M17x 5870's crossfire

I feel as though I have to report this to the forums. If you're aware of this, I ordered an M17x, the specs are in my sig. I ordered through a technician, I had him call me tonight so that I could ask him some questions, mostly about the 5870's. He called the "factory" while I was put on hold and about 10 mins later he returned and told me that they are currently testing the 5870's in crossfire over in Europe. He told me that the testing is planned for 3 months, but that time may increase or decrease depending on how the testing goes.

I am canceling my order tonight so I can reorder with a single 5870 and then just buy a single 5870 and crossfire cable when they release them later on. It appears to just be a BIOS issue at this point. I hate having to cancel and would rather just buy 2 5870's later on down the road, but I guess they charge just over $700 for a single 4870. . . . I'd hate to see the price for a single 5870. . . .

Update 1: Technician's manager is working on canceling my order, It's currently in production, and getting me refunded so I can place a new order tonight.

Update 2: Dell Financial Services closed 34 minutes ago. . . So it has to wait until tomorrow.

If anybody has any questions they want me to ask the technician tomorrow, post them here, I'll be sure to ask and get the answers posted back on here as soon as I can.

 

"I can haz 5870 crossfire plz?" in your best LOLcat voice...

 

3 friggin months? Holy ...

 

That doesn't make sense.. there is almost nothing architecturally (or nearly mechanically) to distinguish between a 4870 and a 5870. It's a core refresh, not a whole new MXM specification or revolutionary new design.

 

More unjustified dates being tossed around. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

3 months sounds wrong. After 3 months something better will be out to replace the 5870's so it doesn't make sense to hold off that long.

 

People need to learn how to stop believing in and posting about the things Dell reps say to them concerning CF 5870's.

 

maybe the tech meant 3 days.. in 3 months the 6870's would be out lol

 

might as well ask for CF5870's for tomorrow

 

That might be. Joker was told the 13th as a POSSIBLE release date but that wasn't set in stone and he said it might change.

I'm beginning not to care anymore.

 

Here's another one to cheer you up:

From another source, there will be no 5870 CF for the current M17X-R2, only a single 5870 or 4870 CF. The reason is the hardware licensing and minor cooling modifications that delay the release and additionally most likely will result in a new "inside" re-design of the system.

Supporting evidence is the absence of 5870 CF as an option for the Clevo X8100. Plus the leaked info of the new Clevo systems ready to be released in July sporting both the 480M SLI and 5870 CF configs. Why would Clevo need to build a new system for the same hardware, when they will be forced to do it anyway in 6 months from now, when SB is out?

This is a huge IMHO and a little bit of info from Dell.

 

I doubt that very much. I can't really speculate on why they haven't been released yet other than maybe a supply issue, but I really really doubt what you are saying is the case.

 

I doubt it as well, m8. However, following Clevo pattern for the past 3 years I seriously doubt that they would go for a re-fresh if there was a way to make those cards work in the current machines. My personal opinion is that Intel plays some part in the intrigue.

 

And to me it just reinforces the idea that a supply issue is the cause behind this. No matter what though, this is just speculation, and until we get some real news this is all we're going to see around here.

 

Sir you need to drop this info to the ground and slowly back away from this thread. If you do not comply, I will be forced to take any necessary action to ensure that the sanity of this community is maintained.

 

2 month ago there was an inquiry to AMD regarding the supplies of the MR5870 and according to the manufacturer it would take roughly a month-two to get a 100k lot of those. So if 50000 X8100's not enough for Clevo to start selling those - than I rest my case as a total noob. I can see why Dell would be falling behind with the quantities they operate with, but c'mon if Dell has a single 5870 around the globe then Clevo should put 4 GPU's in every system and give you 10 more as spare parts, lol.

 

Sanity? Since when spending 4k+ on a laptop was within the sanity boundaries? In some countries people could buy a house for that money, lol. In most countries you can get a decent second hand car for it

Here's the sanity checker thread.

 

I was referring to the waiting lol, we don't talk about the sanity of actually spending that much on a luxury item.

 

I was told by a very reliable tech/rep that the CF 5870s won't be ready for another 10 years due to bios, heat, supply, size, chassis design and testing issues. They are not testing them in Europe, but on a tiny island in the Pacific which shall not be named. He said I should go ahead and order what is available now.

 

Island in the Pacific? CRAP, they're on the Lost island! That means people had the CF5870s in the 70s but we don't have them now because we're on an alternate timeline!

 

Even though I'm personally more than satisfied with 4870's, and not waiting for the new cards (but rather for better screens), still, looking at the 100+ pages of the discussion there - we are all nudzzz!

