M18xR2 Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE

Just curious, but why are you buying a top-of-the-line R2 when you already have a spectacular, powerful and top-of-the-line R1? How much faster can you go?

 

Does anyone know any coupon codes other than the ones listed on the website?

Where could I find that coupon that gives 5% off?

 

Addiction to technology. Been wanting to get a warranty for quite some time and it's spendy to get one after you purchase a laptop. So for the price of the warranty, couple hundred more, I could get a new top of the line minus what I sell the current one for. If that makes sense.... figure while I have a decent warranty left on the current one, it's eligible to renew (yes, spendy), figure it's time since it still has decent resell.

 

Ahhh, yes, the ol' "I-need-a-new-warranty-so-i'll-just-buy-a-new-laptop" excuse! I'm guessing it's the addiction to technology, more than the warranty.

You should have, though, saved some money and just gotten a 1 or 2 year warranty, though, because those with "the addiction" need to constantly upgrade. Your R2 is already maxed out from the get-go (big mistake), so no upgrade fun until Intel's Haswell comes out in 2013. Then, like a junkie going through withdrawl, you'll sell your house and car (and R2) for the "R3".

I know all about "the addiction". Get help now.

 

I could wait till the end of the year, just before it expires, renew for a year for little over 400 and do the same next year (if they let you up it one year at a time) or max it for 1400 (best offer I could get from them). Or, hope all goes well, deal with the last of the warranty and hope all goes well, which it very well could.

 

Anyone can always call in when ordering your Alienware and you will always get a better deal than the website. You can get at least up to 14% off. You can get more if you buy a lot from them, like on a business account. My wife used to work for dell. If you can’t get at least 14% off, call back and talk to someone else and you will get it. I got 14% off my order which equaled $441, and check their math too! They said they gave me 14% once and I check it and it was only 12% and at that price we all know them %’s add up quick.

 

I can confirm if anybody is wondering, I added 3 X 9mm SSD drives + mSATA drive in the M18XR2. It's a bit tide but it works.

Also 2 of the connectors work as SATA ||| and 1 as SATA ||

 

Hey guys I want to buy an M18X and I dont know if now is the right time.
I only say this because of the killer wireless card isn't in the options, the 680M and the 7990M aren't out in the market and the ivy bridge tend to overheat.

What should I do? Wait or try to buy one now? I'll upgrade the memory by myself since its cheaper but the rest I can't do anything about I think.

 

Who told you that IV CPU overheats? I have the computer switched on and working on it from morning and had no such issues. As per the GPU, the ATi 7970M has just being released few days back in the m18xR2. If any updates will be made, ATi would most probably come up at the end of the year. As per the 7970M are a killer, there is no need to worry for a long time to go...

 

I haven’t read or heard anything about the ivy bridge overheating, as far as I have heard they run a lot cooler. As for the GPU’s, the 7970M is very good right now and its out. If you’re a hard core Nvidia fan I can understand waiting for the 680M. I have always felt that it’s kind of up to you, based on how long you are willing to wait and your demand or need at the moment. There is always something newer and faster coming out and it can be a slippery slope waiting or trying to keep up. The new killer wireless is supposed to release this month so that might be something worth waiting for but that’s up to you. Unless I had something capable to handle all my needs while I waited for bigger and better, I would rather be gaming and enjoying my new rig for the next 3 to 6 months or maybe even longer than sitting around and waiting. That’s just me though and something to think about.

 

Yeah I think I m going to wait for the killer wireless the rest its cool, about graphic cards I'm ATI fan Grimy1, once I had ATI which is now AMD, I prefered it because of its ratio of bang per buck. About the Ivy Bridge juliant it was my mistake it only overheats in OC I think, at least that's what I read at fudzilla.

 

Ivy bridge only gets hotter than sandy when you overclock.

 

Alienware M18x R2 Black
Intel Core i7-3820QM
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M CrossfireX
16GB 1600MHz RAM (2x8mb)
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader
Windows 7 x64 Ultimate

Well thats the base spec but no doubt you'll have noticed the lack of drives !

Now this is where I'm confused. I would like to fit a 256GB Crucial M4 SSD for sure but not sure about the storage drives ?
I am thinking about 2 x 750gb Seagate Momentus XT's 8mb cache, or , 1 750gb XT plus a WD 1TB Scorpio Blue, the 5.5ms version. The 7200rpm XT would be my games drive.

