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    Is it worth the upgrade?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Wizbeer, Oct 20, 2012.

  1. Wizbeer

    Wizbeer Notebook Consultant

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    I have a 3740 cpu and want to upgrade to a 3920xm. would it be worth it? I work in 3d Studio Max and photoshop and play games. My system is a:

    3740 cpu
    32gigs
    windows ultimate
    GTX 680m
    1TB raid SSD
    Killer 1103
    Blueray

    Thanx for any help................
     
    Wizbeer, Oct 20, 2012
    #1
  2. imglidinhere

    imglidinhere Notebook Deity

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    Not really worth it if you ask me. If I'm not mistaken, the M17x line supports the extreme CPUs, but I imagine they can't handle much in the way of overclocking them... o_o Someone else please answer this.

    However it's not worth it really...
     
    imglidinhere, Oct 20, 2012
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  3. khetik

    khetik Notebook Deity

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    ^^ um whaaattt??...for rendering and photoshop purposes an extreme cpu would def be better than the qm line of cpus once you start using throttlestop to overclock them the gap between them really shows. For gaming however, not worth it.
     
    khetik, Oct 21, 2012
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  4. homank76

    homank76 Alienware/Dell Enthusiast

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    I would say it's well worth it. Especially if you get an unlocked BIOS and take full advantage of it; just keep an eye on your temperatures when you get above 4GHz.
     
    homank76, Oct 21, 2012
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  5. steviejones133

    steviejones133 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    I'd say it's worth it if you have the spare cash. Photoshop and 3D Studio Max will only benefit from a more powerful cpu. Probably won't notice a huge difference whilst gaming as most games are gpu intensive vs. cpu intensive. Still, any upgrade is still beneficial, it's just down to the individual as to how much they wanna spend for that increase.
     
    steviejones133, Oct 21, 2012
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  6. bigtonyman

    bigtonyman Desktop Powa!!!

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    it all come down to how far you can overclock the extreme cpu. If it can't handle a modest overclock, it's not gonna be worth the serious cash that you are gonna need to spend to get the CPU for a minor speed-bump. Your gonna run into a thermal barrier before you max the clocks out though, I know that for sure. The m18x has a special CPU heatsink for the extreme editions for a reason. ;)
     
    bigtonyman, Oct 21, 2012
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  7. Alienware-L_Porras

    Alienware-L_Porras Company Representative

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    I would say that it is definitely worth it for your purposes. You will be delighted with the XM series. :)
     
    Alienware-L_Porras, Oct 22, 2012
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