 

I keep telling you guys but you fail to heed my words: The CF 5870 haven't been released because ATi and Dell are having issues with the 3D matrix synthesizer which severely affects the performance of the faizian cores. Until that's resolved, no CF 5870. Go ahead engadget, you have my permission to post this. The info. came directly from Michael Dell during a conversation I had with him earlier this week.

 

I figured it was the faizian cores, but I always get yelled at for suggesting them.

 

Some people just can't handle the truth!

 

They should switch to Intel, OCZ or Corsair Fazian cores, those Samsung models just don't cut it...

 

That sounds like the black ajaureus lotus, last time when humans smoked that weed - the Mongolo-Tatars Invasion began. Where did you get it from?

 

Hence why the NVidia chipsets keep failing. Samsung faizian cores are notorious for thermal meltdown. If ATI went with Samsung, I'm going back to Matrox.

 

Bolocks!

I just installed quad 5870s in my car and it's running great.

 

you realize michale is drunk half the time yes?

 

"Help! I think I'm melting! This is all your fault! "

 

pmsl ^^^ i like that .... im still ordering my 5870cf tomorrow

 

I'm ordering my quad

 

A Dual HD 5870 graphics card is scheduled for launch tomorow.So you may expect the new graphics card as an option on the M17x.

if this source is wrong again then the only bloody thing his good for is putting him on chips

 

Hmmm, tomorrow for the Alienware? Is that in the US or Europe?

 

europe but should be 1-2 days either way whoevers first.

well uk

 

Well anyway, I just wanted to post what I heard. People seem to believe Joker, even though in my short time at these particular boards he's been wrong once or twice about these particular cards. Believe him again though, I do, because maybe that is what they are testing?

Who knows, but I know there are a lot of people hanging on particular dates as release dates for these cards before they purchase their M17x. Do what you want, believe what you want, I never once said for certain that 3 months was the release date. All I said was that according to the tech I spoke to, who spoke to the "factory" about the release date for the 5870 crossfire is that they are being tested and the tests are expected to last 3 months, give or take depending on how testing goes.

I figured I'd become "that guy" when I posted this. You know who that guy is, the guy that says "this will be out at this date". I'm just telling you what I heard, nothing more nothing less.

 

OMG, this forum is filled with people turning crazy by the wait...

 

It would be surprising to see Europe get the CF option before the US. I thought it was usually the other way around.

 

4850 for m17 was uk first .... usa for new laptops, uk for add ons

 

I don't think he was being serious.

 

Rekroar,
I am sure you meant well. But, understand over the last week alone, there's been other people speculating, some also claiming to hear from Dell "insider sources", which has turned out to be wrong.
Perhaps you are right, perhaps you are wrong. I don't know. Try to understand the skepticism though.

 

its nothing important things being released or not, or new laptops on the horizon but this is one of the reason we are members of the forum we obviously want or own alienware laptops which are top top top of the range so where always waiting and looking for something !!!! anything that will make these laptops go faster if you a petrol head and love your car for instance or know someone who is into their cars theyve always got the thing in bits or adding new stuff onto it and then even going to car shows showing of their car and what it has or hasnt got in it ...... same thing

 

My sources confirm that. Though I still think there's more strategy and politics involved rather than testing.

 

I would rather they test and get the cards working very smooth so they don't have 4870HD Crossfire flickering issues when the 5870HDs come out. 3 months is better than tomorrow...with severe random issues.

 

Knowing how things are seeded and tested, I'd imagine that this test is not on a R2, it's an R3. If it is, we'd know at e3.

 

I've heard the same thing about tomorrow but I have doubts. Dell seems to be pushing the date back constantly and that usually points to a technical problem, not marketing.

 

Don't you know? It's a heat problem, gawd.

 

Ok guys, it's either tomorrow or never.
Boy, I'm glad I got the m11x while waiting, since it might be a while before a new sli/xfire config is available from AW. One thing is for sure though, I'll keep waiting until the next dual option comes out. I know that the 4870CF is still a pretty good choice but no matter how you look at it, it is an year and 1/2 old technology - and that's an eternity in the notebook world.

 

If it doesn't show up tomorrow, I will probably go ahead and order with the single 5870 and use the extra money to upgrade one or two of the other components. If the dual comes out during my process, I will just cancel or return it unopened and reorder. It will be a lot better than what I have, so I will be happy.

 

yes, that's very true. Marketing is usually aggressive and often pushes software developers to release software before its time...