Bought my A51MR2 with the i7 cpu, 2070 super, 64gigs ram with 4TB pcie raid zero. This thing is a tool that will last 10 years easy and should still be relevant for gaming. I no longer see it on the Best Buy website for sale but I ordered mine through dell and was able to get it at a discount of $1500 original price. And to me this machine is still portable to fit in my dell backpack along with the two power bricks and mouse. It’s not “for on the go” but definitely portable enough to bring it along for the ride. Haven’t seen dell make any plans to release a new version, some say this could be a dying breed with the newer x series out. I enjoy every minute of using this thing. Keep up the great reviews.
Thanks for the kind words and your thoughts on the laptop! I still love mine to bits and I am so glad it is thick as this machine is so quiet on load! There was some amazing sales in U.K. recently, wish I had managed to get mine that cheap!!
@@MashITTech yes sir , I bought it about 2-3 months ago and had the m17 R4 but returned it for this one. Watched your vids on that one too, both are great quality stuff from dell. Love the simple vid setups. Coming from watching Dave2D your reviews are on the same level.
Ordered mine yesterday, got the i7 2080 super version for $2300. I had an R1 and sold it as it was a thermal mess. Very happy to hear from reviewers and the community you can now use it straight out of the box now and not worry about thermal throttling or stupid 75c restrictions. This R2 is what I expected to get with the R1.
Wow that’s a good price with the 2080, what cpu did you go for? I think they may have reduced the 2080 tdp in the r2 from r1 but haven’t got my hands on one yet
Winnie bought the BIG DADDY of Area 51 R2's. Take a look at her channel, she does a great review for those of you not familiar with Alienware. Great job Winnie!
Be careful with the upgradable claim. While yes it's marketed as upgradable this will ultimately depend on a few things, like Intel not changing the CPU socket AND the GPU architecture not changing. The GPU is only upgradable to within the same generation, that's official Dell now, they are not guaranteeing anything past the 2000 super series. If you get a 10700 then you can go to a 10900k, so in that regard it's upgradable yes, but there is no guarantee beyond that. This is what confused people with the R1, almost every review said that upgradability was not guaranteed but people still expected it and lost their minds when it didn't happen. It's also worth noting that the AGA may be EOL according to a Dell rep on on of their forums. There is a possibility that 3000 series GPU support may not come to the AGA. Great review overall! Nice to see some more coverage of the 51mR2.
Thank you mate, yes I was careful to say it may not allow future generations. This also happened to the r1 even though they said it was upgradable too. But the advantage as I said in the video is that it allows easier repairs should something break unlike all the soldered on boards. Thanks for the heads up on the graphics amp, I hadn’t heard that 👍
@@MashITTech Out of curiosity, as you have had both the R1 and the R2, what are your thoughts on the keyboard? I know many really like the R2 keyboard while others prefer the R1's style. Don't see many people that had had the opportunity to directly compare both.
I loved the r1 keyboard so was hesitant when I saw they had changed it but I honestly prefer it! They have done an amazing job making a laptop keyboard with great feedback, travel and layout. I am really fussy about keyboards and am normally rocking a mechanical (have about 20 mechs) but I actually enjoy using this keyboard
@@MogRules01 I do not think you can future proof anything. I remember the whole big thing about buying future proof 4k tv sets and they are all behind the curve now.
They've said it will support rocket lake Intel CPUs but it won't support the 30 series of NVIDIA GPUs. So technically we get one generation of CPU upgrades and that's it
Area 51m was a cool concept but it just didn't work out like dell said it would.You can only upgrade the cpu and gpu with parts that are in the same generation.So if you got the highest configuration, there's nothing to upgrade to. It's still good that you replace parts but I've also noticed that the parts are also insanely expensive. I looked on ebay to see how much a 200 watt 2080 for the area 51m would cost and it's like 1300 bucks for the gpu alone. At that price you might aswell just buy a whole new laptop.
Ah man.. you should have bought the RTX 2080 Super in this machine! I know it doesn't matter cause what? we are 2022 and only 2 years later we now have newer laptops that have newer hardware but throttle to hell and back and are actually behaving poorly than the area 51m R1 and R2?! (oh yeah buy them for 3800£$€ again cause why not... money grows on trees -_-). Having an Area-51m R1 (now dead) and managed to find an Area-51m R2 with a 2080 Super, this laptop still literally still kicks the arse of anything released in the last 2 years (with some properly done overclocking and "know-hows"). Really awesome review: A big fat "lap/desk - top" to be sure! But I prefer the FAT format over the thin for 2 factors: Lower WHINE fan noise, better cooling and A loot better on-board SOUND speakers! Well... that is 3 factors :) Alienware...bring Area 51m BACK!
This was my review unit, I loved it so much that after returning that unit to dell I bought myself the 2080 super which is what I was using in my long term review 👍
Fantastic reviews.... saw both the M17R4 and this one ... now I am in this dilemma of getting Area 51m R2 with 2070 Super or M17R4 3070 .. both are coming at same price... exact same config as yours. Given that you have both, can you advise which one would be a better deal for long term use ? Also how does the performance compare for this 2070 super vs the 3070 ?
Personally I would get the area 51m. And in fact I have as that is my laptop. It is still a beast of a machine and the 3070 is not that much better. I also love the the 51m is so quiet and cool whilst gaming. I am going to do a comparison review when I get time
@@MashITTech Thanks for your input .... In US both these retail at $1950ish ..last question ... I can probably also get a m17r4 3060 for $1600ish ... do you think the 250$ upgrade to 3070 M17R4/2070 super area 51 is worth it ? WIll look forward to your comparison review
Can you wait a few days? I have a m17 r4 with 3060 and 144hz screen on the way! When that arrives I can compare the 3 and give you the best advice! At the moment I haven’t tested a 3060 so do not know how well it performs against the 3070
I am watching this on a M17 R3 I just received about 2 weeks ago. It is an amazing machine, but the soldered RAM was an unknown to me and a deal breaker. I just purchased the Area51 R2 today with the I7 10700K, 2070 Super GPU and a host of other upgrades including the 360hz screen. I am returning the M17 R3 for a couple of reasons. It runs hot unless you crank the fans up to about 60% at least. Not a big deal for me, but I would assume with the cooling they claimed to have added, it wouldn't take that. Balanced mode on the M17 will net you 100C CPU temperatures in short order while gaming or anything else. Of course I said the soldered RAM, I just can't wrap my head around that from an Alienware perspective, unreal. Your balanced mode review of the Area 51 is amazing. Balanced mode is SILENT on the fans. To game and only hit the temps you did is astounding. That was enough to change my mind and it is great. Appreciate the review and the only downside is that it will take a month to get the new Area 51 R2. Waiting impatiently. From a laptop perspective, if you don't mind the fans running loud (which doesn't bother me that much) the M17 R3 is an amazing machine and mine has the 2070 regular GPU. It will run any game on max settings with 0 problem.
Hi Jason, thanks for you comment, I am glad you found the review useful. The area-51m is an amazing machine, I think you will love it. Love the fact you can still upgrade parts on it still unlike the m17. And yes, the temps are high on m17, it’s a good and bad thing. They are high as dell let it run un throttled unlike most other manufacturers (like razers 45w)
@@MashITTech Well, received the new Area-51M R2 Tuesday and had to get a call tag today to return it. Had dead pixel(s) on the new 360hz screen. Those drive me insane, no way I could put up with them. That never should happen on that expensive of a laptop. Yea, I'm really bummed out. Tried to get them to send me a whole screen assembly and I would replace myself, they wouldn't do that. I'm not keen on having some stranger take apart my new Alienware, so I passed on the service request. Appreciate your review, I'll order another when this one gets credited. Hope to God I don't get another bad one. It also has a strange grinding noise as well.
For future reference, please consider taking a recording of the fans under load.. would be really good. Also, I wonder if quick cpu would allow you to lock a frequency, it has a way of doing it even with locked CPUs..
Oh sorry, I thought I had! I usually show a decibel reading, don’t know why I didn’t with this one. Throttlestop works and allows undervolting, capping wattage and locking multipliers and provides profiles so you can set a power level for each tdp. I haven’t tried quick cpu, does it do the same thing?
@@MashITTech I am really into your channel and very happy I found it, so please don't think I am complaining, I do appreciate your replies. I just have suggestions is all. One final one I have, which will add 5 minutes for each review, is for any laptop you review, to run latencymon for at least 5 mins (resplendence.org under free software). It's a very crucial thing for a buyer like myself as if it fails this test, it makes a laptop useless for "skip free" low latency music production, which I use all my computers for. Amongst other things.. a bad DPC latency is often the cause of frame drops in games, editing, and much more.
No, I welcome feedback and criticism, we only started 6 months ago and still have so much to learn so feedback is good as I can improve our reviews. I will certainly add latencymon to our list :)
Lunar white looks nice but worried in case it is harder to keep clean than black model. Is it a matte finish? Also how is backlighting with silver on white keys? Not ideal.
