M17x R3 RELAUNCHED! (w/460M/6870M/6970M)

Dell's M1Xx line is one of the few systems where it may be a possibility, but still, don't count on it. You can only upgrade to other GPUs offered for it, and of course they're very expensive to buy separately.

My guess is at best they may offer the Geforce GTX 485, and you'd be able to upgrade to that...although I guess if they keep the same design for quite a while and Nvidia or AMD release even newer stuff and Dell sells it in these, you could, but don't count on it.

 

My first R3 had the 3d, this time i am getting the 6970. The best thing about the 3d is showing it off to your friends and the WOW factor. but when you actually play it causes eye strain for lots of people and slows down your FPS. Everyone has to make up thier own mind but i went with the faster card.

 

So the 6970 should be hotter than the 460m (gpu by itself). But coupled with the R3's fan, it should be fine, right? Thus, what's a max temperature that I should be alarmed by/looking out for?

 

Absolutely.

Yep, Dell seems to have done a really good engineering job on the M1Xx systems, so if they can't handle them...

 

What discounts are you guys getting by calling in by phone? Is it true you can haggle a bit?

 

Yes and there are coupons!

I have found the best discounts if your a student and you talk to a EPP salesrep.

 

There are EPP coupons? I've configured stuff with them through chat before, and they never come up with any good deals

 

There should be coupons but even without coupons, they still can give you good deal..If you guys want, PM me, i can give my EPP sales rep info.. he is damn helpful and good in giving good deals..

Ive been told before by my rep, they are actually not allowed to discuss discount or any other offer through chat..the best way is to call them..

 

Do I need to create an account and then add a system or something on dell for the rep to see what I want?

 

you can call him first, and you can configure the m17x through the phone..He will guide you through the phone configuration..

 

i got a shipping tip. i always order with the free shipping then i would call customer support and ask about when will it arrive. normally they will gave you free next day without you even asking for it. i just did this like 10 mins ago on my r3 order and it worked again for me.

 

What number do you call to do this? Note i do NOT have EPP or AAFES, i ordered mine without anything but a $50 coupon....

 

are you a student though? even if you don't work at certain company, you will still qualify for the EPP if you are a student..

 

I'm not a student my fiance is though, i dont qualify for any deals lol... plus when i ordered online (yes im an idiot i know) it wouldn't let me stack the $50 coupon with the student deal anyways (tried under her name) and with the $50 coupon it came out $10 cheaper...

 

you can call the EPP and order on behalf of your fiance. The EPP sales rep is able to cancel your order even though if it has gone into production. I know that for sure because that's what my EPP rep did. I managed to get around $300 off including the free next business day shipping.

If I were you, I would try to call the EPP rep and work something out with them. I can give you my EPP sales rep info. PM me if you want to try it..

 

i called 1800-289-3355, just ask for customer support.

epp isn't really giving out any major discounts. the trick is just calling and haggling, if the rep doesn't gave you a good discount, then hang up and call another rep. i went through 5 reps before making a purchase.

 

Just called and said I was going on vacation and needed it ASAP, he asked for some info (name, phone, email)

They upgraded me from 29th to 24th, Got free overnight free of charge PLUS the previous $150 off.. Also asked to talk to his supervisor to thank him.

Boo-ya!

 

When did you originally order? Mine is coming at the end of March but they made it sounds like it was due to production delays and told me not to bother with upgraded shipping.

 

I can tell you the EPP for a large company turned out to be like 60 bux if I decided to buy it from the consumer division. Our Dell rep ended up giving us a bargain of 100% msrp.

 

3/3/11 - Around noon/1PM EST when they put them back up.

 

To be honest guys I'm going with the 3D 460m on the assumption that the 485m will be an upgrade very soon, I just can't see how they can avoid it going forward, if this happens as I believe it will then for me it's a no brainer, 3D with the 485m Gpu is by far the best option.

 

Still speculation One can only hope, but don't get bummed out if it doesn't happened. What sounds logical isn't always what's on Corps mind awaiting my 3D 460m too... and 3D is no gimmick especially if you went to CES and got a chance to play with it and seen where new tech is going.

