M17x R3 configuration help- UK

Hi guys, would like to apologise for the long-winded post in advance!

I originally posted this in the Order Status Discussion Sticky, however I felt it could very much be swallowed up, and that this post could potentially ensure a response.
I am thinking of ordering a M17x R3 within the next week (living in the UK), and have tentatively configured it as follows:

Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 2670QM (2.20Ghz, 6MB, 4C)
English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6990M
8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x4096]
500GB Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive
44cm(17.3") WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
DVD+/-RW (DVD, CD read and write)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 - EUR

I'm not too technical when it comes to hardware and the like, and was wondering if you guys could help me.

First off, in regards to the graphics card, another laptop that I have been looking at is the Asus G74SX, which comes with a 3GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M. From what I have read the Radeon 6990M looks to be the better card, but will the extra 1GB on the 560M make a significant difference?

My second question involves the hard drive. The M17x base option was the 750GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive. But for £5 more, I could upgrade to the 500GB Momentus XT Solid State Hybrid Drive. I have read into all this and it seems that this would be the better option performance wise. Storage capacity is not much of an issue for me..would the Hybrid Drive be the better choice? Would it be also right to assume that the 500GB Hybrid drive > 1500GB HDD performance wise? (as the Asus has 750GBx2 HDD)

Finally, regarding wireless connectivity, the base option was the Dell Wireless 1501 wireless-N, and for £30 more, I could upgrade to the Killer™ Wireless-N 1103. Has anyone used this before/is there a big difference?

Thanks a lot!

 

2gb or 3gb video card - no matter how much video memory card have it can be slower becouse memory size DO NOT make card any faster (in this case).
more memory is required for higher resolutions, but for 1080p 2gb is more than enough.
6990m is much quicker, take it.
500xt is faster than normal 750gb, but ssd is even faster. i would take 500XT.
and hybrid xt is NOT faster than 750x2

killer for 30gbp more - if you are a serious gamer and you play via wireless router - killer is a card for you.
g74sx vs alienware - How dare you ?

I live in Jersey and i can buy it without VAT for you HAHA

 

First off, go here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-aw-system-accessories-please-contribute.html

The OP will get you an email for a rep to help you save some quid.

To answer your questions, the 6990m is a better card. Games never make use of more vram anyways and there will not be any performance increase if you compare the same card but different size vram, there will hardly be any difference.

The Momentus XT performs better than more ordinary HDDs in the long run due to the cache however more users here seeking performance will tell you to upgrade to an aftermarket SSD. I have, 2 of them And yes the M17x R3 has 2 bays so you can have 2x750GB as well.

From what I have heard the Killer as well as the Intel 6300 Wifi cards all perform better than the Dell one in terms of speed and signal strength.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks for the quick answers guys! Pretty much set then on getting my M17x!

@Flingin feel free to ship one over! prices here in the UK are pretty outrageous compared to the states, cant do much about that though :/
@widezu69 thanks for the link, will definitely have a look into this!

 

Welcome in the Brotherhood

 

I just got an r3 in the UK with samsung 250/750 ssd-ide combo drive replacing a unit with 2 x 750 RAID. The ssd much faster, gives a 7.9 windows speed index and loads windows from POST to logon in under 10 seconds. As this only uses one bay for the two devices it leaves one spare for future expansion. Also better battery life since the ide can and does shut down during use if not accessed. My experience FWIW...
oh yeah, just in case you don't see it (if you do get an R3), roll back the bios from the supplied A09 to the A08 on the dell site - SATA 3 is broken in A09 and makes a big difference with the SSD.