Alienware M15 R5 vs. Alienware M17 R4: Full specs comparison

We have comprehensively analyzed the technical specifications for the Alienware M15 R5 and Alienware M17 R4 models. Our report includes intricate details such as the CPU, memory, storage, battery life, display quality, and other features.

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Alienware M15 R5 image

Alienware M15 R5

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Alienware M17 R4

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Alienware M15 R5 Pros

Reasons that Alienware M15 R5 is better than Alienware M17 R4.

Slightly faster CPU performance

AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX inside Alienware M15 R5 has a 9% better multi-core CPU performance score than the Intel Core i9-10980HK inside Alienware M17 R4.

Geekbench 5 multi-core score
Alienware M15 R5 - AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX
7,663
Alienware M15 R5 - AMD Ryzen 7-5800H
7,098
Alienware M17 R4 - Intel Core i9-10980HK
7,013
Alienware M17 R4 - Intel Core i7-10870H
6,596
Supports faster memory

Alienware M15 R5 supports a faster memory speed than the Alienware M17 R4. It supports up to 3200MHz versus 2933MHz of system memory on the Alienware M17 R4.

Memory type and speed
Alienware M15 R5 - DDR4
3,200 MHz
Alienware M17 R4 - DDR4
2,933 MHz
Upgradable memory

Alienware M15 R5 comes with two SODIMM slots that allow you to replace or upgrade when needed. On the flip side, you can't upgrade RAM on the Alienware M17 R4 since it has onboard memory.

MemoryAlienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Slots
x2
Onboard
TypeDDR4DDR4

Alienware M17 R4 Pros

Reasons that Alienware M17 R4 is better than Alienware M15 R5.

10% larger display

Alienware M17 R4 has a 17.3-inch screen size 10% larger than the 15.6-inch Alienware M15 R5.

Display size
Alienware M17 R4
17.3-inch
Alienware M15 R5
15.6-inch

Key Similars

Similar characteristics share between Alienware M15 R5 and Alienware M17 R4.

Supports the same maximum memory size of up to 32GB

Both laptops supports up to 32GB of system memory.

Max system memory size
Alienware M15 R5
32 GB
Alienware M17 R4
32 GB

Prices

Here are the latest price updates and offers for both devices.

Alienware M15 R5 AMD Ryzen Price
Alienware M17R5 Gaming Laptop - 17.3-inch FHD 480Hz Display, AMD Ryzen 9-6900HX, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GDDR6, Windows 11 Home, 1 Year Support - Dark Side of the Moon, Black
 Alienware M17R5 Gaming Laptop - 17.3-inch FHD 480Hz Display, AMD Ryzen 9-6900HX, 32GB DDR5 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 GDDR6, Windows 11 Home, 1 Year Support - Dark Side of the Moon, Black
By Alienware
$1,979.97
See at Amazon
Dell Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition Gaming Laptop (2021) | 15.6" 360Hz FHD | Core Ryzen 7-512GB SSD Hard Drive - 16GB RAM - RTX 3070 | 8 Cores @ 4.4 GHz - 8GB GDDR6 Win 11 Home (Renewed)
 Dell Alienware m15 R5 Ryzen Edition Gaming Laptop (2021) | 15.6" 360Hz FHD | Core Ryzen 7-512GB SSD Hard Drive - 16GB RAM - RTX 3070 | 8 Cores @ 4.4 GHz - 8GB GDDR6 Win 11 Home (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,466.07
See at Amazon
Dell Alienware m17 Ryzen Edition R5 Gaming Laptop (2022) | 17.3" FHD | Core Ryzen 9 - 1TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3060 | Cores - 12GB GDDR6 Win 11 Home (Renewed)
 Dell Alienware m17 Ryzen Edition R5 Gaming Laptop (2022) | 17.3" FHD | Core Ryzen 9 - 1TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3060 | Cores - 12GB GDDR6 Win 11 Home (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,090.99
See at Amazon
Alienware M17 R4 Price
Alienware m17 R4, 17.3 inch FHD (Full HD) Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-10870H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home - Lunar Light
 Alienware m17 R4, 17.3 inch FHD (Full HD) Gaming Laptop - Intel Core i7-10870H, 16GB DDR4 RAM, 1TB SSD, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 6GB GDDR6, Windows 10 Home - Lunar Light
By Alienware
$2,399.00
See at Amazon
Dell Alienware m17 R4 Gaming Laptop (2021) | 17.3" FHD | Core i7-2TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3070 | 8 Cores @ 5 GHz - 10th Gen CPU - 8GB GDDR6 Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
 Dell Alienware m17 R4 Gaming Laptop (2021) | 17.3" FHD | Core i7-2TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3070 | 8 Cores @ 5 GHz - 10th Gen CPU - 8GB GDDR6 Win 10 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,659.83
See at Amazon
Dell Alienware m17 R4 Gaming Laptop (2021) | 17.3" FHD | Core i7 - 1TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3060 | 8 Cores @ 5 GHz - 10th Gen CPU - 12GB GDDR6 Win 11 Pro (Renewed)
 Dell Alienware m17 R4 Gaming Laptop (2021) | 17.3" FHD | Core i7 - 1TB SSD - 16GB RAM - RTX 3060 | 8 Cores @ 5 GHz - 10th Gen CPU - 12GB GDDR6 Win 11 Pro (Renewed)
By Dell
$1,485.99
See at Amazon

