M18xR2 Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE

The regular extended warranty IS good to get - covers hardware failures. Just recently on my XPS17 I had the screen replaced due to a stuck white pixel, and the motherboard/fan/heatsink as well because the CPU was getting hot and throttling, then throttling more, then some more.

The accidental coverage might not be for you if you baby your machines like I do.

EDIT: the $150 isn't bad for that processor, but if you will NEVER overclock, there really isn't a point to getting it as the 3610 is quite good and doesn't hold back my 7970Ms in games. Only synthetic benches where the CPU speed adds to the overall score.

 

Thanks! Will keep this in mind for sure. Yeah, not likely to ever need anything more than the 3610. I can't imagine the lowest of the highest class of processors being sluggish by any stretch of the imagination.

 

Hah, yeah I'm the same way right now.

If you want to go with the 3610 I would say you'll be fine. Go with your own instinct. As long as you aren't sacrificing what you really want for practicality.

I am going with 4 year accidental coverage. Needless to say, these systems are not cheap. I baby my systems as well, but I do travel so I want the "what if?'s" covered. I would recommend 4 years of basic, at least, if you plan on keeping it. When you're dealing with gaming machines, especially dual video cards, costs can rack up fast. If you run into a problem it can more than pay for itself. Dell has taken care of me in the past, and it is reassuring to have them stand behind me.

Hope I helped a bit, good luck with your purchase.

 

which dual graphic card would i pick for m18x
7970M CF or 680M SLi
please explain why

 

For some reason asking this question here gets more vitriolic than asking which religion is correct or which political movement is right. It's worse than going to comic-con and asking whether a star destroyer is better than the enterprise.

 

Especially when this very question has been recently addressed in both this thread and the owners thread. It's always recommended to read back a few pages and show that you'd done your research before asking such questions.

Please read back the last 2-3 pages and you'll see questions AND answers.

 

AMD = less expensive, mediocre driver support right now
Nvidia = more expensive (IIRC, you can buy AMD 7970 Crossfire for the price of one 680M), but stable drivers. Also, PhysX support (which apparently does make a few games look kick-, like Arkham City) and a few other bells and whistles.

Benchmark results seem to vary. Personally, I went with Nvidia because was willing to pay the premium for stable performance. That's not a knock on AMD btw - I was red in my M18x R1 until two days ago and never really had an issue. I do prefer Nvidia's drivers to AMD's though, but that can definitely vary from person to person.

And a Star Destroyer would kick the Enterprise's all over the place, because [insert religious figure here] said so right after endorsing [insert Presidential candidate name here] for President!

 

Was wondering if users were getting the dell bluetooth 380 module in their R2's even with the intel wifi/bluetooth combo card?

 

thanks
from notebookcheck
they did performance on both 680m n 7970m
they said 7970m was roughly on par with the upcoming GTX 680M
so im guessing if its dual its also roughly on par
will there be any more new mobile graphic card coming out this year?
also whats the normal use battery life vs gaming battery life

 

I dont think we do, as both cards (Killer and Intel) have built in bluetooth 4.0, according to the configurator - but I just had a read of this http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-r4-kindly-clarify-wifi-card-confusion-2.html and it seems that the 380 modules should be there anyway...bit confusing!

This was the thread I saw a while back which might help clarify the M18x situation: http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/668526-how-turn-bluetooth-4-0-r2.html

 

I saw that Notebookcheck article too Winkawak. That said, the overwhelmingly mediocre-to-outright hostile response to the AMD driver support from folks on this very discussion forum made me decide that it just wasn't worth the risk. I also believe that, at the end of the article, Notebookcheck recommended the Nvidia GPUs because, while the performance was roughly equivalent, the power draw was less on the 680M.

All that being said, what really swayed me was something another member posted (IronLeaf maybe?) that made a lot of sense that I will paraphrase: all things being equal, a kick- piece of tech can be rendered useless by terrible drivers, which is what we're seeing with the AMD cards right now. This is also pretty par for the course with AMD from a driver perspective. They may get their act together and release a rock solid driver soon, but are you willing to hedge your bets? Again, this is my personal view based on what others are experiencing. You may take a different opinion. I do recommend reading the various threads on this forum about the two cards and draw your own conclusions. Ultimately, only you can determine what's going to make you happy. Will you regret NOT spending more for the Nvidia cards? If not, then go with AMD.

