My Alienware 18 has landed and it is not just scratched.....

Hey, off topic but "never off topic" in my opinion. Thank you both for your service. I work for the Department of Veterans Affairs and have the privilege of helping those who served our country.

 

Nothing wrong with pimping out a machine IMO.

It's not even the most expensive hobby out there.

 

I think dell support is getting bad...

 

I think I have decided to keep the system and am waiting for the dell supervisor to accept the offer they gave me along with some additional help from the great reps on this forum. I will be happy with the outcome. While I can't say the overall Dell service is great, I will be happy to resolve this and enjoy the computer in which I have. I think this is close to being a resolved issue. I hope you all have been able to see some of the comparison pics I have taken. The new 18 is a very good looking notebook and once I get a bit of clarification on flashing the new Vbios, I am sure this beast will be performing some outstanding numbers.

My sig will be updated once my issue is resolved. I think it's a very worthy upgrade from my 580m SLI. For those with the Kepler 680m SLI, I completely agree that you can be happy with the system until the next mobile GPU line hits next year. I think these 780s are perfect for what I need now and hopefully they will keep up with the new PS4 that is launching.

Windows 8 sure is a confusing OS for me right now and will take some getting used to. I just want to say thank you for the dell reps for their help and as always, I am appreciative of these forums as there are so many awesome people. I have been an active participant since 2008 and was a very active member of a previous forum of notebook enthusiasts prior to moving over this way. I will keep my R1 as it's a really awesome machine. The new one is a nice evolution. While a bit less flashy, when looked at as a whole, I think it's an outstanding representation of the 18inch mobile line. While we lose in brighter keyboard lighting and protruding front grilles, we gain a better display, greater sound, beautiful lid design and a very strong keyboard. It still screams Alienware and that is what counts at the end of the day. I think when more people with much more computer knowledge than me continue to get their machines and work on customization, these machines will produce awesome performance. Even out of the box, everything I have played thus far has been on it's highest fidelity settings.

My advice to people struggling with QC (Quality Control) issues, is to be patient, be persistent and also be willing to make concessions yourselves.

Thank you all of reading and supporting me as I sort out my system. While I could have sent the system back, I realized my time is too valuable and I have already started downloading and playing my games and monitoring my temps to see how the paste job was. The dell concession is fair, now they just need to return my call lol! I took a day off work so I can hopefully have this put to rest. I am enjoying typing this from my R1 on integrated GPU. This will make a great video downloader and general purpose computer from here on out....maybe with a little gaming when I am too lazy to use the other beast!

 

Two 780M's make the PS4 look like a child's toy lol.

 

I don't think that is a fair comparison.

 

I think it's perfectly fair, it's simply two different classes of hardware, the 780M dominate in terms of performance but the PS4 is cheaper. Simple as really.

 

I didn't know there was benchmark software for consoles. I learned something new. How else could you compare the two pieces of hardware? I didn't even think they announced the hardware going into it.

If it really does blow it out of the water I can't wait for a decent emulator.

 

But the amazing thing is that I keep reading people saying that PS3/4... is for real gamers, games shouldn't be done for PC.

I really don't know in what world those guys live...

Anyway, to the OP: I hope that you get your Alienware 18 fixed, and keep that car! I will love to import one of those, I have only seen 1 GTS in my entire life and he's a friend of the family so I see that car pretty often.

 

Performance is 0 if a game title is not ported/exist, real gamer get all 3/6/8 or more depend how you define what a Video game is.

 

HA. Hilarious stuff.

The PS4 runs on AMD hardware. 8-core custom CPU and dedicated GPU. It should run around that of a desktop 7850 or about 10% less than a 7970m. It runs a system-wide 8gb GDDR5 memory bank, with approx 175GB/s max bandwidth, to the GPU, CPU, and OS simultaneously.

The Xbox One also runs AMD hardware. 8-core custom CPU and dedicated GPU. It should run around that of a desktop 7770 (Not GHZ Edition) or about 5% less than a 6970m. (Approx 45% less than a 7970m.) It runs a system-wide 8gb DDR3 memory bank, with approx 65GB/s max bandwidth, with a 32MB EDRAM bank for quick transfers and small GPU loads with approx 190GB/s. (~100GB/s, bidirectional, plus overhead.)

