Dell Alienware M17 review

An RTX-era Alienware at typical gaming money

The Dell Alienware M17 (2018) carries a Core i7 8750H, an RTX 2060 with 6GB, and 32GB of RAM at $736 — typical money for the gaming class. The measurements read era-standard for the badge: mobility 11 against 29 and reliability 25 against 53 flag the chassis; the RTX 2060's placing anchors the capability side with a full rec-bar flag sheet.

The 2060's ray-traced generation, measured

Overwatch, Grand Theft Auto V, and Rainbow Six Siege all clear their recommended bars, and Photoshop and Visual Studio Code clear their minimums. The RTX 2060 brought hardware ray tracing to the mid tier — its 6GB buffer still carries the competitive catalog at rec settings and holds respectable frame rates in most modern titles at 1080p. The honest limits: 32GB of RAM against a 64GB class norm, and a chassis that measures near the band's mobility floor.

Price and value trajectory

From $1,800 at launch to $736 today, the M17 has depreciated at 10.4 percent per year, with a projected $591 (a further 19.7 percent) in two years. Badge machines ride the curve with a modest premium over same-spec G-series siblings at every age — part of this price is the Alienware name.

Against its price neighbors

Above it sit the Legion Y540-17IRH at $789 and the IdeaPad Gaming 3 16IAH7 at $823; below it the Alienware m15 at $688 and the Alienware 17 R5 at $664. The neighborhood is Alienware-dense: the m15 is the same generation's 15-inch take for $48 less, and the 17 R5 offers the older GTX 1080 for $72 less. The M17's line is the RTX generation at the family's middle price.

Bottom line

The Alienware M17 at $736 is a badge-tier RTX buy: rec-bar flags from the 2060's ray-traced generation, six cores, and the premium chassis — with mobility, reliability, and RAM readings as the honest era-terms. For buyers who want the Alienware name at typical class money, the data certifies the capability; value shoppers find the same flags $50–100 lower.