buying top of the line or base line

First off, my apologizes on an early thread like this. I belong to quite a few forums and dont really like these threads myself. Ive been searching and reading for quite some time now and im looking for some opinions and better choices.

Ive been looking for an m17 for quite some time now, around a year or so just browsing to see whats out there and more recently looking a bit harder to finally buy one before school starts again this fall.

My current setup:
hp pavilion dv9000 17"
amd turion 64 x2 tl-52 1.6 ghz
2gb of ram
32 bit vista
150gb of hd

I had a dv6000 in 15" with the same stuff except it had a 2.3ghz processor that the battery took a dump in and it became the home base.

i keep it pretty bare bone for speed purposes doing document writing and web surfing. i dont have any music or documents on it since i have a 2TB external i dump everything on. I dont game at all but will be using my new one for CAD running solidworks for work after i finish my ME bachelors in the spring. i would like to keep the number pad built in thus going 17 again. this is why i am looking at aw mostly but also like the looks of them too. I plan to get one on ebay and want to blow 1000 or so on a used one if i can. Im wondering what a good combo would be for running this stuff?

ive been looking at m17s in x, r1, r2, and r3 but dont really know the differences in the different models except that the r's are newer editions of it r3 being newest.

i would like to get a decent processor for sw but which one? i7 740, i7 920, i7 940, i7 720 (old but cheaper), i7 2630, i7 2920(super expensive and in m18 only), any other better option than those? most of this stuff is new stuff, im not sure what is good in the older model stuff.

id also like 8gb of ram or more and the hd doesnt really matter to me. ssd is nice but $$, the graphics cards i am not familiar with, whats a good option? Raid 0 or something? Cross fire? im not sure what those are...

My issue is this, should i buy an older m17 model in x, r1,o r2 with the best in that platform for a reasonable price or should i buy a base system of an r2 or r3 on ebay and mod it to fit my needs? any suggestions on mods would be great too?

Thanks for any help!
steve

 

You could get away with a M17X R2 with the first gen core i7 (something like a 720-740QM would be fine) and a decent GPU, but I'm not so sure you'd find them for that low of a price just yet. The only reason to go with the R2 would be if you can get it cheap or want the 17" 16:10 screen.

For that same ~$1000, if you just want a 17.3", Dell's XPS 17 has the second gen Core i7 CPU, Nvidia 555M GPU, and support for more and faster memory, all of which would make for a pretty nice CAD machine, plus you'd get the year warranty with NBD service and all that, which could come in pretty handy during two semesters when a notebook issue could be more than just a hassle.

Even the current M17X R3 can be had for well under $1500 with discounts if you get the base config and don't load up options. The M17X R3 will have the Nvidia 560M GPU soon, so combo'd with the 2630QM, either that or the XPS17 would be pretty beastly machines with more than enough grunt for Solidworks and other CAD programs.

 

FYI Dell charges way over what upgrades are worth. Get the base memory and you can add 8GB to it for like $55.

 

Actually come to think of it, you could even get a first gen XPS 17 with dual-core i5 and 435M, or 720QM and 445M GPU for possibly even less than the current model.

 

thanks for the help guys!! ill look around some more to check out the dells. those alienwares are just so sick lol.

wheres teh best place to get ram and stuff from? newegg? Can i search for model specific ones or are they multimodel capable?

ill be back with some more questions about them, i havent decided what i want to get yet.
steve

 

internals of comps are my downfall lol. i know how to keep them running decent but changing parts inside is the tough part. I can tear an engine down in an hour but a computer is off base. hahahaha

steve

 

The sweet spot is usually somewhere in between for CPU/GPU. For RAM/HDD, it's almost always better to leave those default.

The sweet spot here would be the 6970m imo. If you want a bit more juice, the 6990m.

For the CPU, it's either the base 2630QM or 2720QM.

 

id also be interested in a m15 setup if i could find one in my price range lol
steve

 

thanks 2hvy for the info also!

steve

 

Have you tried posting in the WNSIB section? From the sound of things, the M17x might not be down your alley [unless you're SPECIFICALLY looking to buy an M17x].