 

Moving forward any order status related posts belong here -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/487300-m17x-order-status-discussion-part-3-a.html

 

agreed, I watch a lot of movies on my lappy and having the 3d option is just great, I fully expect the 485m to be available, too many reviews are pointing at the single 460m as a weakness in 3D configuration plus more importantly the competition are using the 485m so I really don't see how Dell have a choice.

 

is the AMD based gpu switching hardware/bios or software?

 

Greeeeeat :-/ I suck at/don't know anything about haggling. Heck, I got to Best Buy and try to just take advantage of an ADVERTISED PROMOTION or coupon and they act like I'm trying to scam them or something.

You know, I measured out the size of my TV stand/tray thing, and horrifyingly an M17x takes up the ENTIRE SURFACE :lol:

That would actually be okay except I need a mouse...I hate trackpads. Probably too dumb to try to use the mouse on top of the notebook itself :lol:

 

If it's anything like the 6870, it should be at least software, and not automatic. Aka CCC. Or PowerXpress or something.

 

I am still having a tough choice choosing between 6970 and the 460m with 3d.
I am not looking for high FPS. I guess If I can play most games in 3d at around 30fps (even at 1366x768 res) ,I am fine. I am more inclined towards nvidia because of physx , Cuda( I am into a lot programming ) and many Softwares support hardware accelaration under nvidia.
AtI doesnt have any of the above but gaming performance is gud. And I can use tridef for 3d stereoscopic support via HDMI 1.4(Can I??)
Please advise me on this
I Have aldready read the other 2 forums on this but didnt make things clear to me.
Also How is the stereoscopic 3d effect?? How Often do you use it?? Can it be used for long gaming sessions without eye strain??
Also is weaing the 3d shutter glass a pain if I am aldready wearing glasses??

 

congratz on the new system. Will be waiting for 1st impressions and photos if possible. But most of all, enjoy the beast!!

 

The answer is in your question. You dont need 6970. nVidia supports photo/video work better. 460M is still a very powerful GPU.
For 3D, it really depends on you. Some people like it, some do not. But yeah, if you not gaming that much then you dont need 6970. Go with 460M + 3D, you gain the 120Hz with 3D, and a great discount

 

what are the specs for memory if I want to populate the 2x spare slots myself, is it simply 204pin 1333 DDR3 SODIMMs or is there something else i need to look out for

 

I love the 3D effect. I have been using 3D Vision for over 2 years now. I jumped on the bandwagon when it first came out. I have it on 2 TVs and on my desktop (AW2310 Monitor). The glasses are not interchangeable. nVidia glasses are required for the nVidia emitter assembly. When I connect it to my Mitsubishi TV, I use the same emitter and glasses. When I use the Samsung TV it uses its own emitter and I have to use the Samsung glasses. There are 3rd party glasses that claim to handle signals from various types and manufacturers, but I have not tried them yet. There are inherent problems with the different types but I would refer you elsewhere to learn about it.

I have 4 pair of the nVidia glasses which are rechargeable via USB and I easily get 30+ hours on a full charge. I have 2 pair of the Samsung rechargeable glasses and I get about the same. I now have all 6 of those on my old external powered USB hubs so I don't have a problem with charge. I also have 4 pair of Samsung glasses that use batteries which drain them like water.

I wear glasses and find the 3D glasses fit comfortably over them. For some reason I do not wear corrective lenses when playing games in front of my computer monitor (3D or not), but I do when watching movies. I am near sighted. I am 6'6" and 310lbs so I have a big head too .

I find that watching 3D movies causes fewer problems for me than playing 3D games. The shutter effect would bother me a little when I first started and I would take them off after 15 min or so. It had me seriously second guessing them, but after 2 weeks or so, I started getting used to them. I have played Steam HalfLife games for over 2 hours and had a blast, though it felt good to take them off for a while. I watched all the Shrek movies in 3D with 5 minute breaks between them. My eyes were pretty tired after that, but then they would have been tired even without the 3D effects.

