Getting an Alienware M17x R1? and need advice

......................

 

I'll be honest, for me it feels like you got ripped off. The CPU is heavily dated for today's games. The GPU's are not horrible. You should clock them to 285M speeds to get a bit of extra performance.
Regarding 3D, it only works with certain displays, over HDMI out, and NOT for gaming (since the laptop doesn't come equipped with HDMI 1.4 it will only be able to do 3D output at something like 24fps). So, movies only, and you need an external 3DTV or monitor. And probably some extra nvidia stuff (not sure).

The machine can be upgraded to 5870m crossfire. I'd personally try the 7970m as well in it, but there's nobody who tried it before afaik.
Well, it's still a nice machine, but the fact that it can't be upgraded on the CPU side and that upgrades are pretty limited on the GPU side is a pretty big turn-off.

 

So would you recommend changing the motherboard.to an R2?

I was told the screen was 3D?

 

how 'tech savy' (for lack of better words) are you? its not hard to replace the motherboard, but the laptop in kinda wierd. sometimes it wont power on if certain parts are not connected. the other problem u might run into is price. when i converted my r1 to r2, it cost me around $500 USD. depending on where u are and where u buy the parts it could be more. also, i've read somewhere that 200 series cards dont work in sli in the r2, or at least my 260m doesnt work in sli. upgrading the motherboard without changing the lcd display might give u some problems as well. i havent changed my display after the upgrade, so now, i cant change the brightness on the display. last thing to note is, there is no integrated graphics.

those are some of the problems i ran into. u might have another set of issues if u do the upgrade. if u have any more questions regarding upgrading the r1 to r2, let me know. im happy to help.

 

......................

 

...................

 

its not exactly wasted. u still have good machine. u can still play games at reasonable fps.

 

Bit of nice design you paid for, sounds not too bad of a price tbh. I don't think its 3D in the sense you think it is. The screen does not support 3d from what I know. It will play 3D games if thats what your wondering and it should be not bad, or equivalent to a laptop for £600 in terms of gaming performance.

 

I second this, it's a good machine but not the best one out there.
This built-in screen does not support 3D, only the m17xR3-R4-R5 can do it.

 

................

 

Anyone?

Bump

 

i pretty much told u what u can upgrade assuming it is an r1.

what do u mean 'its been tested as 3d?' did u put on a stereoscopic 3d glasses and played a game or watch a movie in 3d using the laptop's display?

i do not know what u mean about windows 7 alienware.

 

If you have an Alienware M17xR1 then it will not have a 3D screen. The best processor is the Intel QX9300, with a maximum of 8GB RAM. At best 5870m Crossfire or Nvidia 280M SLI can be fitted with the original motherboard. You can install a SSD to help speed it up a bit. May also have a Blu-ray drive. Will work on Windows Vista and Windows 7 (not sure about Windows 8 though).

It's ok gaming laptop, but it's beginning to lag behind the times compared to today's technology. Had mine for nearly 3 years - still working!