hint with specs

Hi guys,

I know this has been discussed before, but I went through a lot of pages and couldn't find a clear and defining answer. I will try to make it as simple as possible.

I'm going to buy m17x r3 laptop from Dell Outlet and I'm wondering about specs. I would like it to be, obviously, best possible but I don't want to waste money on pointless upgrades. I will be gaming on the laptop ocassionaly, but when I do I want it to be able to run latest games on good FPS.

1)CPU: from what I understand i7-2630qm is more than enough, that only reasonable upgrade would be i7-2720qm but, again, 2630 should be just fine right?
2)RAM: Ill try to get 8gb of RAM but, even 4 are not bad as the two slots are easily assessable (not the ones under the keyboard)
3)GPU: at least HD6970m, but something pulls me towards gtx580m
4)Screen: at least 1920x1080p at 60hz, the 120hz seems better, but I don't know if its worth it (given I choose Nvidia GPU of course)
5)Wireless: this is one of the main issues why I didn't go for one of the models available, as it had Dell 1501 Wireless-N which I read is really bad one. Or should I buy it anyway and change it later? I read that it isn't easy to access the Wireless as it lies under keyboard
6)OS: well what do you know, they offer those laptops with Windows 7 Home Premium 32-bit version. That would mean that I had to buy the 64-bit version which is like $80 because running the 32-bit wouldn't be good right?

that pretty much covers "the important" specs, or is there something else I should look for when choosing the laptop?

If you could just briefly address these points I would be most grateful, just say what should I get and what is just waste of money

thanks!

 

You look like you are making all of the right decisions. You can/should definitely upgrade the wireless card later, it is actually very easy.

Edit: Yea, don't get 32-bit.

 

that means i7-2630, 4gb RAM and upgrade later, gtx580m, not 3D screen just classical 1920x1080p 60hz, even the bad Wireless as I can change it later?, 64-bit w7?

I saw these exact components with the Dell 1501 Wireless-N and windows 7 32-bit for $1519 in Outlet, but didnt get it because of the Wireless and Windows.
Now, if I see something like this again, should I get it? If its not too hard I would change the wireless, but the Windows bothers me because most of their models in Outlet come with 32-bit version. So should I get the 32-one in spite of that or wait for 64?
Sorry, lots of questions, but I tend to do a lot of reasearch before spending $1700 on something thanks for your answer!

edit: oh it didnt have blue ray player but I guess thats not much of an issue is it?

 

I really wouldnt worry about the processors...they are all more than capable. Get the Best GPU you can afford...I think the 6990 is less then the 580m right? If it is, I would go that route...but they are very close and which ever is less I would buy. More often then not for most gamers 4 GB of ram is enough...if it comes down to more RAM or a better GPU go for the better GPU as the RAM is easy to upgrade on your own later. Oh yeah and dont get 32 bit windows.

 

The thing is that in Outlet they only have hd6970m or gtx580m as these are probably models from before hd6990m was introduced. Ill try to get the gtx580m I just like it better. What about the 3d screen? Is it worth it? Also they almost exclusively offer the 32-bit version.. hmm is it a lot of pain to reinstall?

 

Get whatever you like/trust more, nVidia or AMD. If your going to get the 580M, get the 120Hz screen. Otherwise lookout for a 6990M. Make sure you get 64-bit Windows, you will regret it later if you get 32-bit. Don't let it cost you an extra $90+ down the road to buy 64-bit.

 

Remember that with 32-bit Win 7 you can only use 4GB of physical memory. You can probably talk them into switching to 64-bit or at least throwing in a 64-bit OEM version that you can install yourself.

 

I wish I was in the us the Uk dell outlet doesn't state gpu so I sent them an email 14 days ago asking them what GPUS were inside I then got an email back 5 days later asking to send them the model number so they could tell me the gpu, which I did and heard nothing till yesterday when they sent another one saying add it to the cart and give them the number, do they really excpect me to leave it in the cart for a week before I'll probably hear off them again with there shoddy service.

