Alienware M17x R4 Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE

Are you asking the difference

 

I plan on getting 6GB of memory and upgrading later. Does Alienware populate the back slots under the back cover if only 2 sticks are used?

 

Hi, they always seem to use the easy-to-get-at ones under the back cover

 

Thanks. I'm gonna get a better video card now and the memory later.

 

Smart move, from 6gb up you're on diminishing returns. Always get the best video card you can afford

 

After actually searching for the 680m at newegg and a couple other sites, it's harder to find that I expected. However, it's also $600 more than the 660m from dell. Should I compromise with the 675M? It's $250 more than the 660m and I assume it's between the 660m and the 680m in terms of performance?

 

I agree. I'll be going with the GTX 675 (most likely). I won't get the Radeon 7970.

This site should help with the performance differences.

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

 

It has been is short supply since release. A couple of times it has disappeared from the config altogether due to unavailability. I believe the 680 aftermarket is around $850. I got quoted from Dell in the UK at over £1K

Performance wise the 675 does sit in-between but it is based on last years technology, not that that matters when it comes to performance right now. The latest NV cores (660/680) are more economical with their power draw.

I find the 675 a great card. Plays everything maxed out for me and no glitches or slowdowns at all. The only game that I need to overclock is Assassins Creed revelations in 3D. This just 'smooths out' the gameplay

Edit: Here you go: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/120993953294?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649

 

Thanks for the link Skye. It looks like the 680m should be worth the price of upgrading. Sadly, now I have to downgrade somewhere else to fit it into my budget.

 

What spec have you chosen so far?

Also bear in mind, SSD and Ram are usually cheaper to buy yourself than to upgrade.

 

i have been thnking of getting a m18x r1 from the dell outlet but as seing that the m17x r4 can have a 7970m, how does the 7970m hold against a pair of 6990m?

 

AMD Radeon HD 7970M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

apparently the crossfire 6990m is faster, but I assume not all games support crossfire?

 

You're very welcome Thena. I downgraded to the 1 year of support and to the 6GB of memory. I still might spring for the 680m.

 

Right now, after Micky's suggestions, I'm thinking the following:

i7-3740QM
8GB RAM
GTX 660M
500GB 7,200 RPM + 64GB mSATA
17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 120Hz

Which comes to $2150. Adding the 680m up that to $2750, and I would prefer to keep it around $2500.

Edit: Everything else is at the base option already.

 

Maybe you could consider the 675m, especially as you are getting the 3D display and the difference will be noticeable...

 

I'm british so my spec was
3630 i7
1080p (not 3D)
6gb ram
killer wireless
gtx680m
500gb basic hard drive,
everything else on basic
less than £1400 which is around 2300 US dollars.
Personally I don't think you need the faster processor, most games will be bottlenecked by the graphics card anyways.
In the uk its about £0.50 per GB of SSD. So i'd avoid upgrading direct from dell.

 

You can always upgrade the RAM and get a SSD drive later. That would save you around $200
Its usually always more expensive upgrading the video card later than if you got it with a new pc.

I agree

 

I assume the OS and the Alienware software is installed on the mSATA. If I bought my own mSATA drive, how hard would it be to reinstall the OS and the Alienware software on it? More worried about the Alienware command centre and stuff, as I doubt reinstalling the OS would be too hard.

 

If you plan on gaming in 3D, I would save the money on the processor and/or mSATA to get the 680m. A lot of the newest games with maxxed out settings and 3D are pushing my 680m hard already.

 

So if you bought the basic hard drive version, just run it for a month or until you get a SSD, make sure you make the backup discs and move the main OS to the SSD you bought, there are 2 normal laptop sized hard drive bays in the r4 + 1 msata (I assume its the same size just thinner?) so you can have the 500gb for music or videos and the SSd for games and the OS. Basically you would have to restore the alienware and install onto the SSD.

