Advice needed, Looking to purchase first laptop...

Hi guys i am new to the world of alienware and laptop gaming so hoping you can help me out.

could somebody check the spec on this M17x r3 i am looking to get for £1600.

will this be sufficient enough to play Skyrim at around the ps3 level of graphics ?

THE SPEC

Inntel i7-2820QM Quad Core Processor with a speed of 2.3Ghz upto 3.4Ghz on Turbo Boost (8 threads, 6MB Cache)

12GB DDR3 1333Mhz RAM

750GB 7200rpm Western Digital Sata Hard Drives

3.0MP Integrated High Definition Webcam

*Upgraded* 17.3" 120Hz Widescreen Full HD WLED (1920 x 1080) Truelife 3D Screen

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5 Graphics Card

Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 WiFi Connectivity

Dell Wireless 375 Bluetooth Connectivity

3D Bluray Player

Integrated 5.1 HD Surround Sound

Integrated Digital 7.1 Surround Sound Support (via HDIM 1.4 or SP/DIF)

Built in 2.1 speaker configuration with audio powered by Klipsch®

Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit Operating System

Nvidia 3D Glasses Set which includes:

3D Vision Active Shutter Glasses

1 Year dell warranty.

Is this spec a good deal at £1600 ?

THANKS IN ADVANCE FOR ANY HELP.

 

If it's Skyrim and mainly gaming. Drop the RAM to 4GB and upgrade to some HyperX 8GB (£50 on Amazon) and upgrade to the 580M. You want the best graphic card since Skyrim is a bad console port unfortunately.

Then you'll be able to enjoy it @ ultra 60FPS with mods. nomnomnom

 

I concur with GeoCake. Ditch the 560 and ram. You should at the bare minimum get the 580m.

If you REALLY want more ram later, you could always buy more RAM sticks that are the exact same frequency and DDR3, then just plug them in.

 

Thanks for the feedback guys.

where can i buy the 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M (3d compatable)

there are tonnes of 1.5 GB to choose from and don't want to make the mistake of buying the wrong one. even tried dell themselves but they don't sell them separately only as part of a build upgrade ??

can someone kindlypost any direct links to the exact version, would be hugely appreciated.

with regards to the ram is this what you had in mind
Kingston HyperX Genesis - Memory - 8 GB : 2 x 4 GB - DIMM 240-pin - DDR3 - 1333 MHz / PC3-10600 - CL7 - 1.65 V - unbuffered - non-ECC £59.66


on a side note is the spec above worth upgrading or should i look for a more suited base model ?

 

RAM: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004Y4XAAK

Where are you ordering from? On the Dell UK site you can choose a 580M.

Ideally you want the best graphics you can get, the GPU is the most important part for gamers.

 

No mate purchasing off a friends mate who deals with dell referb.
which is why its £1600.

but if i can't find somewhere who sells a 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M – NVIDIA® SLI® Enabled

i may have to wait for a better spec one to come along.


umm that ram link u just posted would it make any difference being a 1600MHz

when there would be 4GB of 1333Mhz RAM running aswell ?

 

Personally 1600 seems a bit too steep for a 560M, for that money you'd want the best GPU in there. I bought mine for £850 refurbished with 1080p and a 6870M (which comes very close to a 560M) and upgraded the GPU, RAM and HDD myself (I'll upgrade CPU later).

Games don't require 12GB ram at all, so for gaming 8Gb 1600Mhz would be way better.

 

Yeah for £1600 you want the best really. I bought mine with 3D and 580m for £1800. I might have a M15x with a 6970m for sale if you want? I'll give you a hella good price for it Get some more posts and drop me a PM. I'm in the UK too.

 

even 4GB is enough for gaming, I am running BF3 and skyrim around 50 fps maxed out here, and 4GB of ram, I am upgrading the ram because of windows and computing...

 

appreciate the input guys.

how does the Intel i7-2820QM Quad Core Processor stand up ?

is it better or worse then the i7-2760 ?

