10, the Alienware M16 R1 beats the M18 R1 and GT 77 HX, even though they are more powerful on paper. The reason for this is both the high-performance CPU in certain benchmarks . But it’s also due to the SN810 SSD, known to the general public as the SN850, the best Nand PCIe 4.0 SSD for this benchmark.

PCMark 10: application

The benchmark presented here uses the Microsoft Office suite to give us our machine’s performance on Word, Excel and Powerpoint. Here, the M16 R1 once again comes out on top.

Blender

On Blender, the M16 R1 is once again very surprising, both on the CPU and GPU fronts. With a 7845HX nipping at the heels of the i9s and a high-performance RTX 4070.

PugetBench: Davinci Resolve

On Davinci Resolve, the M16 R1 is once again very close to the two behemoths equipped with mobile RTX 4090s. This time, it’s in video editing that we have a gap of just 37%.

The Dell Alienware M16 R1 is therefore perfectly at home in office applications or content creation. It could easily be transformed into a high-performance workstation.

[nextpage title=”Gaming performance”]

Gaming performance Rasterization

Having finished with the synthetic benchmarks, let’s move on to the gaming tests. Initially, we’ll be testing AAA titles in native resolutions and without DLSS or other upscaling.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Results of the Shadow of the Tomb Raider integrated benchmark. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

The Alienware M16 R1 manages to do better with its RTX 4070 in 1440P than the RTX 4050 in 1080p. Playing in both conditions is therefore possible.

Anno 1800

Anno 1800 integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

We now move on to Anno 1800, still in ultra quality, and once again we have very satisfactory performance for this laptop . Here we’re very close to RTX 4090 mobile-equipped laptops.

Cyberpunk 2077

Results of the Cyberpunk 2077 integrated benchmark. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

Also on Cyberpunk 2077, performance is very good, almost on a par with RTX 4060 desktop.

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

Once again, COD MW2 delivers excellent performance. However, you’ll have to opt for 1080p or lower the quality for maximum fps.

War Thunder

Results of the War Thunder integrated benchmark (modern conflict). In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

For War Thunder, no worries about playing this game in 1440p on this 240Hz screen. It will even be possible to play on a 360Hz screen in 1080p.

[nextpage title=”Esport gaming performance”]

Esport gaming performance

We now turn to some e-sport titles with built-in benchmarks. Here, it’s mainly CPU performance that’s being tested. The graphics card isn’t called upon much at low resolutions. For a machine of this caliber, we can expect at least 360 fps in 1080p without too much trouble.

CSGO

CS:GO integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX9.

As expected, performance is very good. Whether on this 1600p 240 Hz screen or on the 1080p 360Hz version, the game will run at the right frequency.

Raimbow 6 siege

R6S integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

Like CS:GO, performance is very good, with over 240 fps in 1080p. Enough to run the game in this resolution at 240Hz without any problem.

[nextpage title=”RTX & DLSS/FSR gaming performance “]

Gaming performance RTX & DLSS/FSR

The Dell ALienware M18 R1 is equipped with an RTX4090 featuring the latest generation of DLSS (Deep Learning Super Sampling), DLSS 3.

DLSS 3 will therefore be tested on Cyberpunk 2077 in comparison with DLSS 2. For other titles, only the DLSS version without image generation will be compared with the native resolution with Ray Tracing enabled.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider

Shadow of the Tomb Raider integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality with Ray tracing active, in 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

As you can see on this title with Ray Tracing active, the RTX 4070 of this M16 R1 remains at over 100 fps in 1080p.

Shadow of the Tomb Raider integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality with Ray tracing active, in 1080p and 1440p native and DLSS Performance under DX12.

With DLSS enabled, we get performance close to that of games in native resolution without Ray Tracing.

Cyberpunk 2077

Cyberpunk 2077 integrated benchmark results . In ultra quality with Ray Tracing active (Psycho), in 1080p, 1440p under DX12.

On Cyberpunk 2077, Ray Tracing in psycho mode divides performance almost by 3. In this case, you’ll need to activate DLSS.

Cyberpunk 2077 integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality with Ray Tracing active (Psycho), in 1080p and 1440p native and 2160p DLSS 2 or 3 performance under DX12.

With DLSS 2 active on Cyberpunk 2077, we manage to reach almost 60 FPS at 1440p and Active Ray Tracing. With DLSS 3 activated, we pass the 70 FPS mark. Under these conditions, the game is perfectly playable.

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II

Call Of Duty Modern Warfare II integrated benchmark results. In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p with and without DLSS performance under DX12.

