Dell has taken the opportunity of Gamescom 2018 in Cologne, Germany to announce fresher hardware options for the Alienware 15 and 17 laptops as well as new mainstream gaming monitors.
Now, the Alienware 17 comes with the option to include a factory-overclocked Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080, whereas before that overclocking option was only available up to the 1070 model. Dell has also vastly expanded the storage options available to both laptops. In addition to offering far more single and dual storage configurations, Dell has introduced triple storage configurations for the laptops.
Both the Alienware 15 and 17 can now be equipped with anything from a single, 256GB solid-state drive (SSD) in the SATA M.2 format to dual 1TB PCIe M.2 SSDs paired with a single 1TB hard drive spinning at 7,200 rpm for the brand-new triple storage option. Dell is also now offering a dual storage option including a 120GB Intel Optane drive paired with a 1TB spinning drive.
Finally, both of these laptops have at last been updated with per-key keyboard backlighting. This means that each key on these laptops’ keyboards is individually backlit, meaning that Alienware FX lighting can be applied differently to each key.
The company has yet to disclose pricing for these beefier, new hardware options, but they’re available starting August 21.
New Dell Gaming monitors appear
Dell has also announced two new gaming monitors under its more mainstream Dell Gaming brand. They’re known respectively as simply the Dell 24 Gaming Monitor (S2419HGF) and Dell 27 Gaming Monitor (S2719DGF), and are aimed at audiences that are either new to PC gaming or simply not as hardcore about it as the Alienware crowd.
Both available on August 28, the 24-inch version of the monitor goes for $319 (about £240, AU$427), offering an FHD (1,920 x 1,080) resolution and a 144Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, the 27-incher calls for $549 (about £414, AU$735), putting up a QHD (2,560 x 1,440) resolution with a 155Hz refresh rate.
Clearly, both screens are ideal for fast-paced types of games, particularly competitive gaming, with those refresh rates – and both screens use AMD FreeSync for tear reduction as well as sport a 1-millisecond response time.
Players can use either monitor to store up to three preset screen modes for certain games, and both monitors contain USB ports for connecting peripherals through. While they lack the lighting features of Alienware monitors, this a fine way to save on a second screen if you just splurged on that overclocked GTX 1080 version of the Alienware 17.
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