*OFFICIAL* M18x Owner's Lounge Thread

Ya I looked for a while trying to find that story because I knew I had read it. To remark on your other comment about timing, I went from a M17x R1 with a QX9300 (Yorkfield/Penryn/Wolfdale architecture) to my M18x (Sandy Bridge)

I think I timed it right

 

Do you think that since technology isn't really improving in a linear style (i.e. more cores, not faster cores), that architectures like Haswell and Skymont in the years to come will be 12 and 16 core platforms but still remain stuck in the low to mid 3GHz range? We already have 8-core computers (which I think is superfluous and total overkill)

 

Yea, as I mentioned before, the focus has really shifted to concurrent processes. Thus, adding more cores actually is a kind of linear improvement, because software designed to take advantage of many cores will see a significant and predictable improvement as more cores are added.

Now obviously no one can tell the future, but the technology and all the development points to the clock speed remaining roughly the same or even decreasing as time goes on. The architecture will change and improve to give speed increases, and the number of cores will increase to give speed increases. No one is really trying to raise frequency, because it doesn't give very good returns, it creates more heat, eats more power, and is generally harder to do every time they make the processors smaller.

Intel themselves gave a presentation a few years ago. I don't remember all the specifics, but the gist was that they had developed CPUs that had hundreds of cores but each core was quite slow (as in under 1 ghz). Intel said such a processor was many times faster than anything we have today when running an application that took advantage of its unique properties. I suspect that is the distant future. Processors with hundreds or thousands of slower cores. This is starting to get technical, but such a processor eliminates the need for a scheduler, since every process gets its own core, and eliminating the scheduler greatly improves performance. The idea behind that sort of design would be to give every little job its own core. You fire up something simple, like word, and perhaps it has 60 different parts that each get their own core. Saving has its own core, the cursor its own core, the spellchecker its own core, etc etc etc.

 

I was reading something similar to what you're talking about just an hour ago; this article. It's just someone's opinion but it is relevant.

That worries me that computers in the year 2040 and 2050 A.D. will not be able to run games from 1990-2010 because they rely on one processor working very hard, whereas futuristic technology, if it follows the outline of more cores and less voltage per core, will not be able to run old games because each individual processor will be running at a super low frequency. Well fuuuuuudge... thankfully for me, there are some talented Elder Scrolls modders who are working on engine rewrites so that games like Morrowind will utilize more than one core.

You're saying that as the transistors get pushed closer and closer together (i.e. sandybridge 32nm, Haswell 22nm, Skylake 14nm, etc...) it becomes harder and harder to overclock? Damn, that means that we might never be able to push alienware laptops into the 7 or 8GHz range, ever!

Too bad Intel cannot figure out how to make self-perpetuating microscopic air conditioners that make the processor colder the hotter it gets. Or maybe they do have such technology now but it's only used for government applications and NASA.

I have no doubt that millions of cores will be the norm in the year 2100 A.D. or so. When computers were first invented, they took up an entire room and could not do that many calculations or problems, and they required a lot of energy. And now we have supercomputers that fill up entire buildings, like the Fujitsu K supercomputer. Who knows, in 2080, we may look back on 2012 and think "wow, we used to have to use an entire warehouse to fit 80,000 processors. And now we have it all fitting in the palm of our hand" or something.

Now you have me all worried, Yoda. I should buy an alienware lappy soon before processors go too deep into retrograde.

 

Hello guys!

I finally pulled the triggered for the M18x, after all the thinking of whether the M6600 was enough.

Anyways, I am expecting to have some rough ride for the first couple days so I will appreciate all of your help in advance.

BTW, what were your ETA? from order submit to build to shipping?

Also, in simple yes or no answer, will 330w psu be enough to go for max cpu oc and max ATI 6990 xfire oc with vbios voltage tweaks? Theoretically the power consumption on these components alone will exceed 330w in 100% load. Wondering if anyone tried..

Thanks!

 

Now your decision is do you want a computer now, or are you willing to wait another year and a half, until mid 2013, to see what the next architecture refresh offers. Personally, if I was getting by on a 5 year old computer I would upgrade right now.

 

Overclocking cpu has so many variables inside its chips. I think that as chips are getting more efficient and gets better with heat, we will be able to overclock more and more as new versions come out. Just compare the progress from QX9300 to i7 920xm to i7 2920xm!

