NEED ADVICE PLEASE - Alienware m15 or the Dell G15 Ryzen Edition

[tyler100tyler]

Hello, I have a discounted deal at my university store for the following two laptops. With my discount, I would either be able to get the Alienware M15 for 1300$, or the Dell G15 for $1100. I know there may be better options but I am specifically looking at these two as they are pretty discounted.

SPECS
For the Alienware M15

Alienware m15 R6 2 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 11800H (8-Core, 24MB L3 Cache,
-up to 4.6GHz with Turbo Boost Technology)
-Windows 10 Home English NVIDIA(R)
-GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6
-15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) 165Hz 3ms with ComfortView Plus Dark Side of the Moon with High Endurance Clear Coat and Silky Smooth Finish

-16GB DDR4 3200MHz 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
-Alienware mSeries 4-Zone AlienFX RGB keyboard
-240W Adapter Killer(TM) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 6-Cell Battery, 86WHr (Integrated)

For the Dell G15
-Dell G15 Ryzen Edition (5515) AMD Ryzen(TM) i7 5800H 8-core/16-thread Mobile Processor -Windows 10 Home English
-NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6
-16GB DDR4 3200MHz 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
- 15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 165Hz 300 nits WVA Anti- Glare LED
-Backlit Narrow Border Display
-240W AC Adapter Phantom Grey with speckles Killer(TM)
-Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) 8 Wireless and Bluetooth US English Qwerty 4-Zone RGB Backlit -Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and G-Key 6-Cell Battery,
-86WHr (Integrated) Fixed Hardware Configuration US Power Cord Dell.com


I would really appreciate any advice! Thanks for taking the time to read this!

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Either of the two laptop's shortlisted in the above post will be a stellar purchase. There are mild differences in both of them, being the processor(and subsequently the motherboard) and the series off of which they come from but the rest are the same.

 

[ZedClampet]

Hello, I have a discounted deal at my university store for the following two laptops. With my discount, I would either be able to get the Alienware M15 for 1300$, or the Dell G15 for $1100. I know there may be better options but I am specifically looking at these two as they are pretty discounted.

SPECS
For the Alienware M15

Alienware m15 R6 2 11th Generation Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 11800H (8-Core, 24MB L3 Cache,
-up to 4.6GHz with Turbo Boost Technology)
-Windows 10 Home English NVIDIA(R)
-GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6
-15.6" FHD (1920 x 1080) 165Hz 3ms with ComfortView Plus Dark Side of the Moon with High Endurance Clear Coat and Silky Smooth Finish

-16GB DDR4 3200MHz 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
-Alienware mSeries 4-Zone AlienFX RGB keyboard
-240W Adapter Killer(TM) Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) 802.11ax Wireless and Bluetooth 6-Cell Battery, 86WHr (Integrated)

For the Dell G15
-Dell G15 Ryzen Edition (5515) AMD Ryzen(TM) i7 5800H 8-core/16-thread Mobile Processor -Windows 10 Home English
-NVIDIA(R) GeForce RTX(TM) 3060 6GB GDDR6
-16GB DDR4 3200MHz 512GB M.2 PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive
- 15.6 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) 165Hz 300 nits WVA Anti- Glare LED
-Backlit Narrow Border Display
-240W AC Adapter Phantom Grey with speckles Killer(TM)
-Wi-Fi 6 AX1650 (2x2) 8 Wireless and Bluetooth US English Qwerty 4-Zone RGB Backlit -Keyboard with Numeric Keypad and G-Key 6-Cell Battery,
-86WHr (Integrated) Fixed Hardware Configuration US Power Cord Dell.com


I would really appreciate any advice! Thanks for taking the time to read this!

The Alienware's GPU should be very slightly better than the one in the Dell because the Alienware is getting more power. Both are very good, though.

If you want to find out more about this, you can check this thread:

Info - Attention Laptop Shoppers: Read This Before You Buy (RE: GPU's)

Buying a gaming laptop became increasingly difficult with the introduction of Nvidia's 30xx series of graphic cards. Why? Because two different laptops that both have the RTX 3060, for example, can produce wildly differing performance. This is because laptop manufacturers are throttling the GPU...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[Brian Boru]

Given no obvious downsides per 2 previous posters, you should pay extra attention to the 'other stuff'—chassis build quality, number and type of ports, dimensions & weight, etc.

Personally I'd lean towards the Alienware, especially if you plan to keep this laptop for say 3 years or more. CPU is better, chassis build is probably better—I had one years ago, built like a tank—and it is Dell's premium brand.

If it's only for a couple of years, then G15 is a great deal too.

 

[tyler100tyler]

Thankyou Brian, Zed and Lutfij! All very solid points, I think I am going to stretch the extra couple hundred bucks for the Alienware Appreciate yall!

 

[Lutfij]

You're very welcome, kind sir!

You know what? You should follow up on this thread with some pics of your purchase, some screenshots of your in-game stats and lastly a few images of your setup...would help our community out , don't you think?

 

[tyler100tyler]

You're very welcome, kind sir!

You know what? You should follow up on this thread with some pics of your purchase, some screenshots of your in-game stats and lastly a few images of your setup...would help our community out , don't you think?

That is a great idea! I am mostly an open-world and RTS player - EX RDR2, Bannerlord, Dying Light 2, Total War so those high GPU utilizing games should put it to the test well. I will make sure to that when I get the Alienware later this week!

 

[Lutfij]

Looks like you've got yourself a plan to look forward to!