On COD MW2, activating DLSS enables you to break the 100 fps barrier in 1440p and 150 fps in 1080p. By adjusting certain settings, it will be possible to play at 240 Hz.

War thunder

Results of the War thunder integrated benchmark (modern conflict). In ultra quality, 1080p, 1440p with and without DLSS performance under DX12.

On War Thunder, native performance was excellent. Here, the gain enables us to pass the 300 fps mark in 1440p and 400 fps in 1080p.

[nextpage title=”RAM change”]

Windows optimization and RAM change

In this section, we’ll be talking about hardware upgrades, and RAM in particular. In the case of this Alienware M16 R1, we have the option of choosing the 2×8 Gb RAM version for €150 less than the 2×16 Gb version. Why would we do this? Quite simply, to enable us to upgrade to 2x 32 Gb of 5600 Cl40 for €225. 90, increasing the bill by €75. Or 2×16 Gb for €113. 90 for a final price cut of €40. All this while benefiting from faster memory and tighter timings.

Let’s take a look at our Kingston Fury Impact 5600 Mt/s CL40 2×32 Gb kit.

On CPU-Z we can see that the kit runs at the 5200 Mt/s limit for a tCL38. This grants a throughput gain of almost 10 Gb/s and a latency drop of 10ns on AIDA64, as well as a performance gain on most of our benchmarks.

Synthetic CPU and GPU performance

On Geekbench 3 and 5, to begin with, we note a gain in single-core and multi-core performance. The memory score on Geekbench 3 rises from 8016 points to 9374 points.

For the 3DMark suite, the gain is essentially on the CPU score, with minimal gains on Firestrike and Timespy.

Application CPU performance

On PCMark10 Application, the gain is also present, although once again very minimal given the M16 R1’s excellent basic performance.

Gaming performance

Let’s move on to game testing. With all the games previously tested in 1080p Ultra.

As we can see, the gain is really minimal, and for gaming use there will be little impact from a change of kit on big ultra games.

Although the performance gain is very minimal, the simple fact of saving money on the configuration by taking a faster 2×16 Gb kit is a good idea. Secondly, Dell’s 2×32 Gb kit costs €450 less than the 2×8 Gb kit. That’s a nice saving of €230, which you can use to buy a mouse, dock, bag and other accessories.

[nextpage title=”Conclusion”]

Conclusion

After the Alienware M18 R1, which we found excellent in many respects but too cumbersome, the M16 R1 version has finally made us love gaming laptops. Here we have a graphics card with enough performance to suit most users, if the latest Steam readings are to be believed. The RTX 4070 is as good for gaming as it is for content creation and productivity. Coupled with the latest Ryzen 9 7845HX on Zen 4 architecture and a highly responsive SSD, this machine is a real find. The only drawback is the screen, which is truly magnificent and pleasant out of the box, but needs to be recalibrated.

In terms of possible configurations, we’d prefer the 2×16 Gb version for those who don’t want to get their hands dirty. And for others, a 2×8 Gb version with a RAM upgrade to 2×16 or 2×32 Gb at 5600Mt/s. All RAM and SSD options are expensive and should be avoided. On the other hand, upgrading the screen to 240 Hz (which also brings DCI-P3 to 100%) is a no-brainer, given its relatively low extra cost.

As a reminder, the Dell Alienware M16 R1 is available for €2,889. 50 in its R9-7845HX, RTX 4070 and 32 Gb RAM version, which we test here. The price has been revised downwards to €2,589.50 during this year’s sales.

The version with Radeon RX 7600M XT is of great interest to me because, on paper, it’s an RX 7600 running at the same frequencies. And the RX 7600 desktop seems to offer the same performance as the RTX 4070 powering the M16 R1. This choice could reduce the bill by an additional €200, which is not insignificant.

The Dell Alienware M18 R1

We liked:

• CPU performance
• GPU performance
• High-performance cooling for the GPU
• High-performance SSD
• Well-designed keyboard
• DLSS 3 gain
• 60 FPS in ultra Ray Tracing on all 1440p DLSS titles
• Build quality

We would have liked :

• A more open BIOS
• Faster RAM
• Proper calibration of the factory screen
• Less polluted Windows
• More VRAM

“I want the same” were the first words that came to mind when I unpacked this Alienware M16 R1 and put it to work for the first time. Has the verdict changed after this test? Well, no, even if the lack of VRAM doesn’t make it very future-proof or its screen could be even better. This laptop deserves our attention, if only for its ultra-high-performance Zen 4 CPU, its productivity results and its build quality.