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

Thanks for this info. I was actually wondering if the Samsung SSD's that are shipping with the R3 are SATA III, since the Sandy Bridge mobo's are support SATA III. If they aren't, then I wouldn't order the SSD upgrade from Dell.

 

nice found! and congrats on the new system!
However, I think that it is absolutely unfair to compare the two cards: 6970m with i7-740m and GTX485m with i7-2630qm. The 2nd gen i7 definitely increases performance in gaming.
The AW m17 r3 with i7-2720m and 6970m hit up to 20155 points (notebookcheck.net), which beats gtx485m!

 

Welcome. No, they are still the old ones they are selling and does not look like they are planning to change it. So yea just buy the new one yourself.

 

Really!?! That's cool...saves $100-200ish!

Dang...do I risk having to return yet ANOTHER Dell for its crackly-audio-through-headphone-jack?

Can I physically fit this monster on my TV tray? LOL

Don't know about donut mark but the GTX 485 is the better GPU for games (and obviously everything else), although apparently not by a HUGE margin, like 12% average they said.

I'd buy it if it were offered though, although the three GPU choices aren't terrible!

 

Yeah, that's why I got the base HDD and got a 500gb WD Scorpio Black from Newegg and will get a 120gb SSD when the new ones release.

 

Yeah. Focus on the cpu,gpu. Hdd,ram,wireless upgrades can be done later to save gold.

 

Over a lifetime of 3years, would these numbers matter for me if all I plan to do is play SC2 and emulators? Specifically, will I ever need to upgrade, or should I be fine for those 3 years?

 

What do you mean? For SC2 and other emulators, You are fine. And I don't think you need upgrades for the next 3 years.

 

Woo hoo!

10char

 

Actually, Your system is a overkill for those games!

 

Oh dear. O well, that just makes it the more futureproof I do plan to try out some fps games too, and anything else you folks can recommend in order to take full advantage of the 2gb gddr5?

 

Crysis 1,2. Try out first the COD: modern warfare 1,2. Good games!

 

They all have story mode, right?

 

Yeap. Well we better not talk about this in this thread. Let's do it on the gaming section.

 

Agreed. Is there a m17x gaming thread? If not, lemme know and I'll make one.

 

Hefty 2k price for just the base. I think I'll wait for other brands that'll offer a 6970m/2720qm.

Then again I really like the person touches that Alienware does, like the name plate, led keyboard, and all that jazz. Very torn right now as to wait or pull the trigger.

Oh and hey, what desktop processor in terms of performance does the 2720qm compare to?

 

i'm furious here.... most experienced AW users (esp fellow Canadians) here are probably already familiar with this and have come to accept this as a fact of life... but i still find it completely mind-boggling how the Canadian dollar has consistently higher than the US $ for the past months or so, and STILL our systems are more expensive.

+$450 CDN for the i7 2820QM CPU as compared to +$350USD for same upgrade

not to mention the fact that the Canadians don't even get the option for the 6970M GPU.... just like how we never to the option for the i7 920 CPU upgrade even to this day..!! ARGGGGG... can you PLEASE show some love to your neighbors up north??

Sorry if this has been asked before but is there really any way someone from Canada can order a US AW product WITHOUT having a friend in the states to do it for you? I heard there are apparently some postal offices near the border that can provide a P.O Box for you to ship to? Is this true and has anyone tried it?
If so, is this the only way? And what about warranty?

Thanks,

 

There are businesses that do postal forwarding. I've never done it, but wife's friends do and love it. You should note that Dell requires photo ID with name and matching address on delivery (or is that only for Canadian orders?), so I'm not sure how well this would work.

Price aside - I agree btw, though canadian orders do include shipping (not that it makes up the difference) - if you're willing to wait, I'll be the 6970 makes it's way onto the Canadian website by March 14 at the latest. Canadian website is always quite slow.

 

Let's hope so... it sucks that we have to pay more... but it sucks even more if we don't even get the option.

I'm just afraid its gonna be like the i7 920XM where we never really ever got the option...

 

Well, I just got my quote for the unit I like. Here what I will get, should I decide to go AW:

2820
16GB RAM
750GB HDD
6970
Win 7 Ultimate
1920x1080 non 3D
Intel 6300

The online EPP person threw in free NBD delivery, if I decide to go with the AW quote he gave me.

 

You could also order the 6870 / 460 and order a 6970 elsewhere, sell the GPU that comes with the system and make up the difference (or just keep it). Can get a 6970 for around $500 CAD.

Potential warranty issues if you ever had to return the entire system though.

 

I would certainly get the ram and wifi card from a place such as newegg unless the epp discount was that good.

 

So in terms of cooling/temps, the 6970 will be hotter or cooler than the 460m? How bout compared to the two 5870s of the R2? <--this might be an unfair comparison since there's 2 of them, but in terms of system temps (subjective description ok here).

Thx!

 

Presumably it's hotter since they're both built on the same die process but the 6970 is bigger.

 

Its hard to say really.. at max settings the 460 will be working harder = more heat

 

But overall, I shouldnt worry (too much) about temps, right? Cooling is supposed to be good on R3, righT?

 

Yeah, don't worry about temps from the 460.

 

I'm getting the 6970.

 

Max settings the 6970 will be working harder becuase its producing more frames.

Asuming identical cooling, the 6970 will be much hotter.

 

Either way, I am willing to bet the temps to be manageable.

 

Oh NOESSSS! But that's assuming I'm gaming with a game that pushes the gpu, right? (SC2 on ultra is the most I'll ever push it, I think).

 

Seriously. Only a 3D R3 with 485M (I'll even take 460M in SLI or 470), would assuage the cash out of my pocket. I guess RGB LED is gone for good.

