Alienware 13 R2 Gaming Laptop And Graphics AMP Review
Alienware 13 R2 Performance: Batman And Bioshock Infinite
Now that we've put the Alienare 13 R2 through our collection of synthetic benchmarks, it's time to switch focus to actual games. We'll kick things off with Batman: Arkham Origins and Bioshock Infinite.
The latest Batman title is a prequel that follows Batman as he develops his fighting techniques and persona as the Dark Knight. The game is built on a modified version of Epic’s Engine 3. We run the benchmark with high quality settings and FXAA.
We've chosen not to update to Batman: Arkham Knight until the game's engine has the majority of its bugs and kinks worked out and Warner Bros. Interactive re-releases it to Steam.
The combination of a dual-core Skylake processor and GeForce GTX 960M GPU yields playable framerates in Batman: Arkham Origins with the eye candy turned up, though the combo lags behind more potent configurations.
Things change when attaching the AMP with a GeForce GTX 980 graphics card in side. Framerates nearly doubled to 101 FPS on average, while the minimum framerate jumped jumped from 25 FPS to 59 FPS. This is a game that clearly demonstrates the benefit of Alienware's AMP accessory.
Also based on Epic’s Unreal Engine 3, BioShock Infinite takes you (as former Pinkerton agent Booker DeWitt) to the mysterious, flying city of Columbia. You find yourself helping Elizabeth, who soon turns out to have unusual powers. The game is an FPS, but the storyline is as compelling as the battles and Bioshock infinite has won awards and praise for its story and art design.
The situation played out similarly in Bioshock Infinite, except instead of doubling performance when switching to the AMP, we saw framerates nearly triple, going from an average of 34.16 FPS to 91.23 FPS. A faster graphics card like a GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Titan would boost performance even further.
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We've chosen not to update to Batman: Arkham Knight until the game's engine has the majority of its bugs and kinks worked out and Warner Bros. Interactive re-releases it to Steam.
The combination of a dual-core Skylake processor and GeForce GTX 960M GPU yields playable framerates in Batman: Arkham Origins with the eye candy turned up, though the combo lags behind more potent configurations.
Things change when attaching the AMP with a GeForce GTX 980 graphics card in side. Framerates nearly doubled to 101 FPS on average, while the minimum framerate jumped jumped from 25 FPS to 59 FPS. This is a game that clearly demonstrates the benefit of Alienware's AMP accessory.
We also tested the laptop at its native resolution, which is a much more demanding 3200x1800. That's a tall order for most laptops, and even in this case, the Alienware 13 R2 just barely musters playable framerates with its mobile GeForce GTX 960M.
After attaching the AMP, the GeForce GTX 980 graphics card gave a ton more headroom with average framerates jumping to 65 FPS.
After attaching the AMP, the GeForce GTX 980 graphics card gave a ton more headroom with average framerates jumping to 65 FPS.
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The situation played out similarly in Bioshock Infinite, except instead of doubling performance when switching to the AMP, we saw framerates nearly triple, going from an average of 34.16 FPS to 91.23 FPS. A faster graphics card like a GeForce GTX 980 Ti or Titan would boost performance even further.
When we cranked things up to 3200x1800, the laptop again struggled with its mobile GPU, which isn't surprising. But after attaching the AMP, framerates jumped to over 47 FPS.
