Alienware's getting a major power up thanks to Intel. Both the 15 and 17-inch iterations of the popular gaming laptops are getting a Coffee Lake-infused shot in the arm. You read that correctly, both the Alienware 15 and 17 are getting 8th Gen Intel processors, transforming them into multitasking monsters to match their gaming brawn. The Alienware 15 and 17 are available now starting at $2,399.99 and $3,699.99. Or if you can wait until April 10, you can snag both laptops at Best Buy starting at $1,499.99 for the 15 and $1,599.99 for the 17.
So aside from getting 8th gen Intel CPUs, what makes these new Alienwares so special. Well for starters, there's a new color for that anodized aluminum chassis -- Epic Black. You'll also get some extra zones to color customize as Alienware is adding three additional spots for a grand total of 13 zones. In addition, Alienware is greatly expanding the color choices from 20 to a whopping 16.8 million hues.
Display-wise Alienware is going to start you out with a 1920 x 1080 display on each system and work its way up to a 4K panel. And like the previous model, the Alienware 17 will feature a Tobii eye tracker so you can sharpen up your game.
So let's talk about those new 8th-gen processors. According to Intel, these new chips are the closest you can get to desktop performance in a mobile system. The first mobile chips to feature six cores, the new processors can boost frames per second up to 41 percent compared to last-gen processors.
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The 15 and 17 will offer Core i5 and i7 options as well as Core i9. Systems packing the Core i9 can be overclocked to a whopping 5-GHz, a first for Alienware laptops. As far as GPUs, the laptops will feature Nvidia's Pascal chips. In order to keep things cool, Dell has retooled the cooling system, with 50 percent thinner blades with a vapor chamber and Alienware's Cyro Tech v2.0.
So you're going to need some software to go with all that fancy new hardware. Alienware has revamped the Alienware Command Center giving the software a more streamlined look. In addition to customizing your laptop's lighting, the new Command Center will also help you overclock the CPU and GPU as well as allow you to launch all your games with your custom settings from the software.
I'm eager to get both systems into the lab and put them through their paces on the gaming, productivity and multitasking fronts. I'm also very curious to see how the battery life will hold up with against all those powerful components.
