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The Alienware 16 Space-51 is a gaming laptop computer from Dell, however do not let that idiot you. Whereas Dell laptops are reliably mundane (and mundanely dependable) underneath their very own model title, when one arrives bearing the Alienware title tag, issues usually tackle a extra thrilling, extra chaotic kind, as Dell’s engineers have their shackles unbolted to go completely bonkers on design and efficiency, the place delicate aesthetics are yeeted out the closest window and restraint is left within the mud.Sure, I’ve discovered that previously, this has typically led to subpar ergonomics for anybody from exterior the core audience of devoted players, and even fundamental system stability points as processors, graphics playing cards and different {hardware} and software program are cranked to inside an inch of their life in the hunt for final efficiency.However after they work as meant, hoo boy are Alienware laptops enjoyable to make use of.So, does the not-at-all-subtly-named Alienware 16 Space-51 laptop computer, filled with the Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX processor and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, each on the prime of their respective product strains, endure from the identical unwanted side effects as its ancestors? I had it for quite a few weeks to make use of for intensive photo- and video-editing in addition to some AAA gaming, after all, to seek out out.Alienware 16 Space-51 Gaming Laptop computer at Dell Applied sciences UK for £1,999.01Key specificationsSwipe to scroll horizontallyCPU:Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX (24-core, 36MB complete cache, 2.7-5.4GHz)NPU:Built-in AI boostGraphics:NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 (24GB)Reminiscence:32GB DDR5 (6400MT/s)Storage:2TB SSDScreen measurement:16inScreen kind:IPSResolution:2560 x 1600pxRefresh fee:240HzColour gamut (measured):99% DCI-P3Brightness (measured):488 nitsPorts:2x Thunderbolt 5, 2x USB-A, 1x HDMI 2.1, 1x SD card slot, 1x headset jackWireless connectivity:Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 5.4Dimensions:365 x 290 x 28.5mmWeight:3.4kgDesign, construct and show
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)• Aggressively designed chassis• HeavyAlienware laptops really feel just like the cumulative impact of all of the restraint that goes into making Dell’s extra business-focused laptops. All of it will get pent up after which unleashed on those with the alien head brand on them. And the Alienware 16 Space-51 isn’t any completely different.As befits a real flagship gaming laptop computer, there’s treasured little subtlety about right here. The casing is a mixture of metallic and refined plastic over a sturdy metallic chassis, with a protruding lip out from behind the monitor (to accommodate all that graphics energy, see). The lid options an RGB-lit Alienware brand and nothing else, there’s an RGB strip lining the port-heavy bottom, the keyboard has per-key RGB as properly, and even the touchpad is lit in each customisable color of the rainbow.Each day design information, critiques, how-tos and extra, as picked by the editors.It is also large. Even the smaller 16-inch mannequin weighs an enormous 3.4 kilos, outmuscled solely by thUnlike the equally understated (and even heavier) Overclockers Pinnacle I examined just lately, although, there’s not a full-size keyboard on the 16-inch mannequin (the 18-incher will get a numpad, to be truthful). Nevertheless, it does imply that the keys are properly spaced throughout the working floor, and as befits any self-respecting product from the Home of Dell, the keys have a very good responsiveness to them, although the touchpad on my evaluation unit did really feel slightly flimsier than a demanding inventive would in all probability prefer it. There may be the proviso that it is a media-review unit, although, so it should have been by the fingers of a number of journalists, a few of whom could also be even much less delicate than I’m.It is also generously port-heavy, with a headphone jack on the aspect, and the remainder of the ports lined alongside the again (for a pleasant, clear desk, everyone sigh pleasantly please). These embody two Thunderbolt 5 on my evaluation unit (however could be TB 4 should you’re getting the lower-spec 5070-fitted mannequin), two USB-A ports, an SD card slot and an HDMI 2.1 port too. No DisplayPort right here although, however the TB 5 port takes care of that with DP compatibility (when you’ve got the requisite DisplayPort-to-USB-C cable, that’s).Design rating: 4/5Screen and Options
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)• Prime-spec internals• Brilliant, sharp screenThe display screen is an IPS show with a 2560×1600 decision, which, whereas not a 4K providing, is shiny and sharp, and most significantly for players and 3D devs, very, very responsive. The 240Hz max refresh fee ensures clean movement with any 3D graphics, even underneath heavy load, and after I measured the color gamut and brightness, I continued to be impressed.The spec sheet states a 500-nit brightness and 100% DCI-P3 protection, and I got here properly inside the margin of error in my measurements utilizing the Datacolor Spyder X2 Extremely, which gave me 488 nits and 99% protection, respectively.Inside my check unit I discovered an Intel Core Extremely 9 275HX processor and the top-of-the-line NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 graphics card, promising a wholesome return on the potential three and a half grand any potential purchaser has to fork out. Some intelligent fan engineering implies that whereas it does get noisy underneath load, it is not as aggressively loud because the Acer Predator Helios (or the aforementioned Overclockers Pinnacle).There may be additionally a ‘lite’ model of the Alienware 16 Space-51 out there, with a 5070 graphics card and the much less highly effective 255HX processor, together with 16GB of RAM as an alternative of the 32 within the souped-up one.It comes fitted with Home windows 11 Dwelling as commonplace, together with a 2TB Gen5 PCIe SSD for native storage (the entry-level one has 1TB as an alternative of two).Function rating: 4.5/5Benchmark scores
