M17x R4 Wishlist

Hi guys,

I thought it would be a good idea to compile a list of items that are:

1) Practical
2) Marketable
3) Interesting
4) Beneficial (for the consumer)

It is my wish to be able to send this list to Alienware over at Miami (if my parents so let me) for their evaluation.

Without further ado, these are the things I would like to see in the next M17x:

1) An Ivy Bridge processor with adaptive TDP (definitely)
2) Thunderbolt
3) All USB ports support USB 3.0
4) Lucidlogix Virtu
5) The most outrageous idea yet: A full desktop flagsihp GPU

Justification for point 5:
Now before you tell me that this is all wishfull thinking, let me point out a few things:

A full desktop GPU CAN fit into the chasis. E.g. th GTX 580 is ~27cm, but the M17x is ~30cm wide. With a custom heatsink (that connects to both fans), a full desktop GPU should be able to fit. And again, with a customized heatsink, the card should stay cool enough.

For mobility, Lucidlogix Virtu should allow GPU switching, so we can use Intel's Ivy Bridge IGP on the go. Also, with technologies such as AMD PowerTune, and a customized profile, desktop flagships should be able to downclock enough to run on batter but yet still run at max speed when connected to the mains.

Lastly, current flagship desktop GPUs utilize about 200W under load and have a recommended PSU of 400W. Considering that the M18x has a 330W brick, it shouldn't be too hard for ALW to fit such a monster right?

Now the only part I haven't worked out is that we may have to sacrifice the 2nd hard drive in order to accommodate the massive GPU, but it's a decent trade, don't you think?

This, my friends, would be the ultimate desktop replacement. I think we all don't want a by-the-way-this-is-a-cut-down-mainstream-desktop-card flagship mobile GPU any more. It's an insult to laptops. Now time for Alienware to satisfy our urge for faster components.

 

A: here we go again...
B: A desktop GPU in a laptop would generate waaaay too much heat...

 

Like I said before, it can downclock. It's theoretically possible. Just that no one bothered trying. I would if I had the resources/time, though...

 

Bored, and not quite ready to get into bed, so I'll add something to your wish list here. I wish there was a GPU that modulated its clocks and voltage to stay within a certain temperature range. There, I said it.

 

The R3 is honestly almost perfect, just wish the screen would be an RGB matte with a maximum brightness close to 400 nit. Also, would prefer the bottom not to get so hot (unlike some people, I actually put it on my lap) Everything else is great.

 

Honestly I will be more than happy with just an RGBLED. But i dont care since i wont buy the R4, will jump straight to the R5.

 

My argument with downclocking the desktop chips to work in a laptop has always been "Doesn't that defeat the point of using a faster chip in the first place?"

 

I think there's a lot more to GPU's than just clocks though right?

 

Aren't the mobile GPU's already just downclocked desktop GPU's?

 

I want the r4 to be made of better quality materials something light,stiff and shiny and still able to be coloured nebula red

 

M18x doesn't have a 330w brick, it only comes with the ATI X-Fire setup.

 

I think you've mistaken me there. I only mean downclocking when on battery/on the go, but clocking back up when connected to a power source.

 

Matte screen (with matte screen protection, if used).
"True-life" screen protection is garbage. If I want to look at my reflection all day, I would work in front of a mirror.

Although I agree with ivy bridge, I also would like to see a bios update allowing its use in the r3.

 

yup only thing i dont like with the r3 is the rubber finish i already scratched it - should never of used it - and the screen downgrade is a shame so need to bring that back or at least give people the option then its there own fault if they pick it

 

im probably asking for the impossible but:

1. 2920XM unlocked processor
2. GTX 485m single and dual config
3. have 3D and optimus at the same time
4. Blu-ray burner
5. have 8GB 1866mhz ram standard.

 

here's something really impossible, Water Cooling.

 

Actually, notebooks do use water cooling. It's just that the water doesn't really flow much, so it doesn't really count... It's sealed inside the heatsink lol

 

My wish list...

1- bring aluminum back, but keep the current r3 lid design
2- RGBLED 120hz 3d screen
3- IGP support to run 120hz screen
4- glasses free 3d
5-bring dual gpus back
6-keep the r4 under 2 inches thick (similar dimensions to r3 if possible)
7- subwoofer
8-12 cell battery (but in the same form factor as the current 9 cell) for 6-7 hours+ easy
9-bluray burner
10-support for sata IV ssds
11-ivy bridge extreme mobile processor

 

I second that.

