GTX 580m Sli & AMD 6990m Crossfire available in the UK now to order!

Ive already been told that the 6970m is EOL (Dell have already marked it for end of life)......

 

I didn't received my 6970CF yet and new cards are already out. So pissed

 

You could always return it within your return window and order again???

 

Any word on US availability. I ordered last night but would probably cancel and reorder with the 6990s if they are available in a week or so. I could go either way. The 20% off the cards may make me decide to keep the current config. The way I see it, is a 10% increase in performance may not matter over the next few years. Once new consoles hit the market, the 5870s/6970s/6990s/7000 series will all be able to do the same thing...play on the lowest settings. Unfortunately that is where PC gaming currently is; following the trend of consoles (Crysis 2, MW, blk Ops, etc). And when new consoles hit they give the currently p4p best desktops a run for their money and I know that the best desktop solution in 2013 will likely be 3X what we are using now in the laptop world. Tis life and technology. I just will be happy to get a good 2 years of high end gaming out of this rig and then use it as a regular computer like I am on my m15x right now.

 

I returned my M17x just for this reason...

And for the guy comparing the prices who thinks the 6990M will still be not as powerful as the 580M (azza I think), what you're saying is true. But, you have to remember laptop video cards do not normally cost $1200 for just two. That is a ridiculous amount of money for just video cards, and I think nVidia is just trying to take advantage of the performance increase by hiking the price up a lot.

 

Consoles have never been on par with computers in terms of performance. It is the consoles that are on the worse settings, but computer hardware allows you to run higher and at better FPS.

 

Yes I could. But it's tough because I didn't ordered it directly by Dell, I got a special price for students via an intermediary (close to 30%). And by the time I will received my M18x, cancelled the order and get a new one I would not be in France anymore to take it home.

Sure, I wouldn't mind if the 6990 were out in September. But It bothers me to know that 2 weeks later I could have got them for the same price.

 

History lesson. Lets flashback to November of 2005 when the xbox 360 hit the market. The most powerful desktops were usually SLI based with 7800s with AMD fx-60 processors. The xbox 360 had a tri core processor and a GPU that was in many ways ahead of the best GPU on the market at the time. You would be splitting hairs to see any difference in COD2 PC Vs COD 2 360.

Now go back 2 years from that date; November of 2003. I THINK the best GPU option for a laptop was an MR9700 with 4 pixel pipelines. My XPS of 2004 had the best GPU which was a MR9800. Can any of those graphics cards play COD2 at full settings? No. At low settings...sure. The best laptops in 03 could NOT come close to playing the best games of 2005.

This will be NO different. A laptop of today is worthless for gaming once new consoles hit; thinking otherwise is silly. I am not being a jerk here either as I just ordered an m18x last night! But I know where it's limits in lifespan will be and am OK with that.

The only valid point you have is that PC's have better graphics. Sure. . Was I evening trying to discredit that statement? That wasn't even the purpose of my post.

But lets go even further. Let's assume you have the BEST laptop in the world in 2013 when new consoles hit. It MAY have the same/slightly better IQ than the first gen ports of the console. However that same computer of 2013 could NOT run the same ports coming out a few years later as the console matures. This has been evidenced with pc's running Call of duty 2 with similar IQ to the 360 at launch but unable to run COD4, MW2 and blackops....hardly at all. See...consoles mature and it's the nature of technology where developers will NOT be able to have black ops run on a lowest common denominator like they do on the 360 (being uniform).

Therefore my assertion stands. Whatever GPU is in your system today..if it can run for the next 2 years great. If you think having a 580 Vs 6990 Vs 6970 is going to make any tangible difference in "future proofing" sorry it ain't happenin.

The only time I would have said that the "right time to buy" is when a powerful new GPU comes along relatively early in a console life as developers cater 1st to consoles now. THerefore when I got my m15x 3.5 years ago with an 8800GTX, that thing lasted. When people on desktops had an 8800GTX it could play everything for years because of how stagnant GPU tech has been due to consolization.

 

@Daveh98,

1) The GPU in 2003-2005 were not upgradeable.

