Alienware 17 Pre-order Configuration Questions and Order Status Discussion - Part 5

Well, originally it was due to be delivered on the 20th, but Dell got it done a lot faster so, according to FedEx tracking info, I will receive my new unit tomorrow.
1 210-ACKC Alienware 17 Base
1 370-AANN 16GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz
1 580-ABEG English Keyboard
1 490-BBRU AMD Radeon R9 M290X with 4GB GDDR5
1 658-BBOD Broadcom 4352 Driver
1 401-AAIK 256GB mSATA SSD Boot + 1TB 5400RPM SATA 6Gb/s
1 619-ACMQ Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit, English
1 429-AACX Optical Drive : Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVD/RW, CD-RW)
1 555-BBEQ Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0
1 470-AAKG US 125V Power Cord
1 340-ABEU Documentation, English
1 421-1723 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty
1 950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
1 994-3730 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 954-4168 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
1 954-4191 In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis, Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
1 338-BCHU 4th Generation Intel Core i7-4700MQ processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
1 391-BBEM 17.3 inch (439.42 mm) WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display
1 451-BBCB 8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
1 450-AAJI 240W AC Adapter
1 354-BBBB Anodized Aluminum
1 640-BBLC Alienware Command Center 3.0
1 658-BBNS System Software for Alienware M17xR1
1 340-ADEL Alienware 17 Anodized Aluminum
1 389-BCCZ Windows 7 Label, OptiPlex, Fixed Precision, Vostro Desktop
1 430-XYGR Power DVD 9.6 BD, 3D,V2
1 340-ADEV Setup Instructions English
1 332-1530 Dell.com Order
1 332-1530 Dell.com Order
1 658-BBUT Additional Software
1 340-ACQQ Not Included
1 630-AAAU Software: Microsoft Office 2013 Trial
1 817-BBBP None Required
1 340-ACQQ Not Included
1 A5750525 Dell Advantage benefits have been applied. eGift card will be sent via email in 10-20 days. carries a 90 day expiration

I'll post some benchmark info. on the M290X card as soon as I can. I have an extra 7200 RPM 500 Gig Drive laying around I'm going to drop in it and a copy of Win7 Professional I'm going to upgrade to.as well. Looking forward to playing with this baby.

by the way, I strongly recommend ordering on the phone and talking to a phone rep instead of just doing the online order. Phone rep. got me a "premium member" discount that essentially paid for an Alienware Vindicator briefcase for the system as well.

 

I ordered mine on the 6th shipped on the 11th got it today. I can't wait to get home and tryout.

 

Ok, I got my new Alienware 17 with the AMD Radeon R9 M290X with 4GB GDDR5 GPU. Here are the "out of the box" benchmarks before I did any tweaking. Links are to pictures posted on my facebook page with general public permissions. I love the way GPUZ reports my BIOS version. I'm using the Dell supplied driver for the video card btw. Figured people considering ordering one might like to see these.

1. 3DMark 11: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153875765480164&set=a.10153875765400164.1073741828.809125163&type=1&theater

2. Cinebench R15: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153875765475164&set=a.10153875765400164.1073741828.809125163&type=1&theater

3. PCMark 8: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153875765505164&set=a.10153875765400164.1073741828.809125163&type=1&theater

4. GPUZ & CPUZ report: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10153875772200164&set=a.10153875765400164.1073741828.809125163&type=1&theater

 

Quick question. Just ordered my m17xr5. For the HD setup I got the 256gb msata boot and 1tb drive. There should be no problem with me buying an additional 1tb from Amazon and raid them both together for a setup of the 256gb msata boot + 2TB drive (raid0), correct?

 

No, that's the setup I bought and I added a. 500gig 7200 rpm drive I had laying around to it. I did not set up a raid situation, but it would be easy to do.

 

Ok thank you Lynn. Ordered my laptop today and I have a ship date of March 5th. Can't come soon enough.

 

You are welcome. BTW, what GPU did you get for your system?

I will also likely do a RAID situation in the future. Just didn't have the $ atm and figured the 256 boot SSD with the 1Tbyte HDD was a good deal since I knew the system had 3 bays in it and adding the 500G 7200 rpm drive would be a cinch.

EDIT: Oh, and based on experience, I would bet you get your new computer about 7-10 days before the estimated date.

 

I hope so. I've already sold my 2 year old m17xr3 and I'm without a laptop until then. I got the 780m. I got a good deal on my build and I'm very happy with the specs. Only thing I can't find specs on is that Broadcom wireless card. I hope it's dual band and I'll be able to use my 5ghz band.

