Alienware 13 Pre-Release Speculation Thread

Wow, if you're in the market for a 17", you're not even in the right thread haha. 17 isn't portable, 13 is.

 

I want portability. ... but at least want the power of an i7. I have an m11x r3 and a Razer Edge...but Alienware releasing only an i5 now makes me sit back on the fence between portability vs. Power (I.e. less bottlenecking while using GA). I've never been so indecisive on a gaming laptop purchase!

 

Yeah, I feel you - being a gamer who also requires portability = compromise from hell ><

 

Not sure by your post, but be aware that the i7 will be ULV...and dual core for the AW 13 so far as we know at this point. There is some small hope that will Broadwell we *might* get a full-on quad, or down the road with Silverlake. People want an i7 part right now simply because it is and i7 and it grants about a 15% or so increase in performance. Others also want a full-on quad core processor, but I am skeptical if we will ever get one in the AW 13 on this go round.

 

Isn't broadwell supposed to double performance - or is it too early to tell?

 

Not even close, lol. We'd be lucky to see 10% over Haswell. The only thing Broadwell will do is be more efficient and hopefully run cooler.

Skylake is supposed to be the next big jump in CPU performance.

 

Thanks for the info - looks like there's no reason for me to wait then, time to order. I will update the thread with my thoughts when the machines get in!

 

You mean when comparing i5's to i5's and i7's to i7's (voltages to voltages, as well), yes?

 

Probably by TDP - dell isn't going to budget with the TDP in this machine, so an i7 or broadwell would still have to be 15 watts...

 

I've read that the big bump is on the integrated GPU getting about 40%; the CPU is like others said around 10 as usual, nice, but nothing to get wound up about. Now, coupling an i7 +10%, and then 10% on top of that from Haswell to Broadwell.... that's worth waiting for, particularly on a quad-core. The only problem then is that Skylake with new features is a significant bump.... and might even result in a full-on quad if the TDP and thermals are right and Dellienware aren't being -total @$$-hats about it.

 

mine still in preproduction!

 

Man...so when should I wait until? March?

 

They were just at PAX Australia. There's a very good chance they'll be at PAX South in the United States (Jan. 23rd).

That's one of the largest PAX events. They may even present R2's there. Here's me hoping. :thumbsup:

 

I do agree that they're missing out on a large part of the market that wants a full fledged "M" cpu, let alone a quad core i7. I would settle for a dual core i5 4210M, but not ULV. In order to even get non ULV cpu, someone has to step up to a AW17. That's not right in my opinion. I have a sandy bridge core i5 ULV in my MBA, and it's a great processor, but it's so easy to stress it, even just doing multitasking on low demanding tasks.

But, I also don't like the elimination of lighting zones. I'm sure they could've done something more. Even with the faux speaker grill lights, or if room didn't warrant, maybe a few tron running lights along the side or front. Maybe a lit trackpad as well. Oh well, glad the alien head power button is back.

 

wow, ULV procs get bogged down by desktop work? I haven't experienced that in years, even on a 5 year old laptop. I usually have 2 browsers with ~25 tabs, email client, skype, steam, teamspeak, and photoshop open at any given time. That = ~7% CPU usage on my current mobile i7-3632qm. Would this bog down the ULV in the AW13 do you think?

I was actually looking forward to using a lower-watt proc: my current laptop gets (and stays) hot to the touch just working on desktop apps using that 7% proc power, it sucks.

 

Well that's a Sandy-Bridge i5; I am familiar with Haswell i5 (look at signature), and it does well for office work and some multi-tasking. But, ummm.... you might have some problems with it.

 

Pardon my ignorance, is there a low voltage processor that does not have an integrated GPU which you guys think is more suitable for the AW 13?

Correct me if I am wrong, the AW 13 is loaded with the 860M so it will not be using the GPU in that i5 ULV?

Was concerned to see that even with the i7, we are still stuck with a dual core - not much performance gain.
So should I pick this one now?