Can any one see any difficulties in either of these choices or have a better idea ?

 

Can you confirm the speed of the mSATA disk? I wish I knew how I would go about doing that. Perhaps a Crystal Disk Mark test, to compare versus the stock average settings?

I am assuming that you meant 7mm SSD drives, although if you actually did mean 9.5mm (the standard height for normal hard disks), that would be great news!

How tight is the three 7mm disk array? As in, it would barely close? I was hoping that there might be some way to fit a few more millimeters in there, and Dell just was being silly. The disk array container appears to space the disks about five to six millimeters apart, does that look about the same, for you, in three 7mm disk mode?

 

If it isn't already, install the Intel RST software from here. Download the smaller of the two download choices, and install. Upon reboot, the RST icon will be in your system tray. Wait a couple of minutes until it has a green check mark, then open it.
You will see your SATA drives on the right. Highlight each one, click on Manage and then on Advanced and it will show you the SATA link speed for that drive.

You should have RST installed anyways, so if it doesn't come from Dell, download and install it.

 

Getting ready to pull the trigger but still very confused as to how many HDD's you can put in the m18x

I would like to put a 256gb SSD , + 2 x 750GB Momentus XT (8mb cache) these are 9.5mm drives.

Is this a possibility ???

 

I see the "WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH"
"Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0" now in the config...Still waiting for Internal WirelessHD.

 

Looks like Dell is discounting video upgrades on their Alienware line, including the M18xR2.

15% discount on upgrades of video adapters, which amounts to about $85 savings on a 7970M upgrade.

Not huge dollars, but those savings could go to upgrade something else!

FYI.

 

Currently, it looks like the only way you can get three 2.5" drives in the device is if they're 7mm tall. I'm hoping that is just a limitation of the bracket, as it shouldn't be too hard to wiggle in a few extra millimeters here and there to fit two 9.5mm drives with a 7mm drive if they aren't already licking each other's chops, but I will not be betting all of my sheep on that.

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...ware-m18x-benchmark-thread-part-2-a-137.html#

 

Hi Guys,

If I bought the new M18X R2, with only a single GPU config for now, would a dual GPU config be possible at a later date?

Cheers

 

Hi aliveanddead86,

Yes, if you buy with one GPU at the moment you can upgrade it later. But, nobody will recommend such a thing for you. The cost involved later on upgrading the GPU is ridiculous and you may end up selling the current system to get the dual GPU's, etc.

Best is to wait for a while until you will have sufficient funds to order your system with best Dual GPU, CPU and warranty possible. The rest you can buy them in time (i.e. SSD, memory and even mSATA drive).

 

Hello guys. I am planning to buy this laptop M18x:

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 7970M - CrossFireX™ Enabled
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 With Bluetooth 4.0
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Now the total costs with discount is $2860(including taxes) so I wonder, is this a good set up for this price? Should I:

a) Upgrade the wireless to Killer N and downgrade the RAM to 6GB or
b) Keep the ram to 8GB but use basic wireless

Please advice.

 

Call in, ask for the best price, see if they give you a percentage back to spend at dell, then order either the killer or the memory after the fact. You might get both for less and still get money back to spend. That's been my luck in the U.S. so far.

 

That is the best price actually without Killer N. Do I need that wifi anyway? What about the RAM? I just want for future gaming anyway.

 

As most people will tell you, you'll probably do fine with 6 and never need more than 8.

Depends if you like the convenience of wireless or don't mind plugging in the Ethernet cable all the time.

2230
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230

killer
Killer Gaming :: Solutions :: Killer? Wireless-N 1103

 

the price is not bad but just remember those 2 GPU's are starving for CPU power running in crossfire so you may want to consider at least 3720QM you can overclock that one 4 multis on the bios i saw some benchmarks on the R1 with 2960XM and you can clearly tell how the GPU score get drastically affected by the speed of the CPU

and I am not surprised because 7970M's are desktop 7870's

 

If you play against others in games online, Killer wireless has advantages for that. If you plan to do anything with Virtual Machines or memory hogging programs, you can use more than 8GB easily. For gaming and benching only, there is no compelling reason for more than 8GB of RAM.

