(almost)New M17x Owner

Hi guys,

I'm new here, in the next 2 weeks i'll gonna place my order with Dell for my M17x (wife says i deserve it )

Config will be as follow:

Silver aluminium
i7-840qm
4Gb ddr3 1333Mhz
2x HD5870
raid-0 2x320Gb hdd
1920x1200 RGB LCD screen

I'm ordering it with 2 hdd in order to buy later on an ssd for boot and to keep 1x320Gb hdd as storage, wich seems cheaper through e-bay than with Dell..
I would like to upgrade also the ram in the future, for same low latency ones, any advice as far as brand goes? also my understanding is that over 4Gb it is usually overkill.

I'll be using it mostly for gaming, i travel a lot for work, but usually i stay away from home for shift of 2 or 3 month, (i'm italian, living in mexico, actually working in Congo ) so trasportation will not be an issue (thinking about the dimensions/weight) since will not be so often, but once i'm settled wherever i'll be, i like the idea of having a full desktop replacement with me.

That's all for now, any sugestion about the purchase will be greatly apreciated.

Xaba

 

If you only intend to keep one hard drive, why order it with two? Why not save the money from skipping the second hard disk to put towards your SSD?

 

becouse this way i'll have a ssd for system and a second hdd for storage without the need to carry an external hdd. If i buy it directly with the 2 hdd it will come with the adapter and disk bay. If i buy it with just one disk i will have to buy the adapter and bay separately. (if i'm right..)

 

Dell uses the same chassis for all of the M17x's they build. That case has two 2.5" bays, even if you order it with one drive.

There is a chance it won't include the cage/bracket, but you should be able to get one from Dell easily enough (there is another board from last year where folks got a free kit after calling). I don't know if the R2 works similarly.

 

I ordered it with 1 HD 500GB 720RPM, when it arrived I moved primary HD to 2nd bay and installed an ssd on the first bay.

HD Interposer and screws were supplied . . they were in the piece of foam situated in the HDD1 bay (so look at the 2 sides of foam before trowing it away )

 

It comes with second hard drive bracket whether you buy a second hd or not. I would wait if i were you. Theyll be coming out with new system soon and its going to be sick. I just returned my m17x r2 for full refund and am going to wait for new system. Do search for m17 r3 and youll see some speculation on what is to come.

 

Good to know about the hard drive mounting hardware. I only just received my M17x (one drive for now) and have not yet checked my spare bay.

Not sure what to think of the R3 just yet. The new 6xxxM cards from AMD are still a ways away and not much new is ready from Intel just yet. The 480M isn't quite mature enough (still too inefficient), but should be ready soon. I can't really see a significantly better R3 hitting before Spring '11. By then, Barts should be mobile-ready (full 3D) and the next Fermi shrink (or even new architecture) on the market. Otherwise, the best we can hope for is faster CPU clocks and USB 3.0.

EDIT: Bah, forgot that the fastest Nvidia option for the R2 is currently the 285M. In that light, the 460M/470M are on the horizon while AMD's flagship will remain the 5870 for another few months.

 

Yes the 470 and usb 3 are worth waiting for.I also have a feeling there will be a case design that will be even sharper than current one.i can wait till spring, i feel it will be worth it,but i still have my m17 to use. If i needed a laptop now i probally wouldnt wait.

 

thank you for the good advice on hdd then, i'll cut i little bit the price this way and purchase a ssd from e-bay.

About waiting for R3.... y think all of you already know what's all this waiting thing for geeks and enthusiast , i've reached my limit and i think that coming from my dell 1555 i'll be more than satisfied with the upgrade

 

get a single drive and slap your own ssd you will get the brackets and stick with 4gb ram and upgrade aftermarket and sell your sticks


EDIT: Realized this is 1066mhz ram pc3 8500....get the 1333mhz pc10600 instead it is better
RAM 8gb $135

Newegg.com - G.SKILL 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Laptop Memory Model F3-8500CL7D-8GBSQ


GOOD RAM:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820161366&Tpk=N82E16820161366

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144468&Tpk=N82E16820144468

SSD 120gb $200

Newegg.com - Corsair Force CSSD-F120GB2-BRKT 2.5" 120GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

SSD 60gb $115

Newegg.com - Corsair Force CSSD-F60GB2-BRKT 2.5" 60GB SATA II MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Drop the processor down you are spending too much money and not getting enough....stick with the cheaper i5 or i7 620m or i7 720qm and then pick up a 920xm chip for the same price as the upgrade to 820qm or better yet if they offer an i3 model get that.

