A Few Questions Before Purchasing

I am going to be purchasing an Alienware m17x r3 (or maybe a Sager NP8170, but that is not relevant) within the next month or so. My questions are:

1. Should I get one of the upgraded wireless cards? What advantages do they offer?

2. Is this laptop overclockable (I know, not really a word)? I am aware of the locked multiplier and would only be interested in a slight overclock. I saw someone on youtube do it, but then I read a few posts on here seeming to suggest you couldn't.

3. Would you all recommend the Alienware over the Sager? It is about a $300 price difference for the same hardware (8gb 1600mhz ram, AMD Radeon HD 6990M) except for a better processor in the Sager. From what I have read (please correct me if I am wrong), the Alienware has an HDMI in, better screen (quality and viewing angle), better keyboard, and better trackpad. What advantages, besides being $300 cheaper, does the Sager have?

Thank you all in advance for answering my questions.

Edit: Another question

4. Although I am pretty sure it is not possible, I was curious if it is possible to record from a PS3 over the HDMI input. Can you?

 

I can answer only one of those questions, The upgraded wireless card which I assume is the Bigfoot card is worth it from my testing. I have noticed lower ping in game and a lot faster video streaming from the Intel 6300. I have to say though it can't work miracles, but it's close enough. I am currently visiting some family and they use Clear for internet which is based on 4G Mobile broadband. Last time I visited was 5 months ago nothing here has changed except my wireless card and the improvement is extremely noticeable. I used to not be able to game at all with the 6300 ping was off the charts 200+ in every game jitter was anywhere from 60-80ms. Some games it would be even higher, The difference now with the 1103 is extreme never imagined that it would be so different. I am at around 100-150 with a jitter of about 10-15ms. @ home though I have noticed 25-30% improvement in some games and others around 10-15%. In League of Legends though the improvement is almost 50% better ping/latency in game. I say if you are big on gaming it is worth it. Just remember YMMV, it all depends on your networking situation.

 

Well, on the flip side. I dont have the bigfoot card. i bought stock and i game online alot. Usually BFBC2, Black ops etc and idont feel at any disadvantage or have ever felt i needed a better wireless card, ever. Waste of money if you ask me, unless of course you want it for wireless hd.

As for Ram, do yourself a favour and buy it seperatly from the laptop, a hell of a lot cheaper that way.

The Alienware does have a HDMI. Cant comment on the Sager, never owned one.

 

You mention buying the ram separately. Does this mean that I should pick the 4 GB option and then buy 4 GB? Or would I have to buy the full 8 GB after I got the computer? How many slots are there on this computer and how many come filled?
Since they are offering a 15% discount on the graphics card if you start with the Alienware starting point that includes the Bigfoot card, I will go with that.
Thank you both for the input. Can anyone answer the other 3 questions?

 

I think you can bridge that $300 gap pretty easily by either buying refurbished or trying to get a better deal from a Dell rep over the phone.

No, not really overclockable...except video card. Really, although I am into overclocking, it's rationally unnecessary - these Sandy Bridge CPUs are insanely powerful.
For RAM, if you get the Dell, yes, 4gb option, then add 4 yourself. Some Sager resellers don't rip you off on RAM as much. Just keep in mind, RAm should really cost you no more than $45 per 4gb.

The Sager keyboard was my final Alienware selling point. Messed up keypad, no backlighting... It became an easy choice then. BUT, I did get my Alienware for similar or even lower than the Sager in price due to military discount.

 

Thanks for the recommendation. Although I won't be going the refurb route, I guess I will talk to a Dell rep. By buying the ram separately (and starting from a lower starting point), I get the Bigfoot card and the same amount of ram for $50 less. After reading elsewhere, I don't really care about the Bigfoot card, but I can't complain about it either. This leaves the price difference at $250 if I don't add the bigfoot card to the Sager, just under $200 if I do. Hopefully a Dell rep can knock most of that off. I wish I had a military discount.

You say it is not really overclockable. Does this mean I could not stably add 100 mhz? Not really a big deal to me, but it sounds kind of fun to overclock.

Anyone happen to know if I can record from the HDMI input?

Edit: Will any DDR3 1600 laptop memory work with this computer or do I have to worry about compatibility?

 

Not sure about recording. Theres a few threads on the main Alienware forum page, depending on where your from, offering great discounts on Alienwares from Dell. i think the author of the thread, Steviejones, knows a rep. Take a look, the thread is full of praise for stevies rep.

 

Now, I don't know firsthand, but I would think recording through HDMI would only be a matter of software, not hardware. So, I assume it can be done...

I really suggest saving your money on the wireless card if saving money is a big goal for you. Also save money on hard drive options - you didn't really say anything about that.

Here's my .02 about the overclocking - I am usually the first one to try it, but in this case, the benefit and risk was not worth the trouble. You run the risk of corrupting your hard drive and having to reset your CMOS and reinstall everything. Too much potential headache for too little reward.

Yes, you could possibly add 100mhz stable - it depends on your chip. Mine, I tried it and got instability immediately. Anything past that first interval and I likely would have hosed my entire install.

Any RAM will be fine, sure. But the RAm that Dell uses is 1333. If you buy 1600 to add to the factory stuff it will downclock to the 1333.

 

Ok, so no overclocking.

I was going to get the RAID 0 2x 320 GB hard drives. Are you saying this is a bad idea? Could I add them in later easily? Is the Alienware customization easily restorable after installing new hard drive?

Strange you say the ram is 1333. The site claims "4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)". Are they lying?

I guess I will find out about the HDMI when/if I get the computer.

 

Yeh, like Ram HDD are vastly overpriced with Dell. Get lowest spec HDD and then buy your own config. Means a fresh install but its easy enough and will save you cash.