I agree with Speedy. Don't cut corners on the CPU. You will sacrifice a great deal of performance potential. If there is any way your financial situation will allow you to go with an XM CPU you will not regret the power, and it would be better to have that covered by your warranty. If you upgrade the CPU later on, it is not only excluded from coverage, but should you need a system exchange you will have to swap out the CPU. The factory XM CPU is good to have in your configuration, especially so for end of life system exchanges covered under the warranty. It will cost more on the front end, but CPU and GPU are two things that I think are best to buy with your new system from Alienware. HDD, SSD, RAM, wifi, all that other stuff you can upgrade with parts that are cheap from Flea-Bay and NewEgg, etc.

 

Go for the Killer, ditch the ram upgrade via Dell as you can get aftermarket ram much cheaper....keep the stock stuff for warranty/RMA purposes and put a 8gb kit in of something like HyperX or Corsair Vengeance - if you feel you need more memory.....or throw some extra dosh at a better cpu.

 

Hmm, I can switch CPU and GPU on my regular warranty? How do I do that?
This laptop is only for gaming so does using the XM CPU increase frame rates in those dual cards significantly?

 

What's this 'end of life system exchanges'? Does this mean after 3 years of extended warranty I can swope my old m18x for a new one?

I'm thinking of getting a maxed out m18x r2 too.

 

No, what it means is the Dell goes above and beyond in honoring their advanced warranty. If you system is under warranty and it has a covered problem that is not repairable because parts are not available on an obsolete system, or it has a known issue that they have already determined cannot be fixed, they will replace it with the closest available configuration with the technology available at the time. Their policy is an equal or better parts or system configuration. You will not find a better warranty than that.

 

But m18x has no issues anyway,right? Oh yeah, i can only afford the 3670QM, not the XM. It is too expensive. Will it bottleneck the dual 7970m CF?

I just want it for gaming.

Can you upgrade your hard drive to ssd in the future for faster writing performance? If so, how?

And is the anti glare screen worth it?

 

Yes. Very simple to do. Just swap out your old HDD and move it to another port to use for storage and install windows to your new SSD. Many SSD's come with straightforward "cloning" software along with a data transfer cable to simply copy your data etc over to the new drive before installing it - but personally, I would advise/recommend a clean install along with all the relevant drivers from Dell Drivers & Downloads for your machine.

Have a read of the following: http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...r-install-order-guide-alienware-systems.html#

As for the anti-glare film sold be Dell, I have no experience of how good it is (or how poor it maybe)...many people say that these "anti-glare" kits are actually quite "grainy" and hinder the image quality of the display but I am sure there are many happy users too.....I also don't know if Dell apply the film for you or if they just send you the kit for you to DIY.

 

I pulled the trigger on one of these bad boys on Friday. I went with:

Cpu: 3610
Ram: 8GB 1600
GPU: 675
HDD: 750GB with 32GB msata

The only thing I changed was the GPU and added the msata cache. Also went up to Blue Ray drive and added the backpack.

I have a desktop Sandybridge 2600k, a 6990 + 6970 trifire with 16GB 1866 ram so the m18x won't be my main system. I just wanted something to play upstairs around the wife and kids instead of hiding in my man cave all day. I want to spend time with them but American Idol and Backyardigans can drive a man insane.

I'm guessing this should be machine enough to play BF3 and Skyrim acceptably?

Also does anyone know if they ship with all 4 ram slots filled? 4x2GB or 2x4GB which is a much easier upgrade.

(edit: wrong tense)

 

Unfortunately, I believe so with more than 4GB. My first M18x that shipped with 8GB of RAM had 4 2GB sticks, which meant 4 new sticks would be needed for a 16GB configuration instead of just 2 sticks. I was not happy about that because I already had the 8GB (2x4) of memory needed, but could not use it.

 

Mine came with two four GB sticks installed on the battery side, other two banks were free.

 

Quick question, how long will the GPU on be sale and do you know when we will get official support drivers for crossfire 7970m?

 

For non certified drivers, I've had no issues with them so far, they will only improve from here.

 

Thanks for the help. Also it looks like everyone is recommending the ATI cards over the nvidia. Are we talking a few % points or something more significant? I was thinking I'd get another 675 or even a 680 down the line because I'm sick of dealing with AMD's driver problems on my desktop machine.

 

Dual 7970's will give you twice the performance of dual 675's. Mobile 680's won't be out for quit a while and they are unfortunately shaping up to be a bit of a dud. AMD drivers are a pain yes, but after a while they should be sorted, and then you will be playing on the most powerful gaming laptop currently on the market. A decked m18x will chew up even BF3 on ultra with AA on.

 

So is this set up great for gaming in the future on max settings?

