Getting a M17x, need some advice

So I've finally saved up enough to buy myself a brand new m17x. As far I can tell the m17x has the best price/performance ratio of all 17" gaming laptops and ofcourse the alienware build quality and overal awesomeness.

But I have 4 questions before I can start spending money

1) This is the most important question. For me there are 2 options: I can get the HD 6990M with the full HD screen for 1784 euro's. Or I can get the GTX 580M with the 3D full HD screen for 1799 euro's (this is both excluding the any discount, but discounts should be the same for either option). The rest of the systeem is the same. Which should I pick. Both cards perform about the same, but one has the 3D screen. On the other hand there is the throttling issue with 580m..

2) The m17x in my options has 2x2GB 1333 mhz RAM. If I want to upgrade to 8GB, do I have to buy 2x4GB, or can I just buy 2x2GB 1333 RAM of any brand and put it in?

3) If I get myself a sata3 ssd, do I have to put it in slot 1 and put the HDD in slot 0 because of the 'ssd in slot 0 issues'?

4) At the moment I have the Notepal U2 cooling pad. Can I use it with the m17x or do I need a bigger one?

Please comment and I can't wait to get it!

 

The 3D options will disable Optimus, thus killing your battery life. If that matters to you then it might swing it. The other thing is the 580m has some throttling issues. I am not yet decided, but the 6990m might be better just to avoid the throttle. Nvidia has better drives though, it is just a hard call. I got the 580m but my card died within 24 hours, I will get a replacement this week and continue my testing. If the throttle is a big problem then I might want to opt for the 6990m.

I think the M17x has 4 ram slots, but only 2 are easily accessible. Technically you could just get 2X2, but you might want 2X4 just for easier installation.

Yes, SSD in the middle slot.

I think it should work, just try it.

 

People keep posting about throttling bugs me, it's a simple fix and a problem I HAVE NOT ENCOUNTERED ONCE with my 580m.

On the other hand, 6990m's are trash in my opinion. crossfire is the biggest joke, AMD drivers are slow to come out meaning new games have AWFUL performance or 0 support.

thats my rant about #1.

#2: just buy 2x4gig kingston hyperx 1600mhz, it was cheap and well worth it, 4 dimms puts more stress on controller

#3: I put my ssd in slot 1 for that reason and I have had 0 issues and perfect sata3 speeds, just do slot 1 to be safe so you can have both hdd's in anyways without removing the first one.

#4: I don't even use a cooling pad, just a stack of post-it notes to elevate the back of my laptop. I have never gone over 70C

anything else I would be happy to answer for you, got my m17x R3 about 3 weeks ago this thursday.

EDIT: didnt realize i swore replaced the word lollll

 

just to add to what yoda said...

You can buy another 2x2 and use the ram slots 3-4 under the keyboard to get a total of 8 gigs of ram. However, with the price of ram these days, you are probably best served to get 2x4gigs for a total of 12 gigs like i did. That way, you don't waste you original 2x2gigs of ram. Any 1333 ram running @ 1.5v cl9 will do, so I have 2x2gigs of hynix (that came with the computer) and i added 2x4gigs of gskills. It works great.

The Notepal U2 will work fine, but you will be better served doing a repaste of both the GPU and CPU. Its very easy to do.

Here is a guide:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/561599-m17x-r3-cpu-gpu-re-pasting-guide-w-pics.html

Also, if your computer is on a flat surface, many on this forum just prop up the back with books, bottlecaps etc. Just propping up the back will lower your temps by about 7-8c. For example you can use bottle caps:

 

I bought the 580m with 3D To be honest I don't care for the 3D but I've always been biased towards nvidia and 3D was included in the deal. It would kinda suck if the battery dies really fast without optimis, is there no way around this? And what is the difference in battery life with/without optimus? If there is a throttling issue, I don't mind putting some effort in to fix it.

2x4GB it is, but why go for 1600mhz? I'm told 1333 will give the same performance in 99% of all real world scenarios.

 

I'm not sure if there is a way around it. Alienware claims that the 3D requires the screen wired directly to the GPU, however, there are options in the unlocked bios that suggest otherwise. I don't know if anyone has tried, but it might be possible to re-enable the Intel cpu even on a 3D model using the unlocked A08 bios.

The difference is pretty drastic, maybe 1-2 hours without Optimus, 4-6 with Optimus.