An AW 18 w/ 2x 780m (assuming SLI scaling is around 160%) will have an approximately 2x lead on the PS4 and a 2.7x lead on the Xbox One in pure graphical processing power. (IE: FLOPS) The rest is incomparable due to the strange memory setups, which would inflate performance of any application. You probably won't see emulators any time soon, but you could see custom builds, if people can mod the mobos.

 

Great info. How about them compared to 680m in SLI?

 

Again assuming that SLI scaling is 160% (which is not true; different games scale differently), and remember that this is a quantity of pure computational graphics power.

2x680m = 3.09 Teraflops
PS4 = 1.84 Teraflops
Xbox One = 1.23 Teraflops

Xbox One = 1x
PS4 = 1.5x better than Xbox One
2x680m = 2.5x better than Xbox One, 1.68x better than PS4.

 

Good to know. Cheers for that!

 

Think 680M SLI overclocked, which may be close to a single Titan in performance, should be closer to 3x faster than PS4?

Nvidia: PS4 & X720 are 3X slower than the GeForce Titan – AMD: We gave PS4 what Nvidia couldn’t | DSOGaming | The Dark Side Of Gaming

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m18x/722164-gtx-780m-sli-alienware-18-parallel-gtx-titan-pc-11.html

Actually the chart in the article above shows a dramatic improvement in performance between PS4 and its predecessor. But still probably only half to one third as fast as overclocked 680M SLI/780M SLI/Titan and their overclocked AMD equivalent (7970M X-fire).

Why PC gaming will always be King:

Six reasons the PC is winning E3 | Features, News | PC Gamer

 

98% off pc gaming involves hacking.. fps mostly.. people play consoles to get away from this.. you also play console when you cant afford a gaming rig.. you also play console because there devoted to gaming and gaming alone..
the ps4 is stream lined for gaming and i see the graphics being on par with gaming rigs since this is what it is designed for.

 

Sadly this is the case with a lot of games, "Punkbuster.exe" notwithstanding. I think this is the only real allure console gaming has going for it, that and it can be more comfortable to play games relaxed in recliner, in bed or on a couch, whereas with a PC, unless the game youre playing has full xbox 360/One controller support you will likely be seated upright for a while, which is more tiring, especially after 3-4 hours or more.

That said, and considering I just switched over from console gaming within the last three years, I have to say that PC gaming is FAR superior and will only mention ONE example why: Skryim PC is 1000% a better experience that Skyrim console. 1080p resolution, 60 FPS (most if not all consoles only 30-40 FPS), I could go on but I am sure I am only preaching to the choir here. Oh and using a mouse for shooters is far more preferable than a thumbstick, but using a controller is still better for racing games or during segments of games involving vehicular gameplay, i.e. Grand Theft Auto.

 

The assumption that 2x780m is equal to a Titan is actually way off. That would ONLY be if they would act as 200%. When you figure SLI into the mix, you never use 200%, because you'll never actually be able to use 100% of each video card all the time. It's not a factor of utilization, but more a factor of the overhead involved in the anti-stuttering/runting methods used (IE: Wait for frame). An ideal figure to use is 160%. You will often see 140% to 175% depending on the game.

See here for a good example of Titan's scaling in SLI. Average for this is around 160%, but dips as low as 145% in games such as Crysis 2 Maxed @ 1440p.

PS4: 1.84 TFlops
2x780m: 3.57 TFlops
Titan: 4.5 TFlops

PS4: 1x
2x780m: 1.94x better than PS4
Titan: 2.45x better than PS4, 1.26x better than 2x780m

 

oh im getting a ps4 no doubt... just for my fps games

 

You know your stuff Hybrys!

 

Well to get back to the topic,

I am very glad, as usual, for my outcome. My dented bottom cover is being replaced and will be receiving a nice set of headphones to let people properly know when they get a nice "boom headshot" from me. My actual system price paid out the door is more than acceptable and justifies completely my upgrade with my current rig. I will always love my R1 and will keep it. I still have my m15x (original build) with a fried 8800mgtx but working integrated graphics floating around. The chassis is quite worn (front grille almost completely gone). I regret selling my m17x R2 but I sold it to my stepsister who needed a computer and one which would run all the new Sims so I guess it is still in the family!

