Most laptop displays have 60 Hz refresh rates, but there are a growing number of options for folks who prefer higher refresh rates. Up until now, those have topped out at around 360 Hz. But Dell’s changing that starting today.

The company’s Alienware m17 R5 and Alienware x17 R2 gaming laptops are now available with optional 17 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel 480 Hz display panels. But it’ll cost you: Dell says the 480 Hz display is a $300 upgrade over the price of a standard model with a 165 Hz display.

Alienware x17 R2

Dell says the new display has a 3ms response time and support for AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync technology as well as Dolby Vision support.

While the new display is certainly one of the most distinctive features of Dell’s new laptops, it’s just one of four display options:

  • 17.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel, 480 Hz, 3ms
  • 17.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel, 165 Hz, 3ms
  • 17.3 inch, 1920 x 1080 pixel, 360 Hz, 1ms
  • 17.3 inch, 3840 x 2160 pixel, 120 Hz, 3ms

So while all of the screens have high refresh rates, you can choose whether you’d prioritize a higher (or highest) refresh rate or higher resolution and pixel density.

The Alienware m17 R5 is available in North America for $1568 and up. It’s a 7.3 pound beast of a gaming laptop with support for up to an AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX processor, NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti or AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT graphics, up to a 97 Wh batter, and up to a 240W power supply. The system supports up to 64GB of DDR5 RAM and has two M.2 slots for up to 4TB of PCIe NVMe storage.

Dell’s Alienware x17 R2, meanwhile, is a 2.8 pound laptop with an 87 Wh battery, up to a 330W power supply, an Intel Core i9-12900HK processor, and up to NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti graphics. It’s available now for $2205 and up.

Just keep in mind that you’ll have to add $300 to those prices to get the new 480 Hz display panel.

While Dell is the first company to announce laptops with 480 Hz displays, it probably won’t be the last. Earlier this year we learned that multiple companies are working on 480 displays, including 16 inch laptop screens and 24 inch display panels for desktop PC monitors.

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3 replies on “Dell brings 480 Hz displays to 17 inch Alienware gaming laptops”

  1. Seems like the Hz race is all about making you forget most screens have mediocre colour accuracy, as well as poor contrast and brightness.

    Give me a screen with a refresh rate that tops out at 120 Hz if it at least has decent contrast and more than 60-70% P3 accuracy.

  2. Can people actually tell the difference between 200hz, 300hz, and 400hz?

    I have a 200hz monitor, and I can’t tell the difference between 144hz and 200hz. I’ve tried a 240hz monitor, and I wasn’t able to tell the difference.

Comments are closed.