There’s another prominent feature I believe everyone seemed to have missed out. i.e. Dynamic overclocking on the Alienware 17 R3. Despite Alienware offers quad core Core i7-6700HQ in their default configuration for Alienware 17 R3, there is actually an option to upgrade CPU to the the K series Core i7-6820HK where you can overclock it just like desktop Core i7-6700K.
Users can attempt with the provided Intel Extreme Tuning Utility in a (less) traditional manner, but Alienware also commit a step further to make this overclocking experience much simple, with several overclock profile presets available from their UEFI firmware. This is similar to the 1-click overclocking from desktop branded motherboards like ASUS and MSI. I can just choose and click for the certain speed profile, load it and reboot. And I am very well done with overclocking and harness the full performance potential from my processor in just a matter of seconds!
Unfortunately Alienware UEFI firmware doesn’t allow manual fine tuning overclock option. In fact, I feel that this is a necessary evil, given limited cooling capability on such laptop, to prevent users from potentially frying their motherboard and processor (and impacting other parts which are closely packed) with excessive voltage and multiplier figures, which is unknown to newbies. This offers a necessary fail-safe to those target users who are new to overclocking, and offering an easy start for those keen to understanding more about processor overclocking.
This is also great for those who don’t wish to meddle around with all the sophisticated list of options, as traditional overclocking is very time and electricity power consuming, since you need to conduct stress test for every configuration to ensure system stability. And also saves time for those who need more performance on demand, but don't have the luxury of time to figure things out. This also otherwise means that your processor won’t be able to perform to its own maximum capability with higher possible clocks. But as mentioned earlier, there’s still Intel XTU for manual fine tuning on software basis! Though many a time settings do not stick well upon reboot...
With dynamic overclocking on hand, gamers can use it to alleviate potential CPU bottleneck in the otherwise low CPU clock speed on mobile quad core processors. And also improve rendering speed, should users need to do media creation on their Alienware laptops. And it will have been even better if they were to include optional external watercooling unit liken to ASUS ROG's solution, to further overclock the CPU and internal discrete graphics. Providing more options on how users can improve their laptop's performance.