As you can see from the pictures I posted, there are certain tradeoffs from an aesthetic standpoint. Really, the main gripe is, as Brother Fox stated, "the rugged" look of the display bezel. If it were sleeker, this would be a no contest win for the new m18 aesthetically. With that, there are angles I have shown that really show how great this computer looks as an 18.4inch monster. While the keyboard is a huge upgrade from a durability and usability standpoint, the lighting could be a bit more pronounced. However the lid is absolute perfection. The silver is a striking color and honestly it shows the lines of the lid better than black ever would. Silver is almost a perfect look for this lid.

At the end of the day, I don't really notice or care about the aesthetics TOO much. I like that this computer will be 1032402934% EASIER to disassemble and tinker with than the R1/R2. I will venture to say that possibly it is easier to work on than the famed m17x R2. I will also venture to say I like the screen better than the m17xR2; but it's been awhile since I looked at one. This screen is brilliant for it's class. Temps are great and games are running flawlessly. I have upgraded the Vbios with the help of StevieJones (A LOT of help).

I am a bit bummed AW advertised the 4900mq at 4.0ghz which it is not running. This is nothing I can't fix but they should have taken the time to know what they can and cannot accomplish with the systems. My GUESS (A limited insight guess) is that they fear the power draw of the CPU hindering the likable OCability of the GPUs. I'd rather deal with mostly stock CPU usage as they are world class top tier CPUs and allow the most breathing room for the power starved 780m GPUs.

I have no idea why early reviews felt this system was running too hot. My monitoring shows sufficient cooling and it is indeed much more quiet than my R1. Sound is improved as well. The new 18 is a nice evolution of the AW 18inch line of gaming computers; period. If you are an enthusiast gamer who needs to be on the bleeding edge I would recommend the system. Though 780s will be just fine in the R1/R2, you may have to ask yourself if spending 1500.00 is the best play when you can get Haswell, an improved display (big selling point for me) and overall upgraded machine. We buy these systems to game and having an appropriate display is quite important. The reduction in glare, MUCH improved viewing angles and overall IQ is something to take note of. If you have an older 6970/580 type setup then I would definitely recommend the upgrade. If you have the 680s then the improvement isn't anything out of this world from an FPS perspective. However once these get to the 25% deals...you may want to reconsider.

Finally, I would recommend anyone going through tech problems to remain patient and respectful; even when you feel you aren't being respected yourself. No one knows this, not until now, but the very rep who alluded to the fact I damaged my system, is the same rep I decided to take the financial offer from and I even apologized for any miscommunication from MY end. Sometimes it's better to be forgiving and be the bigger person so as to not harbor long-term frustration. Not only did I get a very fair discount total from Dell (not going to state as that only will erupt forums to try to do the same), I am receiving a new backplate and set of headphones. Also remember, we need to spend our "5%" giftcard within 90 days....so don't lose out. One more final note is to get a 3 year warranty. I think it's critical and it's worth sacrificing CPU/components to do so.

I'm no paid representative of Dell/AW. I call it like it is; good bad and ugly. I always have on the forums.
Well it's back to gaming for me. I can finally say I can enjoy Crysis 1, 2 and 3 at it's highest fidelity settings and I have always just loved the Crysis series (mainly 1 and Warhead). Steam sale is here and I will go further into debt and just pray I can start to stop my technology spending addiction spree Peace

 

A nice pair of headphones sounds like a nice apology

The easier servicing is a big plus

 

Install Intel XTU and you can get your 'factory overclocking' back! Look up a guide for overclocking the 3720, it's very similar.

Glad they're fixing you up, though. Free headphones, and a replacement piece? Not bad.

And apologies for taking your topic off-road, people make me crazy.

 

Glad things are looking good for you, Dave. It's nice that Dell looked after you. Enjoy your machine, buddy. It was my pleasure to help you with the vBios stuff - heck, I had the same kind of help a while back too, so I'm just repaying/sharing the knowledge. That's what I love about these forums...