Just bought a new R4, and have some questions

Hello all,
I just bought a new R4, to replace the R2 in my signature, and have a couple of questions. What is the fastest processor I can put into the system? Also, it is coming with Win8, is rolling back to Win7 Ultimate an option, is it an easy or a difficult process? I spoke to Dell, and the lady there said it is not possible, as the serial for Win8 is embedded in the system board, which would have to be replaced in order to install Windows 7. This sounded off to me, but who knows crazier things have happened. Do the R4 3D systems include glasses? Salesman could not tell me that.

The driver behind this upgrade, is simple, the ability to 3D game directly on my laptop. I love my 3D gaming. I know it is not everyone's cup of tea, but I really enjoy it. I currently run my R2 through my big screen, which is great. As well as the faster more power efficient processor. My i7920X eats battery like nothing, get maybe 30 mins on battery with my R2. I do not know which processor I will be receiving, to be honest. Guy told me it is "The Quad core 8 way processing processor is Intell 3rd Generation CPU. I am assuming it is 3610QM, or better", so I am assuming the lowest processor, and hoping for better. I know that the 940 was an optional processor on my R2, but if I remember correctly, I believe DR650SE actually posted higher marks with the 920, than his 940. Is there even much of a difference in the new processors? The new system also includes a 1TB 7200 rpm drive, which will be getting replaced with my current M3s as well, within a day or so of receiving the system. My Blue-Ray burner drive will also be following me.

Also, when I spoke to Dell about this new system, the lady on the phone suggested I look into the new 17, which also has a 3D option. Considering the fact that I will probably move my current 4GB 680M into the new system, to replace the included 2GB 680M, is the new 17, with a 780M, enough of an upgrade from the R4, to make it worth the additional $700? Not sure what else, if anything would be upgraded as well, if I went that route. The new system I bought has 32GB of RAM installed, and the USB 3 and eSata ports are definitely a nice upgrade from my current system, but those are also the same on the new 17. To be honest, I have never seen more than 5GB running on my current system, so not sure what gain I get from the 32GB anyhow, unless I want to run a bunch of VMs or something.

Any help or pointers you guys can make, will be more than appreciated. Thanks in advance for that!!!

 

grats on your new R4! i've had mine for just over a year and love it still. specs are in my sig.

if you get the 3D option, it only comes with one pair of glasses. i ordered a 2nd off ebay. as for swapping the 4gb 680m. i've read in another thread, that the dell 2gb version actually performs better than the 4gb version.. unless your resolution is greater than 1080 the extra 2gb most likely wouldn't be used. similar to the 32gb of ram.. lol.. overkill i agree.. i have 8gb in all my systems and it never comes close to 75% usage.

i personally don't care much for the new 17's makeover.. i like having the dedicated volume keys/media bar.. and the whole touchpad glowing thing.. i dunno.. lol

the 780m, in my opinion, has only marginal performance increases vs price over the 680m..

 

Just my 5c,

The way dell have dealt with win licensing is to somehow encode it as I noticed that a clean installation of win 7 never wants a code, it just authenticates. I assume they have done the same with win 8. MS state that any licence of theirs is current version or prior but how you would achieve that I have no idea - I doubt the win 8 number on the case will work with win 7 but stranger things have happened. I still believe a fresh win 7 with license will work just fine, I'm sure I have seen people roll back, it's the auto-register that will probably break. Watch out for outlet 3D machines, I have heard of a couple of instances where the glasses were missing.

For the 4Gb card, as well as not gaining anything (unless you are running 3 monitors at super high res), 3D will stop working. Dell have locked down the 3D models to only work with their approved cards. You'd have to flash it with a Dell vbios. And any more than 8Gb main memory is just showing off on a gaming rig, as you say 'unless you want to run a bunch of VM's

3D is awesome IMO, wouldn't go back

 

When I purchased my R2, it came with dual 4870 cards, and literally a month later, a week after I received mine, they started selling the 5870s. When looking at the numbers, and the fact that not a whole lot was using DX10 at the time, it was definitely not worth me spending the money to upgrade to the 5870s. Sounds like it might be similar with the 780M, not worth the additional $700 to switch to the new 17.Now the 4GB 680M, I am running was a huge jump from my dual 4870s, and well worth the cost in my opinion. Disappointing to hear that I will not be losing anything in the gaming realm dropping to the 2GB 680, I will definitely be keeping the 2Gb card then, if they shut off 3D.

Thank you so much for the reply, it was greatly helpful!!

 

I guess the only thing I can do is attempt to do a fresh install of Windows 7, and go from there. Will suck if I have to buy a new serial, but depending on the price of one, might well be worth it. I did order an mSata drive, 256gb, for the boot drive, to pair with the 2 M4s I currently have, as well as a Killer 1103 card, since I heard the 6230 cards are pretty bad. My R2 has a 6300 card in it, and I get amazing speeds coupled with my AC66U router. I literally downloaded an 11.9Gb game from Steam a couple of weeks ago, in 12 minutes 30 secs, and my system was upstairs and down the hall from where the router sits. From what I have read the 1103 is even faster.

You are correct Sir, I simply cannot get over how immersive 3D gaming can be, especially done on a quality rig. I have a PS3, and a few 3D games for it, but when I got my 680, and fired up Trine 2, my jaw dropped. Been chasing that dragon ever since, I do not believe I can ever go back to 2D gaming, if 3D is an option.

Thank you very much for the reply, it was very helpful!!

 

You're very welcome good luck with the re-install, please post results of the licensing issue - be nice to know.

3D. Yeah, I think that 3D TV and 3D consoles have meant a lot of people do not go for a 3D PC, thinking it is the same quality - not in the same league, let alone game. For me I find it a lot less stressful on my eyes as well - couple of hours easy without any issues

 

Regarding the embedded Windows serial number. When I got my R4 it was in Russia and as you would expect Windows was in Russian as well and I need it to be in English. I did a clean install using the Dell supplied disk that came with my R3. The R3 Windows was Ultimate 64 but the R4 Windows was (I think) Windows Home Premium. The install went off without a hitch and did not ask me for a serial number.

I actually don't feel guilty about using the R3 version of Windows because after I bought the R4 I also bought a copy of Win7 64 bit Ultimate here thinking I could change the language. Well you can but only after doing the install using the Russian Language. I tried stumbling through an install guessing what Windows was asking me and hoping the answers I was proving was what I wanted In the end I gave up and in a flash of brilliance tried the R3 disk.

Does anyone want to buy a copy of Win Ultimate 64 in Russian