 

None that I can think of. The 13 will use the GTX 860m in demanding tasks and the HD 4400 in light tasks (and battery life).
I still recommend you wait if you don't need the laptop now.

 

I need something at my door by Jan 6th, unfortunately (will be out of the country for ~4 months). I had assumed that the AW13 was the machine that would allow me to be mobile, but still run more graphically intensive games when at home. Didn't realize the proc was *that* gimpy until I pulled up some benchmarks. Sigh. The only other machine I'd consider would be the Aorus X3 Plus, though (razer doens't have enough ram or HDD space, I don't want anything larger than 14", clevos are too chunky/ugly/badly built for me) unless someone has a better suggestion?

 

I'm in the same boat except I'm not traveling abroad for long stretches. I just need a new system to adapt to my frenetic work lifestyle (on buses going long distances across town, present meetings to my staff via touch mind mapping and hdmi to a large TV while sitting on a couch, video editing then game research as I'm still working in the game industry somewhat and lastly riding my pedal ebike 60 to 150 km a day with the AW13 in my Mission Workshop Vandal bag -light weight in the worst traffic in North America). Finally, get home and plug into GA for some 980 GTX action. I honestly can't wait until March. My edge doesn't have enough space and my Razer keyboard died a second time (plus it's an atrocious keyboard dock and no longer supported). M11x r3 doesn't have touch, smaller screen and can't game as hard as I used to. I might have to settle for i5 and order via HIDEVOLUTION the 2TB SSD version with GA but then buy my GPU locally in Canada.

 

There are 1tb m.2 drives?

 

I don't believe so, but I don't know. Try Google.

This AW 13 will support 2x M.2 SSD's. You can have 2x 512GB.

 

Yes, they do exist; but, are apparently only available to OEMs and not to ordinary consumers yet.

Hynix Presents 1TB M.2 SSDs and 3D NAND - FMS 2014 Update | The SSD Review

 

Hi, i'm new and i want to know, if i put a 980 in the amplifier, will i get bench of a GTX 980 or lower ?

I hope you understood, i'm french

 

The 980 will be held back by the ULV dual-core CPU. It's a bad idea unless you also have a desktop to use the 980 as well. Purchasing the 980 for the Alienware 13 only is a big mistake.

Credits to Google translator. I doubt it's perfect.

 

On HIDEVOLUTION website you can configure 2x 512 gb and then add 1TB to the other slot.

 

Thank's fort your answer, i have understood.

So if 980 will ne lower with the GA, what performances he will do? Wich GPU will be good for it? Ans what is thé utility if the CPU bottleneck the GPU?

I want to have somme mobility when i need, but have enormous perfs at home, i thought alienware was good for that but apparently..
What do you recommend for me?

Thank's

 

What other slot? You either have 2 M.2 slots or 1 2.5" slot. You can't have both unless they figured something out.

 

this product is finally in Singapore! but a bit more expensive though

they are NOT offering the 720p, 8gb ram and 500gb sata options on this side of the planet

Alienware 13 Gaming Laptop | Dell Singapore

for the same spec, the price is more than 100usd from what you see on US, AUS sites, what gives?

 

Regional supply and demand dictates prices.

 

Well, look at it this way. It costs less to upgrade to 384 GB of SSD than it does to 256 GB of SSD storage (and that upgrade fee is cheaper compared to the US).

 

Everything I ever see is usually exceedingly expensive in Singapore (except maybe tickets for littering and caning which come cheap), I'm surprised it's not significantly more actually.

 

If you look at dells owners manual online for the alienware 13, it illustrates that you can have a single 2.5 inch hdd/sdd, or you can order it with a m.2 ssd, if you go with the m.2 ssd, it will come with a 2.5inch bracket that houses up to 2 m.2 drives, which of course, takes the place of the 2.5 inch slot. So in short, one 2.5 inch slot that can either house a 2.5 inch ssd, or 2 m.2 drives. Not both. Kind of a letdown really, like you can't make room anywhere for a m.2 drive? really? If I do ever order an aw13, I will order it with the bare 500 gb hdd, but I will ask if they can throw in the m.2 adapter.