( also in comparison to say a ps3 graphics what can i expect from the M17X R3 running the GTX 560M AND if i were to upgrade to a GTX580m ?)

 

8mb cache vs 6mb cache, definitely better

 

if i was you...get the cheapest CPU available, then upgrade to a 2820 for about $260 shipped from ebay.

Then sell your 2670 on ebay for $270...you'll be +$10

 

exactly! Graz, you've become a pro! Speeds are similar between the 2760/2820...but that extra 2 meg cache on the 2820 gives it the win IMO

 

Just come advice.

This spec from dell.


Included in your system:
COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M17x Stealth Black edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2670QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) edit
GRAPHICS CARD 2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6990M edit
MEMORY 4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048] edit
HARD DRIVE 320GB (7,200rpm) SATA Hard Drive edit
LCD 17.3" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD edit
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write) edit
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - EUR edit


Comes to £1580.

Dell Voucher Codes, Cashback & Discount Codes | Quidco

Using quidco 15% code brings it down to £1300 about and 10% cashback.

Then spend £50 for kingston hyper x ram off amazon

 

learning from the pros got a loooooooong way to go, I think I may call myself non-newbie as soon as I do a repaste

 

Excellent advice Bro! that deserves some rep+

 

O.K so after the feedback off you guys i've gone a slightly different way...

heres the new spec i will be getting

LCD 17.3" (44 cm) 120Hz w/ 3D Bundle WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2860QM (2.50 Ghz, 8MB, 4C)
Video Card 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
Blu-Ray ROM Combo
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 -

Memory 4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM[2x2048 swapping
Hard Drive 320GB (7,200rpm) SATA Hard Drive will swap to secondary back up drive

below is what i will be swapping with
Kingston HyperX Plug in and Play DDR3 1600MHz CL9 8GB SODIMM Memory Module (Kit of 2)
Crucial CT256M4Solid State Drive2 256GB M4

ANY LAST THOUGHTS B4 I TAKE THE PLUNGE ?

 

Well, instead of the 2860QM you could opt for the 2670QM and then upgrade to a 2920XM QS version from laptopmonkey on eBay (£398) - with unlocked multipliers you could reach 4.0Ghz per core, way more power (video editing, rendering, showing off, etc) than a 2860QM - that's only if you like overclocking(fidling with bios)/opening up your laptop, otherwise specs are top notch and can't be better for a gamer.

 

Thanks mate.

with this being my first laptop, i am way off from even contemplating

will need sometime to get upto speed with the whole laptop/pc gaming and all the modding that comes with it.
which is a big part of why i came here. to get some great advise on a good base system which i can expand on a little down the line.

 

i would even go lower if you're going to upgrade your cpu later...get the 2670

 

Tis exactly what I did. I got the "lowly" i7 2630QM, was fine for gaming etc. Upgraded to i7 2920XM, cranked that to 4.4Ghz and now hold most of the benching records for the M17x R3

 

the alienware m17x is like a desktop in that it can be upgraded. Almost every single part of your laptop can be changed including Vid card, Hardddrives, ram, CPU, wireless...even the lcd screen!

most people get the base configuration but with upgraded vid card and 1920 x1080 monitor. Then they upgrade the other parts for a fraction of what Dell charges.

The upgrades that you mentioned i.e., The hyperx 1600's and M4 are very good upgrade options.

PS...the only things on my m17x that i haven't touched are the lcd screen and the vid card. The vid card will probably be next once the next gen amd 7900's become available

 

Thanks for the input SlickDude80.

at the moment tho, i just want to get my hands on it.

like i said, its my first laptop (still don't know what to expect graphics wise when comparing it to gaming consoles like the ps3/xbox360 which upto now is the only thing i've used.

once I've got that comparison i can then decide if its worth another 3-5 hundred upgrading it further.