 

The msata drive is configured as a cache drive using Intel Rapid Storage Technology (IRST) and the RAID bios so you do not see it at all in windows. Easy aftermarket upgrade though, just install it and turn on the cache. No reinstall or drivers needed

Edit: http://www.intel.com/support/chipsets/sb/CS-032826.htm

All the drivers and bios config are already installed on the M17x even if you do not order a cache drive or RAID setup, it's very much plug and go with only one setting to change

 

If you replaced the main Drive with a SSD it isn't too difficult to transfer over the OS.
(I don't know much about mSATA yet)

 

Does anyone know if the mSATA slot is just a normal SATA slot with only height for a 7.5mm drive?

 

Thanks a lot, Micky, Skye andDDDenniZZZ. I'm gonna go forward with the following specs:

PROCESSOR 3rd generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM processor (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost 2.0)
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
VIDEO CARD 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s
LCD PANEL 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 120Hz NVIDIA 3D Vision Bundle

Which comes to $2475 and upgrade the hard disks on my own.

 

Yes it's a standard sata port but designed specifically for a SSD. (dont know about small mechanical drives but I would be worried about ventilation since it's not designed for them).

 

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Might want to get the killer wireless option too!

 

Nice setup, nothing to change for a while there . Good luck!

 

I think you'll be much happier with this setup SSD prices keep coming down and a re-install or clone isn't hard.

 

I plan on getting the nebula red. Black seems to show the dust more easily and its a nice shade of red

 

Thank god

I saw your first post and I'm like oh nooooooooo 660m

I kept going next page hoping they convinced you to go for 680m and you did. You are so so so not gonna regret it... upgrading processor when its already an Ivy Bridge, is not gonna future proof whatsoever. Neither is an excessive amount of RAM, or better hard drive since both of those are super easy to install and cheap to buy later.

You're gonna love that spec and love yourself for making the order enjoy, here's to a speedy delivery

Don't think you'll be able to do that online from Dell... I think you would either have to go to a retailer in Sweden or Finland for that, or find a website that customizes the laptops.. I'd expect it to be difficult to find one that will put a Finnish keyboard. I'm buying mine from Hidevolution

A quick google search and I saw that you can buy the keyboards separately from eBay etc.. shouldn't be hard to install.

Personally when I need Finnish letters I just copy & paste since I need them so rarely.

 

Well as I stated it's really not an issue if it's not possible to get a keyboard with ä and ö. Btw instead of copy pasting I prefer using alt + 132 for ä and alt + 148 for ö, it's quite a bit faster

 

I didn't know that well I have a Macbook doesn't work like that on it I think... Well you rarely need the ö, so I just copy ä and Ctrl-V whenever I need

 

Oh well don't know about Macs, and it's ctrl + alt + 3 digit number btw, forgot to mention the ctrl key . You can write pretty much every symbol that way if you know the code

 

I wanna know.. The 680 will it play company of hero's 2 on highest graphics and run flawlessly?

I mean, we can only be skeptical about
It. But is It that powerful of a card?

 

Dude the 680M will play company of heroes 2 at one million fps... Ok maybe not but it will definitely run it maxed out flawlessly and smoothly if it can run crysis, skyrim, metro, gta... maxed out + graphics mods etc smoothly... it'll be able to play company of heroes no doubt xD

 

True true... I still haven't ordered mine I ran into some troubles and
It had to wait. I've been trying to play Tiberium wars maxed on my m14x and it won't do it at all but it will run company of hero's tales of valor flawlessly all the time. Makes no sense to me...

 

Hey guys,

Anybody I could ask a few questions about overclocking? please PM me

 

I had to reg for this site because that guy told you that bull, remember your Nvidia Card is always better ALLWAYS ALLWAYS better (as long as its not like 3 years older and don't let anybody that tells you ATI is better doesn't know what they are talking about I've lost over 100 hours throughout my lifetime trying to get ATI to work, having to fiddle with it. All the way back to the RAGE MAXX FURY the first multi GPU card every released. After going out and getting the cheapest POC on the market (an nvidia) ran 2x better then the best XT ATI crossfire set up at the time. Im in IT meaning i work on computers for a living I know instantly what the problem is when any customer has a issue with a 3d card every single time someones having a issue its a ATI driver issue.