Specs Comparison

Availability

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Released20212021
Release DateAnnounced on April 20, 2021
  • Announced on January 12, 2021 (CES 2021)
  • Available on January 26, 2021
Pricing-Starting at $2,149.99
Generations

Exterior

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Dimensions14.02” x 10.73” x 0.47 - 0.76” (356.20 x 272.50 x 12 - 19.25 mm)15.74” x 11.585” x 0.6618 - 0.87 - 0.8154” (399.8 mm x 294.26 mm x 16.9 - 22 - 20.71 mm)
Weight5.34 - 5.93 lbs (2.42 - 2.69 kg)Starting at 5.51 lbs (2.50 kg) up to 6.55 lbs (2.97 kg)
ColorsDark Side of the Moon with High Endurance Clear Coat and Silky Smooth Finish
  • Dark Side of the Moon with High Endurance Clear Coat
  • Lunar Light with High Endurance Clear Coat
Keyboard and Trackpad
  • Keyboard
    • Alienware mSeries 4-Zone AlienFX RGB keyboard.
    • RGB per-key backlit Cherry mechanical keyboard.
    • AlienFX lighting
    • Includes anti-ghosting and N-key rollover technology
    • 1.8mm key travel
    • 0.2mm-dish concave key design
  • Touchpad
    • 4.13 x 2.36 in (105 mm x 80 mm) precision touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.
  • Keyboard
    • Alienware mSeries 4-Zone AlienFX RGB keyboard.
    • Alienware mSeries keyboard with per-key RGB LED.
  • AlienFX lighting
  • Includes anti-ghosting and N-key rollover technology
  • 1.7mm key travel
  • 0.2mm-dish concave key design
  • 4.13 x 2.36 in (105 mm x 80 mm) precision touchpad with multi-touch gesture support.

Display

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Size15.6 Inches17.3 Inches
Info
  • 15.6” FHD with 165Hz
    1920 x 1080 141 PPI 9ms response time 300 nits 16:9 100% sRGB color gamut 1000:1 Anti-glare WVA 6W
  • 15.6” FHD with 360Hz
    1920 x 1080 141 PPI 5ms response time 300 nits 16:9 100% sRGB color gamut 1000:1 Anti-glare WVA 8W
  • 15.6” QHD with 240Hz
    2560 x 1440 188 PPI 9ms response time 400 nits 16:9 99% DCI-P3 color gamut 1000:1 Anti-glare WVA 10W
  • 17.3” FHD with 144Hz 
    1920 x 1080 127 PPI 7ms response time 300 nits 16:9 72% NTSC NVIDIA G-SYNC Technology 600:1 contrast ratio Anti-glare WVA
  • 17.3” FHD with 360Hz
    1920 x 1080 127 PPI tms response time 300 nits 16:9 100% sRGB color gamut NVIDIA G-SYNC Technology 700:1 Anti-glare WVA
  • 17.3” UHD with 60Hz
    3840 x 2160 255 PPI 25ms response time 500 nits 16:9 100% Adobe RGB 1 200:1 contrast ratio 12W max Tobii Eyetracking technology WVA

