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    Alienware 17 and windows 8.1

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by thegh0sts, Dec 4, 2013.

  1. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I am looking at grabbing this or the Alienware 14 while I am in Canada next year and I am wondering if anyone has had any luck getting windows 8.1 to work....or if it's even possible.

    I've heard reports that BF4 runs better on windows 8 (8.1) because of the DX11.2 support and I want to see if that's the case and get better framerates in the game compared to windows 7.
     
    thegh0sts, Dec 4, 2013
    #1
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  2. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    It should work without issues on that machine.
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Dec 4, 2013
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  3. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    You would buy Windows 8 and put up with tons of issues, all for a few FPS in BF4? Sure, it'll help, but it's not like you're going to have 40 FPS on Win7 and 80 FPS on Win8 (same settings) - we're talking 3-5 FPS gain.

    It's possible to get Windows 8 working on these computers, but it requires some tweaking. There have been a lot of reports of issues with the Broadcom drivers on Windows 8 and USB devices messing up, along with video drivers not properly installing and requiring system restores, etc. But, if you can put up with all of that, go for it. I think it's a mistake to purchase Windows 8 until the first service pack comes out.

    Some people don't have issues with Windows 8. It's a crap shoot, IMO. I'd say next year (2014) is the time people should be upgrading to Windows 8 because games from this point on are going to made with DirectX 11+ and it will start to reflect negatively on performance. But for now, I don't think it's really necessary.
     
    J.Dre, Dec 4, 2013
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  4. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    ok, though the mid range AW17 (in canada) comes only with win7 with no option to change. so really i should stick with win 7.

    i wonder when they'll do the next refresh?
     
    thegh0sts, Dec 4, 2013
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  5. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    They always release a new revision (or refresh) during the second quarter of the year -- April, May or June.
     
    J.Dre, Dec 4, 2013
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  6. bob_p

    bob_p Notebook Geek

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    My AW 17 came with Windows 8 Pro - and I updated it to Windows 8.1 - and haven't been having any problems.
     
    bob_p, Dec 5, 2013
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  7. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    hmmm...i am concerned about the lack of drivers there are for win 8.1 is all.

    EDIT: looks like Dell have updated the driver set for win 8.1...WIN!
     
    thegh0sts, Dec 7, 2013
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  8. jflax

    jflax Notebook Guru

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    Personally I have no issues with Windows 8.1, maybe I'm lucky. I boot to desktop and ignore that metro thing ever existed. The OS is quick as hell to launch, I'll give them that too.
     
    jflax, Dec 10, 2013
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  9. thegh0sts

    thegh0sts Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    when people mean by issues do you/they mean it's within the back end of the OS or just from a usability standpoint?
     
    thegh0sts, Dec 10, 2013
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  10. Meaker@Sager

    Meaker@Sager Company Representative

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    Some of both depending on what you are doing.
     
    Meaker@Sager, Dec 10, 2013
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