PROCESSOR 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit edit
MEMORY 6GB DDR3 at 1600MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s edit
VIDEO CARD Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon™ HD 7970M - CrossFireX™ Enabled edit
WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 4.0 edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Total price with tax $ 2988

 

It certainly has the fastest gpu's available right now - trouble is getting them to function 100% at the moment until AMD do SOMETHING with their drivers....other than that, looks good for gaming!

 

Quick question regarding the RAM location on the R2; Are the only RAM slots under the keyboard, or are there two others somewhere else?

I was just wondering if it would be possible, when ordering, to request that the RAM slots under the keyboard be populated and those elsewhere, and more easily accessible, to be left open for future upgrads.

 

The ram slots under the keyboard are the most time consuming to get to, bet that would be hard to request. The 1600 ram they gave me is samsung, i'm good with the 8 gigs of that. I've had better low voltage memory but I'm pretty happy with this.

On a side note, the stock drivers, I've ran performance test and gamed all weekend with diablo and besides they're servers having latency issues, it ran smoothly. Hard to get used to a normal hard drivers though, everything loads so slow.

 

there are ram slots under the keyboard, and also just under the easily removable back plate.

 

Can anyone tell me the make of SSD and the 1866 memory that Dell specify as an option with the m18x r2 ? And yes I know both are horribly overpriced

I'm guessing that if I fitted my own it wouldnt be covered under the 4 year warranty I will be buying ?

 

The SSD will most likely be a Samsung PM830 (aka Samsung 830 Series) - it's Dells factory issue of the same drive or possibly a Lite-On SSD....

Regards the ram modules, every system I have had has either shipped with Hynix or Samsung modules.

You can check out the M18x R2 Parts List as it tells you what parts are available to Dell.....

 

Hey there, I've recently come into the market of purchasing a M18x and had a few questions. Hopefully this is the adequate place to ask such questions, so I'll get started.

Laptops are a bit out of comfort zone, I've tons of experience with desktops but lappies just seem a different entity. I'm a college student and a gamer so I thought the mix of power and performance Alienware brings to the table made good sense. After reading most of the posts on this thread I think I have a pretty good idea of what I'm looking for, but would just like some feedback from those more apt then I on the subject.

My first question stems from the GPU. I've always been the nVidia man myself, but I've seen what appears to be more backing for the Crossfire 7970's than the SLI 675's. I've used Radeon's before, but I found myself "upgrading" to GeForce's. This was, however, on a desktop. Basically whats the pro/con aspect between the two? Is it close, or are the dual 7970's far superior?

My next question is more general knowledge, because I've fallen behind the times a bit. But what exactly is the storage choice for the M18? I know the HDD are old school now-a-days, but they offer the largest amount of storage. The SSD's seem small, albeit faster. What exactly is the performance difference there, and is it worth the equal or greater price to only get half the storage? Im just looking to get something I wouldn't be upgrade two weeks after I get it, simply because I'm not on that kind of budget at the moment. Luckily the laptop is coming out of my parent's coffers.

Finally, is the upgrade from the 3820QM to the 3920XM really worth an extra $550? I'm not sure I'd be able to get it either way, but I've seen Mr. Fox talking up XM quite a bit, so I'm just curious as to the basic performance output differences between the chipsets.

Sorry for making a book out of this post, I just like to get things right the first time, doubley so with technological purchases, and tripley so when $3,000+ is on the line. Thanks for any help you guys can give, it means a great deal. Have a good one!

 

Looks like the AMD choice is the fastest option right now. The good thing about the m18x is the gpu is user upgradable so if you chose wrong it's not the end of the world. Looks like there are a lot of driver issues right now with the AMD cards so keep that in mind as well.

The random reads and writes and seek time are what really makes the ssd a killer. Boot times are in seconds instead of minutes and apps launch a lot faster. Best option is ssd boot drive and hdd data drive. m18x has multiple drive bays so if you want to spend the money this is the best option. The msata cache is next best option. Not as fast as ssd but faster than a traditional drive. Msata cache is also a lot cheaper.

As far as procs go imo $550 is not worth the cost. Encoding media is the real winner with a faster proc. And even then you'll save maybe a minute or two on a half hour encode. CPU usually doesn't make a huge difference in games.

I ordered the cheapest proc 3610, the 750GB with msata, and the gtx 675. It came out to just over $3k with a blueray drive and a backback after tax. It hasn't showed up yet though...