 

Im sure alienware did their work on that. No need to worry on the temps. A good repaste will solve that. If you are worried about the life of your gpu, well from my understanding they are built to handle extreme temps as long as its in their range. We have to wait for a user who receives their r3 with 6970 to check on those temps.

 

uk-15 march

Sales person changed there mind again. These guys really know nothing.


That ruined my day.

 

It's only morning! That is not good!

 

Not good at all.


I hate this waiting game.

 

Regarding UK ordering, just got off with an unhelpful online operative:

11:44:49 Customer Tom
i'd like to get an alienware m17x r3 for home
11:44:57 Customer Tom
its available in the US
11:45:14 Customer Tom
and on notebook review is was said i can order a m17x r3 on the phone
11:45:24 Customer Tom
(2nd gen i7)
11:45:54 Customer Tom
is it possible to order one?
11:46:34 Agent
I'm afraid, we do not have that in the UK as of now.
11:46:57 Customer Tom
is it worth a shot calling sales?
11:47:35 Agent
If we have it, it will be listed on our website

useful...

 

even at 50% overclock & 90-100% load for an hour or longer, my 460M has a hard time breaking 73C

 

Why don`t you just order it from the US? For me it is waay cheaper and they haven`t even released the M17x R3 in Europe yet...
I was at the chatroom and spoke to a Dell dude from US. He said it was no problem to order from US to Europe if you had a post adress in US. Which there are plenty of options available for...

 

Only problem is you might have trouble getting warranty support on a US unit in another country. Warranties used to be country specific, still think they are. So you'd likely have to return it ro the US for hardware replacement.

 

Once you add the price of customs and vat on the saving will be little. Not forgetting of course that your stuck with a US keyboard which'll cost a fair bit to change.

 

Well im hoping thats its available in holland at the same time as the UK if u say the 15th.

I dont see why it would take dell so long to make it available in other countries, this would be the only time i wished i lived in the USA lol

 

Watts show fairly direct relationship to the heating characteristics not counting transfer functions, power factor, variance in cooling, etc. Dual GPU’s would seem to double, but then there may be separate fans and cooling paths so this is not a 1:1 relationship. It can show an “approximation” given your understanding and appreciation of these things. A detailed discussion on this should be handled off line from this thread. The website notebookcheck.net shows power consumption for GPU’s though they erroneously refer to it as current. If the voltage was constant between these, then this would be a decent comparison. The numbers may or may not be accurate. You can always refer to the mfg sites. Anyways, my understanding from the website:

A single 6970 caps at about 100 Watts. A single 460M is about 73 watts. A single 5870 is about 50 Watts. I recommend that you verify them for yourself.

 

You can buy international insurance, the dell guy called is special insurance, and you are safe. I don`t know about what happens if something goes wrong though, where you need to send it etc

 

I have read throughout the whole thread, and still need a advice. Should i order a r3 with 3D bundle and gtx 460, or should i go with the 6970m? I need the laptop for gaming and would go naturaly with the more powerful card, but on other side i'm intrigued by the 3D. why couldnt they just include a gtx 480 as a option, i would not have these problems. If amd releases its 3D sometimes in the future it would probably need a 120hz screen as well, and i would not have that option. If I go with the gtx460, i could in the future upgrade to a 480, or a 5xxm card probably.. One simple question for the guys which already own a r3 with 3D, do you use it often, and whats the feel? is it worth?

 

"stuck" with US keyboard? What is wrong with that? I am from Norway and have used US keyboard last 4-5 years with no problem. We have ÆØÅ which isn`t marked on the keyboard, but you can just change the settings on Windows and memorize which button that represents those keys. No problem at all for me though.

As for customs, the price difference between Norway and US is huge. With customs and freight included, i can actually save around $300+ with ordering from US compared to the UK from what i have found out. I can imagine that countries with less custom fees than Norway can save more money by ordering though because customs here are a whooping 25%.
But that was not my main point. My point here is that since M17x R3 is not available in Europe yet, why not buy it from the US now? I know if i wanted a computer now, i would have bought it instantly. But that is probably because i hate waiting for things

 

This is me guessing here :
GTX 460M will be the coolest one. Two 5870M in crossfire will be "hotter" followed by 6970M that is the hottest (lol don`t know if i got that word right). That is me considering the heat in the system, not on the GPUs themselves.
R2 had 1 fan per GPU right, so that means that the machine will cool down the 5870 quite good which means less heat in the system. And 5870M had TDP of 50 W, so 1 fan per 50W. R3 however have 1 fan for the entire 6970M. That GPU have a TDP of around 100W, and only 1 fan to cool it down. So it will produce more heat in the system. But since Alienware managed to put the 6970M in the laptop they have probably some crazy heat sinks going on

 

From the looks of it the 5870 is actually by default clocked 20Mhz faster than the 6970, so two 5870s should absolutely draw a lot more than one 6970.

It's a pretty safe bet that for heat from what I've seen you'd be GTX 460 < 5870 < 6970 with the same cooling system.

BUT of course the M1Xx line is well know for its excellent cooling-if anything can handle it...

The TDPs are kind of random...don't necessarily tell you much, and aren't calculated the same between brands necessarily, etc.

In the case of the 6970, I don't see a reason it should be drawing twice as much power with 20% more hardware (although maybe it's got some other refinements too, but still...)

 

I just bought an m17xr3 and i got the 2gb gpu. I was wondering if in the future it is possible to upgrade the gpu in a year or so when 2.5 and 3.0 gpus come out?

 

The power consumption of a chip its heat ouput (or very, very close to). No useful work in the classical sense is done.

Therefore the only differences in temperature come from cooling (including interface material) and the surrounding environment.