 

no i havent. i would like to keep the 17 size but it isnt real critical that i do. Im mainly just looking to stay alienware as a change of the hp pace i have had for far too long. i figured it was time to upgrade to a nice computer that i can have for another 3-4 years or so and still run programs like sw and such.

steve

 

just pick the base with 6990m and 1080p screen! do not upgrade anything else, even the cpu isn't that much of an upgrade since it won't be bottlenecked with the 6990m

 

Turbo on 2720qm is like 500Mhz higher and it supports virtualization which is definately something I will be using. This for me is more than a gaming laptop I'm going to be doing testing for server builds. Did not see any reason to upgrade to 2820qm over the 2720qm.

If it were a gaming laptop I'd still want 8GB it would be less than $30.

 

400 higher, which it wont be at for 90% of the time

 

3.3 versus 2.8 is 500mhz I'm sure that can be fixed you can change that stuff in BIOS and increase over TDP usage and amount of time.

 

yeah it is...

but: Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)

 

I own an M17x R3 and love it. I would recommend it to anyone who wants or needs a well rounded desktop replacement machine.

However, and this is just my humble opinion, if you cannot afford a shiney new one, configured to your needs and desires, with 3+ years of warranty....you probably want to look for something else.

I have had zero problems with mine but I still feel you would be foolish to:
1. Buy someone else's used problem (yes you could get lucky)
2. Not get exactly the config you want
3. Not get a nice long warranty at the time of purchase

My 2 cents.

 

no way, one year basic ftw!

 

it sounds like an r3 is the way to go for me. i am essentially looking for a desktop replacement that i can take to school when i need to. I agree on the used part too, it is tough to buy used and know you are getting good stuff. I just dont have the coin to spend on one that i would configure myself.

my current wishlist:
i740 or 2720qm
6970 or 6990
high res screen
4 lowest 16gb max of ram but i would like to go 8gb

i can configure one on alienware for 2 grand but could find ebay new or at least fact refurbs for 1500 or less most of the time. i find it funny that there are 1000-1200 dollar comps used with a make an offer and will frown at 800-900 bucks or up to 1000 and it doesnt sell as a result.

ill keep looking, at least my search is narrowing to get good components that are reasonably priced. I usually buy the best i can afford thats the fastest at the time so i can keep it. i think these i7s will be around for a while so that is good.

thanks for all of your help everyone! any more info on parts and what to get would be great.
steve

 

2630 is all you need for gaming

 

nice! how about solid works? id think if it will run games it should do fine with that too?

steve

 

i had to google solidworks to find out what it was

but yeah of course, 2630 is a very fast cpu

 

Have you tried the Dell Outlet? Many people return their machines for either an upgrade they didn't know about when they ordered, or a newly found discount scheme. Just find (ahem, or wait for) the config you want and get the discount just because.

Dell Outlet - Alienware

 

many more return it because there is some kind of problem. Read the thread from the person that had 7 bad ones from the outlet

 

i will probably end up doing just that since it sounds like that is a good way to go. thanks for the help everyone!
steve

 

The 2630 supports virtualization. Or is it just not enabled on the R3 with this proc?

 

A lot of things cut out

Intel® Core? i7-2630QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.00 GHz)

Intel® Core? i7-2720QM Processor (6M Cache, 2.20 GHz)

 

uhh, that says VT-x is available for the 2630.

It's also shown here:

Alienware M17x R3 - 3D Vision Gaming Laptop Review - Software / BIOS

 

you guys lost me lol, any general terms?

hahaha
steve

 

if that means nothing to you, then you dont need the features of the 2720

 

The main virtualization tech but las time i tried on one that did
not support the full list of the other extensions it had issues doing things like 64bit and direct hardware access, etc. All extensions come with 2720qm.

 

oh, ok. I'm just interested in running VMware workstation and a few VM's. I'm not concerned about the lack of VT-d.

 

looks like i dont need the 2720 lol. i guess i didnt really look at it too much, ill go back and check the links again and see if i can make heads or tails of it.

steve