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    Whats the difference between an M17x R1 and R2?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by Ronen91, Mar 22, 2010.

  1. Ronen91

    Ronen91 Notebook Geek

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    Whats the difference between an M17x R1 and R2? Just wondering because I would like to know if this model of my new computer sent from dell in the past two weeks was a newer version because It does not seem to have a problem
     
    Ronen91, Mar 22, 2010
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  2. Kicker6820

    Kicker6820 Notebook Consultant

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    the R2 models can:

    Have i7,i5 processors, RBG led screen, and i can't think of anything else atm. i know there is more
     
    Kicker6820, Mar 22, 2010
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  3. mfractal

    mfractal T|I

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    also an intel chipset instead of nvidia problematic chipset in R1
     
    mfractal, Mar 22, 2010
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  4. Ronen91

    Ronen91 Notebook Geek

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    So the chipset problem caused the freezing during games and such?
     
    Ronen91, Mar 22, 2010
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  5. mfractal

    mfractal T|I

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    if you refer to the DPC latency issues, then yes.
     
    mfractal, Mar 22, 2010
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  6. bigguyhawaii

    bigguyhawaii Notebook Enthusiast

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    i had both r1 and r2. r1 dual m280 sli dual core and r2 i7 720qm ati 4870x2.
    battlefield bad company r1 - fps 40-50 low setting. r2 fps 90-130 low setting. i love r2!
     
    bigguyhawaii, Mar 22, 2010
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  7. claxdog

    claxdog Notebook Evangelist

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    the chipset did not cause dpc latency It was a video driver problem that was fixed in the last beta driver.R1 also has an integrated video card that you can run off of so you have better battery life. Each one has its pros and cons.
     
    claxdog, Mar 22, 2010
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  8. Crozone

    Crozone Notebook Guru

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    Also, AFAIK the R2 doesn't allow you to overclock the cpu or ram, where the R1 has built in asynchronous adjustable CPU and Ram clocks. Since all (most) the bugs have been sorted with DPC latency, there is less of a gap between the two systems.

    The Quad Core in the R1 is comparable to the i5 in the R2, especially since it can be overclocked, and IMO the dual 280Ms are better than the dual 4850s and even possibly the single 5850 they are offering now. The new R2 would ace the R1 if it had high end SLI Nvidia cards instead of going for ATI, but in the benchmarks I have seen I really haven't noticed that much of a performance difference (except for bad comapny 2, as noted above, that game must use a heap of cpu).
     
    Crozone, Jul 13, 2010
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  9. mfractal

    mfractal T|I

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    Dual 280m are by far inferior to the dual 4870 (you said 4850 and 5850, they don't come in M17xR2).

    Sorry, but NVIDIA is eating the dust of ATI atm.... Sure, NVIDIA has the 480m, good luck cooling it though...

    http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/476426-m17xr2-overclocking-guide.html
    http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/495203-how-oc-m17x-r2s-920xm-940xm-using-setfsb.html
     
    mfractal, Jul 13, 2010
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  10. DaneGRClose

    DaneGRClose Notebook Virtuoso

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    One difference that everyone has kind of pointed out is that you can not get Nvidia GPU's in the R2, only ATi's have been offered in the R2 as far as I know. So if you got Nvidia it's an R1.
     
    DaneGRClose, Jul 13, 2010
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  11. Dwarf King

    Dwarf King Notebook Evangelist

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    R1: Core 2 duo cpus and Nvidia chipset
    R2: i5, i7 cpus and Intel chipset

    R1 system had a bad flaw about its design so a lot of unlucky people had stuttering, latency and luck ups. Many drivers and Bios was issued and claimed to fix the issue. Sadly the issue does not seem to have been fixed completely. The R2 system has shown to be more stable and without the many child diseases that the R1 system saw. I would recommend a R2 system as the chances of getting a lemon is much lower with the R2 system than with the R1 system. Just my opinion :)
     
    Dwarf King, Jul 13, 2010
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  12. FalconMachV

    FalconMachV Notebook Evangelist

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    R2=MLK (UK version)

    Nvidia was late to the Dx11 party and they had quality control issues a few year back. They have the jump on 3D technology. Their GPU's have PhysX. PhysX should be going the way of the dinasaur but some games like Metro thrive on this. AMD is a bigger company and introduced DX11 much earlier than Nvidia and got a big jump on them last year. I like both companies. Prefer Intel chips
     
    FalconMachV, Jul 13, 2010
    #12