BTW, for how long has R3 been on the market so far?

 

You pretty much said it all. Though I will be very happy with current SATA III support too. Its too fast already

I think it released somewhere in January and after the Intel fiasco it started shipping again towards end of March roughly.

 

Pass on #4 and #5. They tried a downclocked chip in making the 480M and that didn't go as well as we'd have liked. Mobile chips are already designed to give the most performance for a given heat and power level. If you want to raise that level any higher than M17x or M18x then you need to go to a SFF PC, not a notebook. But you get credit for a wishlist nonetheless.

RGBLED should simply be considered "required" of a notebook in this class and price. Buyers know the quality difference. And even if it's not the only screen on the pricelist, it should 100% of the time be an optional screen. Hopefully they get that right in the future.

What do you want to DO with Thunderbolt? I like the interface, but mostly because of the potential to run a full on desktop GPU off in a box off the port. But that his hardly a practical use for the port. So I'm curious what is it that you want to do with said port that can't be done with the ports already included (DP, Expresscard and USB 3).

 

I don't really care what's in store for R4, I'm gonna jump on R5 though.

 

I read the entire OP, but laughed when I read this: "if my parents so let me". You know so much for a youngster---good for you, bud! I wish you well, and hopefully Dell listens to the consumer on this one

 

when do you guys think the R4 will release? cuz Im considering to buy a R3, I dun wanna see R4 released immediately after I received R3...

 

I'd personally like to see an RGBLED screen, as would most people. Apart from that...well, an option for 3D with ATi wouldn't hurt (or a more powerful nVidia card that doesn't cost far too much like the 485M.)

Oh, and sorry, I just have to shoot down the idea of a desktop GPU:

Yeah, you might be able to fit the GPU into the chassis. But where is everything else going to go?

There needs to be room for everything else in there too, i.e. at least 1 HDD slot, at least 2 RAM slots, CPU, DVD/BR drive, the motherboard itself, battery, and all of the other little bits and pieces. The fact is that the highest end desktop GPUs just would not leave the room for everything else even in the M18x.

As for cooling, even with the best heatsinks and fans, it would be damned hard to cool something that powerful. Even the most powerful laptop GPUs don't top 75W TDP; desktop GPUs are over 200W. It might be possible to cool it with 3 or more fans and heatsinks, but it would be damned impractical, and even so it would run bloody hot.

Once again, there's got to be the power for everything else as well. Sure, there's room for a 200W GPU in that 330W PSU but what about all of the other components? They'd have to create one monster of a power brick pushing more than 400W to make it work.

 

i can see how difficult i'd be to fit a standard pci-e desktop card in a laptop chassis but I don’t understand why we can’t have real high performance graphics card in a chassis as big as an m18x.

485m <=> Desktop 580
384 shaders - 512 shaders
256bit – 384bit

485m tdp is 100watt while the 580 is 244watt!

Why can’t we have a 580gtx mobile version with the same shaders – memory bus but with reduced clock speeds? Drop the clocks to 485m level and use high binned cores so core voltage can go down by quite a lot reducing the voltage and off course tdp!

Should be possible to keep a card like this cool and it would be similar or even faster as a 485m sli setup. I’m sure ppl would buy this!

 

Anodized aluminium (must be available in red)!
RGB led


Nuff said.

 

It would have to be at most only a little bigger than two 485Ms in terms of physical size, and would probably have to have a TDP no higher than 150W (even then it'll need two fans for cooling) but it's certainly possible. The point is it'll still be a mobile card and not a desktop card, as people have suggested is possible to put into a laptop.

Still, there's the issue of cost. The card would be very expensive to produce and even more so given the smaller market. It'd be cheaper for them to produce a card like the 485M and then place two in SLi for the performance option, than it would be to offer an oversized superpowered card for only the specialised machines.

Also, it would have to be limited to that card, due to the requirement for a completely different slot. This boosts the cost of the whole laptop as there are no other options, resulting in reduced sales.

Possible. But not really feasible.

