What's Wrong With This?

I've just come across this ad for an M17X R3 on a local trading site. Seems suspiciously low:

Alienware M17x R3 for sale For Sale in Cork : €600 - DoneDeal.ie

Yay or Nay? I'm going to text the seller. What should I ask them? Based on the info provided in the ad, is this laptop still capable of playing AAA games? Would it be possible to customise it to today's standards? ie new processor, gfx card etc etc?

 

It does seem to be on the low side. Ebay UK has a couple of M17x R3's right now (UK only) and the cheapest is currently bid up to €830, but it does have a 580m which is considerably better than a 560m and it also has 3d and a backpack, too - might be a better buy!.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Alienware...t=UK_Computing_Laptops_EH&hash=item27d74c3dbc

The CPU in the machine you linked to sounds like it is a 2670qm or 2720qm cpu (2.2ghz base clock) - I'd ask which one. The 2720qm has a higher maximum turbo clock (3.3Ghz) and supports stuff like VT-d for VM's. The 2720qm is the better cpu.

ARK | Compare Intel® Products

As for the performance of the 560m...it won't rock your gaming world at maxed out settings, but it will provide a good experience at medium to high - depending on what game you play. If you scroll down on this link, you'll get an idea of how 'capable' the GPU is - there are several titles tested.

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M - NotebookCheck.net Tech

As for upgrading, you can upgrade the GPU and CPU if you wanted to. CPU wise, you would be limited to a maximum 2960xm Extreme CPU (which would probably require some cooling modification to keep it in check) or a 2860qm without modification. For gaming, the CPU that the machine comes with should be adequate for most games, the odd exception being CPU intensive games like Cryisis, BF3, GTA IV etc....

You can drop a faster GPU in if you wish. You should be able to upgrade it to pretty much any of the following: 6990m, 7970m, 580m, 680m or 780m. If you Google "M17x R3 780m", there are plenty of results for information on this.

As for questions for the seller, I'd be asking if there are any issues with it, confirm the FULL specification, ask if there is any warranty remaining, ask for a service tag so you can call Dell and ask about the machine. Ask the seller if he has upgraded any of the parts himself, and if so, what....

Hope that helps a little bit....

 

Exactly what Brother Stevie said. Please be sure to get the service tag and get the machine's history from dell. You should also ask whether or not it is still under warranty. If not, ask why... especially if it's considered to be in "mint condition".