Need help building alienware 17!

I know very little about computers but i want a top end gaming laptop cause im always away from home so must a laptop. Price not an issue but i dont want 18inch must be 17. Iv been doing some research on alienware i would like the 120hz display but you cant get ssd? Also for gaming wise is there much differnce between 4710mq vs 4910mq cause i noticed 120 hz comes with 4710 only?

One other thing i was curious about is the mtx880m graphics card. I been reading it has throttling problem? I here there is a better one coming out in a few months is it possible to switch them when it comes out i believe iit supposed to be a maxell 880 or something like i said im a noob.

Would love if someone could give this noob some i fo on my thoughts?

 

Honestly I wouldn't take the SSD upgrades through Alienware anyway as they tend to charge a small fortune for them. The Alienware 17 is suppper easy to add an SSD to yourself and the best part about an Alienware is you can perform upgrades such as these and it will not void any warranty on your system. I would take the standard HDD option and add your own SSD that pick up elsewhere. Honestly the same usually goes for the memory and those upgrades as they are really expensive through Alienware and can be done quite easily though I presume the system will come with 16GB stock? This would be more than enough for the time being. I have 16GB in mine and I never use more then 30% of it.

If your just going to be gaming then the stock CPU is more then adequate. If you plan to OC then you will want to look at CPU upgrades as the base CPU's are locked and you can't do much with them. If you plan on doing a lot of video editing/encoding or pictures then a faster CPU will also benefit you. That being said if you just plan on gaming then you will be fine with the 4710 and upgrading will only net you a very VERY minimal performance increase but it will future proof more.

People have had trouble with the current gen 880m , but it seems like a lot of people having problems are also trying to OC it, but I don't follow that circle all that much as I don't have one. There are also people who say it has been running ok , but I don't think they are tinkering with the system all that much. What people are noticing is that it does seem to run quite warm and it can throttle quite easily once the temps go up. Nvidia has not said much about this but Alienware has begun offering the 780m to people in lieu of the 880m as there does not seem to be a fix for it coming any time soon. Honestly I would wait for the next Nvidia flagship model which we are expecting soonish but no one really has a solid date on it yet that I know of. Whether you decide to go with this gen or next gen just make sure you get the best GPU you can as that will be the most important factor in a gaming laptop.

Also when it comes to warranty don't skimp out, get as much as you can because you will kick yourself down the road if you need it later and don't have it.

 

Actually the 47xxMQ got a partial unlock this generation and lets you put +200mhz on.

47xx = +200mhz
48xx = +400mhz
49xx = +600mhz
extreme = unlocked

 

I believe that 4710mq would be enough.

 

XM is unlocked up until the BIOS takes a dump, which is like 4.4GHz. It sucks. With a proper BIOS, it would be awesome.

The 4710MQ is enough for any mobile GPU for gaming. The only reason to upgrade is for other CPU intensive tasks (i.e. video editing).

 

The 4800MQ is good for those who like to tweak, it offers a nice balance.

 

So where does that leave the 4900MQ?

Actually let me answer that one: it's for suckers like me who think an extra 2MB of L3 cache is going to "improve general performance" LOL

No but seriously I'm glad I got this chip, 4.4GHz single core speed has its uses especially when it comes to FSX

 

So if you have the 4710qm in the 14 or 17, how does the bios allow for adding +200 MHz to the cpu? I was told each time you change it in the bios (by adding MHz) that it just reverts back to the standard speed. So how are gamers increasing this?

 

I would get the 4810MQ.. Its worth the extra and is in the middle ground.. The 4710MQ is crippled in effect..

 

On mine it's an option in the bios. This (as mentioned by Meaker) is CPU dependent. I see Overclocking level 1-3 in the Advanced menu (YMMV). It takes care of the multipliers and other settings in a single option. Mine on level 3 runs at 3.9ghz. It sticks no problem. The only time it should revert is if you update the bios, or push it too far so it resets.

Good luck

 

There is a reason our oced systems had the 4800MQ as the popular choice lol.

 

The 250GB Samsung 840 EVO is $118 on Amazon right now. Gotta love these prices!