 

Hi guys,

I have a call scheduled with a dell sales rep this evening, and I have some more questions...

I really looked at the pricing, and the only way I feel comfortable buying an m18x is the base configuration + the GPU upgrade to either SLi 675m, XFire 7970m or a single 680m. I MIGHT be able to swing an additional 1 year advanced warranty, but 2 years will be pushing it.

Not to mention all these 7970m crossfire driver issues I keep reading about are killing me. Is it the same for a single 7970m?

So in my budget, my options would be:


m18x with

3610QM
6gb ddr3
500gb hdd
SLi 675m, xfire 7970m or single 680m
standard wifi
dvd/rw
1 year standard warranty

Or I can go with an m17x with :

3610QM
Single 7970m
750gb HDD
8gb DDR3
Killer Nic
Standard DVD/RW
2 year basic warranty

these 2 configurations will have a price difference of about $320...

Hell, if I add the 680m, they are just about neck and neck price wise before any extra discounts beyond the combo upgrade on the m17x...

Is it better to get the barebone m18x with just the gpu upgrade? or get a pretty nicely configured m17x with slightly longer warranty?

 

Well, 7970m issues aside, if you think you may upgrade an m18x later on down the line with another 680m, that would be what I would do. If you go 17x, you wont be able to add another gpu to increase performance as its a single gpu machine.

I would not even entertain the 675m. Its just a rebadged 580m and although sli 675m's are obviously similar to 580m's sli, a single 7970 or 680 will be on par with two 675m's.

If its gaming performance you are after and dont feel comfortable with 7970m problems, go with 680m in either system.

Hopefully, with discount, you might be able to push to 680m sli with everything else at stock.....

 

That would be the best option, but $1100 for 2 gpus? good lord man... its just a scarey amount of money... lol

Just not sure what i should do, I'm getting a little nervous at the costs... I've always wanted an Alienware, and finally seeing an m18x in person sealed the deal, I would have already ordered a Sager Np9170 if it weren't for seeing the m18x... But the cost (without any discounts), is VERY Prohibitive.

I'll see what the sales rep has to say this afternoon.

 

I know its alot of cash. Believe me, I have been there and worn the brown trousers too....LOL.

The way I look at it is this. If you went 17x with say a 680m, you are limited to the performance of one gpu. Not that it wont handle everything that you can throw at it right now but there are some games out there that will really test it out. Either 7970m or 680m as single cards should perform on or around par with a 675m sli set up (or 580m sli for that matter). A great example would be Metro 2033. My system struggles to max it out, therefore a single 7970m or 680m would do too.

If you went single 680m in an M18x, at least you have the "option" of adding another 680m later on if you wanted the ultimate performance. I'm not saying 680m in a 17x is a slouch, far from it - it will blow most titles away with ease....I just prefer a dual gpu system as it is the ultimate in performance.

Of course, this is all somewhat tainted by the crossfire 7970m issues....if they were remedied, it would be a no-brainer really...same or similar performance but at a fraction of the cost. Sadly, there isnt much light at the end of the proverbial tunnel right now....I can only advise what I would do...and what I would do if money did not permit 680m sli is to go single 680m and add one later. Other people may have different opinions, but that's just mine.

Another thing to note would be build. M17x is soft touch plastic and the M18c has a solid aluminium casing - built like a tank and obviously heavier - if portability is an issue, you might want to think of a 17x as the 18x is a good bit heavier. Also, if 3d is a thing you want, you have to go 17x unless you have an external 3d monitor.

 

thanks for the info,

Just seems silly to buy a beast of a laptop with only a single gtx 680m. I honestly don't know when/if I will ever be able to upgrade it. I'm sure it will be a $600-700 upgrade. As for Performance, believe me, I understand the performance and upgrade-ability advantage of the m18x. the aluminum chassis is a huge plus.

It might make sense for me to get the crossfire cards, and see how I do, and try disabling crossfire for the time being if both cards don't seem to work properly, and hope that at some point soon, the drivers are fixed, and if not, I suppose I could sell the single card for someone looking for an upgrade.

