Alienware's m15 and m17 Get Nvidia RTX 3000 GPUs, Aurora Gets AMD's Zen 3

(Credit: Dell)

Dell’s Alienware brand is updating its 15- and 17-inch gaming laptops with Nvidia’s RTX 3000 mobile GPUs.

The refresh arrives alongside Nvidia's new laptop-focused GPUs. Dell plans on packing the graphics technology inside Alienware's m15 and the m17 models, although it hasn't specified which RTX 3000 GPUs they'll use. The new laptops will also be configurable with RAM speeds up to 2933MHz, an increase from 2666MHz.

We previously reviewed the m15 and m17 R3 editions, and both received excellent scores, partly because of their strong gaming performance. So we expect the new RTX 3000 GPUs to only bolster the computing power for even better gaming sessions.

M17 R4 (Credit: Dell)

The other notable change is to the m17's display. Buyers will soon be able to configure it with a 360Hz 1080p panel if they want an insanely high refresh rate. “Both m15/m17 laptops are available in colors Lunar Light and Dark Side of the Moon, with a new matte finish front panel,” the company added.

The upcoming m15 R4 and m17 R4 will start at $2,149. Sales begin on Jan. 26.

On the desktop front, Dell is refreshing the Aurora Ryzen Edition R10 with AMD’s new Zen 3-powered Ryzen 5000 CPUs. Buyers will be able to configure the desktop with up to a 16-core CPU in the Ryzen 9 5950X. They can also outfit them with the latest Nvidia RTX 3000 graphics cards or AMD’s RX 6800 XT GPUs.

Inside the new Aurora (Credit: Dell)

The other change is how the Aurora Ryzen Edition can be bought with up to 128GB of “Dual Channel HyperX” DDR4 RAM, which is twice as much as the previous generations.

The refreshed Aurora goes on sale today starting at $1,079.

About Our Expert

Michael Kan

Principal Reporter

My Experience

I've been a journalist for over 15 years. I got my start as a schools and cities reporter in Kansas City and joined PCMag in 2017, where I cover satellite internet services, cybersecurity, PC hardware, and more. I'm currently based in San Francisco, but previously spent over five years in China, covering the country's technology sector.

Since 2020, I've covered the launch and explosive growth of SpaceX's Starlink satellite internet service, writing 600+ stories on availability and feature launches, but also the regulatory battles over the expansion of satellite constellations, fights with rival providers like AST SpaceMobile and Amazon, and the effort to expand into satellite-based mobile service. I've combed through FCC filings for the latest news and driven to remote corners of California to test Starlink's cellular service.

I also cover cyber threats, from ransomware gangs to the emergence of AI-based malware. In 2024 and 2025, the FTC forced Avast to pay consumers $16.5 million for secretly harvesting and selling their personal information to third-party clients, as revealed in my joint investigation with Motherboard.

I also cover the PC graphics card market. Pandemic-era shortages led me to camp out in front of a Best Buy to get an RTX 3000. I'm now following how the AI-driven memory shortage is impacting the entire consumer electronics market. I'm always eager to learn more, so please jump in the comments with feedback and send me tips.

The Best Tech I've Had:

My first video game console: a Nintendo Famicom
I loved my Sega Saturn despite PlayStation's popularity.
The iPod Video I received as a gift in college
Xbox 360 FTW
The Galaxy Nexus was the first smartphone I was proud to own.
The PC desktop I built in 2013, which still works to this day.

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