My Area 51 went back last week. Only 2mths old. It arrived ‘bent’, covered in white dust and had the monitor was replaced twice by a Dell contractor in that time. It was such a shame as I wanted to love it but when you lose faith and it messes you around, it’s time to say goodbye. What I can’t fault was Dells customer service. Super good 👍🏻
I ordered an X16 this year and it came with a slightly bent screen and a small flex in the center due to it. Customer service ordered a replacement and asked me to return the current laptop after the replacement arrives. Sucks that QC is so bad, but yes, Dell customer support did a great job rectifying the issue. All I had to do was spend 30 minutes on the phone and send a few pictures. They instantly processed a replacement
Hello, please what are the upgradability limits in terms of cpu and gpu of this Alienware Area 51M R2? Especially with this exact unit with the specs you reviewed
My Predator Laptop passed away yesterday, so I am looking for a replacement. I always wanted an Alienware laptop, so I looked around for a bit. I am currently deciding between the m17 R3 and this one. Which one would you recommend more? Edit: I am a bit concerned about overheating, since that was the issue with the predator. Which one the better one in terms of temperature?
@Mash IT does the area 51m r2 feel really heavy?? Is it sustainable for both gaming and studying?? Does it fit in a normal backpack?? And what's the battery life during desktop use only (studying or watching UA-cam)?? Plz reply
I think you would need specific bag for this bad boy, and it is heavy when you're carrying it with two bricks on your back. Battery life, to some reviewers, is quite bad. I'm planning to get it for gaming and studying too, and I personally think the M17 R3 would be a better option
Yes it feels pretty heavy for a 17” but if you have used desktop replacement from a couple of years ago the weight won’t be an issue, it only seems heavy as laptops have got lighter in the last couple of years. Battery is really terrible, maybe 2 hours light use. That aside the performance is out of this world. Think of it more as a desktop you Can easily move rather than a laptop you are going to use on your lap and throw around. It will fit in larger 17” or 18” bags
@@MashITTech are the charging bricks of this laptop heavy?? A regular desktop use lasts only 2 hours?? I really like this bcoz u can upgrade or replace it's parts easily
@@VinhNguyen-yz5xn but I believe area 51m r2 is better than m17 r3 but m17 is lighter in weight. And u can upgrade the area 51m easily. Is m17 r3 really good? Is it not noisy? And which one's better between m15 r3 and m17 r3?? Also when is the next premium alienware laptop coming out??
@@zayd2346 I think the M17 R3 is still a decent laptop. Since it would be much easier for you to move it around, because our need is for both studying and gaming. And of course the Area 51M should be better in terms of performance, since it is heavier and bigger. For moving around I don't think it would be easy for everyone, so I think it depends on the user. Personally, I prefer the M17 to M15, because I like the bigger screen.
*Awesome review Mash! I really appreciate it. However, if you can compare a "Area-51m R2" VS "M17 R3" that would be excellent as I am confused which one to buy. Both of them are available as per the specifications that I am looking for. The thing that concerns me is the Weight and Fan noise on the Area 51 M R2 compared to M17 R3 although there is no scope for upgrading for M17 R3 and they are priced almost the same. Respect & Peace from Calcutta, West Bengal, India.*
Ha that’s spooky, I have started working on that review already! Should be ready in a day or so (takes quite a while to gather all the data and run benchmarks
@@MashITTech Yeah it is a really nice upgrade. The difference may be negligible from a 300Hz to 360Hz but coming from a 144Hz, you can really see the refinement.
Ooh one more thing guys i have 240hz gaming laptop as well and want to tell you all that there is no difference between 240 and 300. 240 is already so fast that u can not notice the difference after that. And none of the gpu can hit 300 fps. Unless you really want to play overwatch at low settings. And i dont really think that u wanna buy 4000 dolar laptop and play at low settings 😁😁😁😁😁
Getting the 300hz RTX 2070 SUPER i7 10700 version along with 64gb of Hyper X ram from Best Buy next month hopefully depending on taxes. Working at Best Buy does have a bonus, as I get a little discount on it, but huge discount on the 3 year Geek Squad accidental damage plan. Later, gonna get the AGA and put my wife’s 2080 Super in when she upgrades her desktop GPU. Also gonna go i9 10900K. Primary uses are gonna be gaming, video editing, graphic design, and 3D modeling and rendering. I am sure it will handle Unity like a champ! Great review! Showed wife that this is the laptop for me, as size or weight or dual bricks are not a factor in it, and she actually agreed with me for once. Her reply also was “it’s pretty” XD
Does this have a non-glare display? At one point in the video, it looks quite reflective on the black edge ... I hope it doesn't have one of these "modern" glass-type surfaces ...?
Yes it has an anti glare screen, it’s just the studio lights we use are ridiculously bright and can put a glare on anything 😂 I am about to shoot a long term user review for this laptop and will try and get better screen images as we now have a better camera for our videos 👍
Hey there! Received my 3rd Area-51M R2, if you remember the first two had dead pixels. This time I went all out and bought the 10900k, the 2080 Super, the 4k screen, etc. Maybe you can give some advice? In Timespy, my CPU score is about 9800. My 10700k scored almost that if not higher. 14k is normal for the Area 51m R2. So for some reason, it runs like a dog on Timespy. Cinebench 20, I scored around 6100 which seems a little low, but not much. Any idea what's going on in Timespy? Hope I don't have to return a thitdni
Run cinebench with command centre open, put it on the fusion page and keep an eye on the cpu clock speeds and temps, let me know what you get. Also what profile are you running? Make sure it’s not on quiet or cool 👍
@@MashITTech Alright, after resetting, removing AWCC, etc. I finally found the problem using XTU. It is thermal throttling and current/edp limit throttling. I undervolted by 100 and it stopped throttling, but I haven't ran Timespy anymore. I ran CPUZ and it scored 577 single and 7232 multi. My question is this, is it normal for the 10900k to thermal throttle or did I get a bad chip? It hates timespy and refuses to score well in that.
I wonder if they are going to release an X51 or whatever they chose to call it. I feel like they are waiting so they can give the x17 time to sell plus pricing both would probably be a conundrum
That would be a dream come true for me, I love the x17 but still prefer my area 51m r2 due to the quiet large fans, amazing performance and loads of disk storage 👍
Hello. What do you think is better to buy please. X17 with i7 and rtx 3080 or the 51m i9 with the 2080 super. There is a difference of 900 usd. Both with fhd screens. Thanks
I actually have both of these as I love them both and need to decide which one to keep! I will actually do a video on it soon but as they are both great machines I would vote with my wallet! The 51m is on an amazing deal right now. Obviously you sacrifice portability and battery life but the cooling system is amazing and much quieter than the x17
@@MashITTech Hi. I just ordered one of the deals you mentioned, I went for with higher specs now I'm worried that there will be overheating issue as I read it somewhere. Can you comment on this?
Say you want to upgrade gpu, what do you do with the old one? I can't imagine there being many buyers for a mobile gpu since most laptops can't remove them.
Worse still it is not mxm so these only work in alienware. But it is still handy if your card breaks you can replace the card instead of whole motherboard but the upgrade dream is a lie
I can’t believe they gimped the 2070 in this. They make it seem like it’s meant to give full performance, but it doesn’t. Hopefully it at least has MUX
Hello! After a few months, and a few BIOS update too, is the core still hitting 4.6 GHz? Mine after a Bios update got limited to 2.9 GHz (I’m running the exact same setup) Please if you can let me know :)
@@MashITTech Thank you brotha! Well in my case effectively the BIOS ruined my multipliers on the base Processor Coding, was a bit complicated but through a third party program I was able to reestablish the original multipliers and the performance returned. Thank you for taking the time!
Received my area51m R2. Rtx2070, 32 gb ram, 10700k proc, 512 gb ssd. Wondering if you came across a really subtle sound (kinda feel like optical drive read/write). You wont even notice it unless you were in a quiet room and listen in closely to the fan area. Its not coming from the fans though. Just wondering if ud know what it is and if its ok to have that noise
What you are describing sounds like coil whine, unfortunately it is very common and a lot of laptops are affected in varying levels. It wasn’t noticeable on my unit but I have had it on plenty of machines in the past. It is totally harmless if the noise doesn’t bother you, if it does bother you could try and get the machine changed 👍
@@MashITTech hey got my area51m r2 -i9 10900k and rtx 2080 - got it upgraded after receiving coil whining on my original one. read a bit and i guess they are harmless as you suggested. this one has whining noises as well and throttles to 100 degrees as soon as i start playing games like far cry 5. any thoughts? urs doing the same thing? observed coil whining noise comin out of urs?
@@MashITTech Thank you for reply, another question is if you use only the smaller power brick, does the battery discharge if you do simple browsing, desktop applications or even gaming?
On my 10700 and 2070 super I often just use a 240w brick (my config came with a huge 330 and small 180 adapter but I bought a 240w dell new type adapter (it’s rounded not like the old square one) and I regularly just use that adapter with 95% of the performance of the 2 brick setup and have noticed no battery drain. I haven’t tested it with just the 180w but when I get time I will 👍
@@MashITTech Hey, I decided to buy the exact same laptop with your speccs butt i am struggling with some buzzing noise coming from laptop.. Do you have this problem also? Can happen in browser or while gaming some buzzing noise.. I tried unpluging one of the 2 bricks the noise goes away, plugging back noise returns.