 

Yup, It is a dual-band wifi adapter.

 

Any idea how it compares with intel 6300 wireless card?

 

My router reports my new A17 is connected on the 5 Ghz band and windows reports on the status of the connection as having a 243.0 Mbps speed

 

The Broadcom card provides better performance with the 802.11ac Transceiver. It supports speeds up to 867 Mbps (in ideal conditions). The Intel Centrino 6300 wireless network card is basically an "energy efficient" alternative that supports speeds up to 450 Mbps. In other words, the Broadcom 4352 is the better choice for gaming. Some claim connectivity with Intel cards is more stable than Broadcom, but I have never had any issues with the 4352.

 

So whats the average build time right now for the 17's? I finally got my replacement order approved and its in production.

 

My most recent replacement was ordered and delivered within a week. It's random. Depends on availability of parts. The longest I've had to wait for a replacement was two weeks - the shortest, four days.

 

is there hardware problem in the AW 17s that require a replacement?

 

If they don't have the part you need for a repair, they'll offer a replacement, if you're lucky.

 

oh ok...thought there was a general fault in the pc that i wasn't aware of.

 

Yeah I had 3 issues with the laptop in which prompted them to offer me a replacement. However if you order from the outlet expect a longer wait time as they try and look for a refurb to replace your laptop with first.

 

so there's no inherent faults i should worry about?

 

If many people were having problems, the forums would have a lot more comments about systems being repaired or replaced. There will always be a few people with problems - but as long as it doesn't become a pattern with many sharing the same problem - shouldn't be a concern.

I've had my 120Hz AW 17 for months - and it has not had any problems requiring service. Any small problems were software - and have been resolved by updated drivers.

 

The AW 17 is a very solid machine. The only weak point (or area) it has is the screen. The visuals as amazing for a laptop - I'm not talking about that. What I'm referring to is the fact that I've owned a few AW 17's (3 or 4 now? some replacements) and at least 3 of them had some sort of screen bleed around the edges. Apparently Technical Support doesn't know why this happens, and claim that even replacing the LCD itself doesn't stop it because it's a reoccurring issue. This "issue" must be during the production stage of the screen. Perhaps the LCD's they use are poorly sealed or something causing it to bleed in certain backgrounds.

Other than that, I am impressed with the level of quality they brought to the table in this new lineup. They just need to find a new manufacturer for the LCD panels they're using.

 

Also, it's not common to get the good stories even though they are more. You usually don't write if you had a great experience, you only do it when something bad is happening.

 

Just got my laptop today. Sweet! Came earlier than march 4th estimation. Quick question. I'm installing windows ultimate on it and of course putting it on my masta drive. It's supposed to be 250gb. I realize you lose a little. But I see they partitioned it to a 196gb where OS is currently installed. However I see a 32gb partition for "OEM" (reserved). Any reason I should keep it? I see the 10GB RECOVERY partionion which I know not to delete. I just have no idea why I need to keep 32gb also.

Edit: upon further examination, it looks like the 32gb is used for hibernation. I've never seen a partition allocated for only that. I still want to delete it though.

 

i'd get rid of the hiberation partition purely because it's taking up space and not good when writing to the NAND chips over time.

 

Hey all I'm configuring an Alienware 17. I'm just undecided on the graphics card. I've configured the first column the same as the middle column but with the 780m and it's price is £2028. The second column has the R9 M290x at £1728. My question is is it worth getting the 780m for an extra £300 or isn't there much difference? Cheers.

 

i'd go with the 780m for decent driver support....AMD's driver support is not there yet!

 

Well, I pulled the trigger today on this bad boy:

Alienware m17x r5

32GB Dual Channel DDR3L at 1600MHz

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780M with 4GB GDDR5

1TB 5400 + 80 mSATA HDD

Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit

Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BD-ROM, DVDRW, CD-RW)

Broadcom 4352 802.11 ac 2x2 and Bluetooth 4.0

4th Generation Intel Core i7-4900MQ Processor (Overlocked, 8MB Cache, up to 4.0GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

17.3 inch (439.42 mm) 120Hz WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) TrueLife w/3D Bundle

Very excited to see the difference in performance from the R2 I currently own (which will be up for sale once I get this one). I bet I'll be blown away

 

how many sata / msata slots are there?

 

There is one Msata slot under the palmrest/keyboard. As for sata ports you get 2 more and the option to add another in the optical bay.

 

ah sweet! just seeing if there's an option to chuck in another 1TB HDD for games cos the 5400RPM drive isn't the best when it comes to loading speeds.

