For dual-card junkies: GeForce GTX 485M SLI vs. Radeon HD 6970M CF

When will Nvidias 485M SLI be available on the M18X - they are the only reason I would change my M17X-R2 with Xfire to the new M18X.

Does Dell take back an old Alienware for a reasonable price if I change to one of their new ones or should/must I try selling it privatly.

 

I don't think we know yet when the 485M SLI option will be available. We don't even know when the M18x is going to be released exactly.

Dell can only buy back an old system if you purchased a buy back plan with the PC when you bought it from them.

Dell USA has a buy back plan which one could purchase with a laptop for $54.

It works like this:

0-6 months after purchase they buy it for %50 its price
6-12 40%
12-18 30%
18-24 20%

 

Yes, let me know who the rep is.

 

If you wouldn't mind . Works both ways, I figure, he was good to you and get's more sales because of it

 

Admitting I was wrong (if the US web link stays as it is now) and that there will be a single GPU option... Gotta be able to say when you erred, and I did.

 

Just spotted this for M17x



Could it be M18x might get the same thing?

 

Good eyes. THAT should be the long awaited other side to this choice, the R3 getting a 485m option.

Many folks on the fence about the weight and cost issues are debating M18x with SLI or CF vs M17x R3 with a single 485 or 6970. Until the 485 became available people couldn't consider this. Now they can.

Choices are good I think.

 

Sadly I posted this awhile back but still no sign of any 485m in reality

 

The buyback plan is a joke. They pay you pennies, then relist the items on the outlet, and still manage to turn another profit. Reselling on ebay or on nbr marketplace, etc. is far better bang for the buck. Example- Dont know about you guys, but I think a 2.5k m17x r1 from 2 years ago is not worth 500$ (according to dell).

 

well put. just sold an m11x r1 for 700.00 on ebay... you can easily make a profit.

 

Yup, I wouldn't recommend the buy back plan either. I was just responding to a post asking if Dell specifically buys laptops back.

 

I know a lot of people, including me, were disappointed when they learned that the M18x won't have a 485M SLI option. I don't want the 460M SLI, which can't even run the current games at maximum settings (and I don't want the AMD GPUs either).

My question is: do you think they will introduce it in the future? Why isn't it available already? Are they saving it for the M18x R2?

 

Nobody knows. Dell doesn't seem to want to use the 485m. Possibly it runs too hot.

I'm still holding out, though. Maybe there will be a 580m.

 

I think Dell isn't including the 485m SLI option because it does run hot and it requires a heck of a lot of power. The only comparison we really have is the x7200 with it's desktop cpu. If you order the 485m in SLI they *highly* recommend getting the 2nd power brick as well for stability. Pretty insane for a laptop!

 

Rumour mill says "still working on it" and should be decided avail/not avail by Jun 7th.

 

@Eliphion: Could be. A second monster power brick to lug around would make me think TWICE about buying a laptop.

@FXi: Close enough.

 

Don't see why there wouldn't be a 580M. I'm more than happy with the 5970's until the 580's hit at which point I will upgrade.

 

Hell there'll be a 680 eventually... t'is the way of things.

Dual power supplies would render me totally non-interested in any laptop.

 

Same here. Way too much of a hassle for something that's heavy but still very portable for what it allows us to do.

 

Agreed. Before ordering M18x, I was thinking about having a Sarger for a pair of GTX 485 SLI. However, when I read their recommend, I was like "wth, a laptop with 2 power bricks, lol that'd be so ridiculous." So I would say the reason Dell's not offering Dual GTX 485 SLI is there's no power supply that crazy enough to handle those monsters on the market right now.

P/S btw Eliphion, how could you order 6GB RAM for your M18x? Was that typo of the 16GB?

 

I'll help you all right now for the 485SLI debate, It is not Happening. I'm 99.95% positive of this fact and 99.96% positive they are waiting for the revision to the 500m series, although the 560m exists already. Apparently the M18x was originally supposed to debut with the 485SLI as a $900 premium, but cut due to overheating issues.
and no I'm not giving you my source. I'm aware this sounds like a "my uncle works for Nintendo story"

 

FYI - DELL is now offering a 6GB 1333 RAM upgrade for $60. It wasn't there when the M18x was first released.

 

And the 5 series is due before the end of Q2 (Jun) and the first, 560m is already here.

I'll wait or I'll pass on the M18x.

 

yay i get to have the 2nd fastest graphics on release month (alienware-wise) and then the 3rd fastest graphics a month later...

 

Hey Seblock,

No typo! I was able to order 6GB for $48 extra through AAFES.

/back to the regularly scheduled topic.

 

No matter what, the current mobile GPU's weren't going to be king for more than 3-6 months anyway. This will happen no matter when you buy. The good part is that you will already have a kick- rig. If ya always gotta have the best prepare to dropping major cash twice a year.

Bottom line is just enjoy what you have coming, the machine can play anything out there currently.

 

We don't even know if the 580M is coming to this, they could just as easily wait for the 28nm cards to come out next year for a full blown refresh

Besides, this is technology - your card will always be outdated in a few months

 

i very much think nvidia would be stupid not to release a GF114 based notebook gpu. the gpu is just too good not to covert to the mobile world.

 

GF104 is very similar to GF114....only difference is power usage and clocks, functionally they are identical

Granted, those are 2 pretty important things for notebooks haha

 

Question (if anyone can answer) Would the 5xx Series be compatible with the MOBO currently in the m18x ? Ie: Could I order an m18x with 6970s in CF and then pop in the 5xx Series in SLI in a couple months ???

 

And how long did it take for a GF104 to even reach the notebook sector? Nothing is certain, esp. with 28nm on the horizon

 

In theory ANY MXM 30.b card will work on the M18x motherboard. The problem is that the manufacturer blocks cards other than theirs through the system BIOS

 

Not to mention the potential problems with cooling and power draw...

 

Those would not be as bad a problem as you think. The main issue is simple bios compatibility. Cooling and power should be more than adequate for the M18x

 

From everything I've seen so far I get no impression that there is a proper cooling or power solution. Otherwise there should be the option to buy them already for the M18x. No?

 

330W should be enough for GTX 485m SLI. The X7200 had a 300W and tripped when using a desktop CPU, this will have a laptop CPU. It also only tripped while both the GPUs and CPU were running full tilt. Many people see no problems at all.

AS for cooling, I am more than confident that the cooling solution designed for the 6970m will suffice for a GTX 485m as well

 

Well yes and I thought the 5xx series were supposed to lower their power draw, so if the system would support 2x 485s or 2x6970s I would think it would support 2x580ms no ? Just wondering, I really want to pull the trigger on a purchase soon (using an inspiron 1720 with dual t9300s and a NV 8600m GT UGH!) ...

 

HIDEvolution asked on their Facebook page if anyone would be interested in GTX485M in the M17x R3 or 485M SLI in the M18x (installed by them I'd imagine)
So buyers from them might have those options when ordering, which would be good for me (if I wanted them), as I wouldn't know where I could get a pair of 485s here in New Zealand...but I'm curious as to the price premium.

 

Too much, and no NZ warranty my Kiwi friend

 

Is HIDEvolution going to provide a warranty on those M18X that have the 485M,so that if it blows up you are not screwed? Will be interesting to see if someone does it. Just seems very risky to put something in such an expensive computer, especially when DELL obviously believes either it runs to hot or something else is going on with it.

 

Or Clevo just has an exclusive deal with nvidia....we are all dismissing that possibility haha

Nvidia has done exclusive parts before, nothing new there