When you say not throttle do you mean no throttlestop, full speed, full wattage? I am running the M17 R4 and I have to use throttlestop while gaming or it overheats which is the worst. I am wondering if an Area 51 R2 would fix the heat issues and offer me slightly better performance in games?
Hi Seth, that is correct depending on the CPU you choose. I chose the 10700 as the chassis has no problems running the 8 core chip maxed out all day without throttling or overheating. If you buy the 10900k then yes it may throttles as that is a hot running 10 core chip. Also you can still run throttle stop if you wish to get even better temps 👍
Yep, I hate thin and light machines as they all throttle and I cannot stand the whiney fan noise. This laptop just has a nice whoosh of air. This is why it is my personal gaming laptop despite getting all the new 3000 series laptop into the studio
No the sdcard is more for reading cards (ie from dslr cameras etc) the laptop has 2 ram slots for the actual ram plus m.2 ssd and 2.5” hdd space for storage
"All up gradable", only problem is this is R2 and nothing on that machine can actually fit in the R1 other than storage and RAM. People who got the R1 got scammed and i expect the same from the R2 once Ampere comes out for laptops.
That is very true, I really hope the 3000 cards will be a drop on replacement as I can’t imagine they will make an r3 just for new gfx cards. But even though you can’t put newer gen cards in r1 you can still move from a lower tier card to a higher and replace a faulty card rather than an entire motherboard. I am in no way justifying what dell has done but there are still some benefits
I wouldnt really call it a scam. I have my reasons and predominantly revolves around maintenance and the shear cost of it in other laptops is going to be a killer once u gotta replace the entire motherboard for one small issue like wifi / ram / gpu burnouts. Also, u get unparalleled performance with this one here and some upgradeability. Forget the gpu, now with the 7mm chips, u wont even be able to replace the socketed intel procs come guess 11th or 12th gen.
I was thinking of getting this laptop but if the i7k vs i9k I was thinking of going with the i7 because I don't want the fans kicking up too high but would the performance be kind of the same as the i9? As for the rest I was just getting 2080 graphics and 64gb ram with 360hrz 1080p
I had the. A51m r1. I don’t think I’d buy another one though. The build quality wasn’t all there. The plastic bits around the screen and bezel scratch pretty easily.
Oh, I remember the original m15 had that problem. I didn't notice that issue on my r1, but I only kept it for 6 months, so maybe I didn't use it enough
A lot of the issues of the r1 are fixed here, from fit and finish (scratch resistant plastics and clear coated finish now on the chassis/shell) and cooling (vapor chamber instead of heatsinks).
Ok Dell...here's a question, all the units I've seen on UA-cam were shipped to the reviewers/customers with the 330W and 180W or so power bricks...why did mine with a 10700 and 2060 ship with dual 330W bricks? Not complaining about the extra power but did they realize that this thing needed more juice somewhere? Or did they run out of the lower wattage bricks when I placed my order? In any event...this a BEAST of a laptop, I added more storage to mine and instead of paying Dell $600 CAD to upgrade the RAM to 64Gb I did it for far cheaper myself. Not much these things can't do.
There is no way you should have had those bricks with that config, dell also screwed up one of my machines with incorrect power packs. I think it might be a supply issue. That said, you can buy smaller power packs pretty cheap off eBay if you want a smaller one
@@MashITTech yeah who knows why mine came with dual 330s...that said though I'm not going to complain cause they do allow it to run at full power when gaming and still get the battery charged up. It's an incredible machine for what it is though...
The Microsoft Precision touchpad might be better, but who needs better when you have RGB (especially when, as you pointed out, you’ll be using a mouse).
@@MashITTech it would be crime not to have a mouse connected to that laptop when you’re at a desk, especially, if you’re playing games. That trackpad is more like a spare time. It keeps you going in an emergency, but not ideal for daily driving.
Enjoy your computer. When did you get it? I want to buy a laptop for a while. Mac mini by Apple has caught my attention a lot, but since the things I want are on the Windows and Nvidia-intel side, I will buy devices from this side. The alienware product we have is on my purchase list. I look at other companies, of course. The screen being IPS was very bad for me. I wonder if there is any laptop with oled 4k or lcd screen?
I just checked dell U.K. and you can choose either colour on the configurator, just go the screen selection and choose the screen you want in lunar light (dells name for white).
Excellent review. I love mine! I got the 4K version because content creation (photo/video) was/is more important than gaming for me. But it’s no slouch with the games I have played on it. (Mostly Forza 4 Horizons. LOL And the 4K refresh seems to handle Outriders as well.) Mine has the 8GB RTX 2080 Super. I also opted for the 10900K CPU (10-core 3.7-5.3GHz) and 64GB RAM. To round it out, I have a RAID 0 setup using 2 1TB PCIe M.2 SSDs as my main drive and 2 non-RAID PCIe M.2 1TB SSDs for content. Like you, I too prefer a mouse for most things, but that pad is still quite handy. I can easily recommend this beast IF one can afford it without breaking the bank (no sense on being foolish) AND one really is looking for a portable desktop replacement. It’s portable, but not really a “laptop.” It will smoke a lot of desktops out there, but it’s not cheap...and a quality backpack is almost a necessity (more $£€) what with two chunky power blocks and a mouse (+ pad) and, in my case, a power strip/surge protector.
Hi Gary, thanks for your thoughts. There really isn't enough love for this machine out there. My only regret is that I didn't get the 2080 super :( One question that you may be able to help me with if you wouldn't mind, how does the laptop run on just the 330w? my 10700/2070 super gives me about 97% of the laptops performance on the 330w and was curious how the 2080 would perform
Heads up for anyone looking to buy one... I’ve just had a nightmare with the Area 51M, I’ve just taken it out of the delivery box and it won’t run for more than 5 minutes without glitching out and crashing. I’d also appreciate any advice as to what the problem actually is! I’ve uploaded a video to my channel detailing the problems and showing the glitching.
Hi Mash IT. Great review thankyou for going into detail and being clear for less tech savvy guys like me haha. i currently own an 17 R5 but it's very much on it's last legs the GPU is failing it's only a matter of time before it dies. Anyway. This time around i wanted to go all out becase i can't keep upgrading every year or so so i need something with longevity. it has to be a long term investment. I ask about the 4k option as the 17 R5 is 2560-1440 but with this it's only 1080 or 4k still amazed no QHD option. I honestly didn't think it would bother me at all but it's difficult to go back to 1080p. Anyway im rambling haha apologies for the long winded question, i'd really appreciate your input. Thanks.
Ah, that makes sense now. Well if you can hold tight a little while, 1440p IPS 165hz panels have recently been released and I am sure Dell will add them soon. The reason I mentioned picking the 1080p over the 4k is that the current 4k is only 60hz. Once you have gone high refresh rate it is difficult to go back to 60
@@MashITTech Thanks for replying so quickly, that is good news however I hope they do as my 17 R5 died as of last night.😐 Bad news as I do have another gaming channel where I do let's plays and stream occasionally. The main reason I asked 4k was because I would use it for both content creation & gaming. Though I suppose I would be gaming more.
Oh no way what a nightmare! Have you considered a second display for your laptop or are you short of space? That way you could get a display for editing (a nice ultrawide or something)
@@MashITTech Yes a external moniter is an option, i just wasn't and forgive me sure wether an 1080p could output to a 4k monitor. But i guess it's got nothing to do with the actual screen but the power of the GPU/CPU? At the moment i have my eye on the 51M R2 RTX 2080 super 144hz FHD etc. I would hold out but with my laptop dying i cant record, so i do need something asap. i guess that i wouldn't need to worry about upgrading the 51m R2 for a good while?
You can use what ever external or multiple external screens you want. You could have a 4K and ultrawide and internal screen if you wanted. The r2 is still an amazing machine, just try to get a good discount as I am sure they will want to sell the r2’s off before the r3 are released
@@MashITTech I think I'm going to return a razer blade I ordered on Prime Day to get it, seems like the better deal and fits my needs perfectly. Thanks for the great videos!
@@AtillatheHun I just bought the one that’s on sell today, I have to pick it up next Friday. I just returned my last one to Dell though, it had the rtx 2080, and the i9 10900k. It also had coil whine and thermal problems, paid 3500 for that one around 3 months ago. Waiting on my refund now.
If anyone can help, I'm considering getting one but I read on a review that the battery is an embarrassment like 90min on youtube with 50% visual capacity and all lights disabled and around 50min of gaming so this is basically a desktop with a screen built in and you have to constantly plug it right ? ( still can't figure out why there are 2 blocks ) What I'm really concerned about is the lifespan of the battery. If the computer is plugged 24-7 will it drain on the battery or will it still stands for 90min even one year on ?
hello mate, yes, this is a mobile desktop essentially so battery is terrible. If you plan on plugging in most of the time there is a setting in BIOS that helps keep your battery in tip top condition and should mean you get a good couple of years at full strength but batteries all degrade after a while
Hey guys I have this laptop as well 300hz version rtx 2080 super with core i7 10700 I just wanted to ask you guys. Are you sure that the graphics carrd will be upgradable for the 3000 series? Last yeat for m1 they advertised that it would be upgradable cpu and gpu but none of those happened since intel changed the cpu socket and they did not even sell the gpu upgrade kits. That was really big disappointment. Probably 11th gen intel will stay at 1200 socket so i can upgrade. Do you guys know for sure if you can upgrade this laptop to rtx 3000 series?