It's a real shame that AMD cant catch a break, between the bulldozer CPUs coming up lackluster on the desktop side, and the driver fiasco with the 7970 desktop and notebook cards, it seems as though its a huge crap shoot with a lot of cash wasted if they don't work out well.

As for portability, I intend to keep my 15.6" Sager for the time being for travel.

 

I guess that you could catch a break with the 7970m crossfire - I doubt they will be broken forever. I think they are ALOT better now than what they were when they first came out....still not right though and I only think something is a bargain if it actually "does what is says on the tin".....

If you can stretch to 680m sli, that's what I would aim for. If you cant, but still want the "possibility" of that level of performance, you take a bit of a gamble on AMD redressing their issues, if they do, a 7970m crossifre would be a good shout and you would be quids in. I guess if they dont rectify crossfire problems, a single 7970m can work just as good in an m18x as a single 680m and you would just have to wait until the problems get ironed out for full crossfire support.

 

agree, i was thinking the same too
ima wait a couple of month for them to drop or have discount on the graphic card. how much more performance does adding another 680m give me( is the performance doubled? or just another 30-50% more? also is m18x cpu or gpu upgradable?

 

Winkawak

Well within couple of months next GC will next door. Dual card performance depends game by game, also varies with proper driver support. Well i dont have idea of 680m. but with 7970M X from my personal experience with Crysis 2 dual card can increase performance by 80%, which applies same to 680M SLI. yes M18x is more up-gradable then M17x. Even refresh revision will be upgradable to next 2 years or more.

 

whats non upgradable on m18x and m17x?
what will the next gc be? 685m?

 

Well Both of them are upgradable, but as ive said M18x is more upgradable cosz it have option for Dual GC and more Storage drives. 685M wohhh i think that Nvidia knows better, but there will be always newer graphics card next door, its business!!!

 

So, I caved and went with the M17x,

3610QM
8GB DDR3
7970m
750GB HDD
Killer Nic
DVD/RW
1080P Screen
2 Year Standard Warranty

I appreciate your guys guidance, but They gave me a good price, and just couldnt justify the extra for my M18x.

Thanks again,

ID

 

Hi, I'm from Argentina and I want to buy a m18x r2 from hidevolution.
This is the built i made, what do you think? something to change? any advice?

3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM 2.6GHz (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 680M - SLI® Enabled
Kingston HyperX 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS) - installed by HIDevolution
500GB 7,200 RPM + 32GB mSATA Caching SSD
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video
----------------

They ship to argentina so its great but its expensive:
-United States Postal Service Express Mail International $197.21
-FedEx International Economy $473.10 and International Priority $523.22.

 

For the m18x R2, is the amount of DIMM slots and HDD bays/spaces dependent on what you configure, or does it come with a specific amount of slots/spaces by default? The site says you can have up to 32 GB's of RAM and three HDD's. How many DIMM slots and HDD spaces does it come with? I don't want to spend $6000 just to have three HDD's and four DIMM's.

 

The M18X R2 has 3 spots for 9.5MM hard drives, and 4 DDR3 slots regardless of your configuration.

 

order it from xoticpc.com because hidevolution have so much negative feedback from the scoutmasters

 

That's great! This means I can buy a cheap configuration and purchase SSD's & RAM from Amazon or Newegg.

Thank you.

 

Hello again,

So I've ordered my M18x R2 with the following configuration:

3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 660M
750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Intel 2230 Wireless-N
Alienware M18x 240W A/C Adapter
Microsoft Office 2010 Home and Student, English
Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Extended Year(s)
Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis, Parts and Labor On-Site Response, 1 Year Extended
In-Home Service after Remote Diagnosis, Parts and Labor On-Site Response, Initial Year
2 Year Limited Warranty
Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
Warranty Support, 1 Year Extended
Warranty Support, Initial Year

If money weren't an issue I would certainly have put in the SLI configuration for my GPU's, but since I AM worried about costs I decided to go with the single GPU 660M. I usually don't play a LOT of graphics intensive games, spending most of my time on BF3, World in Conflict, Everquest, etc. I am however planning on purchasing Assassin's Creed III when it comes out. I am planning on upgrading down the road to a 2 GPU SLI combination, and I will be adding a SSD boot drive in the very near future. Given the setup I have, I was wondering if my system will be able to handle the type of games I play without any significant slow downs or hiccups. Please let me know what you think, and I look forward to hearing your opinions.

