Hello Everyone

Been reading on NBR since about two weeks ago, when I got serious about ordering an m17x r3, and thought I'd say hello to everyone. Ordered mine last Wednesday, EDD of 5/31/11. I selected:

Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
MOD,DIMM,4GB,1333MHZ,DDR3,2X2G
17.3-inch WideFHD1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970M
320GB 7,200RPM SATA-II HDD

Nothing too extreme. Figured I'd save money on the HDD and DDR3 and add more later if I wanted too. Wanted the 6970M for the best gaming experience, and hopefully it'll not be obsolete the week after it arrives. As someone else noted here the 2720QM seemed like the sweet spot for price/performance. I thought about going a notch down on the screen (since I didn't opt for the blue-ray drive anyway) and saving the cash, or maybe redirecting the cash toward more RAM or an SSD, but didn't like the thought of having a lower resolution on a bigger display than I have now on my XPS-15.

So Dookie (hello, Dookie) went with the Orion backpack huh? Surprising. I'm looking at that too, though I'm pretty set on a m.a.s.k. from Slappa, cost be darned. Haven't ordered yet, though. That Everki Beacon looks pretty sweet too.

Thinking on ordering a 128GB Crucial M4 SSD, and then using their data transfer kit to transfer the O/S and Alienware install over. Anyone done this? From poking around here it seems most people just rebuild from scratch if they add in an SSD. I'd prefer to get set up on the HDD then xfer over to the SSD and switch the boot to it.

Also thinking on ordering 8GB (2x4GB) of RAM and swapping out the 4GB I ordered and sticking it in a drawer until I feel ambitious enough to dismantle the computer (from looking at the videos, anyway) in order to add them back in.

So, I'm an old fart (turn 50 this year!) but been doing computers since college and the days of punched card machines and FORTRAN. I was playing Portal 2 and SC2, but I'm gonna stay away until I can play them in their full glory on my new AW once it arrives. Been considering Crysis 2, and I'll definitely get Skyrim when it comes out. Might even throw Risen on there and play through that again. Maybe even finish it this time. Was playing Rift, but you get to 50 so quickly then the grind really sets in. Haven't decided if I'll go back to it on the new AW or not.

I guess that'll do for now.

 

hi Kgsodie!

first of, repped! i love to see "old fart" (you make me laugh big time!) playing around, since i believe i will end like you

Second, congratz on your purchase, i'm an R-2 owner but i can assure you that with the config you have chosen, you'll get a hell of a good machine there. As per comparison with my R-2 i can play Portal2 totally maxed out, so yes you will enjoy it too with your new rig (dual 5870's and single 6970 are really comparable in terms of performances) I don't know about SC2. Also you'll be able to almost max out crysis2 and the great majority of games you'll like to throw at that machine.

Xaba

 

This part scares me:

, but I understood your meaning.

Yeah, I'm really looking forward to my m17x. Always wanted an Alienware, since way back before Dell bought them, but never had the cash and the desire to use it on a computer, all at the same time, before now.

 

Congrats on the purchase! I'm waiting for my machine to come in as well. Looks like mine is being prepped to ship and the EDD might be 2 weeks shorter then the original quote. Mine was supposed to be 5/26 but I think I'll have it by the end of the week.

 

Wow, I hope mine has the same early-delivery experience. That'd be awesome!

 

When i received my R-2 the delivery was also about 1 week before the EDD. So chance are that you will get your rig before than what the EDD say

 

Sigh. Is it the 31st yet?

 

It only gets worse once you get closer and they start "Finalizing Build". I've been waiting for 24 hours for it to switch to "Shipped".

 

Man, I hear ya. Looking at your sig, that's a pretty loaded down system you have coming, isn't it?

 

Hopefully you dont get a crap one like me haha, im sure you wont. I was probably 1 in 100,000 to have it go bad from the factory. Now im waiting on my replacement to get built. They dont ever put a EDD on the replacement status screen but hopefully before the end of the month. Im hopinh for next week at the latest.

 

Sorry to hear about your bad experience. I suppose lemons are inevitable, and someone has to get them. You'd certainly hope replacements are at the top of the work queue though.

 

I've wanted an Alienware for the longest time. I just couldn't justify the expenditure for a premium laptop and always went for best bang for the buck instead. Since my current laptop is starting to act crazy, I finally talked myself into it and decided to get it loaded so I get this craziness out of my system! I told my gf that I bought something bright red and shiny. She was just glad it wasn't a corvette or porsche on the invoice!

 

Thats my luck with laptops. I would get the one lemon out of thousands. Oh well, just hope the replcement is perfect!

 

I am still putting along with my R1 lol

Congrats on getting the R3

Let us know how you like it when you get it in your hands

 

sdcalbchguy - Yeah, I've always wanted an alienware too. It's good to be in a place in life where we can realize our dreams, huh?

 

After the last couple of years, heck yeah! BTW, my laptop is due in today. The original EDD was 5/26. I will have ordered and received it within 9 days. Let's just hope they didn't skip any steps along the way!

 

Jealous. I'm going to keep hoping for my 5/31 EDD and then be pleasantly surprised if/when it comes early. Still shows 'in production' today.

 

I have put in an order for 8GB of RAM and a Razer Orochi Bluetooth Laser Gaming Mouse. I plan on popping in the new RAM as soon as the computer gets here, though I'm gonna hold off on relocating the factory installed 4GB to under the keyboard until I feel daring.

I think I've decided to wait on the SSD. Doing research on cloning an existing OS install over to a new SSD, coupled with installing the SSD to slot 1 and leaving the HDD in slot 0, and changing the SSD to C:, all makes me nervous something is going to go wrong. I think I'll enjoy my new computer for awhile before I tackle it. Also, I've never had a computer with a SATA drive, so imagine I'll perceive pretty good performance compared to my IDE drive now anyway.

 

I would definitely recommend the SSD upgrade. A good analogy for it is dial up versus broadband modems. The difference in harddrive bandwidth is that noticeable a difference. I've installed SSD's into older laptops and am amazed at how fast they run even at SATA 1.5 speeds.

In other threads, I've read that the 4gb of ram in the base configuration are installed in the bottom slots. They only install under the keyboard with the 8gb ram installation since they use 4x2gb modules. So, you might be able to change them out immediately. If I'm wrong, hopefully someone will correct me here quickly.

 

The bigger question I'm having now is whether I go with an OCZ Vertex 3 or an Intel 510. I'm just reading so many bad things about OCZ and there are so many hurdles to the installation to our machines. The Intel installs directly into AHCI mode and no workaround is needed. But the speed of the OCZ is just calling me!!!

 

Kgsodie, i highly sugest you to do a fresh OS install on a new SSD rather than clone an existing system over it. You will start fresh and as soon as you'll have all the basic installed (OS, drivers) make an image of it and store it safe just in case.

During the installation of windows with an SSD, the OS will reconize your drive as SSD and will automaticaly configure it self for the new drive, disabling Defrag, Prefetch and superfetch services and enabling TRIM (if the drive support it)

I did the exact same thing on my rig, started wit a common 250gb 7200rmp drive, then installing the new SSD as C drive and swapping the Hdd on secondary slot for storage purpose (i've got also some software that i don't need to start super fast over it)

my 2 cent

 

My understanding is the same as yours - 4GB goes in the bottom, so I do plan on swapping it in immediately, and saving the keyboard tear-down in order to relocate the 4GB for later.

I've been researching the Crucial m4. I understand it isn't necessarily the fastest out there, but the performance characteristics seems perfectly fine.