Personally I always go for the best price to performance ratio card I can afford when I buy the machine. And yes, grab an external when the machine is no longer keeping up with the games or apps you use. The graphics amp performs better than a egpu although not as convenient
I want to know adout the overheating problem with alienware my last alineware laptop broke cause of its overheating so I move to asus r.o.g n I have no problem but I want to see if they are slove
Well in my model (i7 10700 & 2070) the temps were great, there will be no issues with that one. If you get the i9 and 2080 super it may be hotter as they use more watts but I didn't get to test that model
Hi Julian, I am sorry but we do not know yet, Dell hasn't released the area 51m r3 with the 3000 series yet, once they do we will be able to see if they will also work in our current r2 machines
I had both the r1 with a 9700 non K with a 2080rtx and the r2 with the super and 10700k I sent the R2 back since the R1 outperformed it. I cant figure it out. I think it may be because the CPU in the R1 is more overclockable. The super is the biggest flop of an upgraded GPU I've ever seen.
No it is because dell in their infinite wisdom decided to give the r2 a lower TGP! 150w for 2080 and 115w for the 2070. I guess they decided to play it safe
Oh..thanks for clearing that up for me bro. Yeah...I actually had to repaste and add pads to my 2080 after playing the Crysis remastered. It started overheating. Luckily it didn't damage the GPU. Since I'm still running at full specs with the old Alienware control center drivers. I knew I shouldn't have tried to max out ray tracing lol Do you think it would be worth upgrading the CPU from non K 9700 to a 9900k. I'm kind of leary of it. I'm thinking it might cause too high of intenal temps.
@@MashITTech Thanks for getting back. That's what I figured from doin research. I have a 1440p monitor so I should be good for awhile. I'll probably upgrade with my amplifier to the 6800xt in a year when they're more available. I heard the 3080 won't work with it. I should be alright with the 480 watt power supply. It's only PCI 3.0 but supposeably there's only minor drops in performance.
Not totally upgradable. I wanted to get one of these, but the GPU isn't RTX3000 future proof. Even though Dell uses the same form factor for their GPU. Makes no sense in getting a 2080 super if you have a 2070 super. And the ram XMP is Dell only. The BIOS is also locked out on changing ram timings. The 2 power bricks needs to go back to the drawing board. Hopefully the next generation has these things fixed.
Hmmmmmmm, review can't be trusted, didn't say anything negative about the Alienware Control Centre software, which is the worst (mandatory) software ever created.
Haha thanks. Although I partially agree with you, it’s not the best software and in fact I preferred the old command centre. Once you get it updated and setup how often do you really need to use it? I could say the same about razer synapse 3 which is also pretty dire imho. PS, I have moved about command centre in my other reviews if it helps 😂
@@MashITTech It's a nice review, don't get me wrong! Well presented, professionally filmed. I've owned 2 recent Dell machines with a third on it's way, depending on the machine and how it's being used definitely changed the frequency in which you open the manager. For the G5 15 laptop that I own I find myself opening the Alienware Command Center a lot as if I am using the machine to answer emails I do not need it to be trying to push 4ghz performance through my CPU, and similarly I don't need it to be running the fans at 100%, however if I am playing a game I would need to set the Power Performance to High and the thermal performance to balanced or max. So I find myself opening this software a lot. Conversely, prior to the Dell G5 I owned an Acer Predator, it doesn't have different thermal profiles because it simply scales fan and CPU performance on it's own. Opening and closing AWCC isn't an issue in itself, but in the 7 months I have owned the G5 the AWCC has broken due to udpates about 10 times, and some of those times required me to use Revo Uninstaller to completely purge my machine of the AWCC just so I could get it to work again, issues include Alienware FX devices not being found, Thermal Temperatures not being monitored, permanent spinning wheels when loading up the program and being unable to change the thermal profile. If you uninstall AWCC the system does not revert to a windows managed solution, rather it remains on whatever fan profile you had it on last and so causes all kinds of issues. It's really, unforgivably poorly designed. Now, I have another Dell on it's way (The very one in your review I might add) as it's benchmarks exceed the 3080 Max Q laptops that are being released currently. But man oh man, they really need to tackle their software. It's also worth noting that the up-gradable component feature of this unit is a bit of a sham, the R2 will only be able to be upgraded within the 20 series, the Alienware Graphics Amplifier does not function with the 30 series cards and has been discontinued. The new M17 with 3080 features an Alienware Graphics Amplifier port, but Dell have said there are absolutely no plans to refresh the Graphics Amplifier. Somewhat dishonest marketing, given that when I purchased my system (and on the current website) the AGA port is listed as a feature, but you cannot buy one and it would not offer support for a more powerful one than is in the laptop to begin with. Just throwing that into the mix you know. I think it's all worth mentioning to potential buyers.
Well I have a m15 r5 on the way so we shouldn’t be too long for a review! I haven’t heard any news on a 17” Ryzen yet. Dell are doing an announcement tomorrow so fingers crossed but I expect it will be an 11th gen laptop
Bought my A51MR2 with the i7 cpu, 2070 super, 64gigs ram with 4TB pcie raid zero. This thing is a tool that will last 10 years easy and should still be relevant for gaming. I no longer see it on the Best Buy website for sale but I ordered mine through dell and was able to get it at a discount of $1500 original price. And to me this machine is still portable to fit in my dell backpack along with the two power bricks and mouse. It’s not “for on the go” but definitely portable enough to bring it along for the ride.
Haven’t seen dell make any plans to release a new version, some say this could be a dying breed with the newer x series out.
I enjoy every minute of using this thing.
Keep up the great reviews.
Thanks for the kind words and your thoughts on the laptop! I still love mine to bits and I am so glad it is thick as this machine is so quiet on load! There was some amazing sales in U.K. recently, wish I had managed to get mine that cheap!!
@@MashITTech yes sir , I bought it about 2-3 months ago and had the m17 R4 but returned it for this one.
Watched your vids on that one too, both are great quality stuff from dell.
Love the simple vid setups.
Coming from watching Dave2D your reviews are on the same level.
That is really kind of you to say 😃 we have only been going for a year and have learnt a lot but I feel I still have a way to go 😅👍
''No soldered on rubbish''......:-) Like it.
Ordered mine yesterday, got the i7 2080 super version for $2300. I had an R1 and sold it as it was a thermal mess. Very happy to hear from reviewers and the community you can now use it straight out of the box now and not worry about thermal throttling or stupid 75c restrictions. This R2 is what I expected to get with the R1.
Wow that’s a good price with the 2080, what cpu did you go for? I think they may have reduced the 2080 tdp in the r2 from r1 but haven’t got my hands on one yet
@@MashITTech The R2 was a train wreck customer service hell nightmare. Never buying their crap ever again.
@@ignignxkt dam ur unlucky. Two laptops a train wreck
Watching this on my Area 51m R2. Thanks for the great review!
Thank you 😊 how are you liking yours?
Winnie bought the BIG DADDY of Area 51 R2's. Take a look at her channel, she does a great review for those of you not familiar with Alienware. Great job Winnie!
@Daniel Mullen you won't see a difference it's in the internals.
@Daniel Mullen I legit had no idea there was an R1 until I bought my R2. Is it true that you cannot upgrade components in R1 anymore?
You're good I'm sure.
Be careful with the upgradable claim. While yes it's marketed as upgradable this will ultimately depend on a few things, like Intel not changing the CPU socket AND the GPU architecture not changing. The GPU is only upgradable to within the same generation, that's official Dell now, they are not guaranteeing anything past the 2000 super series.
If you get a 10700 then you can go to a 10900k, so in that regard it's upgradable yes, but there is no guarantee beyond that. This is what confused people with the R1, almost every review said that upgradability was not guaranteed but people still expected it and lost their minds when it didn't happen.
It's also worth noting that the AGA may be EOL according to a Dell rep on on of their forums. There is a possibility that 3000 series GPU support may not come to the AGA.
Great review overall! Nice to see some more coverage of the 51mR2.
Thank you mate, yes I was careful to say it may not allow future generations. This also happened to the r1 even though they said it was upgradable too. But the advantage as I said in the video is that it allows easier repairs should something break unlike all the soldered on boards.
Thanks for the heads up on the graphics amp, I hadn’t heard that 👍
@@MashITTech Out of curiosity, as you have had both the R1 and the R2, what are your thoughts on the keyboard? I know many really like the R2 keyboard while others prefer the R1's style. Don't see many people that had had the opportunity to directly compare both.
I loved the r1 keyboard so was hesitant when I saw they had changed it but I honestly prefer it! They have done an amazing job making a laptop keyboard with great feedback, travel and layout. I am really fussy about keyboards and am normally rocking a mechanical (have about 20 mechs) but I actually enjoy using this keyboard
@@MogRules01
I do not think you can future proof anything. I remember the whole big thing about buying future proof 4k tv sets and they are all behind the curve now.