2) The gaming producers in 2003-2005 were more focused on PC gaming, while today many games are console ports

3) The difference between the PC and console GPU power is far greater than in 2003-2005

 

Don't beat yourself up, maybe they 6970 can be unlocked to a 6990? This is the whole thing right now, its speculation.

I myself have slept on it and I'm not cancelling or upgrading to 6990 or 580. I'm keeping my 6970's and hoping for the best. Plus with 2 yr complete care warr, it will probably get rma'ed anyway eventually right?

 

Yeah I have my fingers crossed for a vbios flash. Be curious to see.

 

I agree with you but I think you are missing my inherent point. GPU being upgradable is moot. No gpu will be upgraded in 2011 to a 2013 chip. We will be on entire different architectures and probably MXM. Point 2 I agree with but that furthers that when the new consoles hit...say buh bye to the ability to play those games as new consoles "usher in" new eras of technology whereas in the past, you are right, PC gaming brought about advances. Point 3 I don't even get.

Quite simply there is NO reason to sweat the difference between 6970/6990/580 as for gaming. Either of those solutions will run games till 2013. When new consoles hit, expect a lot of GPU changes to follow in the coming years and therefore plan to upgrade then.

I just ordered a system last night because of a deal I got with the 6970s and it would not be worth it to lose 500 bucks on a deal to have 5-10% greater performance. Plus I need a computer now.

Since 2006 I have had an m1710, m15x, m17x r2 and now m18x. I get a deal each time and don't buy the best bleeding edge. I know that I will get my use out of it and then upgrade with the money saved.

I just hate when people get so bent out of shape over a slight SKU change as it makes me feel people are buying these systems with a couple potential problems:
1. it is truly out of their budget and are freaking out because they need it to last longer than it viably will (as a gaming machine)
2. They just don't understand the way technology works and how quickly gaming landscape changes.

Anyways, rant over. Back on topic, I hope the 6990 hits configurators soon for people patiently waiting! Will be interesting to see specs/price.

 

I dont know why you keep saying ' when the new consoles hit', there aren't any in the pipeline as yet.

Consoles are standardised. The advances are in coding expertise of the dev's exploiting a static platform rather than playing catch up with a plethora of cards and associated drivers.

Consoles and Laptops are not in the same market. Last time I picked up my TV was when I bought it.

 

the new Wii U is in the pipe and I have actually heard that new PS and new Xbox are also. But meh ... I think this this whole exercise is pointless....

 

If people are willing to pay for the newest tech, let them its their money..everybody is on a different budget.

Case closed, now back on topic.

 

1) If GPU upgradeability was a moot, companies like MXM-Upgrade would go bankrupt There are limitations of course but my point stays valid. M17xR2 appeared in early 2009? Owners can still upgrade it to the current best GPU and will most likely be able to do so with the 6990M and maybe even 7xx0M.
This would be unthinkable in 2003. You can't draw a straightforward conclusion based on a certain period in the past. You're right, one has to understand the way technology works. And it's not linear, already there's a problem with the Moore's Law and when Kepler hits we may have to apply a different model.

2) When the new consoles hit there will be no change unfortunately, most current systems will be able to play all games maxed out anyway. There will always be a few titles that defy the new tendencies but currently all major gaming producers including Blizzard are moving towards consoles (that's where the $$$$$$$$$$ is and that's the most important point here ).
PC gaming is going extinct, you will feel and hear it more and more on gaming forums. With the hardware race when new video cards arrive every 6 months we have serious balance shift away from software.

As for the reason to sweat the GPU differences... that's a matter of opinion. Some pay extra to stay on the edge for benchmarking, others simply because they can, or because they just have fun upgrading! You prefer to get decent deals on every new model and upgrade every year - awesome! I would do the same but that doesn't mean I absolutely have to justify it.

