Anyone playing RIFT on m17x

Hey everyone:

I am currently shopping for a new gaming laptop and the m17x is on the top of my short list.

Mainly this laptop is going to be used for MMO's : EvE online, RIFT, and Diablo 3.

I was wondering if anyone has any experience with RIFT and this m17x.

These are the specs I am currently looking at

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)

MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)

VIDEO CARD 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 6970M

HARD DRIVE 1.5TB Raid 0 (2x 750GB 7,200RPM) edit

LCD PANEL 17.3-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED edit

WIRELESS CARD Intel® Advanced N + WiMAX 6250 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology edit

INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW) edit

SYSTEM COLOR Alienware M17x, Soft Touch Stealth Black




My big question is whether or not the 256g SSD is worth it considering it will mainly be used for MMO's. That seems like a lot of money for a small drive. Furthermore, is raid 0 worth it?

I would really appreciate some thoughts as this gaming rig is getting quite expensive...

Thanks in advance!

 

Well, an SSD is an upgrade over a traditional hard drive. A regular hard drive (HDD, or hard disk drive) stores information magnetically on rotating disks, while an SSD can be more like a USB stick. (Some use flash memory.) Becasue of this, an SSD has no moving parts, making it faster and quieter than an HDD. Whether or not the upgrade is worth it is up to you. If you went with a regular hard drive, you would get more space for your money, while an SSD would perform better. RAID stands for "reduntant array of independent disks" and always involves more than one hard drive. RAID 0 isn't really reduntant, however, as it is a configuration in which data is split between two drives hooked up to a computer that act as one. Since data is split between the two drives and not copied identically on to each (as would be the case with RAID 1), RAID 0 is less "safe" for your data: if either of the drives fail, all of your data is lost (not just half of it). However, it can have performance benefits, as the computer can speed things up by writing to both drives at the same time. Another thing to consider is that if you put SSDs in RAID 0, you currently are unable to take advantage of TRIM, which helps to keep your SSD running well by cleaning up unused blocks of memory. You would have to make do with the built-in garbage collection on the drives' firmware. There are lots of factors to take into effect, and I am by no means a computer or hard drive expert. I hope you are able to find a configuration that suits your needs.

And to answer your other question, I do not play RIFT on my m17x. (I play World of Warcraft. ) I see no reason why the m17x wouldn't be a suitable system to use to play RIFT, but having no experience with the game, I can't give you any suggestions about this (or EVE or Diablo 3). Also, it may help you to read this post by DR650SE about ordering a new computer. I wouldn't advocate lying to get a better deal, but since the phone salespeople are paid commisions for what they sell, you may be able to find ways to save some money.

 

Cool! From what I understand the SSD is a pretty big performance boost but I worry about the ability to store video and the like.

I am somewhat confused that I cannot add a second HDD in addition to the solid state drive. Is this something I could do ordering over the phone? Or am I going to have to install that myself?

I also understand having drives in RAID 0 is more risky, but how does their permforance compare to an SSD?

 

I can't really say how it does on an R3 but on my R2 (Specs in sig) it's kinda on and off as to how it runs

 

Right, you wouldn't be able to get as much space for your money. It depends on how much you use the space. My m17x has SSDs in it, but since I don't store a lot of videos, pictures, or games, I don't have a storage problem.

I'm not sure. I know it is possible to have more than one hard drive on a computer. You could have an SSD for your system drive (or maybe for games or applications that use a lot of video) for faster performance and an HDD with more storage to keep movies and pictures. Having one SSD and one HDD may not be an option online, but you could always order with one SSD and then buy a separate HDD and put it in yourself if you can't do this over the phone, either. You most likely would't be using RAID though, since they would be different types (SSD/HDD) and different sizes (small SSD, large HDD).

I couldn't tell you what the peformance difference would be between two HDDs in RAID 0 and an SSD. I'm inclined to think the SSD would still be faster, but I wouldn't take my word for it; like I said, I'm no expert. My computer has two SSDs in RAID 0, this was becasue I ordered with one SSD and decided I wanted more space, so I ordered another SSD of the same size and put them in RAID. I don't know if this was the best choice (since there's no TRIM), but having put in a second drive, I can say that unless you are extremely non-mechanically or non-computer inclined, it shouldn't hard to add another drive to your computer if you want to. My m17x R2 has room for two drives, I think. Remember, you can't haggle the price if you order online, so if you want to haggle, you'll need to call to place your order. (Mine was bought online, though. I hadn't discovered these forums yet.)

 

with the machine in my sig i have the settings set to ultra with shadows off and seem to get a solid 40+ FPS, if i turn shadows on the FPS drop to 20-25 in populated areas and very low in raids.

 

I traded poison for poison (Quit WoW after six years and now play Rift (much much less)). Rift runs like a dream with everything maxxed. The only thing I change is enviornment only on shadows and I think the AA was 4x. I also typically play it in full screen mode and it snaps back to the desktop very quickly.

I run it off the 128gb Intel X25, it loads the servers in about 2 seconds.

 

YouTube - Rift on M17xR3

Rift on ultra but with 1680x1050. frame rate at lower right.

All my games are installed on the Momentus XT. Dont waste your $ on Dell drives. $200 on SSD + $100 on Momentus XT is greatest bang for buck.

 

Lvl 45 Kelari Rogue on Shadefallen.

I play with Ultra settings, Shadows on high AF=2 and No AA. Avg around 35 fps in most areas. If i lower the shadow level i can easily pull 40+. The R3 is a great rig to play Rift on.

 

The game looks exactly like WoW to me, is it the same developer? If not I'm surprised Blizzard hasn't sued them. Ever since asheron's call pvp not a single MMO has been able to capture my attention. Anyway, to stay on topic, it doesn't seem like this game would really demand too much from your system. The textures are all pretty low resolution.

 

Incorrect, this is one of the more graphical intense MMO's as of late.

 

Dude, the video is recompressed for YouTube - of course the textures are going to look like crap Actually this game has amazing graphics. You can't see it a video unfortunately.

BTW, I used to play Asheron's Call. I finally gave up the game because I waiting next to my computer all Christmas holiday to purchase a house and I stepped away for 1 hour to go buy Christmas gifts and someone took the house. After that, I gave up AC.

 

If your using a nVidia card, get the latest drivers then try turning off in game AF and force 16x AF in the rift profile in the nVidia control panel... You should see at least a 10-15 FPS increase.