 

very nice order (but if you want to have the best CPU, follow what the others did, upgrade later, go with the cheapest one right now) otherwise it will carry you for a long while maxing your games and softwares

 

it will blow them so far away (to narnia, literally ), you won't even use them anymore

 

And I shall follow in your footsteps (minus the bench records of course). I've upgraded my GPU, RAM, put a SSD in there and soon I'll have a smexy 2920XM.

 

Save the money and upgrade the GPU when next gen turns up instead of doing the CPU now. After all isn't the the bottleneck for all the current games the GPU? All the current sandybridge 4 core i7 are fast enough.

 

pc-best-buy-1 | eBay

CPUs are available and have started going down. Woot!

I also got the 2630, no ram upgrade, the best vid card available at the time(for me it was the 460GTX and yes I plan to upgrade it), the 1080p screen, and the 6300 wifi card. Hard drives and ram are very simple upgrades and no worth what Dell charges. Although I would say if you're not looking to spend the money for an 820/860 or higher than just getting your 2760 out of the factory would be best. You will have a hard time selling your 2630 and being able to recover enough for it to make sense. Example: Dell wants an extra $150 for the step up into a 2760 now, the 2760 will run you $450 now and the price you'll get on ebay for a 2630 is about $150. $150 ow or $300 later. As the prices fall they will fall in tandem but even if they fall 50% there is no real gain in waiting. I'll step into a 2760 unless I find a 820/860 at the same price at the time I'm ready to buy because I'm not benching my machine and won't experience much from an upgrade above the 2760. Most user won't in fact but I may just slap on my geek tribal tatoo/affliction shirt/lifted truck/coffee can exhaust/etc and get the POWER just because I want the moments of maniacal laughter when it boots in 10 seconds and is pwning noobs by minute 2. We'll see. Good luck with your purchase.

 

wow good item!!

NEW! Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile 3.4GHz 8M L3 45W 32nm | eBay

 

NEW! Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile 3.4GHz 8M L3 45W 32nm | eBay

Just saw this...looks like I got beat to the punch!

 

if you guys want to buy 2820's...get it from shirley. Always use the make an offer button...you never pay face value ever. Shirley is the only buyer to hav a 100% satifaction rating...trust me on this.

me and fellow NBR member Alienwolf both paid $270 shipped for this

New Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile Processor 3.4Ghz 45W | eBay

 

What's the current consensus on getting an ES vs a production proc? The last engineering sample I got from an engineer was a qx9650 and it was a BEAST but he may have cherry picked it for me. He said he did but who knows. Have you guys seen continued success with ES models? Shirley has a few for sale and the other guy declined my 270 offer.

 

shirley sells QS versions...those are final ES2's. That's the one that i have. It works great and my temps are low (for a 2820)

Shirley declined the 270?

 

No not shirley I'll try him/her in a second. Which thread did you post your temps and install info (thermal paste recommendations, bios work around, etc)? This thread has been officially hijacked
But Shirley has production and QS available. QS is $20 more and I wanted to see if you found it was worth it(added features, stability, etc).... Just noticed your signature :O I'll start reading

 

I bought a QS 920XM from Shirley's. It works perfectly and it was shipped really quickly. I would recommend going with the QS as it is pretty much the same as the OEM, just much cheaper

 

In this case he has two available one @ 290 the other @ 299. Both or ES/QS I guess. I'm combing ads now getting ready to buy and must have mixed up. But what am I missing about the differences between the two procs?

New Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile Processor 3.4Ghz 45W | eBay

New Intel Core i7-2820QM Mobile Processor 3.4Ghz 45W | eBay

 

they are the same...one ships out of NJ...the other out of china. Pick the one from new jersey for faster shipping (if you're in North America). $270 is what we paid...i'll be very surprised if that gets declined

These procs are QS versions...essentially OEM. My 2820 works just like an oem chip. My temps are stellar too

 

good eye. Thanks man. I hope mine is a limited use unit from the center of the wafer.