They've said it will support rocket lake Intel CPUs but it won't support the 30 series of NVIDIA GPUs. So technically we get one generation of CPU upgrades and that's it
I have this laptop. Recent update on Tobii Experience has Windows Hello now. Its a great laptop.
I haven’t tried this yet! Thanks for the heads up I will give it a go
I awlso yust got it and its amazing
Still using it! I am watching this video right now on one. Still going strong in 24!
Area 51m was a cool concept but it just didn't work out like dell said it would.You can only upgrade the cpu and gpu with parts that are in the same generation.So if you got the highest configuration, there's nothing to upgrade to. It's still good that you replace parts but I've also noticed that the parts are also insanely expensive. I looked on ebay to see how much a 200 watt 2080 for the area 51m would cost and it's like 1300 bucks for the gpu alone. At that price you might aswell just buy a whole new laptop.
Ah man.. you should have bought the RTX 2080 Super in this machine! I know it doesn't matter cause what? we are 2022 and only 2 years later we now have newer laptops that have newer hardware but throttle to hell and back and are actually behaving poorly than the area 51m R1 and R2?! (oh yeah buy them for 3800£$€ again cause why not... money grows on trees -_-).
Having an Area-51m R1 (now dead) and managed to find an Area-51m R2 with a 2080 Super, this laptop still literally still kicks the arse of anything released in the last 2 years (with some properly done overclocking and "know-hows").
Really awesome review: A big fat "lap/desk - top" to be sure! But I prefer the FAT format over the thin for 2 factors: Lower WHINE fan noise, better cooling and A loot better on-board SOUND speakers! Well... that is 3 factors :)
Alienware...bring Area 51m BACK!
This was my review unit, I loved it so much that after returning that unit to dell I bought myself the 2080 super which is what I was using in my long term review 👍
@@MashITTech God damn! Where is the
Fantastic reviews.... saw both the M17R4 and this one ... now I am in this dilemma of getting Area 51m R2 with 2070 Super or M17R4 3070 .. both are coming at same price... exact same config as yours. Given that you have both, can you advise which one would be a better deal for long term use ? Also how does the performance compare for this 2070 super vs the 3070 ?
Personally I would get the area 51m. And in fact I have as that is my laptop. It is still a beast of a machine and the 3070 is not that much better. I also love the the 51m is so quiet and cool whilst gaming. I am going to do a comparison review when I get time
@@MashITTech Thanks for your input .... In US both these retail at $1950ish ..last question ... I can probably also get a m17r4 3060 for $1600ish ... do you think the 250$ upgrade to 3070 M17R4/2070 super area 51 is worth it ? WIll look forward to your comparison review
Can you wait a few days? I have a m17 r4 with 3060 and 144hz screen on the way! When that arrives I can compare the 3 and give you the best advice! At the moment I haven’t tested a 3060 so do not know how well it performs against the 3070
@@MashITTech Yep will wait ... again thanks for doing this ... really appreciate the effort :)
@@MashITTech Got area51m for $1645 USD... crazy deal .. thanks for your response ... it kinda helped me pull the plug
I am watching this on a M17 R3 I just received about 2 weeks ago. It is an amazing machine, but the soldered RAM was an unknown to me and a deal breaker. I just purchased the Area51 R2 today with the I7 10700K, 2070 Super GPU and a host of other upgrades including the 360hz screen. I am returning the M17 R3 for a couple of reasons. It runs hot unless you crank the fans up to about 60% at least. Not a big deal for me, but I would assume with the cooling they claimed to have added, it wouldn't take that. Balanced mode on the M17 will net you 100C CPU temperatures in short order while gaming or anything else. Of course I said the soldered RAM, I just can't wrap my head around that from an Alienware perspective, unreal. Your balanced mode review of the Area 51 is amazing. Balanced mode is SILENT on the fans. To game and only hit the temps you did is astounding. That was enough to change my mind and it is great. Appreciate the review and the only downside is that it will take a month to get the new Area 51 R2. Waiting impatiently. From a laptop perspective, if you don't mind the fans running loud (which doesn't bother me that much) the M17 R3 is an amazing machine and mine has the 2070 regular GPU. It will run any game on max settings with 0 problem.
Hi Jason, thanks for you comment, I am glad you found the review useful. The area-51m is an amazing machine, I think you will love it. Love the fact you can still upgrade parts on it still unlike the m17. And yes, the temps are high on m17, it’s a good and bad thing. They are high as dell let it run un throttled unlike most other manufacturers (like razers 45w)
@@MashITTech Well, received the new Area-51M R2 Tuesday and had to get a call tag today to return it. Had dead pixel(s) on the new 360hz screen. Those drive me insane, no way I could put up with them. That never should happen on that expensive of a laptop. Yea, I'm really bummed out. Tried to get them to send me a whole screen assembly and I would replace myself, they wouldn't do that. I'm not keen on having some stranger take apart my new Alienware, so I passed on the service request. Appreciate your review, I'll order another when this one gets credited. Hope to God I don't get another bad one. It also has a strange grinding noise as well.
For future reference, please consider taking a recording of the fans under load.. would be really good. Also, I wonder if quick cpu would allow you to lock a frequency, it has a way of doing it even with locked CPUs..
Oh sorry, I thought I had! I usually show a decibel reading, don’t know why I didn’t with this one.
Throttlestop works and allows undervolting, capping wattage and locking multipliers and provides profiles so you can set a power level for each tdp. I haven’t tried quick cpu, does it do the same thing?
@@MashITTech I am really into your channel and very happy I found it, so please don't think I am complaining, I do appreciate your replies. I just have suggestions is all. One final one I have, which will add 5 minutes for each review, is for any laptop you review, to run latencymon for at least 5 mins (resplendence.org under free software). It's a very crucial thing for a buyer like myself as if it fails this test, it makes a laptop useless for "skip free" low latency music production, which I use all my computers for. Amongst other things.. a bad DPC latency is often the cause of frame drops in games, editing, and much more.
No, I welcome feedback and criticism, we only started 6 months ago and still have so much to learn so feedback is good as I can improve our reviews. I will certainly add latencymon to our list :)
Lunar white looks nice but worried in case it is harder to keep clean than black model. Is it a matte finish? Also how is backlighting with silver on white keys? Not ideal.
My Area 51 went back last week. Only 2mths old. It arrived ‘bent’, covered in white dust and had the monitor was replaced twice by a Dell contractor in that time. It was such a shame as I wanted to love it but when you lose faith and it messes you around, it’s time to say goodbye. What I can’t fault was Dells customer service. Super good 👍🏻
I ordered an X16 this year and it came with a slightly bent screen and a small flex in the center due to it. Customer service ordered a replacement and asked me to return the current laptop after the replacement arrives. Sucks that QC is so bad, but yes, Dell customer support did a great job rectifying the issue. All I had to do was spend 30 minutes on the phone and send a few pictures. They instantly processed a replacement
Hello, please what are the upgradability limits in terms of cpu and gpu of this Alienware Area 51M R2? Especially with this exact unit with the specs you reviewed
My Predator Laptop passed away yesterday, so I am looking for a replacement. I always wanted an Alienware laptop, so I looked around for a bit. I am currently deciding between the m17 R3 and this one. Which one would you recommend more?
Edit: I am a bit concerned about overheating, since that was the issue with the predator. Which one the better one in terms of temperature?
I actually did a video comparing both. Area 51m every time if you prefer performance lower heat and noise. Obviously portability is better on r3
@Mash IT does the area 51m r2 feel really heavy?? Is it sustainable for both gaming and studying?? Does it fit in a normal backpack?? And what's the battery life during desktop use only (studying or watching UA-cam)?? Plz reply
I think you would need specific bag for this bad boy, and it is heavy when you're carrying it with two bricks on your back. Battery life, to some reviewers, is quite bad. I'm planning to get it for gaming and studying too, and I personally think the M17 R3 would be a better option
Yes it feels pretty heavy for a 17” but if you have used desktop replacement from a couple of years ago the weight won’t be an issue, it only seems heavy as laptops have got lighter in the last couple of years. Battery is really terrible, maybe 2 hours light use. That aside the performance is out of this world. Think of it more as a desktop you
Can easily move rather than a laptop you are going to use on your lap and throw around. It will fit in larger 17” or 18” bags
@@MashITTech are the charging bricks of this laptop heavy?? A regular desktop use lasts only 2 hours?? I really like this bcoz u can upgrade or replace it's parts easily
@@VinhNguyen-yz5xn but I believe area 51m r2 is better than m17 r3 but m17 is lighter in weight. And u can upgrade the area 51m easily. Is m17 r3 really good? Is it not noisy? And which one's better between m15 r3 and m17 r3?? Also when is the next premium alienware laptop coming out??
@@zayd2346 I think the M17 R3 is still a decent laptop. Since it would be much easier for you to move it around, because our need is for both studying and gaming. And of course the Area 51M should be better in terms of performance, since it is heavier and bigger. For moving around I don't think it would be easy for everyone, so I think it depends on the user. Personally, I prefer the M17 to M15, because I like the bigger screen.