 

Oops didnt catch the part about the Outlet the first time...sorry, I have to learn to read slower. In that case I would definately take the 580m or wait for one with a 6990m. As far as the 3d thing is concerned I find the whole 3d "movement" kind of a gimic...so I dont know how much it really matters if you have it or not.

 

Let me take a stab at answering all of your questions.

 

what? They are still using Windows 7 32-bit? Kinda dumb considering you'll only have about 3.0 to 3.25 gigs or ram useable on a 32-bit OS.

 

i agree with everything that people have stated on this thread..

my personal view: Get the least of components that you can upgrade yourself. Buy things that can't be easily upgraded yourself. This way you save money.

For example:

get the 1080P screen
get the upgraded video card...AMD 6990 is the price/performance/value leader, 580m if you want it and can justify that the 580M upgrade costs double


don't get tons of ram. Get 4 gigs...then upgrade it yourself. I can get 8 gigs of ram right now for $40 from anywhere. There is no way i'm paying $80 or $160 or whatever the upgrade cost is

don't get SSD's or extra HDD's from dell. You'll probably want to put in an SSD for max performance anyways and you can get them way cheaper yourself

 

thanks all of you for your comments!

I almost ordered yesterday I it was great that I didnt! Today (I think for the first time ever in outlet store) they got the models with HD6990m. I got this one:

Intel Core i7-2720QM processor (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.30 GHz)
320 GB SATA Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M
Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO
17.3 inch Wide FHD (1920 x 1080 60Hz) WLED Display
9 Cell Battery

for $1519 (without tax). The only thing is that it doesn't have BlueRay drive and it runs that damn 32-bit Windows 7 Home Premium (but since Im student I can buy even Win7 Ultimate in our store for like $16,99 which is awesome).

All in all I think this is pretty sweet deal considering the specs

one thing, Im probably gonna buy the 8gb 1600mhz RAM. the system will run for example this right: Newegg.com - Kingston HyperX 8GB (2 x 4GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Laptop Memory Model KHX1600C9S3K2/8GX

 

btw they have like 40 models availible in the Outlet stores and some are very good deals.

 

That's a good deal!!

 

what outlet store was this?

 

Don't quote me on this, but check your actual detailed build confirmation number. I ordered a outlet M17x R3 about 3 weeks back, it was listed as coming with the 32 bit version but I liked the specs enough to chance it.

My computer actually shipped with 64-bit, SP1. The outlet had it wrong.

I may have just gotten lucky, but part of me wondered if it was just a coding error on Dell's Outlet part - like SP1, was coding it wrong. I'd ordered a different machine back in July which shipped regular Win 7. I guessed the outlet was just recognizing the new part as 32-bit.

Again, just my own experience and complete guess on my part.

 

dell.com/outlet the american one

 

It might very well be, I mean puting 32bit version in m17x r3 doesnt just make whole lot of sense. Even of they did that for finantial reasons, they wouldnt save that much + the original model had to be shiped with 64-bit version (I dont think they would put 32-bit option in the regular store) and it wouldnt make much sense to reinstall the system. Though some systems are listed with 64-bit alomgside those with 32-bit, but I think I saw one model with 32-bit system and 8gb of ram which would be just ridiculous

 

i checked there this morning, and there's nothing to write home about. I guess all the good stuff is gone

 

I take it you've missed my post. Windows 7 keys are not 32 bit or 64 bit, they are for version dependent (aka home premium, ultimate...) it saves dell nothing to do 32 bit, and if I had to bet, the person entering the system on the website was lazy or didn't know any better and selected 32 bit even though they probably all come with 64.
I wouldn't worry about it either way, I know the first thing I did was install an ssd in mine and did a fresh windows instal to ensure things were the way I wanted it, not dell.

 

I see, wrll in that case I have nothing to worry about. About the SSD, I was thinking about buying one and installing windows and peograms on it and use the other one for data.how would I go about doing that? Would I just add the SSD or would I need to swap the SSD in place of the original one?