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)We check each one in all our laptops utilizing the identical benchmarking software program suite to provide you an intensive overview of its suitability for creatives of all disciplines and ranges. This contains:• Geekbench: Exams the CPU for single-core and multi-core energy, and the GPU for the system’s potential for gaming, picture processing, or video enhancing.• Cinebench: Stress-tests the CPU and GPU’s skill to run Cinema 4D and Redshift.• UL Procyon: Makes use of UL Options’ Procyon software program suite to check the system’s skill for AI picture era in Steady Diffusion, its Microsoft Workplace efficiency and its battery life.• Topaz Video AI: We use Topaz Video AI to check the system’s skill to upscale video and convert video to slow-motion.• PugetBench for Creators: We use the PugetBench for Creators benchmarking suite to check the system’s skill to run a number of key duties in Adobe Photoshop and Premiere Professional, in addition to its efficiency when encoding/transcoding video.• ON1 Resize AI: Exams the system’s skill to resize 5 pictures to 200% in a batch course of.Efficiency
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)• Improbable graphics and AI efficiency• Predictably poor battery lifeAs the benchmark charts above present, specifically the AI and video-processing ones, the Alienware 16 Space-51 is without doubt one of the strongest laptops you will get proper now. Hardly a shock because it’s bought the highest processor and graphics card out there on board.Standout parts listed below are the Cinebench outcomes, which present that working 3D software program corresponding to Cinema 4D is a breeze, and the Geekbench AI outcomes, which spotlight the implausible AI efficiency of the {hardware} on board, together with Photoshop efficiency solely outdone by the highest MacBook Professional and one Home windows PC, and the Premiere Professional consequence, which is just outdone by two different fashions we have ever examined.It is clearly marketed as a gaming laptop computer, however seeing as the primary distinction between many gaming and artistic computer systems is merely the presentation, I am comfortable to report which you could minimise the RGB gentle air pollution (not that I thoughts flashy colors myself), for a extra studio-like consumer expertise.There may be one slight downside to this full-throttle strategy, although, as I seen some points with the laptop computer typically spooling its followers up with none discernible set off. This subject, I discovered, stemmed from the laptop computer overzealously making use of the ability mode with out my enter, together with the part heating that entails.In my third week I additionally seen intermittent stability points with some software program and video games that ought to have run with out subject (together with video games corresponding to Anno 1800 crashing), points that weren’t instantly solved by updating NVIDIA graphics drivers. I additionally discovered that some Alienware Command Heart settings would roll again to earlier values with out my enter. It ought to be famous, after all, that I am not a ‘regular’ consumer, as I used to be stress-testing the product on an almost-daily foundation, and I am unable to low cost the potential of consumer error both, though I could not pinpoint that in these instances, as I usually could not replicate these particular points.When it got here to battery life, it was predictably poor, with the laptop computer lasting solely simply over 3 and a half hours earlier than working out of juice underneath a ‘regular’ workplace workload. That is in all probability not a dealbreaker for a lot of, as its pure heft means you doubtless will not be travelling with it an excessive amount of anyway.Efficiency rating: 4.5/5Price
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)The Alienware 16 Space-51 in base spec will set you again £1,999.01 (sure, that is one penny plus nineteen-hundred-ninety-nine kilos quid) within the UK and $2,749.99 within the US (curiously with the bigger-horsepower 275HX processor on board in all fashions), whereas the 5090-fitted powerhouse I examined will value you a dramatically extra substantial £3,499 within the UK and $4,049.99 within the US earlier than reductions.Now, that is not low-cost. At allllllllll. I may level out that the extra creator-friendly ASUS ProArt P16 is cheaper at £2,799, however that one would not have the 5090 card out there on the final inventory test (and would not have a light-up touchpad, so there), and this worth is essentially akin to equal Acer Predator Helios and MSI Stealth fashions. If all-out efficiency is not the be-all and end-all for you, I might wrestle to justify the big worth soar from the 5070 mannequin to the 5090 one, although.Worth rating: 3/5Who is it for?• [bellowed while aggressively crunching up a Monster energy drink can] GAMEEEEEEEEERS Swipe to scroll horizontallyAlienware 16 Space-51 rating cardAttributesNotesRatingDesign:Extraordinarily Alienware, very hefty however modern, light-up touchpad (?).4/5Features:Thunderbolt 5, shiny display screen, prime inner elements.4.5/5Performance:You will not discover many extra highly effective issues this aspect of a fusion reactor.4.5/5Value:Many cash for a lot energy.3/5Buy it if…
(Picture credit score: Future/Erlingur Einarsson)You want all of your sport settings on Extremely ExtremeYou do not thoughts some RGB aptitude as a inventive proYou have heaps and many moneyDon’t purchase it if…You worth mundane reliability above bleeding-edge performanceYou threat fan-related noise complaintsSomething extra… restrained… will do the jobAlso take into account
The pure possibility for somebody who desires the efficiency of the Alienware, however with out the, erm, extraness of the Alienware. A dream for inventive purists.
ConsMore costly than some rivals
Acer Predator Helios 16 AI+
The Alienware’s nemesis remains to be as highly effective as ever, as loud as ever, and as thrilling as ever, now with extra AI (for higher and worse).
Alienware 16 Space-51 Gaming Laptop computer: Value Comparability