*Awesome review Mash! I really appreciate it. However, if you can compare a "Area-51m R2" VS "M17 R3" that would be excellent as I am confused which one to buy. Both of them are available as per the specifications that I am looking for. The thing that concerns me is the Weight and Fan noise on the Area 51 M R2 compared to M17 R3 although there is no scope for upgrading for M17 R3 and they are priced almost the same. Respect & Peace from Calcutta, West Bengal, India.*
Ha that’s spooky, I have started working on that review already! Should be ready in a day or so (takes quite a while to gather all the data and run benchmarks
hi i am also from india planing to buy area 51 r2 confused between older 144hz model what did you choose?
can you make a video with alienware graphic amp with area 51m vs the latest rtx 3080 laptop
Fantastic review. I have the 360Hz version of this laptop and so far it's been great. The 360Hz really makes a difference.
Oh wow! I really want to test the 360hz version. It’s such a beast of a machine
@@MashITTech Yeah it is a really nice upgrade. The difference may be negligible from a 300Hz to 360Hz but coming from a 144Hz, you can really see the refinement.
I know I am going to have to get one in for review sooner rather than later :)
@@MashITTech Sure. Looking forward to the review!
Ooh one more thing guys i have 240hz gaming laptop as well and want to tell you all that there is no difference between 240 and 300. 240 is already so fast that u can not notice the difference after that. And none of the gpu can hit 300 fps. Unless you really want to play overwatch at low settings. And i dont really think that u wanna buy 4000 dolar laptop and play at low settings 😁😁😁😁😁
Getting the 300hz RTX 2070 SUPER i7 10700 version along with 64gb of Hyper X ram from Best Buy next month hopefully depending on taxes. Working at Best Buy does have a bonus, as I get a little discount on it, but huge discount on the 3 year Geek Squad accidental damage plan. Later, gonna get the AGA and put my wife’s 2080 Super in when she upgrades her desktop GPU. Also gonna go i9 10900K.
Primary uses are gonna be gaming, video editing, graphic design, and 3D modeling and rendering. I am sure it will handle Unity like a champ!
Great review! Showed wife that this is the laptop for me, as size or weight or dual bricks are not a factor in it, and she actually agreed with me for once. Her reply also was “it’s pretty” XD
haha you have a great wife! My wife just rolls her eyes when she sees yet another laptop coming through the doors :)
Please give review on Lenovo Legion 7i and ThinkPad P15.
I just got the omen 15 with ryzen next then I will take a look for you
the Touchpad lights up? When I asked Dell support, they said the touchpad would not light up like the previous version
The support guys are useless!
@@MashITTech Indeed lol
I can't wait to get the Alienware Area-51m R2 gaming laptop 😃
Do you know what you are going to get? Make sure you get a good discount (via vouchers or chatting with customer service)
Does this have a non-glare display? At one point in the video, it looks quite reflective on the black edge ... I hope it doesn't have one of these "modern" glass-type surfaces ...?
Yes it has an anti glare screen, it’s just the studio lights we use are ridiculously bright and can put a glare on anything 😂 I am about to shoot a long term user review for this laptop and will try and get better screen images as we now have a better camera for our videos 👍
Hey there! Received my 3rd Area-51M R2, if you remember the first two had dead pixels. This time I went all out and bought the 10900k, the 2080 Super, the 4k screen, etc. Maybe you can give some advice? In Timespy, my CPU score is about 9800. My 10700k scored almost that if not higher. 14k is normal for the Area 51m R2. So for some reason, it runs like a dog on Timespy. Cinebench 20, I scored around 6100 which seems a little low, but not much. Any idea what's going on in Timespy? Hope I don't have to return a thitdni
Run cinebench with command centre open, put it on the fusion page and keep an eye on the cpu clock speeds and temps, let me know what you get. Also what profile are you running? Make sure it’s not on quiet or cool 👍
@@MashITTech Alright, after resetting, removing AWCC, etc. I finally found the problem using XTU. It is thermal throttling and current/edp limit throttling. I undervolted by 100 and it stopped throttling, but I haven't ran Timespy anymore. I ran CPUZ and it scored 577 single and 7232 multi. My question is this, is it normal for the 10900k to thermal throttle or did I get a bad chip? It hates timespy and refuses to score well in that.
I wonder if they are going to release an X51 or whatever they chose to call it. I feel like they are waiting so they can give the x17 time to sell plus pricing both would probably be a conundrum
That would be a dream come true for me, I love the x17 but still prefer my area 51m r2 due to the quiet large fans, amazing performance and loads of disk storage 👍
Hello. What do you think is better to buy please. X17 with i7 and rtx 3080 or the 51m i9 with the 2080 super. There is a difference of 900 usd. Both with fhd screens. Thanks
I actually have both of these as I love them both and need to decide which one to keep! I will actually do a video on it soon but as they are both great machines I would vote with my wallet! The 51m is on an amazing deal right now. Obviously you sacrifice portability and battery life but the cooling system is amazing and much quieter than the x17
@@MashITTech Hi. I just ordered one of the deals you mentioned, I went for with higher specs now I'm worried that there will be overheating issue as I read it somewhere. Can you comment on this?
Say you want to upgrade gpu, what do you do with the old one? I can't imagine there being many buyers for a mobile gpu since most laptops can't remove them.
Worse still it is not mxm so these only work in alienware. But it is still handy if your card breaks you can replace the card instead of whole motherboard but the upgrade dream is a lie
@@MashITTech you cannot upgrade any hardware on the area 51m?
@@lordsavior1559 theoretically you can - but dell don't even offer upgrades! so it's kind of pointless.
I can’t believe they gimped the 2070 in this. They make it seem like it’s meant to give full performance, but it doesn’t. Hopefully it at least has MUX
The 2080 super is 200w so I have no idea why they gimped the 2070. I need for a mux as it doesn’t use the intel gfx 👍
Hello! After a few months, and a few BIOS update too, is the core still hitting 4.6 GHz? Mine after a Bios update got limited to 2.9 GHz (I’m running the exact same setup) Please if you can let me know :)
Hello mate, mine has been running full speed with no issues. You haven’t set it to cool or quiet have you or maybe disabled turboboost?
@@MashITTech Thank you brotha! Well in my case effectively the BIOS ruined my multipliers on the base Processor Coding, was a bit complicated but through a third party program I was able to reestablish the original multipliers and the performance returned. Thank you for taking the time!
Received my area51m R2. Rtx2070, 32 gb ram, 10700k proc, 512 gb ssd. Wondering if you came across a really subtle sound (kinda feel like optical drive read/write). You wont even notice it unless you were in a quiet room and listen in closely to the fan area. Its not coming from the fans though. Just wondering if ud know what it is and if its ok to have that noise
What you are describing sounds like coil whine, unfortunately it is very common and a lot of laptops are affected in varying levels. It wasn’t noticeable on my unit but I have had it on plenty of machines in the past. It is totally harmless if the noise doesn’t bother you, if it does bother you could try and get the machine changed 👍
@@MashITTech hey got my area51m r2 -i9 10900k and rtx 2080 - got it upgraded after receiving coil whining on my original one. read a bit and i guess they are harmless as you suggested. this one has whining noises as well and throttles to 100 degrees as soon as i start playing games like far cry 5. any thoughts? urs doing the same thing? observed coil whining noise comin out of urs?
in your opinion is it worth opting for the 4k option?
only if you use the laptop for content creation more than gaming 👍
im finna win the lotto and buy this
Excellent review
Thank you 👍
This is a fantastic review of the Alienware Area-51m R2 gaming laptop
Thank you mate
@Mash IT Amazing review! I have one particular question before proceeding getting this. What is the exact weight of the laptop?
Hi Chris, thank you. The exact weight will depend on your configuration but ours was 4.7kg
@@MashITTech Thank you for reply, another question is if you use only the smaller power brick, does the battery discharge if you do simple browsing, desktop applications or even gaming?
On my 10700 and 2070 super I often just use a 240w brick (my config came with a huge 330 and small 180 adapter but I bought a 240w dell new type adapter (it’s rounded not like the old square one) and I regularly just use that adapter with 95% of the performance of the 2 brick setup and have noticed no battery drain. I haven’t tested it with just the 180w but when I get time I will 👍
@@MashITTech Hey, I decided to buy the exact same laptop with your speccs butt i am struggling with some buzzing noise coming from laptop.. Do you have this problem also? Can happen in browser or while gaming some buzzing noise.. I tried unpluging one of the 2 bricks the noise goes away, plugging back noise returns.
When you say not throttle do you mean no throttlestop, full speed, full wattage? I am running the M17 R4 and I have to use throttlestop while gaming or it overheats which is the worst. I am wondering if an Area 51 R2 would fix the heat issues and offer me slightly better performance in games?
Hi Seth, that is correct depending on the CPU you choose. I chose the 10700 as the chassis has no problems running the 8 core chip maxed out all day without throttling or overheating. If you buy the 10900k then yes it may throttles as that is a hot running 10 core chip.
Also you can still run throttle stop if you wish to get even better temps 👍
@@MashITTech wow, that's amazing and worth the extra size right there. Thanks!