I have a friend who can't see the 3D effect at all. My daughter gets headaches when trying to play 3D games for more than 15 minutes, but she enjoys the movies. Over the last 2 years I have had numerous friends and family over that have enjoyed the experience from the very beginning without a problem. There is a depth control which sort of plays with where your eyes have to focus for close and far things, and can cause me some discomfort if I set that too high. So I think everyone is different and how they respond, but the majority of the people enjoy the experience at my house.

For what it’s worth, I find it gets annoying when I want to have our card night at my house and they would rather watch the TV or take turns playing on the computer. Pretty sad for a bunch of 50+ yr old farts.

 

I am shocked that many people are only getting one pair of glasses... I know I want a backup if anything happens to mine, and they are cool to show off =^_^= when I have people over lol

Oh, since I am here, I cant seem to find instructions on reformatting the R3... the first thing I am going to do when mine comes in is reformat it, (win 7 Ult). I know the R1 and R2 had steps, and one at a time driver installation and order, so anyone have a link to the instructions to reformat the R3? Oh, and do I have to do anything different since I have will be using SSDs, (I never used them B4)?

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...er-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html

same thing for ssd.

 

Thx for that link! And thx Batboy for creating that thread in the first place

 

anyone ? just want to know what to buy so I don't order the wrong thing

 

Just find the same 1333Mhz. I personally don't recommend mixing ram, IMO. But I recommend buying the 8gb 1600MHz. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104230

 

But Is the 3d enjoyable with the weak 460m. I mean can you get atleast 25-35 fps with 3d enabled in max settings and resolution at 720p??like in games like the metro 2033, crysis, BFBC2,etc??
Also can someone give me some benchmarks for the 460m with 3d vision enabled??

 

i'm in the UK, what does 'none ECC' mean

 

ECC=Error Correction Codes

 

Hey guys, i just ordered my R3 with the stock HDD and bought a SSD from a friend (c300) just wanted to know, do I need to make my own restore CDs and boot from CD to get everything on the new drive, or does alienware include these drivers w/ windows Restore CDs

 

Why on earth does everybody continue to say that the 460m is weak? It isn't a weak card by any stretch. Other than Metro 2033 I've had no issues running games, even in 3D, at very good settings. Are you going to be able to max out every game while in 3D? No. But in reality if you want maxxed settings in 3D you should get a desktop. The 460m is a VERY capable card and will quite easily pull 30+ fps in 3D in most games on Medium-High at native res. Really people do your homework before you call hardware "weak" as it gets some of the newer people on here believing that the hardware is crap when it isn't.

 

Weird, I just found out about Sager's np8150, which sticks a Geforce GTX 485 in a 15" system! If that actually works (how can that work?) then dang should they stick that in the M17x-R3!

STILL attempting to figure out which system has non-crackling/static-y audio through the headphone jack...

 

Welcome to the Internet, when people hear something it catches on.

Some people it seems are intent on ripping other ( then what they own or say they are planning to own )machines and cards down, especially if it's new. I have noticed that a lot on these and other forums. It's like virtual peeing contest where if they tell you that your machine is weak, theirs must be great, or they are smarter then you for not getting that " inferior" item.

 

Ditto.

^^This is funny post heh. First sentence is kinda wordy, but yes very hilarious after a few reads.

Anywhoo, lets not forget that the 460m is 2nd best in the available options in the list of already powerful top-o-the-line single gpus the R3 offers. IMO, the 460m is the best bang for buck gpu if you're going single gpu. Also, IMO, 460m does everything you want it to. If you seriously want to destroy EVERY modern game, then build a desktop for $500 on newegg. Otherwise, 460m is basically only second to the 6970, cuz the higher single gpus are all WAY too damn expensive and/or unnecessary for basically guarding from thieves.

 

Does the non-3d version come also with a 3.0mp camera? I saw it on the 3d-bundle and figured why is it not advertised at the non-3d version.

 

I wish veterans got decent discounts, too bad you have to be active duty.

 

Looks like my bro's wont be hear till the 30th. Man thats is too long to wait.

 

Not sure. Here's my non-3d webcam device ID. Let's compare to 3D to get the answer!

 

Cool. Anyone out there with the 3d-bundle? Can you please kindly post your webcam details? Thanks.