Thinking of upgrading my Alienware 18 880m SLI

I am thinking of getting the 1440p Alienware 17 with 1070. Is that a worthwhile upgrade? I don't think 1080 is going to be great long term for 4k and I think that 1440p is perfect for the 1070 card. Thoughts?

Edit: I have been out of the game a long time and see the drawbacks of the new processors and how there is no upgrade path. That's fine for all intents and purposes for this machine right here since I am not speccing a monster DTR. However am I reading correctly that my 4900m from 2013 is a stronger CPU than the 6700hq of 2016?! That cannot be right is it?! Will this CPU be a problem for future games?

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-1070-Laptop.169549.0.html

i hope this helps you

 

Hey thanks yes I did read that over and why I was comfortable going the route of 1070 at 1440p. However I just read that the UK site has the 1080 configurable and I will wait for that to be an option as I think that will make 1440p gaming last a fair bit longer as the games get more demanding. I think I will veer away from the native 4k screen as I don't want to turn down resolution down the road distorting PQ. Hopefully the US site gets the 1080 option ASAP

 

I have one of the new AW17's and it's a glorious hunk of design work. I upgraded from a very tried and true, much loved MSI GS70 Stealth Pro (970m) ... and though I like both of the machines (GS70 now serves FLACs)? There's just no comparison in regards to build quality between the MSI machine and this new Alienware rig. I've never owned any Alienware products. They have always been far too thick and "lit up" for my more conservative take on industrial design (gaming rig or not) ... but with this new Pascal release? Man ... though an easy 10lbs? It's pretty much perfect.

New releases have their issues, though .. for sure ...so read the AW17 thread for more information.

The GTX1070 is destroying anything I can throw at it. Witcher 3 at Ultra stays at 90 to 120fps (hair works off) ... and when using Nvidia "fast sync" ... and after overclocking the Alienware 17 1080p IPS screen to 100hz? Lordy ... I don't play on this laptop much but when I do? It's just as good as my dual 980's and 1440p 27" IPS g sync screen I use at home. Playing 1080p? I'm positive the mobile 1070 will be legitimate for at least 3 years, if not more.

Mobile 1070 at 1440p? Still great but you won't have near the longevity.

Regarding screen options on the new AW's?

There's a crap ton of static online about the 1440p having visible scan lines; this being simply a byproduct of the manufacturing process. Aorus machines that use the same panel also have this "quirk" ... as, it really is just a physical property of that particular TN panel. Some users are driven crazy by it while others say they can deal with it. Try to see one in person before buying so as to avoid the return game that many are playing because of the "lines" they can see in the 1440p panel.

I've also heard a lot of noise about the 4K panel having backlight bleed. Personally, I could careless cause I think 4K on a laptop is kind of over the top (for me anyway) ... way too small of a screen for that sort of resolution; when my desktop rig can push 4K at 100FPS+ without a hitch? Then I'll certainly upgrade to 4K at home and with a nice 32" desktop screen ... but not on my laptop, man.

I personally opted for the 1080p IPS panel and in my opinion? Having used and currently using some nice desktop IPS screens? Man .. I think it's pretty glorious. I lucked out and won the panel lotto with no bleed, no pixel problems or anything else. It's bright as hell and the colors and contrast are pretty much perfect for my eye and especially after calibrating. *AND* ... the 1080p IPS screen (mine and many others) can be easily overclocked to 100hz refresh rate ... completely changing the game in regards to smooth gameplay and overall "snappiness" ... add Nvidia "Freesync" into the mix and you pretty much get all the glory of G Sync ...

Anyway ... sorry to ramble but thought you might enjoy reading some of that. Seriously well built bit of gear ...

And READ READ READ this thread; it's the AW17 Owners Thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...16-owners-lounge.797457/page-82#post-10390563

Best and good luck..
joel

 

Thank you for the very thoughtful reply. I do have questions. Did you go with the 6700 processor and is it OK for the task? I realized that the upgraded processor is not compatible (I have no idea why) with the 1440p screen. I think I'd like to stick with the 1440p as long as I won't be bottlenecked by the CPU. I am a bit sad that my over 3 year old 4900mq (upgraded by alienware to the 4910mq) is as good or better than the 6700 If I won't be bottlenecked I think I will stick with the 1440p as I think the 1070 should be fine for a few years on it. My 880m SLI still plays most every game at 1080p just fine and the 1070 is about equal to 980m SLI correct? I would be very happy with that.

 

I did get the 6700K processor since it's plenty capable for any of my daily workstation uses. I do lots of video and audio work, visual design work, etc. and haven't seen a single hiccup out of the 6700K. I've been meaning to hook my AW up to my 1440p desktop monitor and do some gaming benchmarks ... I'll post some results once I do ...

Best
joel

 

Thanks Joel. I did opt to reorder my system to take advantage of the 1080. I decided to go for the beefier CPU to take advantage of the beefier GPU. So I went with the 6820, 1440p screen, upgraded wifi and 1080...everything else was standard order (16 gig ram, standard SSD, etc). I think the 1080 will be a nice upgrade over my 880m SLI system from 2013. It has lasted me over 3 years of perfect gaming and I think this system, though not as extreme in configuration, will suit my needs well moving forward. It's too bad that the industry has taken measures to lock in obsolescence and prevented enthusiast modification but there's no point in me crying over it and just working on adapting to the change. It should be a solid system.

 

Congrats. Hope you love it...