Ports

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Alienware M15 R5 Ports
Image Source: Dell
  • 1 x USB-C 3.2 Gen 2 with DisplayPort
  • 2 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 Port
  • 1 x USB-A 3.2 Gen 1 port with PowerShare
  • 1 x RJ-45
  • 1 x HDMI 2.1
    Supports up to 4K@120Hz display out.
  • 1 x Headset port
  • 1 x Power/DC-in Port
Alienware M17 R4 Ports
Image Source: Dell
  • 1 x Thunderbolt™ 3 Port
    Supports USB Type-C™ with support for USB 3.2 Gen 2 10Gbps, 40Gbps Thunderbolt, and DisplayPort 1.2.
  • 2 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 Port
  • 1 x Type-A USB 3.2 Gen 1 port with PowerShare technology
  • 1 x RJ-45 Ethernet port
  • 1 x Alienware Graphics Amplifier Port
  • 1 x HDMI 2.1
    Supports up to 4K@120Hz display out.
  • 1 x Mini-Display Port 1.4 (certified) Output Port
  • 1 x Audio Out 1/8" Ports (Compatible with inline mic headset)
  • 1 x Wedge-shaped lock slot (cable and lock sold separately)
  • 1 x microSD 5.1, UHD-II HD312 Card Reader
  • 1 x Power/DC-in Port

Internal Specs

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Processor
  1. AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 3.20 → 4.40 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 16MB L3 Cache, 45W
  2. AMD Ryzen™ 9 5900HX
    8 cores, 16 threads, 3.30 → 4.60 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 16MB L3 Cache, 45W
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10870H
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.20 → 5.00 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK
    8 cores, 16 threads, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz, 16MB SmartCache, 45W
Integrated Graphics
  1. AMD Ryzen™ 7 5800H
    AMD Radeon™ Graphics
    8 Graphics Cores, 2000 MHz
  2. AMD Ryzen™ 9 5900HX
    AMD Radeon™ Graphics
    8 Graphics Cores, 2100 MHz
  1. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i7-10870H
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1200 MHz
  2. 10th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-10980HK
    Intel® UHD Graphics 630
    24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Memory
8 GB 16 GB 32 GB
3200MHz Dual-channel DDR4 SDRAM.
2 x SO-DIMM slots.
8 GB 16 GB 32 GB
2933 MHz Dual-channel DDR4 RAM.
Discrete Graphics
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3050 Ti
    4GB GDDR6 VRAM.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060
    6GB GDDR6 VRAM.
  • NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3070
    8GB GDDR6 VRAM.
NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3000 series
Storage2 x M.2 2230/2280 slots (Up to 2TB each)Available Slots
  • One M.2 2230 slot (Up to 512GB)
  • Two M.2 2230/2280 slots (Up to 2TB each)
Single Drive
  • 256 GB PCIe M.2 SSD
  • 512 GB PCIe M.2 SSD
  • 1 TB PCIe M.2 SSD
  • 2 TB PCIe M.2 SSD
RAID-0
  • 512GB (2x256 PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0
  • 1TB (2x 512 PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0
  • 2TB (2x 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0
  • 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0
RAID-0 Plus
  • 1TB (2x 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 [Boot] + 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD [Storage]
  • 2TB (2x 1TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 [Boot] + 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD [Storage]
  • 4TB (2x 2TB PCIe M.2 SSD) RAID0 [Boot] + 512GB PCIe M.2 SSD [Storage]