 

True, I have that now for my steams games, will see how it runs.

 

it'll probably only affect loading times which could affect you when entering an MP game.

 

So here is the question: I have ordered the beast in my signature... should I cancel and see whats coming in the next 2 months? I keep hearing that they're gonna refresh the M17...

 

Who told you that, lol? They just redesigned it less than a year ago, they won't completely redesign it again. That's absurd.

There may be some minor improvements in the guts of the system, mainly with hardware, but you shouldn't cancel because of it. The 880M is less than 10% better than the 780M. Maxwell won't be out until the end of this year, probably during or toward the end of Q3 2014. The 880M is not Maxwell - it's an overclocked 780M with more vRAM.

 

yeah will stick with the 780m....that'll tide me over

 

Guys, I'm gonna tell you right now... I've been buying from Dell/Alienware for probably a good 8 to 10 years now. BY FAR THE BEST experience I've had and just the most amazing deal I've gotten in the history of my dealings with these guys is from this amazing gal:

Jessica Everhart
[email protected]
1-800-695-8133 x 4167796

Give her a call. She'll put a smile on your face not just with her personality, but her amazing magic in 'working the numbers'

Cheers!

 

i wonder how long it takes to get a confirmation email? granted i ordered late sunday evening here in Toronto though i would have thought it would have been confirmed as the funds have been placed on hold.

 

You'll probably get it today at some point! I'm uber excited to get mine and start the burn it!

 

i got it a few minutes ago actually so very happy now. kinda disappointed there was no slot load BD drive option and hence why I am asking around for aftermarket alternatives.

I'll probably have to do a teardown to see if there's an MSATA slot.

 

An mSATA slot is on every AW 17. As a matter of fact, there's one on all three of the AW laptops.

 

Yup the only bad design on the new AW17 IMO is the mSata slot is under the freaking palm rest. Only about 25 screws, ugh...

 

oh good means i can chuck in a reasonably side SSD and use that as the main OS drive and leaves the 2 x 2.5" bays for a game SSD and probably another for media.

 

good, my laptop is in the pre-production stage looking forward to its arrival.

EDIT: WOW it really sped through pre-production quickly and now it's in production

can't wait to get off this crappy asus netbook

 

Grats man! Mine is still in production with an ETA of 3/20.

... the only thing I'm waiting on now is to see the updated AW 17 specs with the 880m and whatever else they'll throw in it. My guess is it will be up on their website tomorrow or this week at some point since the NDA is up at midnight. I'm REALLY interested to see the price difference based on what I paid for mine and what one will price out at with the same/upgraded specs... I HATE waiting lol

 

mine is slated for march 27 though i am hoping it comes earlier then i'd be ecstatic. from benchmarks i have seen the 4700MQ can handle the 780m very well and I am looking forward to dumping titanfall onto it and having a go.

the only consolation i got after my debacle with the asus is that i found a $150 discount for all dell PCs (including alienware) so very happy but if i didn't get the asus in the first place i would have spec'd it out a bit higher.

EDIT: even better that they accepted an Australian pre-paid travel (visa debit) card with my canadian address otherwise i would have lost the 15% discounts they had going.

 

Yeah, I scored some massive discounts on the one in my build, so the only thing that is keeping from cancelling and re-ordering with the upcoming new stuff would be the fact that I really doubt I'd be able to score the same discount haha... its not that I'm cheap, I just enjoy getting a good deal, makes me feel better about my purchase

 

if the performance differences between the 780m and the 880m are minor (as it has been discussed in other threads) then the only reason one would get it is for e-peen and since i am not bothering to wait for the 880m i think the 780m will do just fine.

 

You know what's funny? I've been battling my choice for a week now... What you just wrote really stuck out and you're right, it's all about the e-peen with a marginal performance difference. Thank you, because now imma breathe and keep what I got coming. Thanks brotha!!!

 

i'm glad i helped because i think your specs are really decent for the price you got it at and there's a lot of power in that to run a decent amount of games smoothly. i understand that everyone gets nervous when new hardware is coming out but the reality is that tech is changing so fast that we can't keep up (and in fact it wastes good materials, precious metals, and energy too if we kept disposing tech constantly).

i mean it's ok to have the highest specs but you're content not to be a show off showing of their e-peen.

so enjoy it when you get it cos i am excited to get my hands on it and i have my copy of titanfall just sitting on my desk taunting me right now.

 

Mine is on a FedEx truck somewhere out there! I may get it tomorrow, Friday at the latest! Gonna spend the weekend secluded in my man-cave tinkering with it and running benchmarks, I'll post as I go.