Yep, I hate thin and light machines as they all throttle and I cannot stand the whiney fan noise. This laptop just has a nice whoosh of air. This is why it is my personal gaming laptop despite getting all the new 3000 series laptop into the studio
Just 1 question is a sd card a second memory does it boost the memory
No the sdcard is more for reading cards (ie from dslr cameras etc) the laptop has 2 ram slots for the actual ram plus m.2 ssd and 2.5” hdd space for storage
@@MashITTech o ok got it thanks
"All up gradable", only problem is this is R2 and nothing on that machine can actually fit in the R1 other than storage and RAM.
People who got the R1 got scammed and i expect the same from the R2 once Ampere comes out for laptops.
That is very true, I really hope the 3000 cards will be a drop on replacement as I can’t imagine they will make an r3 just for new gfx cards. But even though you can’t put newer gen cards in r1 you can still move from a lower tier card to a higher and replace a faulty card rather than an entire motherboard. I am in no way justifying what dell has done but there are still some benefits
I wouldnt really call it a scam. I have my reasons and predominantly revolves around maintenance and the shear cost of it in other laptops is going to be a killer once u gotta replace the entire motherboard for one small issue like wifi / ram / gpu burnouts. Also, u get unparalleled performance with this one here and some upgradeability. Forget the gpu, now with the 7mm chips, u wont even be able to replace the socketed intel procs come guess 11th or 12th gen.
@@schazilnajam6754 11th gen Intel can be a drop in replacement for Z490 boards so it's on Dell if those are not supported in a bios update.
Please is the Alienware Area 51m still worth buying in 2024?
I was thinking of getting this laptop but if the i7k vs i9k I was thinking of going with the i7 because I don't want the fans kicking up too high but would the performance be kind of the same as the i9? As for the rest I was just getting 2080 graphics and 64gb ram with 360hrz 1080p
I would definitely get the i7, it will give you the same performance in games and run much cooler. Your other specs look solid!
@@MashITTech lol thanks for the reply I jumped the gun lol got the i9 the hole system I got came out to be $3480 US dollars
Lol...If you got a good price I wouldn’t worry to much, if noise is an issue just use throttlestop to tweak the cpu to your liking
Max it now you will not be able to upgrade later as we previous 51m buyers learned the hard way..
However I still love my 51M its a beast...
Even though dell said we would be able to upgrade it.
I had the. A51m r1. I don’t think I’d buy another one though. The build quality wasn’t all there. The plastic bits around the screen and bezel scratch pretty easily.
Oh, I remember the original m15 had that problem. I didn't notice that issue on my r1, but I only kept it for 6 months, so maybe I didn't use it enough
A lot of the issues of the r1 are fixed here, from fit and finish (scratch resistant plastics and clear coated finish now on the chassis/shell) and cooling (vapor chamber instead of heatsinks).
Ok Dell...here's a question, all the units I've seen on UA-cam were shipped to the reviewers/customers with the 330W and 180W or so power bricks...why did mine with a 10700 and 2060 ship with dual 330W bricks? Not complaining about the extra power but did they realize that this thing needed more juice somewhere? Or did they run out of the lower wattage bricks when I placed my order? In any event...this a BEAST of a laptop, I added more storage to mine and instead of paying Dell $600 CAD to upgrade the RAM to 64Gb I did it for far cheaper myself. Not much these things can't do.
There is no way you should have had those bricks with that config, dell also screwed up one of my machines with incorrect power packs. I think it might be a supply issue. That said, you can buy smaller power packs pretty cheap off eBay if you want a smaller one
@@MashITTech yeah who knows why mine came with dual 330s...that said though I'm not going to complain cause they do allow it to run at full power when gaming and still get the battery charged up. It's an incredible machine for what it is though...
If it had a desktop-class gpu as well, then it is basically a prebuilt portable desktop PC
Yeah, the 2080 super with its higher power budget isn't far off! I wish they would update it with 3000 series
The Microsoft Precision touchpad might be better, but who needs better when you have RGB (especially when, as you pointed out, you’ll be using a mouse).
Haha, I so rarely use trackpads full stop. You can’t beat a decent mouse
@@MashITTech it would be crime not to have a mouse connected to that laptop when you’re at a desk, especially, if you’re playing games. That trackpad is more like a spare time. It keeps you going in an emergency, but not ideal for daily driving.
Yeah for sure. I happened to pick up a cheap razer basilisk in Mercury white and it matches the laptop beautifully 😁
Hello. What is the screen type of your computer? ips, led, lcd, led backlit lcd or vice versa, oled which of them? Thank you very much in advance.
The model we received was an IPS 144hz panel
@@MashITTech Hello. Thank you very much for your reply. I wonder if the screen of the same model with 4K is the IPS screen?
Yes it is 👍
@@MashITTech Thank you very much.
Enjoy your computer. When did you get it? I want to buy a laptop for a while. Mac mini by Apple has caught my attention a lot, but since the things I want are on the Windows and Nvidia-intel side, I will buy devices from this side. The alienware product we have is on my purchase list. I look at other companies, of course. The screen being IPS was very bad for me. I wonder if there is any laptop with oled 4k or lcd screen?
I’m looking for the white colour version to this in the uk but they only have the dark moon colour
I just checked dell U.K. and you can choose either colour on the configurator, just go the screen selection and choose the screen you want in lunar light (dells name for white).
Excellent review. I love mine!
I got the 4K version because content creation (photo/video) was/is more important than gaming for me. But it’s no slouch with the games I have played on it. (Mostly Forza 4 Horizons. LOL And the 4K refresh seems to handle Outriders as well.) Mine has the 8GB RTX 2080 Super.
I also opted for the 10900K CPU (10-core 3.7-5.3GHz) and 64GB RAM.
To round it out, I have a RAID 0 setup using 2 1TB PCIe M.2 SSDs as my main drive and 2 non-RAID PCIe M.2 1TB SSDs for content.
Like you, I too prefer a mouse for most things, but that pad is still quite handy.
I can easily recommend this beast IF one can afford it without breaking the bank (no sense on being foolish) AND one really is looking for a portable desktop replacement. It’s portable, but not really a “laptop.” It will smoke a lot of desktops out there, but it’s not cheap...and a quality backpack is almost a necessity (more $£€) what with two chunky power blocks and a mouse (+ pad) and, in my case, a power strip/surge protector.
Hi Gary, thanks for your thoughts. There really isn't enough love for this machine out there. My only regret is that I didn't get the 2080 super :(
One question that you may be able to help me with if you wouldn't mind, how does the laptop run on just the 330w? my 10700/2070 super gives me about 97% of the laptops performance on the 330w and was curious how the 2080 would perform
How long does the battery life last when doing simple task vs when gaming
Battery on this laptop is a joke. It’s more like a mobile UPS. Expect a couple of hours battery life doing very little. Mine is always plugged in
@@MashITTech I appreciate the reply, in your honest opinion what’s the best gaming laptop with a big screen but also has good battery life
Heads up for anyone looking to buy one... I’ve just had a nightmare with the Area 51M, I’ve just taken it out of the delivery box and it won’t run for more than 5 minutes without glitching out and crashing.
I’d also appreciate any advice as to what the problem actually is! I’ve uploaded a video to my channel detailing the problems and showing the glitching.
I will take a look shortly and see if I can suggest anything
This was a super helpful review thank you. I might get one
Glad it was helpful! 👍
Hi Mash IT. Great review thankyou for going into detail and being clear for less tech savvy guys like me haha. i currently own an 17 R5 but it's very much on it's last legs the GPU is failing it's only a matter of time before it dies. Anyway. This time around i wanted to go all out becase i can't keep upgrading every year or so so i need something with longevity. it has to be a long term investment. I ask about the 4k option as the 17 R5 is 2560-1440 but with this it's only 1080 or 4k still amazed no QHD option. I honestly didn't think it would bother me at all but it's difficult to go back to 1080p. Anyway im rambling haha apologies for the long winded question, i'd really appreciate your input. Thanks.
Ah, that makes sense now. Well if you can hold tight a little while, 1440p IPS 165hz panels have recently been released and I am sure Dell will add them soon. The reason I mentioned picking the 1080p over the 4k is that the current 4k is only 60hz. Once you have gone high refresh rate it is difficult to go back to 60
@@MashITTech Thanks for replying so quickly, that is good news however I hope they do as my 17 R5 died as of last night.😐
Bad news as I do have another gaming channel where I do let's plays and stream occasionally. The main reason I asked 4k was because I would use it for both content creation & gaming. Though I suppose I would be gaming more.
Oh no way what a nightmare! Have you considered a second display for your laptop or are you short of space? That way you could get a display for editing (a nice ultrawide or something)
@@MashITTech Yes a external moniter is an option, i just wasn't and forgive me sure wether an 1080p could output to a 4k monitor. But i guess it's got nothing to do with the actual screen but the power of the GPU/CPU?
At the moment i have my eye on the 51M R2 RTX 2080 super 144hz FHD etc.
I would hold out but with my laptop dying i cant record, so i do need something asap.
i guess that i wouldn't need to worry about upgrading the 51m R2 for a good while?
You can use what ever external or multiple external screens you want. You could have a 4K and ultrawide and internal screen if you wanted. The r2 is still an amazing machine, just try to get a good discount as I am sure they will want to sell the r2’s off before the r3 are released
Hey, whats better? Lenovo legion 5 pro(rtx 3060,5800h,16gb) or this?