Connectivity

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Wi-FiRivet Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650x
Dual Band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz Up to 2400 Mbps WiFi 6 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax
  • Rivet Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i
    Dual Band 2.4 GHz/5 GHz up to 2400 Mbps, WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n/ac/ax.
BluetoothBluetooth 5.2
  • Rivet Killer Wi-Fi 6 AX1650i › Bluetooth 5.1
EthernetGigabit Ethernet Controller
Transfer rate: 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps
  • Killer™ Ethernet E3100X PCI-e Gigabit ethernet controller
    Transfer rate: 10/100/1000/2500 Mbps

Battery

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Size
  • 56 WHr, 3-cell smart lithium-ion battery
  • 86 WHr, 6-cell smart lithium-ion battery
86 WHr, 6-cell smart lithium-ion with Alienware Battery Defender
Power Supply
180W 240W
power adapter.
  • 240W power adapter
  • 330W power adapter

Software

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
OS
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Upgradable to Windows 11
Windows 10 Home Windows 10 Pro
Upgradable to Windows 11
Built-in Apps
  • Alienware Command Center
    Supports AlienFX lighting, Game
    Library with auto-tune game profile functionality.
  • Alienware Adrenalin
  • Alienware Mobile Connect
  • Microsoft Office 365 (30-day trial)
  • Alienware Command Center
    Supports AlienFX lighting, Game
    Library with auto-tune game profile functionality.
  • Alienware Adrenalin
  • Alienware Mobile Connect
  • Microsoft Office 365 (30-day trial)

Camera & Audio

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
CameraFront-facing camera
Alienware HD (1280x720 resolution) camera.
Front-facing camera
Alienware FHD (1920x1080 resolution) camera.
Audio
  • Controller: Realtek ALC3254
    • 7.1 Digital Audio out using HDMI out connection
    • Alienware Sound Center via Alienware Command Center
  • Speakers:
    • 2 x 2W speakers
  • Microphone:
    • Dual-array microphones
  • Controller: Realtek ALC3281-CG
    • 7.1 Digital Audio out using HDMI out connection
    • Alienware Sound Center via Alienware Command Center
  • Speakers:
    • 2-Way (Woofer/Tweeter) Stereo Speaker Design
    • Includes Discrete Smart Amp Woofer technology
  • Microphone:
    • Digital-array microphones in the camera assembly

Misc

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
Sensors-
  • Tobii Eyetracking technology (optional)
Security-
  • Wedge-shaped lock slot
  • Trusted Protection Module
More-CHASIS
  • Based on Alienware's Legend industrial design language
  • Engineered with Alienware's Advanced Cryo-Tech Cooling technology
  • Engineered with HyperEfficient Voltage Regulation
  • Constructed with a Magnesium Alloy exterior shell and copper alloy thermal components

Key Features

Alienware M15 R5Alienware M17 R4
At Glance
Released in Early
2021
16:9 QHD
15.6”
1440p 240Hz
Weight
5.34 lb
2.42 kg
Up to
AMD Ryzen 9-5900HX
8C/16T, 3.30 → 4.60 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,416
Single Core
Geekbench 5
7,663
Multi-Core
With integrated
AMD Radeon™ Graphics
8 Graphics Cores, 2100 MHz
Upgradable up to
32GB
3200 MHz DDR4
Alienware M15 R5 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
RTX 3070
8GB GDDR6
Released in Early
2021
16:9 FHD
17.3”
1080p 360Hz
Weight
5.51 lb
2.50 kg
Up to
Intel Core i9-10980HK
8C/16T, 2.40 → 5.30 GHz
Geekbench 5
1,223
Single Core
Geekbench 5
7,013
Multi-Core
With integrated
Intel® UHD Graphics 630
24 Execution Units, 350 → 1250 MHz
Configurable up to
32GB
2933 MHz DDR4
Alienware M17 R4 Ports
Nvidia GeForce
RTX 3080
8GB GDDR6

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