If others prefer to go for it every 4-6 years - that's great! Let them enjoy their ways. I still keep my 8 yr old IBM ThinkPad R40 running W7 Enterprise and MSOffice2011 smooth like butter. I still occasionally play Baldur's Gate 2 and NeverWinterNights on that machine and will keep it as long as it's functional

----------------------- Back to the topic----------------------------

As for the 6990M, according to some rumors, the NDA will be lifted on 12th of July

------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------

 

You are comparing apples to oranges. You act as if consoles are the latest and greatest stuff. News flash for you, it isn't. It is just engineered more, and companies that make games build within their limitations. Look at the first games that came out for the systems, they were crappy until companies got more innovative.

Now compare that to todays tech, or even the tech from 2003, in computers. If we only had one CPU and one video card to work with for the next 7-10 years, we would be on the same level. It isn't because consoles are so far ahead in tech that they are vastly superior, it is because our tech keeps changing. Companies take advantage of a market of upgrades, not of creating efficiency in what they make over many years.

 

lulz. PC gaming is going extinct you say? And you sell gaming notebooks? tsk tsk. I have been hearing PC gaming is going extinct for the past 10 years pal and it has gone NOWHERE. Sure there may be shifts in the development strategies and business models of game makers but PC gaming will always exist. For every console that is created there are videocard manufacturers behind them and it is the PC and bleeding edge development that basically provides that catalyst. Secondly, Steam and Direct2drive spearhead massive amounts of selling and provide an integrated hub for online gaming and game storing. Finally there are always niche players (people on the forums) that demand the best and the MILLIONS of nubbles that like to play Sims and create roller coasters.

I agree with most of your points though. The others I can't respond to because they clearly miss the point on worrying about 6970/6990/580. So if people clearly want to send back/trade/sell their system because they think a 10% difference will net much....smdh..

 

Hmm I'm not sure I'll unlock those shaders even if we could, thinking of the 6950 which get fried with 6970 vbios.
I won't cancel my order too cause I got an awesome deal with that student's thing. I'm gonna try to told myself that the money I saved is the cost for the 6990.

 

I am pretty sure people are allowed to disagree on the forum as long as it is relatively civil. I have pretty good rep points, have made pretty good posts and I am pretty sure that PERSONAL insults are a terms of service violation. Now personally, I don't care about being called a "jerk" as I don't juxtapose an internet personality with real life for anyone I encounter on the internet. Nor do I infer inflection when discerning the written word. However I will ask that you please refrain from personal attacks from this point forward. Thanks.

Back on subject. If NDA is lifted 7/12/11, then I am assuming the orders that are taken are just "in que" and not actually in production. No?

 

I think you totally missed the point. The problem isn't to know who has the biggest but you feel fooled when you buy a laptop close to 3000 quids and before you recieve it new cards are out at the same pricing.

Plus we're talking about laptop graphics. Sure on desktop if you have a CF of 6970 you don't care of 10% cause you're gonna play all the games for the next two years at ultra settings with no problems. But when you're talking about notebooks the point is not the same, I think every percent count.

 

Your previous post was pretty arrogant, especially the "smdh". I just call it as I see it. Also, it's not personal if I am giving my opinion. Which, in that previous post, you sounded like a jerk and a know-it-all.

And for me, I returned an M17x R3, not an M18x. My plans are to hopefully get the M18x if the price is right with the 6990M's. That is more than a 10-15% boost in performance, that is like a 35-40% boost roughly, plus a bigger screen, better sound setup, sturdier, etc. For me, that is worth it to switch.

 

Hehe, nice point, Bro My activity is irrelevant here but if you wish to know the company is selling gaming and power notebooks as well as mobile workstations, rugged systems and a lot of networking gear (servers, workstations, router, swithces, etc etc..). They simply adjust to the changes as everyone else.

You are right, people were telling stories about PC gaming RIP years ago but I think it's only beginning to happen. It's a no brainer that the entire PC gaming market today is only few percent of the console market. What are the stats on PC games ported from and to consoles vs PC only games compared to 2003?

