Thinking of scrapping.

My M15x is due to ship out tomorrow. I've been told countless times that it has a severe issue with throttling. I'm thinking of calling in tomorrow morning and canceling the order before it ships (so I won't have to pay the shipping fees to and from if I decide later to return it) and ordering an M17x. Are there any problems with the M17x that I need to know about? Is it an insane perfect machine that performs as well as it should? Let me know. Here are the specs for both.

M15x:

• Intel® Core™ i7 840QM Quad Core Processor, 1.86GHz (3.20GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache)
• 1GB NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M
• 15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
• 8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3)
• 500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
• Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGN Half Mini Card

M17x

• Intel® Core™ i7 920XM 2.0GHz (3.2GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache) EDITED: Switched from I7 820QM
• CrossfireX™ 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
• 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
• 8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3)
• 640GB Raid 0 (2x 320GB 7,200RPM HDDs) EDITED: SWITCHED FROM 7200 RPM 500GIG
• Wireless 1520 802.11n Half Mini-Card(went with the basic card because other delays order)
• 4 Year Advanced Service Plan - Includes Accidental Drop Damage and Spills (Premium is worthless on an alienware because it entitles you to support tech from the USA, whereas all of the Alienware support guys are in the same place)

Even though the M15x has an 840QM and the M17x has an 820QM, will that make a huge difference? Wouldn't the better video cards more than compensate?

Please let me know if there's anything pertinent about this configuration I should know. Everyone has told me that the M15x throttles terribly, so it seems like this may be my best option.

 

Dominant problem with m17x R2 are the drivers for CF ATI 5870. But their working on a fix.

 

What kind of issue with the drivers?

 

No other issues with the M17x R2 I am aware of except for touchpad and hd5870m crossfire drivers.

Both are currently being worked on, and fixes should be out 'soon'.

Get the 17

-Ash

 

Just get the 5850, it's more powerful, cheaper and doesn't throttle. Win, win, win situation.
And, if you do have the money for the M17x, just get it. It's much more powerful.
Plus, the 820QM vs. 840QM difference is extremely negligible.

 

Having owned both I recommend the M17x. The RGB display is a pleasure every day I use it with its warm vibrant colours, whilst the M15's display looked too 'cold' IMHO. Plus you can have 2 hard drives and xfire if you want.

 

But in general the M17 preforms like a champ? Nothing major that can't be fixed? I'm canceling my order for the M15x and getting the 17x tomorrow so speak now or forever hold your peace! I don't care about weight, battery, or touch pad.

 

yes it is a champ. if you have a spare $500 or so i recommend getting an extreme processor.

 

No major issues with the M17x. New beta drivers are due out any day now so it's easily the better system. Instead of 8 GB of memory, you should get a 920xm processor.

 

Agree, its easier to upgrade RAM than CPU

 

Lets say I did that and then got the ram on newegg. What ram would be best to get? Is this the ram right here? If I buy the ram its still cheaper than upgrading it on alienware's site.

Newegg.com - CORSAIR 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1333 Laptop Memory Model CMSO8GX3M2A1333C9

EDIT: Yea, I'm going to go with the 920XM. To hell with money! I'll save a hundred bucks on the ram and buy better ram than what probably comes stock. Is the above link the correct ram to buy? I assume when I get the new ram I won't need to install any new drivers or anything.

 

That Ram is fine, and you can sell the old..

 

They said my order is too far in production to cancel, however, they're going to treat it like a cancellation. They're going to ship it to me and then email me a return label. I'll slap the return label on the box and send it back. I'll get a full refund (including initial shipping) and they won't charge me a restocking fee. I've ordered the Alienware M17x with the EXTREME processor and the dual cards! I ordered 8 gigs of ram on newegg and 4 on the alienware, saving $100. (Alienware 8 gigs = $350, newegg 8 gigs CORSAIR 1333mhz = $250)

 

way to go! enjoy it

 

When they called today to confirm that I made the purchase they offered me a great deal on 4 years Advanced service plan. It includes accidental damage and spills! Premium is worthless because the only bonus to it is speaking to North American techs, whereas Alienware tech is all in the same place anyhow. Not sure why they offer premium.

 

Premium enables Saturday tech support I think. Good if you're on the same time zone

 

You mean Saturday in the sense that they'll come to your house and fix it? Because the phone tech support is 24/7.