 

okay the difference is actually just 40 usd, the other 100 usd price diff comes from the government tax

 

that actually looks like a typo.

how dow you explain an upgrade to 384 being cheaper than upgrading to 256. you basically get 2 SSDs vs 1 SSD and an additional m2 adapter

should I take advantage of it? =)

 

Go ahead. It might be an error on their part, but it isn't as if they'll fix by the time you hit purchase.

 

okay after some reading i realized that m.2 ngff (new generation form factor) is not widely used yet. it is smaller than the usual ssd drive thus you can fit 2 and maybe save some weight. the performance reviews though aren't that good - is this why it is cheap?

 

On my config I had an option for another SSD on top of the 2x512. Check out their website HIDEVOLUTION.

 

I had a look at the HIDEVOLUTION site
I dont think thats actually posible the manual says either 2 m.2 or 1 2.5" ssd slot

I hope I am wrong tho 128GB SSD + 1TB HDD will be great!

 

This laptop would be totally an option for me if it had a MQ or HQ i7 cpu in it.
Even if it will come Intel Core i7-5557U, it would be enough to convince me to buy it. Though the TPD of that is still 28 Watt compared to the 15 Watt of the i5 in the alienware 13.
The Intel Core i7-5600U Might be a last resort too. This one does have a TPD of 15 Watt. Bu tat least it has 4Mb cache, 2.6GHz base clock and 3.2GHz Turbo Clock.
Which is WAAY better than the 1.7GHZ i5

 

Thank's fort your answer, i have understood.

So if 980 will ne lower with the GA, what performances he will do? Wich GPU will be good for it? Ans what is thé utility if the CPU bottleneck the GPU?

I want to have somme mobility when i need, but have enormous perfs at home, i thought alienware was good for that but apparently..
What do you recommend for me?

Thank's

 

I called em - HIDE must be wrong. 2x m.2's, or 1x 2.5".

 

Dell has already said they won't change the TDP. So any proc used would have to be 15 watts.

 

Really their website is incorect? Dang...knew it was too good to be true. Oh well that knocks $600 off the total price. Wack. ..they should fix that.

 

I got an email from Dell this morning stating that the 1080p version of the laptop is on sale for $1199 ($300 off). This is in the US.. Not sure about other countries.

 

Just spoke to HIDEVOLUTION and the option is there because they haven't confirmed exactly whay the internals look like. Most likely 1.5 TB config which is okay for me. I really want this laptop to be full SSD so I can work on the bus without damaging my HDD, but also it will help with heat and of course speed. I'm going to pre order tonight. They have free Fed ex express to Canada too. I'll buy my 980 GPU for the GA in Canada.

 

Took advantage of the pre-black friday special, ordered 2. You'll save $300 if you order the 1080 version then upgrade it to the high res screen and SSD (if you want - if gaming is your primary purpose, maybe not, but I'm using desktop apps/working 95% of the time, so high DPI = super nice on the eyeballs).

Before sale, 2 machines + 2 sleeves (with my config + warranty options) ~$4200, just bought during sale for ~$3500. ETA for delivery isn't until Jan 1, tho

Anyway, if this is your particular compromise, hope I've saved you a few $

 

2 machines?! why the need bro?!

dont mind me i am just envious =)

 

'His & hers', haha. Don't be envious, I'm a man of few possessions, and I like it that way

 

how did you upgrade the parts? only seems to allow for accessories and checkout...

i've got 5 5400 500gb hdds sitting around collecting dust from other systems, will happily pay a premium for the SSD upgrade

also, not sure about the touch screen and it's hi-res -- 1080 seems like the sweat spot for a panel this size.