The Alienware X16 is a great gaming laptop that'll handle the most demanding tasks. It also offers power, performance, and portability, making it ideal for those who don’t want their gaming to impact the performance and battery of their portable PC. We’ve put this machine through its paces to help you navigate the options and find the configuration that’s right for you.
Our latest gaming laptop review takes a look at the most powerful MachineGames laptop, putting it against its competitors in terms of performance, price, and weight. We cover a lot of ground in this review, but for those who want the tl;dr: here’s what you need to know.
Intel Core i9 13900HK
Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080
32GB of LPDDR5 RAM running at 6000MHz
1TB NVMe SSD
16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display
240Hz refresh rate, G-Sync support
Roughly $2,049
Alienware X16 review
The Alienware X16 is a premium 16-inch gaming laptop. It has everything you could dream of in a gaming system, as long as you pay for it. You can get it with an RTX 4070 or 4060 graphics card, but we highly recommend stepping up to the 4080. Alienware’s graphics card outperforms the Nvidia Titan Team Pro, and you won’t pay as much for it.
Powering the Alienware X16 is an Intel Core i9 13900HK processor, which we’re sure you’re more accustomed to seeing in desktops. Paired with the Nvidia GeForce RTX 4080, you’ll be able to run the most demanding games without a hitch. If you’re looking to get creative with video or photo editing, you’ll be happy to know that that the laptop handles those kinds of workloads with aplomb.
Once you’ve got a solid setup like this, you’ll want equally fast RAM to handle the load. The Alienware X16’s 32GB of LPDDR5 RAM running at 6000MHz will handle anything you throw at it. It’s also one of the only laptops that comes with an ultra-fast RAM band rate, making it one of the fastest gaming laptops you can buy right now.
Speaking of performance, the SSD should be mentioned again, as it plays a big part in the aforementioned performance. With a 1TB NVMe SSD, you won’t have trouble finding space for all of your games, media, and other files. The 1TB drive is double that of what most manufacturers include with their laptops, and you’ll never run out of space to install whatever you like on this gaming PC.
The Alienware X16 comes with a 16-inch QHD+ (2560 x 1600) display with a 240Hz refresh rate, and that’s not all. It’s also G-Sync compatible, which is a big deal if you’ve never heard of it before. Don’t worry, as it’s not just for gamers, as it adds better colour and contrast to any display normally.
G-Sync is typically reserved for big screens, but at 16-inches, it’ll look better on the Alienware X16 the most. It’ll give you smoother, more realistic movement and a sharper picture, even when you’re scrolling through files or tabbing between applications.
60Hz refresh rates are good, but they pale in comparison to 240Hz. Once you go beyond 60fps, you’ll see this huge benefit in your favourite games, as players will see less tearing, stutter, and pixelated movement.