 

Yes, it can handle it. Of course SLI is smoother and will have a better FPS drop when you're not in battle, but one GPU is good enough, especially the 660m. I've seen many videos of the m14x handling BF3 with the 650m, or 550m, you'll be just fine!

Enjoy the laptop, be happy with what you got!

 

Thanks...I'm just waiting rather impatiently for it to arrive... I ordered it on the 2nd, and they are saying an EDD of the 17th. I have someone trying to "expedite" it for me, but we will see how that goes...at least I have Next Business Day delivery... Thanks for your response, and I'm sure I'll be around with more questions once I actually get the machine.

 

I've heard from some other people that the M18x R2 is useless if it doesn't have a Dual SLI configuration...and I've heard from a few that say it will be fine with the single 660M configuration...So, I'm pretty much equally confused on both sides. Can anyone else chime in and tell me what they think? I'm already in production now and am expecting it to ship this week...I certainly don't want to spend over $2k dollars on a machine that won't be able to handle games any better than my desktop with it's Nvidia 6800 GTX. I'd rather send the damn thing back and start over if it's going to perform that badly with only one 660M card in it...I'd love to hear from some more people so that I can make a balanced decision..right now it is even with 2 people saying it will handle great and 2 people saying it will amount to nothing more than a 2 thousand dollar paperweight.

 

I would prefer a m17x with 7970m or gtx 680m to a m18x with single 660m (or even sli 660m) and the price should be similar if not lower. I'm not exactly sure what you can expect from a 660m but I can tell you that the 675m in sli (same thing as 580M sli) is about the same as a single 7970m or 680m.

I agree that a m18x intended for gaming is not worth it if paired with such a weak gpu. At this time I wouldnt recommend a m18x purchase if you are not getting at least crossfire 7970m setup or 680m sli (if you dont want ATI for the potential driver problems and dont have enough $ for 680m GT then maybe a 675m sli setup at the very least)

 

I've been able get my AAFES rep to customize my order a little bit to allow me to purchase the 680M rather than the 660M or 675M. This will maximize my performance, and the Technical Support Technician assured me that the 680M should burn through pretty much any game out there...he also informed me that I will be able to upgrade at a later date to add another 680M through their upgrades/warranty department.

 

What's better: The 7970m with CrossfireX Enabled or the GTX 680m with SLI enabled?

Every time I search "gtx 680m sli" on youtube, I only see results with either a single 680m or the desktop version (680) - no m18x benchmarks.

 

There aren't any 680M SLI benchmarks, yet. Purchasers should be getting the first ones shipped sometime this week!

 

J. Dre according to the Technical Support people at AW a single GTX 680 performs better and with more consistency than the dual 7970m's with CrossfireX enabled. I had asked them because I noticed the price was the same whether you had the one 680 or two 7970's..I'm glad I asked...according to the Tech's words a single GTX 680m will be able to "tear through any game on max setting that will come out in the next few years." That pretty much sold me then and there!

 

Hey everyone,

I thought I would drink from the tree of knowledge on more time here..Would there be any particular reason that I should consider upgrading to Windows 7 Professional if I am planning on staying around 12Gb memory for the near future? Would there be any distinct advantages that I would notice when using Windows 7 Professional compared to Windows Home Premium? Thanks again for your answers!

 

look here to see whats included and whats not :
Windows 7 editions - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Thanks, that's a really helpful page...

 

Always stick with basic amount of ram and look here on Amazon to upgrade your ram. It is extremely easy and takes about 12 minutes or less to swap out the ram and save $200.

Amazon.com: Komputerbay 16GB (2x 8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz SODIMM 204-Pin Laptop Memory 10-10-10-27 with Black Heatspreaders: Electronics

 

FWIW, Dell/Alienware has a 10% off special you can see here.

