Alienware M11x R2 review

Alienware’s M11x isn’t your usual ultraportable. Most laptops fed by low-voltage processors shudder at the mere thought of 3D gaming, but Alienware’s miniature portable practically salivates at the prospect.

It isn’t long since we reviewed the M11x, but mere months later it’s gone under the knife at Alienware HQ and emerged as the M11x R2. Visually, it’s almost identical, cutting the same bold, futuristic dash as its predecessor. We’re definitely fans of the new Stealth Black lid, though: its smooth, rubbery-feeling matte-black looks far classier than the glossy grey of its predecessor.

Underneath the moody black contours, the M11x R2 has undergone some serious internal upgrades. Intel’s Core 2 architecture has made way for Intel’s Core i5 and i7 ULV chips, and, most importantly, Nvidia’s automatic graphics switching technology, Optimus, now takes a central role.

As a laptop destined to lead dual lives – one-half energy-efficient ultraportable and one-half mighty gaming pipsqueak – Nvidia’s Optimus makes the perfect partner. It’s Optimus that now allows the M11x R2 to switch seamlessly and automatically between the power-frugal Intel HD graphics and the power-hungry Nvidia GT335 chipset. Fire up a game, and the GT335 leaps into action. Fire up Microsoft Word, and Intel takes the lead.

Where Nvidia’s Optimus adds some finesse to the proceedings, Intel’s Core i5 and i7 ULV processors add a bit of brawn. Our review unit came with the more affordable 1.06GHz Core i5-520UM, 4GB of RAM and a stupidly overpriced Samsung 256GB SSD. Dump the SSD and you’ll save £505 right away; more than enough to afford the £180 upgrade to the 1.2GHz Core i7-640UM.

A processor rated at a mere 1.06GHz might sound like a return to the days of the Pentium III, but the Core i5-520UM has all the usual tricks up its sleeve. TurboBoost is capable of shunting the processor up to a maximum of 1.86GHz and, while it’s a mere dual-core processor, those two physical cores are accompanied by virtual Hyper-Threaded cores allowing up to four processing threads at once. The results speak for themselves. The previous model with its Core 2 Duo SU4100 overclocked to 1.73GHz managed just 0.85 in our benchmarks; the Core i5 cruised to 1.10 at stock speed.

Overclocking remains an intrinsic part of the Alienware’s appeal. The previous model provided the ability to run at stock speeds or at a set CPU overclock of 1.73GHz, but with nothing in-between there was little scope for tweaking. And with no guarantee: you either had a CPU capable of a stable overclock, or not. The new BIOS improves matters by allowing the base clock to be pushed up from its standard 133MHz to 166MHz in 1MHz increments. The results still depend very much on the particular CPU, but pushing up to 146MHz left the Core i5-520UM running at 1.17GHz and TurboBoosting to 2.04GHz, and increased its score in our benchmarks to 1.15.

The M11x R2 pushes well ahead of its predecessor in application performance, but our gaming benchmarks weren’t quite the game, set and match we expected. In our least-demanding Crysis test – run at 1,024 x 768 and with detail set to Low – the Alienware managed just 44fps; significantly below the previous model’s average of 55fps. All the evidence points towards the CPU being the limiting factor. As we moved the resolution up to 1,600 x 1,200 pixels and upped the detail to High, the graphics card became the bottleneck, the M11x R2 averaging 14fps, neck-and-neck with its previous incarnation.

Other titles such as Dirt 2 and Left 4 Dead 2 seemed to show some improvement, however. Left 4 Dead 2 seemed to run a little more smoothly than before: at the display’s native 1,366 x 768 resolution and Medium detail, hectic firefights no longer left the frame rate dipping below 30fps. Dirt 2 also seemed to take to the extra grunt of the Core i5 processor, with noticeably smoother action allowing us to push some detail settings from their Medium settings to High.

Apart from the updated hardware inside, much of the Alienware M11x’s DNA, good and bad, has been transplanted into the R2. The foremost complaint is that, for an ultraportable, it’s still pretty heavy at 2.04kg. The accompanying build quality reassures that it won’t fall apart anytime soon, though; it feels more capable of withstanding violence than the average ultraportable.

Spend a little time with the M11x R2 and it’s difficult not to fall in love. Yes, there are complaints, but there’s nothing critical. The keyboard, for example, is pretty darned good. The narrow keys won’t be the greatest match for chubby fingers, but the solid, quality feel and good layout make typing a breeze. The speakers, too, are great for their purposes. High fidelity they most certainly aren’t, but there’s enough clarity and volume to make a good fist of game and movie soundtracks.

The 12.1in display offers definite room for improvement, though. Image quality is acceptable, but colours are a touch subdued and it lacks the punch and vibrancy that the rest of the M11x R2’s hardware deserves. Factor in the exceedingly glossy glass layer over the top, and we can’t help wishing that Alienware offered a higher specification display as an optional extra.

Nvidia’s Optimus is also a little underwhelming. When it works it just invisibly goes about its business, as it should. Sometimes, however, it just doesn’t work at all. Some games we tried didn’t trigger the Nvidia chip into action, leaving us having to manually add links to their executables in the Nvidia Control Panel. And it can’t do anything about the increased power draw from Intel’s new low-voltage processors – light-use battery life shrank to 6hrs 43mins; well behind the 9hrs and 12mins of the previous model.

With quality ultraportables available for less than half the price, the Alienware fits into a defiantly tiny niche all its own. Intel’s Core i5 and i7 now offer enough power for it to be considered a competent all-rounder, there’s enough stamina to fulfil its ultraportable requirements and, despite a few bugs here and there, Nvidia’s Optimus shows an immense amount of promise. At £1,246 exc VAT it’s too expensive, but that’s easily remedied. Dump the 256GB SSD in favour of a mechanical 250GB HDD and, at £816 exc VAT, the Alienware M11x R2 goes straight to the top of our Christmas list.

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