Get the legion 5 pro
@@cherrymxistrash687 already did, lol
The 2070 version is on sale at best buy for $2000 and I am really tempted.
It is still an amazing machine. I love mine and I test a lot of laptops
@@MashITTech I think I'm going to return a razer blade I ordered on Prime Day to get it, seems like the better deal and fits my needs perfectly. Thanks for the great videos!
@@AtillatheHun I just bought the one that’s on sell today, I have to pick it up next Friday. I just returned my last one to Dell though, it had the rtx 2080, and the i9 10900k. It also had coil whine and thermal problems, paid 3500 for that one around 3 months ago. Waiting on my refund now.
If anyone can help, I'm considering getting one but I read on a review that the battery is an embarrassment like 90min on youtube with 50% visual capacity and all lights disabled and around 50min of gaming so this is basically a desktop with a screen built in and you have to constantly plug it right ? ( still can't figure out why there are 2 blocks ) What I'm really concerned about is the lifespan of the battery. If the computer is plugged 24-7 will it drain on the battery or will it still stands for 90min even one year on ?
hello mate, yes, this is a mobile desktop essentially so battery is terrible. If you plan on plugging in most of the time there is a setting in BIOS that helps keep your battery in tip top condition and should mean you get a good couple of years at full strength but batteries all degrade after a while
Gaming laptop aren't great with battery
... if you want a lasting laptop don't get a gaming laptop...
How do we upgrade the specs of machine can we do it ourselves or do we have to visit a store
You can do it yourself. Dell have a manual online and if you need help I am always here 👍 what are you looking to upgrade?
@@MashITTech nah i was just curious thanks though for your prompt response:)
@@MashITTech Subscribed to your channel:)
Thank you mate, welcome aboard :)
Any owners who have the i9 10900K version, what is temps like? Any issues, hope you are happy with it.
Is it better to get 51 R2 or m17 R4 or wait for m51 R3 ❓
Personally I would wait for the r3 or get a deal on the r2
@@MashITTech I am also looking forward to 1440p display on the M51. For now RTX 30 Series is an overkill for 1080p.
Hey guys I have this laptop as well 300hz version rtx 2080 super with core i7 10700 I just wanted to ask you guys. Are you sure that the graphics carrd will be upgradable for the 3000 series? Last yeat for m1 they advertised that it would be upgradable cpu and gpu but none of those happened since intel changed the cpu socket and they did not even sell the gpu upgrade kits. That was really big disappointment. Probably 11th gen intel will stay at 1200 socket so i can upgrade. Do you guys know for sure if you can upgrade this laptop to rtx 3000 series?
Unfortunately at this time nobody knows. We will have to wait for 3000 series mobile to launch and then hope dell keeps the form factor the same
Would it make more sense to upgrade internal graphics card or just go external in a year or two from now when it’s getting outdated?
Personally I always go for the best price to performance ratio card I can afford when I buy the machine. And yes, grab an external when the machine is no longer keeping up with the games or apps you use. The graphics amp performs better than a egpu although not as convenient
Dude I want it so freakin bad
It is an amazing machine! This is still my personal gaming laptop despite getting all the new models in the studio
I want to know adout the overheating problem with alienware my last alineware laptop broke cause of its overheating so I move to asus r.o.g n I have no problem but I want to see if they are slove
Well in my model (i7 10700 & 2070) the temps were great, there will be no issues with that one. If you get the i9 and 2080 super it may be hotter as they use more watts but I didn't get to test that model
Can i fit a 3080 in there or will it not work ?
Hi Julian, I am sorry but we do not know yet, Dell hasn't released the area 51m r3 with the 3000 series yet, once they do we will be able to see if they will also work in our current r2 machines
Thanks
I had both the r1 with a 9700 non K with a 2080rtx and the r2 with the super and 10700k I sent the R2 back since the R1 outperformed it. I cant figure it out. I think it may be because the CPU in the R1 is more overclockable. The super is the biggest flop of an upgraded GPU I've ever seen.
No it is because dell in their infinite wisdom decided to give the r2 a lower TGP! 150w for 2080 and 115w for the 2070. I guess they decided to play it safe
Oh..thanks for clearing that up for me bro. Yeah...I actually had to repaste and add pads to my 2080 after playing the Crysis remastered. It started overheating. Luckily it didn't damage the GPU. Since I'm still running at full specs with the old Alienware control center drivers. I knew I shouldn't have tried to max out ray tracing lol Do you think it would be worth upgrading the CPU from non K 9700 to a 9900k. I'm kind of leary of it. I'm thinking it might cause too high of intenal temps.
If it is just for gaming I wouldn't waste your time! most games won't even max out a 9700's 8 cores. And the 9900k runs pretty hot!
@@MashITTech Thanks for getting back. That's what I figured from doin research. I have a 1440p monitor so I should be good for awhile. I'll probably upgrade with my amplifier to the 6800xt in a year when they're more available. I heard the 3080 won't work with it. I should be alright with the 480 watt power supply. It's only PCI 3.0 but supposeably there's only minor drops in performance.
Is it possible to change the core?
Yes as long as it is 10th gen. what have you got now?
M17R4 vs. Area 51m R2
I was planning on this but we gave our original r4 back and I am still waiting for the new r4 with mechanical keyboard! Hopefully it won’t be long
This guy has a talking pattern of Goedon Ramsay
Not totally upgradable. I wanted to get one of these, but the GPU isn't RTX3000 future proof. Even though Dell uses the same form factor for their GPU. Makes no sense in getting a 2080 super if you have a 2070 super. And the ram XMP is Dell only. The BIOS is also locked out on changing ram timings. The 2 power bricks needs to go back to the drawing board. Hopefully the next generation has these things fixed.
Volume suck or is it my phone?
Do you mean the laptops speakers or my audio?
They lost me at "2 power bricks"....
Yep that is a real shame. With the config I ordered there is no way it needs more than a single 330w
why is he calling those bricks?
Sorry, might be an English thing, we often call them power bricks, probably because it looks like a brick 😂
@@MashITTech is it the same thing with tower? or is that an official thing to call it?
Yes, I guess it’s the same thing 😃
if only it had a 1440p display :/
Now 1440p ips high refresh panels have been released I am hoping we will see the option added soon
How much it cost lol
a kidney :)
تبي مقاطع ضحك؟ شوف قناتي
Hmmmmmmm, review can't be trusted, didn't say anything negative about the Alienware Control Centre software, which is the worst (mandatory) software ever created.
Haha thanks. Although I partially agree with you, it’s not the best software and in fact I preferred the old command centre. Once you get it updated and setup how often do you really need to use it?
I could say the same about razer synapse 3 which is also pretty dire imho. PS, I have moved about command centre in my other reviews if it helps 😂
@@MashITTech It's a nice review, don't get me wrong! Well presented, professionally filmed.
I've owned 2 recent Dell machines with a third on it's way, depending on the machine and how it's being used definitely changed the frequency in which you open the manager.
For the G5 15 laptop that I own I find myself opening the Alienware Command Center a lot as if I am using the machine to answer emails I do not need it to be trying to push 4ghz performance through my CPU, and similarly I don't need it to be running the fans at 100%, however if I am playing a game I would need to set the Power Performance to High and the thermal performance to balanced or max. So I find myself opening this software a lot.
Conversely, prior to the Dell G5 I owned an Acer Predator, it doesn't have different thermal profiles because it simply scales fan and CPU performance on it's own.
Opening and closing AWCC isn't an issue in itself, but in the 7 months I have owned the G5 the AWCC has broken due to udpates about 10 times, and some of those times required me to use Revo Uninstaller to completely purge my machine of the AWCC just so I could get it to work again, issues include Alienware FX devices not being found, Thermal Temperatures not being monitored, permanent spinning wheels when loading up the program and being unable to change the thermal profile.
If you uninstall AWCC the system does not revert to a windows managed solution, rather it remains on whatever fan profile you had it on last and so causes all kinds of issues.
It's really, unforgivably poorly designed.
Now, I have another Dell on it's way (The very one in your review I might add) as it's benchmarks exceed the 3080 Max Q laptops that are being released currently. But man oh man, they really need to tackle their software.
It's also worth noting that the up-gradable component feature of this unit is a bit of a sham, the R2 will only be able to be upgraded within the 20 series, the Alienware Graphics Amplifier does not function with the 30 series cards and has been discontinued. The new M17 with 3080 features an Alienware Graphics Amplifier port, but Dell have said there are absolutely no plans to refresh the Graphics Amplifier.
Somewhat dishonest marketing, given that when I purchased my system (and on the current website) the AGA port is listed as a feature, but you cannot buy one and it would not offer support for a more powerful one than is in the laptop to begin with.
Just throwing that into the mix you know. I think it's all worth mentioning to potential buyers.
.
Hello!?
I returned mine… heavy af 🤣
Haha it is heavy! What are you getting instead?
@@MashITTechnot sure yet, either the new Ryzen m15 or wait it out for the m17 ryzen 🤙🏽
Well I have a m15 r5 on the way so we shouldn’t be too long for a review! I haven’t heard any news on a 17” Ryzen yet. Dell are doing an announcement tomorrow so fingers crossed but I expect it will be an 11th gen laptop