With the M18x, it starts with a $2599 build that includes a single 680m, configure as you wish, then get 10% off using coupon code J1TLWCP1W?MBS5. Maybe some of you are just about ready to order and this will save you some extra $$$ to get that 680m SLI !

Have Fun!

 

Good News! Well, almost as good as I wanted....the system is finally in the hands of FedEx, and I have been told it will be here by Friday! It was supposed to go Next Business Day Delivery, but they sent it second day ground for some reason....I guess one day doesn't matter after the time I waited for the back ordered LCD screen....I'll be sure to let you know how it turns out...NOW..once I get that I have to reorder my system with the 680M GPU...sigh! One obstacle at a time I guess..

Hello Everyone,

I'm wanting to upgrade my system to SSD eventually, but to be honest with you I have little to no knowledge of these things. I've already decided to go with a 750Gb HDD with the 32Gig mSATA SSD. My goal is to save up and eventually add another SSD to the system. Could anyone suggest a good SSD to get for a decent price? I was looking on Amazon.com and noticed a couple of different SSD's running anywhere from around $90 to $300 for 128Gb to 750Gb SSD drives. What should I look for when considering purchasing an SSD? Any information you can share would be extremely useful!

 

I would recommend the Samsung 830. For me, it has been very fast and rock solid. What is your price range, and what sort of hard drive setup are you ultimately looking to go for? RAID 0 SSDs? I'm not 100% sure, but i believe the mSATA SSD slot is limited to SATA II speeds.

Personally, I'm going with a Samsung 830 256GB SSD and my WD Scorpio Blue 1TB HDD purely for Storage. 256GB is more than enough room for the OS, programs, and my games. Any single SSD beyond the 256GB capacity tends to be very pricey.

In general, I would avoid using anything with a sandforce controller, as they tend to be unstable.

Sent from my DROID RAZR MAXX Using Tapatalk 2

 

So after Optimistic Prime recommended the Samsung SSD, I did a little research on it. Tom's Hardware lists it as one of their Tier 1 drives and gave it all-around rave reviews. I decided to check on the price and, lo and behold, amazon had it for $267 USD (holy crap prices have gone down!). What's even better though? They have an instant coupon available that will save you an additional $58!! So yeah, I scooped one up as quickly as I could. Less than $1 per GB on a SSD? YES PLEASE!

Thanks for the recommendation, OP! And again, I <3 your forum name.

EDIT: Link to amazon.com's deal: http://www.amazon.com/SAMSUNG-2-5-I...F8&qid=1342202651&sr=8-1&keywords=samsung+830

 

That's a great deal on the SSD, Mike. My Dell version PM830's are really great - no problem and I am very happy with them. I recall not so long ago, it was hard to get a drive at a great price...now they seem to be giving' em away! - well, not literally but much cheaper than I have ever seen. Great times to buy a SSD if you ask me, and even better when you can snag a bargain like you have!

 

Wow! That's a great deal, in my opinion. In fact, I was just talking to stevie about ordering another 830 for my M18x and having it ready. + Rep for finding that deal, and saving me some cash.

It will be here by Tuesday, since I am a Prime.

 

To be totally honest with you I have NO idea what configuration I am going to run. Since I am currently running a 500Gb Hard drive with a 32Gb mSata SDD, I'm not sure which configuration I will pursue. I do know that $300 is currently WAY out of my price range, even if it is the deal of a century. I'm pretty sure I'll notice a marked improvement with the 500Gb/32Gb mSATA SSD combo, which should hold me over until I can afford to purchase another drive.

 

Yep. If you cant splurge the cash right now, 500gb HDD and 32gb mSata as a cache drive should speed things up pretty nicely.....you might get your OS on the mSata at a push and just use the 500gb for data....

 

For those looking for an M18xR2 cheap, the Dell Outlet is having a 20% off sale, and I notice it is loaded with almost 60 M18xR2 units.

Maybe something nice out there for someone at a good deal!

Save 20% on any Dell Outlet Alienware™ laptop or desktop, including the new M14x, M17x or M18x with coupon code below!
Limited time offer, while supplies last!

Coupon code:
XTBW45ZCBTJ2D5

 

Nice. I see a few with 7970m crossfire - too early for 680m sli returns - majority are 675m sli.....