M4500 vs m6500 vs XPS 15.

Jump to conclusion: http://forum.notebookreview.com/del...m4500-vs-m6500-vs-xps-15-a-2.html#post7021082

Guys,

I really need some help here.. I've been readin these awefully long new owners thread.. googling stuff.. going to notebookcheck.net and what not..

I just paid my CC bill and pulled the trigger on a M6500.. Do I need it, help me figure out..

Here's my story.. I recently bought an XPS15:

• I7-740QM / GT 435M 2GB
• B+RG LED FHD Display
• 500GB 7200RPM HDD / 4GB DDR3 RAM
• Bluetooth / Backlit

Rest was standard. Let's call the price for this laptop as X$. I loved the laptop and the fact it could play L4D2 @ 1080p albeit at low to medium settings. I didn't care about the JBL speakers as I never found myself using them. But I loved the backlit keyboard.

I sold it after a week!!! I have a soft spot for 1920*1200 displays and want to get in to the RGB LED wagon.

3 days back I bought a M4500:

• I7-620M / FX 1800M 1GB
• 15.6 inch UltraSharp FHD(1920x1080) Wide View Anti-Glare LED
• 256GB SSD / 4GB DDR3 RAM
• Intel WiFi Link 6300
• Bluetooth / NO Backlit keyboard.
• 9 Cell

Standard 3 NBD on-site year warranty. I paid 1.27X for it. I still have to receive the laptop. I don't know, just an impulse buy for me..

Now about 30 mins back, I bought this M6500:
HOLY S***, JUST found out it is the COVET.. I wasn't sure and was going to ask, but just noticed "Base,Notebook,Orange,Configure To Order,M6500" LOL..

• I7 840QM / FX 3800M 1GB
• 17WUXGA,Red/green/blue,E2E,3MP,M6500
• 2 X 250GB 7200RPM HDD / 16GB (4*4) DDR3 RAM
• Dell 1397 802.11B/G Wireless
• Bluetooth None / Backlit Keyboard

Paid 1.91X for this. Same warranty as M4500. Now here are my obvious questions: is 3800M good for 1200P gaming. It's been out for a while so I'm hoping the drivers have matured enough.. Also, would I need to flash the bios into thinking it's a 280M or something? Any comments on heating issues are also welcome..

My primary requirements are gaming / browsing while mostly plugged in. The laptop will travel with me if I go out of town. Which config would you stick with and why?

Thanks for your help,
Nik

 

Also, what's the difference between the display panel on Covet vs non-Covet M6500s.. !?

 

The difference between the display on a Covet and non-Covet is that the Covet has a piece of shiny transparent glass/plastic covering the screen and the bezel (the E2E or Edge to Edge screen).

For gaming, the M6500 will be better than the M4500, primarily because the FX3800M is much better than the FX1800M (128 CUDA cores vs 72, 256-bit bus vs 128-bit). You shouldn't need to play around with the BIOS for gaming, it should work fine. As to which you should keep, well, a lot will depend on your resources, as in, is it worth spending 1.91X as opposed to 1.27X for your notebook? For me, price usually isn't much of a factor, so I'd keep the M6500 (in this situation; personally, I opted for an 8740w). Note that the SSD in the M4500 will probably give the M4500 a better general "feel" than the M6500, although it's easy enough to upgrade to a SSD in the M6500 if you want to.

 

Thanks Judicator.. M6500 definitely has the pull for me, as it would just replace my desktop completely... as for the 3800M, does it have GDDR5 or 3? That's one thing I dislike about the 4500, even when I was buyin, it is the GDDR3..

BTW, can the FX 3800M be overclocked? I read somewhere on the forums that someone was able to overclock the 1800M..

 

No, unfortunately it appears that the 3800M is also GDDR3. The ATI M7820 offering is, I believe, GDDR5 (and cheaper, and probably better for gaming, being a Pro version of the 5870M), but not the NVidia cards. As for overclocking, I have no idea. I think someone in the M6500 Owner's thread might have, but it's been a very long time.

 

You should have bought the alienware for gaming. The M6500 is designed for CAD/BIM software.

 

Honestly, I dont like the way it looks. and the garish - HEY, look at me - look at me - there's an alien head on my laptop.. put a spoiler on it and it will be a ricer laptop..

The business customer rep department is better than home.. although i don't know about alienware.. I rather like the looks of XPS 15 than the alienware.. but it's a personal opinion for the most part..

 

well that sux doesnt it. impulse buys are such a drag.. As long as it can do L4D2 at 60fps consitently @ 1200p .. I'm okay.. I don't need a 1000 fps.. but i'm hoping a lot better than the GT 435M with it's stupid 2 Gigs of RAM..

 

haha if u saw the posting from the m4500 owners lounge, that would have been me who oced the 1800m. i think dell, although OEM, allows gpu oc in almost all laptops. just follow my guide to oc 1800m in the m4500 owners thread and im 99% sure you should be able to oc your 3800m. keep in mind though that the gpu is 100w tdp according to nvidia site, and there might be some thermal restraint. but you should of course check on that on the m6500 owners thread.

 

Bro, I wished you'd just linked me up here.. hehe.. its a pain in the to find stuff in the owners thread..

I'll keep on searching but if you can link .. appreciation +1..