Resident Evil 4 Remake is an improved version of the RE4 2005 game, once gain it puts you back in the shoes of Leon S. Kennedy. He is on a mission to rescue the president’s daughter held captive in a remote village. RE4 Remake has many improvements, like visual upgrades, new control schemes, new character designs, crafting systems, and more. In our performance test, we tried running RE4 Remake on Alienware x17 R2 on high and ultra-high settings in order to find out what this gaming laptop can offer. Before we start with the test here are the specs of Alienware x17 R2 gaming laptop.
Alienware x17 R2 Specifications:
- CPU – 12th Gen Intel(R) Core(TM) i9-12900HK
- GPU – NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Laptop GPU
- RAM – 32GB (2×16 DDR5 4800MHz)
- SSD – 1TB (M.2 PCIe NVMe, SSD)
- 17.3” QHD 2560×1440 @165Hz Display
Alienware x17 R2 falls in the high-end gaming laptop category. It is powered by a 12th gen i9 processor + 3080Ti GPU, capable of running any game at top resolution. It is currently in the line of the most powerful gaming laptops in the market. And this will surely impact the price tag. We ran Resident Evil 4 Remake on different graphic settings and on a dual monitor setup.
Our test focuses a lot on finding out how well Alienware x17 R2 can run a game on 4K resolution on a dual-screen setup. The challenge lies with stable fps, CPU cooling, and lag-free gameplay. Especially in scenes where rendering is heavy. For example explosions, water waves, huge bosses, etc. This will give us a clear idea that if anyone plans to bet their money on a high-end gaming laptop like Alienware x17 R2, he must get what he wants.
In comparison, if one goes for a custom build, there is a big difference in the price. The only thing a desktop system lags is mobility but it promises performance. Alienware x17 R2 tries to blend both, where you have on-the-go gaming, and powerful hardware to support resource-intensive works like Video Editing, Graphic Designing, Animation, etc.
While testing two factors are hard to ignore while playing games on Alienware x17 R2. Weight of the machine + the charging brick. You cannot keep it on your lap, it needs a desk. Hot chassis is noticeable when the game resolution hits 4k for an hour. Keep the power attached so the laptop does not run out of juice to support the CPU and GPU. We found the laptop works better on power than on battery when the graphics settings are set to high like 4K. Here is an outcome of different tests we ran on Alienware x17 R2.
4K @ 60fps
https://youtu.be/oh990simJFk
Below is the settings list of RE4 Remake with RTX On and all settings are almost pushed to Utra or Max. There is one small issue, with the cooling part here. By default, the laptop fans switch to high-performance mode whenever gaming is done on max settings. In Alienware x17 R2 we have to do this manually by pressing FN + F2 key, the Alienware command center has this bug. But we are sure an update in the future will resolve this.
At 4K fan noise is high and on battery, the game lags. Still, Alienware x17 R2 is capable enough to burn well on max settings. It manages high-end graphic processing with max stability. On dual monitor setup, where I connected a Gigabyte 32inch Gaming Monitor, the output is really good. But the issue arises when I turn on game capture by pressing Alt + F9 (Nvidia ShadowPlay). Alienware x17 R2 does not capture the scenes on 4k. We are going with all default settings. In the below video, you might see the output is not good, I am also sharing a camera view where you can check out the 4K output visibility just to give you a gist of the overall performance.
1440p @ 60fps
https://youtu.be/RRZmqf0xlrA
Alienware x17 R2 works well in 1440p also. FPS does shuffle a little but there is hardly any problem while playing games on 1440p. You play on the laptop screen or secondary gaming monitor things work smoothly. If you are not a 4K fanatic then 1440p pixel is the best to go for. Here is the overall performance overview of Alienware x17 R2 on RE4 Remake running at 1440p. All other graphic settings are set on max and ultra.
1080p @ 60fps
https://youtu.be/T_iQWQjA21o
Alienware x17 R2 is super smooth on 1080p on single or dual screens setup. No artifacts, and no heating issues at all. Screen Resolution was set to 1920 x 1080 while other settings like Cinematic Resolution, FX Super Resolution, Ambient Occlusion, etc were set to max or ultra. The same is in the video above, there are no issues. This is kind of the best resolution when you want on-the-go gaming. Due to less hardware consumption, the battery life is extended by a bit. Otherwise, whenever you have a charging point near you, 4k is always the best option.
Verdict:
Alienware x17 R2 is an awesome high-end gaming machine. It is a beast in its line that delivers what is promised. For those who hate to compromise on the quality of gaming then this model will fulfill your requirement. It is built in a way to compete with desktop performance. We played for hours and also tested this machine for video editing work. Overall Alienware x17 R2 is a good machine to go for for demanding users. If you are a streamer looking for a gaming laptop model with the best hardware, you will have to pick the top version in the Alienware x17 R2 series.
