M18X r3

Hello,

I have bay my M18 in the end of 2015 and hi work still fine but in some games
i see the picture slowing down and i need some time to decline resolution.

Inside the M18 is one intel 4700MQ whit 880M in SLI. working whit Win 7.
I'm here because i realy need some advice and propostion to make my choice
to upgrade my M18 or maybe to bay new one.

For upgrade i've been thinking to take two 980M for SLI and maybe to change
the processor whit one 4940MX.
The real problem is how much time i cant use this configuration when we
know that the games is moving faster then drivers upgrade.

I am realy very grateful for any help and i want to take the good decision.

(I'm sorry if i offense some one whit my english but i wrote not so frequently
and is not my native language)

Thank you

 

Two 980M's would give you a significantly bigger boost in terms of performance. They would be on par with a GTX 1070 (if the games supports it properly), you could also go for a single GTX 1070 and save money + get the performance in every game. However I'm not 100% sure about the compatibility so I'll drag an alienware nerd into here.

@Raidriar

 

You'll be better off with 980M SLI compared to any other configuration for now since it has native support.

For CPU try looking for a 4930MX if you can find it cheaper. 4940MX were known to be bad bins compared to 4930MX.

980M SLI should be able to play most games at 1080p maxed out. You can always wait until the end of the year to see if any of the new laptop cards (1160, 1170, etc.) fit in the AW18 and work.

 

in my opinion the gtx 1060 is like the perfect card for 1080p gaming, especially for the price of a 1060 vs 980m, sli 980m, or 1070 performance, since technically the best youll get out of your screen most likely is 60hz 1080p. if your connecting to an external monitor, probably go 980m or sli 980m, (since I think you can use gsync then right?) but if its just the laptop gaming, I dont see a large point in burning all the extra money if your not getting much out of it.

can never go wrong with processor upgrades though :3

 

Hello,

Thank you all this really help me to see more clearly about what we can still do whit old M18.
Talking about 1060 we are still whit single card whit much lower performance from the sli 980M.

Also for the last generation cards whe are not sure whit compatibility process , still need moded bios
and right screen.
I see some 1080M from the Ebay in MXM 3.0b but not sure is this cards can work int the M18
even Dell dont make it whit last M17 generation.(fake picture ?)

The last M17 Alienware whit 1070M proposed is more expensive that the old M18 whit 980M.
at the time.
The price of 1080M laptops is more than abused but this can still dont change
my mind to bay one desktop computer.

Waiting ....

 

@woodzstack Sells 1060's that work in the 18 with LVDS, just need modded bios and modded drivers.

and yes 980M sli performance is much higher then a single 1060, there is wasted power there, and alot of games dont like SLI these days.


Unsure about 1080's in the m18x, i think it has too much power draw and are too big, but the 1070 works, as posted by another member just recently with instructions on how to do it

 

yup

 

If I'm looking to buy an 18X (R2 or R3) on the used market is there anything I need to look out for both positively and negatively?

Does R3 have a brighter display? Are there reliability issues with certain models or configurations?

Thanks

 

From what ive read, and personal experience, People seem to vote for the R2. From what ive read they have better audio, runs cooler because the R2 has proper fan control, whereas the 18 you cant really control the CPU fan without cutting power to the GPU fan, and a few different qwirks, but I do like the body and looks of the 18 better, and im still trying to figure out better cooling options for the 18

 

Were you speaking of th 17 inch? There is an 18X R2 and and 18X R3, correct?
I definitely want an 18.4 inch display.

 

The M17X is different yet, the M18X R1 R2 and R3 all have 18.4 inch displays

 

Right. I was asking about the reliability of the 18X in general, and whether any of the models is more or less reliable.

 

Well I havent had any issues with my M18X R1 from 2011, its still kicking. People feel the AW18 runs too hot, but i dunno. Ill leave other peoples opinions who have had issues.

 

Haven't had an issue yet with my alienware 18 r3 (personal one) had it for about 2 and a half years but used it briefly throughout. Yes it has cooling issues but that can be solved with an a12 bios unlock. Can be done in 2 minutes. Otherwise the screen quality is much better on the r3 as there is no stupid shielding on the screen which causes immense amount of glare and reduced brightness.

Yes the alienware 18 r2 is a better machine without mods but an alienware 18 r3 with mods will destroy the r2 for sure!
Also don't forget that alienware 18 r3 is haswell (4th gen cpu) and r2 is ivy bridge (3rd gen cpu). With overclocks the 4th gen cpu's will pull away from the 3rd gen in performance. If you are looking to keep your alienware for a long time I suggest getting the r3 with a 4930mx processor OR equally a 4940mx QS edition as they kick ass, matter of fact I am selling one soon with a gtx 1070 and 4k screen mod.

It is true how ever that the alienware r2 runs cooler and the audio is better, the bass is more realistic and actually shakes the table and yes the r2 is WAY more reliable than the r3 based on people's reviews. I personally have not run into any issues yet with the r3 and its been 2 and a half years!

 

How did you get a 4k screen in there? and also did the unlocked A12 fix the gpu fan issue? because I have A12 unlocked, and wishing i could crank up the fan speeds on it

 

I'm not sure about the gpu fan issue because my gtx 1070 runs at 80c max. So I am pretty sure the bios fixed something. Maybe you don't have the 100w heatsinks? Or maybe Pascal just let's out less heat than previous gpus.
I'm still doing the 4k mod on the laptop so it's not complete yet, I've got the full pinout though just have issues with 2 signal wires. I will complete the mod once I get a suitable 4k cable.

Of course I will post It on here afterwards...

 

Most reliable model is M18xR2. It can be upgraded to 980M SLI or 1060.

M18xR1 is also reliable (as long as you don't have a 580M in there) but can only be upgraded max to 780M SLI.

AW18...have been known to be less reliable. I sold mine off, my friend's is having issues. It can also be upgraded same as M18xR2.

IMO M18xR2 for 18.4" display or M17xR4 with 17.3" 120Hz display are the best ones.

 

If you ever do a 4K mode on the M18XR2 ..... that’s going to be a beast....