 

For your hard drive situation, I'd suggest getting the default 320gb, put it in your secondary slot, and buy a SSD on your own and install it in slot 1 with Windows on it. SSDs are awesome...

1600 RAM seems a lie to me...not sure though. Mine came with 1333.

 

Also check for coupons you can find 15 to 20 % off around. Also if you charge it thru DFS you can get no interest for 12 months and 10% off some time 20 with there coupon. There are ways to knock the price down.

 

SSDs are so expensive, though. A 40 GB (from newegg) is about $100. To get one that is decently sized would cost me about $250. I guess I could get by on 64 GB ($115), but that is pretty limiting. I would probably even have to put all the games on the second hard drive. Do you think this is acceptable or would you suggest I put $250 or more into a decently sized one (about 128 GB)? Doing the RAID 0 would be much cheaper. How much different is there in performance?

Edit: Looks like they updated the base config today. Now comes with a 750 GB hard drive.I could put a second 750 GB hard drive in (for RAID 0) and end up with 1.5 Tb for the same price as putting in a 64 GB SSD (for a total of non-RAID 0, 814 GB).

Edit 2: There is also a hybrid solid state drive available. What do you think of this option?

Edit 3: This, http://www.amazon.com/OCZ-Technolog...CO/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1315345556&sr=8-10, might be workable. $160 120 GB. Is it compatible?

Edit 4: Wow, that actually had really negative reviews. I guess I'd be better off paying $200 for one with good reviews. I don't know what to do at this point...

 

1600Mhz come's as a base now.

 

I've done fresh Windows installs several times, but what about all the specialized Alienware software or OS customizations? How easy are those to bring back?

 

This is good to know. Thank you.

 

Ah, nice...wish they did that on my machine...

So, All I hear is complaints about the hybrid drives, so I personally recommend staying away.

And while dual 750GB is an awesome amount of space, you aren't open for a future SSD...well, you are, but you'd have a spare 750GB then.

A great 128GB SSD can be had for as low as $160 nowadays. I check Slickdeals.net at least twice a day, and the Crucial M4 pops up on there fairly often. I could send you a PM when I see a deal. You could also consider purchasing a used SSD from the marketplace on this site. (And no, stay away from...well, in my opinion, every SSD brand besides Intel and Crucial!)

 

So, you would recommend an SSD 128GB + HD 750GB combo over a RAID 0 1.5 TB? I guess that is the direction I will go then.

How hard is it to change hard drives and get the system back to how it was when I got it. This means reinstall Win7, all drivers, Alienware Software (command center, making the lights work, making all the keyboard shortcuts work, etc), and customizations (such as cool start menu)?

Also, this ram Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3K2/4GX is compatible, right?

 

Create Alienrespawn discs and respawn to the SSD, then you will have the out of the box state.

That RAM will work but the R3 comes with 1600Mhz RAM.

 

Yes, it's what I, and most here would likely recommend. You should ultimately be the one to decide if you're willing to throw down the money, though

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ook-feel-after-clean-install-windows-7-a.html

Is a very handy post. Some advocate doing Alien respawn, and some recommend doing your own fresh install. That's up to you. I feel like a fresh install makes it yours, but I'm a control freak. It's not hard at all. I would recommend downloading all the drivers from Dell's site to an external drive beforehand to have them uncompressed and ready to install. This way you guarantee you have the most recent drivers. The ones on the disc might be older, who knows. I'm not sure if something has changed here, so hopefully someone here will confirm it - I think you are supposed to change your hard drive option in your BIOS to RAID...Can someone confirm this? Give this forum a good search for some SSD tips.

Edit: Actually, here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...install-ssd-instructions-recommendations.html

Seems like a good choice on RAM.

 

From RAID to AHCI. There are plenty of SSD install threads on here.

 

What type of real world difference would I see with a SSD?

 

Boot up Windows from a cold start in 17 seconds, open most programs almost instantly.

 

what's the best SSD for about $200?

 

As cool as that sounds, I don't know if it is worth the investment. I don't even reboot my computer daily, sometimes not even weekly. Also, now that I got rid of the extension with a memory leak, Google Chrome never gets closed. The only time this seems like it would be noticeable is opening Office (which I only do about weekly) and opening Visual Studio (also don't do this often because when I open it, I don't close it until I get board). Maybe opening games as well, which seems like the only point where I would really care. All in all, I think I would be happier spending that money on something else. Do you disagree with this assessment? Do you have a SSD? Are you less or more happy with it than you thought you would be?

Then again, a 17 second boot beats even the stripped down Arch Linux install I have on my current laptop. Also, I do plan on playing a lot more games after I get this computer. I am torn. I guess this is probably a decision best made by me rather than trying to take yours, but I really would like to hear your opinion on this. Thank you for all the assistance.

 

Well, I guess the best way to fully appreciate it is when you see it to believe it. If you never have it, you will never miss it, so if you're hesitant at all, skip it for now. Maybe reconsider in a year or 2 when SSDs are cheaper and bigger.

And yes, I never restart my computer either. But the occasional crash, or driver update fiasco, or random other thing that requires numerous restarts make me really appreciate it. It has yet to make many of my gaming experiences noticeably better, well, except maybe for Starcraft load times. I think certain games don't really benefit.

Anyway, conclusion is if you're not 100% convinced, save your money

 

OK, sounds like a plan. Once again, thank you for all the help.
I guess I will stick to a RAID 0 array, although I do hear that dual boots become a lot harder with RAID. I don't suppose you have any experience with this, do you? Now that I primarily program for Windows, it won't be a hard sacrifice to go without Linux, but maybe I can run it from a live USB 3.0 flash drive if I really miss it. USB3 drives are bootable, right? They should be plenty fast enough to run Arch through. Wow, I guess I have endless questions. This should be the last of them, I think.