(An ATI owner is just a future nvidia own but doesn't know it yet)

who cares if the FPS is SUPER SUPER high when the 3D image isn't even moving (thats what throws off the ATI market) what counts is when you are in fast paced games and fog and rain and shading thats what makes a card good not super high cores and FPS what ever a ATI specs are you need to cut them in half because the shader is build in the GPU

 

Hello , if my alienware m17x R4 has :

Processor : 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3630QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0
Memory : 8192MB (2x4096) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Hard Drive : 500GB 7,200rpm SATA 3Gb/s HDD
Graphics : 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M

I understand that 7970m is so much better than GTX 675m
But i really want to know Does GTX 675m itself ( don't compare with other graphic cards) good or not? Can it support most games under high quality setting?

Thanks for helping me

 

Hi. Mine is great at high settings on all the latest games, metro 2033, max payne 3, mass effect 3, batman arkham city, etc. And the 3d is great if you go for it. It really does add another 'dimension' to gaming

 

you think 8GB of RAM enough ? How long did urs take to deliver?

 

Plenty for gaming - that is what I have. I've had 4 AW's (1 x m18x and 3 x m17x's), delivery time varied between 2 weeks and 4. It seems to be totally down to demand since they are all made in the same factory in China. This one was in June this year and took 2 1/2 weeks.

 

I see I see ~

i guess i am just really unlucky, i ordered mine on the 2nd of October, Today is 23/10 and it just moves from pre-production to IN PRODUCTION. Really really sloppy T.T I see you hv a monster CPU 3820QM wow tat must be expensive

 

Yeah, there seems to be a dice roll in the equation as well. I imagine them getting orders together for different destinations into batches as well?? The last one took 3 days to travel from China to the Uk and then another 3 days with the local courier though...

The CPU was a freebie upgrade from Dell with a warranty replacement, didn't really need it but hey, not going to refuse

 

Sweet deal !!

i guess i won't get mine this week then, it is still in production~ another disappointing weekend i hv to go through.

But my EDD is still 26th and the guy said he will upgrade my shipping method . there is still hope ~

Have you ever have problems with your laptop so far?

 

From what I've seen they don't often miss the EDD, more usually a week earlier - sorry for your luck. That shipping upgrade seems to be something they offer in the States. I'm guessing that is where you are? The only thing I can think of is that you get to order a nameplate, nowhere else (except maybe Canada?) does. That says to me that the nameplates are etched in the US and that will add a couple of days that they can expedite - who knows.

No problems at all with this one, but the M18x and the two previous M17x's, well, not so much. Worst was my last one. After various part replacements it started to lockup with the speaker buzzing at exactly 72C (3 seconds after hitting it every time). Dell always worked the issues with me though and never tried to fob me off so I'm still a fan. It's just the way it is with high performance components, they come with a higher failure rate IMO.

 

Yes, my last one M17x had weird sound problem as well.

nameplate sounds stupid, why need nameplate? First it appears at the bottom side , second if someone steal it , they steal it. A name plate will not help XD

How much does urs cost?

 

£2210 with a 10% discount voucher.

 

Name plate is a part of premium laptop. Have you ever seen those premium Sony Vaio Z in carbon?

Mine is just plain M17x. Not that I care about it. There is no scratch on it right now but who knows after 2-3 years?

 

8GB of RAM is way more than you need, unless you'll be multitasking a TON while playing games

About the 3D... Either get 7970m no 3D, or 680m with 3D... no reason to go with the worst and oldest card available. Not saying it's baaad, but its a rebadged 580m from previous generation... If you're putting in the money for an Alienware, definitely don't skimp on the GPU xD