 

I think the desktop GPU into an M17X is quite a ridiculous idea and could not work for most people buying that PC.

Remember they sell a lot of the M17X and only a few use it for benchmarks.

At the end of the day, today's GPU offering is quite good and runs almost everything with extreme settings on therefore there is no reason to go with a design that would make the PC much heavier, thicker and hotter.

My wish list is the following:

1. Going back to aluminum
2. Make the PC slightly thinner
3. Make the PC slightly smaller (Still not sure why Dell chooses a design with thick edges around the screen. It's not pretty and there is no reason for it.
4. Extreme CPU option
5. 10 hours + of web browsing or watching a movie. I am sure this could be done in a smarter way. Instead of us manually bringing down settings, they should have the software ask us how many hours of battery we want and the system adapts all the settings automatically such as GPU off, brightness down, etc... Not sure why no one thought of that as it is the way to do it.

 

An Alienhead on the back of the screen with red LED eyes that lights each time I pop someones head off in Battlefield.

 

Why don't they make a rubberized or aluminum version but in navy blue color? Kinda like the Inspirons or the Dell Mini ones? Those are clean looking.

 

More hard drive space, I guess. (I don't know if RAID counts, since I've never used it.) Can't do much on 750 GB. The latest Asus has 1.5 TB.

 

I wish Dell would release a product roadmap. Theres not much hope for the high end cpu anymore for the M17x. Thats where the M18x comes in, as its the new flagship. Out side of lighter and smaller, everything else you want OP, will most likely be released in the M18x (r2-3). The M17x is now only semi-high end

 

I still have about 100gb free, after installing SC2, BFBC2, Crysis 1, Crysis Warhead, and have lots of my dolphin/pcsx2 games on there. And a few gb of music too. Not sure what you really need all that space for... You should spend your money on something better like sunglasses for the summer Or an SSD like lots of folks recommend

 

Latest asus w/1.5TB has two 750gb harddrives in RAID 0. There is no such thing as a 1.5tb hd, even 12.5mm.

 

- stock Crucial M4 128gb SSD, and at a reasonable price

or:

- the ability to purchase an Alienware m17x r4 without a hard drive, I will buy it at a normal price and install windows myself lol.

 

I second this, I dont even need the OS from them, I got the hook ups on that anyway.

 

Take the current R3 and:

Replace the soft-touch chassis with aluminum like the amazing R1.
Update tech - Ivy Bridge, USB 3.0, etc.
Replace the mirror screens that AW insists on using with a good quality matte display.
Find somewhere for a sub-woofer to add a bit of bass (even if only a little) to the audio.
And for the love of god: a silver chassis option!
Starting price of around $1,700.

Reasonable requests, I think.

 

My Wishes:

Nvidia 3D Vision 2 with LightBoost in the screen as standard
2D option of the same IPS screen in the M6600, HP 8740w.

Those things are my top most desired things. Especially the IPS screen.

Bring AlienSense back as standard. I don't wat to pay extra for FastAccess.
Native USB 3.0
HDMI 1.4 in for 3D Consoles.
Slight design teak so moving away from the Muscle Car look and bringing back the retro Spaceship look.

And last but not least: SUBWOOFER!

 

M17x R4 definitely will get 22nm CPU and 28nm GPU. I predict only minor exterior changes.

MUST items:
1. B+RG LED 95% gamut screen
I prefer B+RG LED than true RGB LED. RGB LED will consume more power and more expensive to upgrade. 95% gamut is more than enough.

2. A subwoofer
Even the small M14x has one!!

 

I'd like a laptop gtx 590 please

 

1. RGB screen
2. Anodized Silver needs to come back
3. Subwoofer

 

+1 .

 

1. Better screen options (Matte, RGB, or other) I use this system as a entertainment hub besides games.
2. LESS keyboard flex. Considering I type more than most this probably wont ever happen.
3. Slight weight decrease.

 

SLI and CFX capabilities

Maybe even TRI-Fire or Tri-SLI. That would be something to behold.

 

hahahahaha

 

srsly lol

 

Anyone have any idea when an R4 might be released?

 

id like a better screen than my r3

 

probably february/march/april when the refresh of gfx/ivy is out. companies like dell will already have it sorted so the refresh will probably roll out a week after their release.