I Guys, Need Help On Which To Choose Alienware M17x or NP8850

Hi Guys, i know i'm on M17x but i have been looking at the sager NP8850 recently and the specs are:

" NP8850" - Customise It!

Display:17.3" Full HD LED Display with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1080)
Video & Graphics Card:Nvidia GeForce GTX 480M Graphics with 2GB GDDR5 Video Memory
CPU Processor:Intel® Core i7-840QM Processor ( 45nm 8MB L3 Cache 1.86GHz ) (add 620)
Thermal Compound:IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU (add 58)
Operating System:Genuine MS Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition
Memory:6GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1333MHz - 1 X 4GB 1 X 2GB (For i7 and above only) (add 173)
RAID Storage Options:Non-RAID Storage
Primary Hard Disk Drive:50GB Mach Xtreme DS SATA2 Solid State Disk Drive (add 255)
2nd Hard Disk Drive:500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Secondary Hard Disk Drive (add 155)
Optical Drive:4X Blu-ray Reader/8X DVD±R/2.4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software (add 189)
Wireless Network Card:Intel Centrino Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module (add 55)
Bluetooth:Internal Bluetooth V2.1 Module
Primary Battery:Smart Li-Polymer Battery Pack
TV-Tuner:None - Select from the options below
MCE Remote Control:None - Select from the options below
Integrated Security Device:Fingerprint Reader
Microsoft Office:New! Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included in Price
Carry Bag:Free Carry Bag
Warranty & Service:2nd Yr On-Site Limited Warranty
System Build Time:Express - Please allow up to 7 business days to process - built - test and deliver your order (add 60)

Item Price: S$5,161.00

and the "M17"x Specs:

Style
COLOR OPTIONS Cosmic Black Base edit
AVATAR Alienhead 3D edit
WALLPAPER Alienhead 3D edit
AUTOMATIC UPDATE Automatic Updates Off edit

Build My Dell
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-840QM Processor (1.86GHz, 4Core/8Threads, turbo boost up to 3.2Ghz, 8M cache) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64bit (English) edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE McAfee® Security Center (Multi-Language) 36 Months Version edit
MEMORY 6GB (1 x 2GB + 1 x 4GB) 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive (500GBx2)(Raid 0) edit
OPTICAL DRIVE Slot Load Fixed Blu-ray BD-ROM / DVD + /-RW Combo Drive edit
VIDEO CARD CrossFireX™ Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870 edit
KEYBOARD AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard (English) edit

Protect My Dell
WARRANTY 3-Year Dell Care Premium edit
ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM
ALIENFX COLOUR AlienFX GREEN

Bundle T511558SG-Alienware M17X
HD DISPLAY 17.0" UltraSharp™ WUXGA (1920x1200) RGBLED Display with TrueLife™
AUDIO SOLUTION Integrated Stereo Sound
Label Options Intel® Core™ i7 Label
BATTERIES 9-cell Primary Battery
POWER ADAPTORS 240W Primary AC Adapter
WIRELESS NETWORK CARD Dell™ Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card
BLUETOOTH Dell™ Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal mini-card
CARRYING CASE No Case
Alienware Nameplate Alienware Generic Nameplate
Other Software Dell DataSafe Local Basic
Item included in the System EVE Online game
Item included in the System AlienGUIse Theme Manager with Breed Theme
Item included in the System Power Cord (UK)
Item included in the System Directship Info Mod
Item included in the System System Driver
Item included in the System System Resource Media Kit
Item included in the System Alienware Command Center Software
Item included in the System WinRE software
Item included in the System CyberLink YouCAM Camera Software
Item included in the System Internal 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet
Item included in the System ExpressCard Slot, (DOES NOT SUPPORT PC CARDS)
Freights NB-OL-CTO HandlingandInsurance charges(Singapore)
System Documentation Document and Accessories for Alienware M17x (English)
Dell Services: Remarks Laptop Batteries Carry One Year Warranty Only From Invoice Date
Dell Services: Remarks Dell's Terms and Conditions apply
Dell Services: Remarks Great Technical Tips and Information available 24x7 at Dell Support
Dell Services: Item Included Technical Support

Price: $4,991.65.

i have been reading about the M15x recently but not the M17x heard that there are a few issues on each of the laptops but is it worth it if i get the M17x over M15x?

there been almost to none video about Sager NP8850 on youtube, i have have yet to read anything it yet, so i was wondering if there is any issues on NP8850 i should know of?

hmm would like this laptop to last about 3 or more years.

Thanks Guys for helping me out here.

 

1) buy from Dell Outlet
2) save at least $1250
3) profit

 

for $3k all in (2 year complete care, tax, shipping)

Core i7 920
1200P RGB LED
Win 7 Ultimate x64
2x HD 5870m
Blu-Ray Combo Drive
4 GB Memory (upgraded to 8 GB 1333 from newegg for $185)
320GB HDD 7200 RPM (will upgrade to a 120GB Corsair Force SSD ($286) + Momentus XT 500GB 7200 RPM Hybrid w/ 4GB MLC NAND w/ 32 MB cache ($135))
Intel N-6300 wireless
9-cell
bluetooth, yada yada...

 

"S$"...haha is that Singapore dollars? If so that's a great deal!

Seriously though, if the M17x is having its problems with throttling, I can only imagine what the Sager goes through.

 

I should have mentioned the $3k I quoted above was in USD which is S$4029 (but also includes tax + shipping & handling)

 

yup its Singapore dollars. but throttling problems are what i hate~
any way to kinda get it cured or maybe any Newer ATI Cards are coming?

 

I went with M17 because it was the only high end laptop I could find with (1920 x 1200) display.

 

Well, according to Dell, the way to fix it is not to push your laptop.

The new, but currently beta, vbios with the new Dell ATI driver, seems to help much though. Still a lot of hassle considering what we paid...

 

or maybe i should stick with my previous plan on M15x?

I had never own Alienware or Sager before and i hope it will be an nice experience without having to worry my notebook wouldn't work like they should.

 

well, if you go with M15x, avoid the Nvidia 260m, from glancing at the forum there, they are having serious throttling problems.

Don't get me wrong though, after updating the vbios and driver, my experience has dramatically improved. Additionally, I also had a great experience with my M17xR1.

 

Yup I'm sticking with ATI cards but sager just don't have ATI in the later models.. :X

 

well then, it kinda settles it, you should get the M17x, or at least an M15x w/ an ATI card

 

been thinking about this does Having two GPU's better compared to One Single GPU?

How do Crossfire and SLI Works?
one last thing us does Repasting the paste of Thermal yourself on the M17x needs you to Open Up almost everything like the Keyboards?

cause on the M15x its just a back panel

 

If you can afford the Crossfire SLi dual card setup then by all means yeh def go for it. Some games and most of the newer titles will support dual and multiple card setups. You will notice a difference. Having a dual card setup however does not mean your overall gaming performance will double. If it was like that wow that would be amazing ey. ehehehe

Yep unfortunately to gain access to the GPUs and CPU you will have to take the bottom plate off then the keyboard as well. It can be quite scary the 1st time however it really isn't to hard. There are a lot of videos and instructions on this site to help you through it as well.

Cheers.

 

Two GPUs will split up the graphics workload. This is mostly useful for gaming, but some other apps benefit as well. It doesn't quite double the performance, since efficiency is lost in the process. Crossfire is ATI's solution to using two GPUs; SLI is Nvidia's.

I personally haven't opened up my M17x, so I couldn't say for sure. It appears to be as simple as the M15x. Another member will have to elaborate.