The Alienware MX11 was a quite popular gaming notebook. It was the smallest Alienware notebook and the version to appear had a 11.6-inch screen and Geforce GT 335M graphics based on Nvidia’s 40nm GT215 core. This was almost three years ago and in the meantime Alienware decided that its smallest machine will be a 14-incher.

Now there’s a new 13-inch Alienware and this new machine should be in etail by November. It is meant to compete with the Razer Blade, but at the same time it will come with a weaker screen. The best and most expensive model comes with a 2,560 x 1,440 screen, while the basic model ships with an unimpressive 1,366 x 768 panel. There will be a 1920x1080 option and considering the size of the screen this sounds like the best compromise.

The Nvidia GeForce GTX 860M GPU will be the heart of the gaming experience and this card should be a good performer at most resolutions. Intel will have a version powered by Broadwell processor as well, but not at launch. This new processor will come later and at launch you can expect some ultra-low-voltage CPUs from Core i7 and Core i5 lines.

The Alienware 13 ships the with a signature backlit keyboard and it packs HDMI, DisplayPort, two USB 3.0 ports and a network card slot on the right hand side. The power port, Kensington lock, USB and microphone and audio connectors are on the left hand side. The notebook also has a quite large touchpad.

The machine has quite big cooling vents and although it should deliver 8-hour battery life in video playback, you can be happy if you get half that while gaming. GPUs and modern games are quite power hungry.