Steam and D2D are great examples of some serious market that is still available but with cloud computing progress the demand for powerful hardware is declining. Onlive and similar clones will most likely merge with Steam at some point when internet becomes consistently faster and every tablet owner will be able to run the latest titles at max details. As much as I want the laptop gaming to remain within the same frame as it is right now (purely personal preference) there's nothing I can possibly do in that respect.
Global trend is moving away from notebooks, there's a steady % decline for all major vendors. Only Samsung managed to sell more notebooks in the last quarter compared to their previous quarter sales, the rest including Dell, HP and Lenovo faced a decline. Lenovo was even forced to entirely abandon the W7xx series, their flagship mobile workstations, BTW.

But we really got carried away from the topic.

 

Once they make a gaming tablet that is way more appealing than the current offerings. Steam will be the app store. It will run all PC titles. Will have an integrated 7990m processor with 1300 shaders with some new revolutionary cooling technique. Will have snap on controller mechanism (console, kbd mouse)...

Apple will pioneer this effort with the ipad, then Google will be like MS was back in the day, make a directx equivalent.

 

Gives the term "mobile gaming" a whole new twist. Surprisingly, I don't think I like the whole touch-screen idea for computer type things.

 

My two pennies.

I think you will ALWAYS get people who appreciate the power tht a true gaming system brings over console gaming. Its also about the "fun" factor too....its exciting to have the best rig, fastest gpu or cpu and its a passion for many users that I think will continue.

Can you get the same passion from owning a PS3 or an XBOX? - I dont think so....I like to think of PC vs Console as kinda like cooking....(which may sound odd!) ... BUT.....you only ever get the best meal by using the finest ingredients (gpu/cpu/ram etc) which is where true "chefs or gamers" come into it......you buy a console...you get a ready meal.

The other side of my "cooking comparison" is consoles.....these equate to "ready microwave meals".....good for a quick fix but provide no real "nourishement" for the brain.....anyone can buy a console, plug it in and play but for us lot, we dont want that...we want the involvement of the system itself....the buzz of owning the best, tweaking it here and there and also (as much as it may be a PITA sometimes), I think we all LOVE the bleeding edge of tech......gotta have the best, right?

At the end of the day, its a true passion that I dont think will ever die out....

 

Dont forget that most PC gamers own consoles as well.

I have owned a couple and love them for sports games. I even bought the kinetic system for the UFC trainer game (the back's fine now thanks for asking). So we are all fans.

AW is about bragging rights, juice, the highs of having the best and the lows of watching it being superseded 3 months later. (6970 owners excepted )

 

what will come first; one world government or death to pc games .

 

Hi Stevie,

I am very exciting to see your post and then I called dell techinical team. They had confirmed that the 580m sil will be avaliable tomorrow. (Im a N fan, only focus on N card.) Customer can order via phone or website as possible as they provide the new card options. The price will be 9XX (1000 around), based on the SINGLE 460M. not DUAL 6970M CF, include VAT. (Due to I am not a native speak, that guy is a In/Pa tongue, so sorry to confuse the price.)

Actually, I have waited for this upgrade from last Thursday. The 580m and 6990m options had been appeared on the site just for several hours in the techinical specification page. It never can be built by customer and enter the slection page.

By the way, u said you have got a good rep, if we would like to do the deal, how many discounts we can get at most? Im a student, I can get 8% discount via epp page right now. If he can offer a discount that is over 8%, I perfectly would like to do the deal with him.

 

Hi mate.

My rep will make 8% look like a joke....Im pretty sure we can get you a fair bit more than that off your M18x purchase.....especially if you are looking at Nvidia GTX 580m sli.

You need to get forum priveledges to send/receive private messages (PM's)....this normally takes maybe 5 or 10 posts on the forum. Once you have got the green light to PM, send me a message and I can hook you up with my rep who will do you a very good deal, of that I can promise you.....just dont phone around alot of other reps before you speak to mine....makes things easier....

 

Thanks a lot. I will do it right now. Happy to see you advice. I am a new comer of this forum.

I will PM you asap.

 

No problem. Just make a few other posts and when you can PM, get in touch and we will get you sorted out with a very good deal for your new machine!

Welcome to Notebookreview!

