Screaming fast, with caveats

For $1,199, the Alienware 14 comes with a quad-core 2.4GHz Core i7-4700MQ processor fresh from Intel's latest Haswell batch, Nvidia GeForce GT 750M graphics, 8GB of memory, 750GB of storage on a traditional spinning drive, and the standard 1366 x 768 resolution screen. That's not the configuration I tested, though: I got the same processor, but chose the GeForce GTX 765M GPU (an additional $150) and 16GB of RAM to help drive games on that lovely 1080p display.

And how: with that configuration, the Alienware 14 simply blazed. I ran the demanding Battlefield 3 butter-smooth at 1080p and medium settings, with 1080p high playable in a pinch. I practically maxed out Max Payne 3 at 1080p with no issue, save tesselation and fancier forms of antialiasing. Borderlands 2 ran nearly maxed, even with PhysX set to medium, allowing us to savor the ability to create a miniature black hole and watch all the game's loose debris, blood, and fabric get sucked in during a firefight, and even The Witcher 2 — which seems to hate laptop computers — reached the threshold of playability at 1080p and medium detail.

Alienware 14 Asus G75VW (2012) Samsung Series 7 Gamer (2012) Max Payne 3 1080p, very high 1080p, very high 1080p, very high Borderlands 2 1080p, high + PhysX 1080p, high 1080p, high + PhysX Battlefield 3 1080p, medium to high 1080p, medium 1080p, high The Witcher 2 1080p, medum 1080p, low 1080p, medium

But does it play Crysis? Yes, it does: even Crysis 3 ran playably at 1080p and low settings, providing a pretty reliable 30 frames per second in some extremely challenging video game environments. Compare this to the gaming behemoths we reviewed just a few months ago, and we're practically getting the power of a 17-inch machine in a 14-inch form factor.

There are a couple of caveats, though: our review unit had some issues maintaining those framerates in all of the laptop's different power modes. For one thing, the moment you unplug the machine, there's an instant framerate dip. In many games, I measured a drop of nearly 20 percent, enough to turn a borderline playable experience into a completely unplayable one if you're trying to play on very high settings.

For another, the Alienware 14 mysteriously has two different graphics modes: the "switchable" mode where both Intel and Nvidia graphics are active, and the "discrete" mode with only Nvidia. You need to actually restart the machine and hit Fn + F5 to swap between them. Why are there two modes when most laptops can automatically switch between the two graphics cards? Alienware says that Microsoft requires it for Windows 8, but it's also worth noting that the "switchable" mode doesn't reliably switch on my review unit.

I ended up having to run all my games in discrete mode, because no matter what I did, certain games wouldn't detect the Nvidia GPU and framerates plummeted as a result. I saw 15 frames per second in Battlefield 3 in switchable mode. And yet you won't want to run in discrete mode all the time, because that GPU drains the battery much faster even when you're not gaming. In discrete mode, the Alienware 14 only managed two hours, 33 minutes on the Verge Battery Test, but it lasted three hours and 57 minutes in "switchable" mode. That's not bad for a gaming machine, lasting nearly four hours if you're willing to restart the computer before you begin browsing the web and performing other tasks. As you'd expect, battery life is fairly weak when gaming. In addition to the framerate dip, I got less than an hour of Borderlands 2 on a charge.

So basically, right now, you have to choose between gaming performance and battery life at any given time, but perhaps not for long. Alienware's hoping a new Nvidia driver might fix the handoff between switchable and discrete power modes.

While you're playing those games, you won't necessarily be singeing your fingers and lap. I fully expected the Alienware 14 to blast out heat under load, and it does, but most of that heat gets exhausted out the rear vent. The soft-touch covered palm rests don't get more than comfortably warm to the touch, and provided you're wearing pants, it's more of a lap warmer than a burning sensation running full blast. The machine does need its space to vent hot air, though: when I covered either the intake or the exhaust slightly, I noticed the framerate dip.

If it isn't yet clear that Alienware marches to the beat of its own drummer, the company's choice of operating system should seal the deal: it's Windows 7, rather than Windows 8, and about as bone-stock a Windows 7 image as you can get. (You can pick Windows 8 from the company's configurator, but gamers can be a conservative bunch when it comes to such things. The option is appreciated.) Alienware includes Steam and its own Alien apps for customization and tuning (AlienFX actually dynamically changes the laptop's lighting to match the action as you play a number of games.), but that's about it.