Best Alienware laptops for gaming in 2024

Alienware’s M16 gaming laptop can be equipped with a range of  graphics cards, allowing you to customize specs to suit your budget. We recommend the RTX 4080 model as our top pick, as the 12GB of VRAM will ensure a solid gaming experience on the most recent titles.

This particular 4080 has the full 175W, meaning you won’t be leaving any performance on the table compared to thinner and lighter options out there. Further enhancing the fidelity is the fast and bright 16-inch QHD display that supports G-Sync for a tear-free experience. You also benefit from the display having a 16:10 aspect ratio – not only great for games but also productivity.

32GB of RAM will ensure that anything from memory-intensive games to applications such as Adobe Pemier or AutoCAD will be well served. As a bonus, the RAM is completely user-replaceable, increasing the laptop’s longevity. You can opt for a mechanical keyboard option with Cherry MX ultra low-profile switches but for prospective buyers in the UK beware – this is only available in a US layout.

Seeing as this is a near top-end model – it is priced accordingly, but it still sits below the Alienware x16 and is only a little bigger for it, which does admittedly reduce its portability.

If you don’t regularly move your gaming laptop and want as much screen real estate as possible then you would be hard-pressed to do better than the Alienware M18 4080 which is the best 18-inch Alienware laptop.

Similarly to the 16-inch model, we’ve opted for the 175W RTX 4080 equipped machine as it offers the best price-to-performance ratio in the high-end segment of the market. The 4090 is getting into silly-money territory and we wouldn’t recommend it until it is highly discounted.

The same 13900HX makes its presence known and will provide enough computing power to keep the frames high and the render times low. The 18-inch model doesn’t miss out on the 16:10 screen ratio either, so gaming and productivity have extra room to stretch.

Given that the laptop is bigger, there is more room inside for cooling so the M18 will run a little quieter as a result with better-sustained performance. Also making use of the bigger size is the numpad, which is great for users who love strategy games with many macros. Unfortunately, the QHD+ panel can only go up to 165Hz, rather than the 360Hz seen on the X17 R2.

The uniquely powerful yet thin Alienware X14 gaming laptop is ideal if you want to game on the go. Its well-built metal chassis has a premium feel, and while the ports are unusually all at the back of the laptop, this doesn’t affect access. The main downside of the X14 is limited upgradability. While you can upgrade the storage (a single m.2 NVMe slot) the RAM is soldered.

There is pause for thought when buying a 3060 GPU in 2024 – games are getting more demanding and the longevity of 6GB of VRAM is questionable, but with tools such as DLSS 2 and knowing where to make smart adjustments to your settings, you still get a great experience.

When running less demanding games, the 12700H keeps up with the GPU to ensure you’re getting out as many frames as possible before running into any CPU bottlenecks. With the RTX 3060, you can chew through esports titles like it’s nobody’s business – putting the 144hz screen to good work.

The Alienware M17 R5 comfortably places itself as our best-value Alienware gaming laptop. The RTX 3070 Ti is still a fighter today and will make short work of all but the most demanding of titles on high settings. DLSS 2 will help keep it chugging along for even longer than laptops that do without the technology.

The Ryzen 7 6800H is a very capable CPU too and is well suited for multitasking. It isn’t just a productivity champ – the 6800H can game very respectably and keep up with the 3070 Ti. The CPU also has a very capable iGPU in the form of the AMD 680M which is more powerful than the Steam Deck and efficient too – perfect for watching YouTube and doing light tasks and gaming away from the wall outlet.

The larger screen variants of Alienware laptops typically go for less than their smaller siblings due to them not being as popular and we’re not ones to complain as the 17.3” display lets us see everything in great detail – especially seeing as it’s QHD. The display is also buttery smooth at 165Hz and pairs well with the 3070 Ti with any game that does fluctuate in frame rate being handled by G-Sync to ensure a hitch-free gaming experience.

If you’re after the slimmest of Alienware laptops, the Alienware X16 is a great buy. It features top-of-the-line specs in an impossibly thin chassis adorned with cool RGB lighting effects which solidifies it as our pick for the best premium Alienware laptop.

Contained within its thin frame figure is an RTX 4080 graphics card, and Alienware’s Cry-tech cooling technology comes in with its gallium-silicone thermal interface and quad fans flex their cold chops to keep the beast under control. The same lovely 16” QHD+ 240Hz panel returns from the m16 which is befitting of such a premium device. The i9-13900HK makes do with 14 cores but these are still plenty powerful enough to keep everything ticking over.

With so much in such a thin package something has to give, and unfortunately, the X16 isn’t as fast as the M16 or M18, with fewer CPU cores and less cooling headroom. The result, however, is a very portable Alienware gaming laptop which used to be an unthinkable proposition. Its high price brings us back down to earth, though it’s reasonable given the specs on offer and the quality of the craftsmanship and design.