Intel Core I7-920XM Extreme Edition 3.2GHz 8M Q3B8 - eBay (item 190451010994 end time Oct-30-10 10:34:52 PDT)

 

Check out the link in my sig. Might help save some money.

 

thank you all for the good advices, i'll check the link that you provided and see what i can get

 

Soooo!

first off, thanks really for the advices, you make me save money and have a better config.

I basically changed the starting config as follow:

i5-520
4Gb ddr3
128Gb SSD
CF HD5870
1200p screen

i will get the 920xm from the e-bay link and placing the order at the same time as i will place the Dell order, hoping to get them both, almost at the same time. And i'll do the upgrade my self of-course (i promise i will post pictures if interested)

Also i will add a 500Gb sata II for storage.

For the ram i need to find some place that make international shipments..

things are getting exiting..


Funny (and nice) thing is that, since i'm in Congo right now, my wife will coordinate all the Alienware Operations, i will just prepare the wish list

P.S.

rep +1 to both of you, thanks

 

You might wanna drop that ssd. Get a 500gb drive with your system and add a ssd later. You can get an Intel 80gb G2 for like ~$150 on ebay or 128gb g.skill phoenix pro for $200 from newegg. Both are better than the Samsung used by Dell.

 

As far as SSD brand goes, what about g.skill falcon II 64 GB? (may be too small? i can't make up my mind about the hdd yet...)

 

I can't add much but I would second about not getting an 820, when I was doing my research on getting my M17x it value just wasn't being there.

There is a problem with getting the lowest CPU possibly and upgrading, in that you may get a weaker power brick (not the biggest 240w) and then you may run into power throttling problems where your not able to full utilize a 9 series CPU with the power brick that shipped with i3 or i5. From what I know you can order power bricks through dell but there about $100

 

I didn't think about that until AFTER I already ordered with the lowest i5. However my build sheet says 240w on it so I should be ok.

The power brick from Dell lists for $119, but I got my spare 240w for $69 since they screwed up my Outlet order.

 

You get 240w psu if you opt for CF or SLI so there's no problem getting the lowest cpu.

XM = 240w psu supplied
CF/SLI = 240w psu supplied

 

Glad to hear

Thats handy to know, I thought it was more determined by the cpu

 

I found this on the e-bay, it's an ES, should be good?

New Intel Core i7-920XM 920 8M 3.2GHz 1333 PM55 HM55 - eBay (item 280565970767 end time Nov-22-10 08:49:41 PST)

I've checked about the power brick, with a i7-620m and CF HD5870 for example, it comes with the 240W, so i assume that the big brick is shipped just with the CF config

 

OCZ Vertex 2 SSD Drives are probably one of the fastest drives at the moment. Your better off just getting a HDD in your original config, as per what Anodize said, and then install a SSD later, as it will work out cheaper and better performance than the Samsung SSD's that Dell provide. Just keep in mind though, at the moment there is still a 4k read/write issue with the PM55 chipset that comes in the M17x-R2, that prevents achieving full SSD speeds regardless of SSD drive brand. There are temporary workarounds but they still do not achieve the proper speeds.

 

If you are getting G.skill get the PHOENIX PRO that is the same as OCZ Vertex....The chip you linked to is fine there is many sellers just make sure it is a QS which is a final sample and should be very similar to OEM. You can message sellers to confirm the chip and get a price drop if you send them $$$ direct. Drop the SSD since they use samsung and not only is it more expensive it is slower.....warranty has no benefit since SSD already come with 3 yr warranty on them stand alone. You can get a 1 y warranty on the ES chips if you ask the right people (laptop monkey). Skip the ram upgrade unless you really need it since gaming and all it will have no effect only in programs like CAD, Rendering, Photoshop, VM and other ram intensive tasks

 

Yes the chip is QS, i think i found the cpu then

The use i will do with the AW will be mostly gaming, and common use, nothing related to video/audio editing or cad/graphics.

Mostly i will play WoW, SWTOR (as soon as it will be released), BFBC2, MW2, and whatever i can throw at it and make it running (but mostly fps, rpg, mmorpg)...Crysis is overrated imho, not really plan to play it

 

So, here i am again with a question

I'm planning to use a i7-620m as a starting cpu while i wait for the 920xm. I've read here and there that the 620m is quite good for gaming, and i decided not to start with a i5-520m...

What do you think about the 620m?

 

if you can afford the 620m it is an awesome chip to have in your arsenal along with 920xm those 2 chips and you will be rocking it out for a long long time