 

May be 10 posts, 5 seems not enough to enable the light. Actually, if you did not tell me the way to enable the PM function, I may need to waste much time on this simple topic.

 

I know .... trust me, post some more and you will get the go ahead.....If I could, I would PM you but I cant even do that at the moment!

 

Hi there,
I have already enabled the green one, could u please show me how to pm a person inside the forum?
Cheers

 

Well, you click on the persons name you want to send a PM to....drop down list appears with your avialable options. If "send private message to XXXXXX" appears, your good to go....if it doesnt, time to make some more posts! - unfortunately, its a bit of a grey area as to how many posts you need to make before you get full forum priveledges (to PM etc) but it shouldnt be long now....keep posting on various threads!

 

Many thanks. I will keep posting.

 

Yeah, do that. It WILL happen, I just cant tell you exactly when. Keep trying to PM me by clicking my username .

 

slightly off topic, but does anyone know if HiDevolution is the only Alienware reseller?

Thanks.

 

Probs the wrong thread but are there any comparison charts between the 580 and 6990?

 

There isnt much (if any) proper info on the 6990m at the moment. AMD, it seems, have kept a tight lid on things......

 

it really sucks when ur a fan boy. no 560 gtx in m18 and 580 gtx is £1000 more expensive. i m trying to convince myself to go for ati radeon but i cant...

 

so dont, pay the big bucks for what you ''want''

 

instead I would question my 'wants', understand their basis is in advertising or constructed preferences, and pick the best bang for your buck, and go 6990... self reflection is important, breaking through constructed desires to rational decision making is its result.

 

ur absolutely right, thing is i dont mind having gtx 580 but not in sli mode. i dont mind paying £500 extra for one 580. personally i will be quite happy with 560 but again if i manage to get a single 580 then i will pull the trigger.

u need to appreciate the fact that its very hard for someone who has used geforce all of his life. radeon makes excellent graphics with very reaosnable price, in my case i have brought it upon myself by limiting my choices and not exploring different possibilities possibly because of the reason that i dont change laptop very two or three years. i have seen quite a few ppl on this forum who dont mind changing laptop every six-8 months hence they dont mind trying different technologies.

 

They are not. There are multiple Alienware resellers. Fortnax is one. I'm sure there are others.

 

I would speak highly of the people at Fortnax, very very good.

 

Well just speaking to my Dellienware Rep in Austria (not Australia - we have mountains and good skiers but no Kangaroos ) about the 6990M.
She told me that eg. in Austria the AMD6990M and Nvidia580M single and dual card configs are also already available but now the interesting part - she told me that they will never be listed officially in the online store but are only available via Ordering directly by a Dell Rep.

Price for AMD 6990M Xfire are 540 Euro vs. single 460M
Price for Nivida580M SLI are 1230 Euro vs. single 460M

The price diff. is ridiculous - Nvidia is totaly silly - and also very interesting - the price upgrade for the AMD 6970M Xfire are 590 Euro vs. single 460M - so the 6990M are cheaper than the AMD6970M - are you guys sure the 6990M is better, stronger, faster???

Unfortunalty she also has no infos about the technical specs of the 6990M.
So I am waiting for more infos and than buying an M18x. She also said that there is no RGB LED in the near future for M18x.

Any idea whats a M17X-R2 with i7-740, 4GB Ram, AMD5870M Xfire, 256GB SSD, BluRay Drive, 6300Wlan, 1200p RGB-LED and still 1 year warrenty is worth - bought it last year in August.

Greets from Vienna!

 

6990 is quad crossfire lol , 580 just dual , they are different level , so 6990 xfire blow 580 off water.

 

Personally, I cant see AMD releasing an inferior card to its predecessor and in the same breath, I cant see Dell putting 6970 to End of Life status and replacing it with a weaker option....doesnt make sense! - as for pricing, Dell has had some pretty quirky pricing of late what with Candians getting xf 6970 for $150cad........if you WERE interested in x/f 6990, id jump on it quick before they/Dell realise that MAYBE they priced 'em up ever so slightly "wrong"!!!