 

Not to sound rude, but I really do think you are over thinking things....just buy whats best now if you want a good computer...that is unless you want to wait till 2050...by which time, you will be holding off for the next best thing in 2100....and could be dead......

 

Dellienware if you have ordered a maxed out m18x there is no point to OCing unless your into bench marks. I have found it can chew up anything I can throw at it.
I play BF3, Skyrim even Crysis. For in gaming you will find it dose not need to run max on most games. So in all I would say the 300 PSU is enough for 99% of needs.

 

Thank you for the insight. I know that cpu will be fine, but I am rather worried about the gpu's performance. I will always use my external monitor U3011, which is 2560x1600p. It has twice more pixels than 1080p, so I figured the fps will be cut down in half.

Anyone have experience with this? My M17x R2 is quite fully playable BF3 at 1600p. So I am hoping that M18x will really smooth things up, but I am worried about the next gen games.

Also, does anyone use Alienware at college? I will be freshman next year and I was worried that people wont take you seriously if you have an Alienware in your dorm... Especially since I will be attending undergraduate business school... Any experience?

 

Well let's put it this way whipping out a big glowy computer won't win you professionalism points. However, if you want to use it, than use it, who the cares what others think. If fitting in is a serious issue get a macbook pro.

 

Well, I really hate glossy screens and I would at least like to have a 120 Hz 3D screen. I'm going to wait until the M18xR2 comes out and see what it is like. hehe, yeah I know, me and my waiting game.

We have two opposing claims going here. Yoda says it gets harder to overclock as the transistors get closer and closer together. Dellienware says it gets easier because technology & cooling become more efficient. So will overclocking be easier in the years to come or harder? You both can't be right and wrong at the same time.

Isn't owning an Alienware like owning a Porsche or Ferrari?

How well does it handle the Witcher 2 with ubersampling & anti-aliasing enabled?
Overclocking is good for old games from 10+ years ago that are single threaded CPU hogs that do not take advantage of the GPU or other cores.

 

Well even owning a Porsche 924 you would have the child of the Porsche world..lol I know I had one. Witcher 2 can't help you there don't own it yet..I wouldn't worry about one game or two as stated by the time there is a system that runs it maxed out there will be a Witcher 4 and you'll be waiting for a flawless system to play it on. On side note, I would not worry about OCing for playing a game. The increase in performance is only a few FPS hardly anything to help play. The bulk of the performance is coming from stock spec's so if you think OCing is important outside of bench marking you will never be happy.

 

guys what do you use when you clean the m18x chassis? i only use a dry cloth im not sure if any solvent or liquid is applicable to remove some dirt.

 

soft terry cloth and a little water to damp it

 

Thank you all for the input. I actually just bought the MBP and will use the Adamo.

I probably wont overclock for now, since I am sure it will play the latest games in 1600p max settings. I havent received it yet but it is coming soon and I am very excited!

 

I went through an MBA program with an Alienware computer. If you turn the lighting effects off while in class it looks just like any other computer. You will get some comments, but all the people who even knew what it was were just impressed and interested. I don't know where this idea came from that a Mac or HP or whatever is somehow better than Alienware. Alienware is the largest boutique PC brand, there is nothing wrong with owning and using one in any setting. I am now out in the professional world and I use my Alienware laptops in business meetings everyday, never had any issue, only people interested in my laptop, since the glowing Alienhead is rather unique.

I doubt glossy is going anywhere, people have been hating on it for a long time and Alienware still makes refreshes with them. I would expect a 120hz option in the next M18x though, the M17x already has it, and it really makes more sense in the M18 anyway.

As for OCing, just look at the statistics. The highest OC on a P4 is upwards of 8 ghz, the highest OC on a 980x (so last generation Core architecture) is 6.9 ghz, the highest on a Sandy bridge is around 5.7 ghz, the numbers keep going down with each new architecture and die shrink.

 

Haha thank you everyone for sharing your experience. I guess I will just have it in the dorm. Hope no girls think its too nerdy.. if you know what i mean..

 

Are you talking laptop numbers or desktop numbers?
You mean a laptop like this can be overclocked to 8Ghz where as the M18x only overclocks up to 5.7GHz? Well, perhaps Dell doesn't make those computers anymore that can overclock up to 8Ghz. But even 8Ghz back then is not the same as what 8GHz today would be on a single core. The chips are different.

So actually, older technology is better for overclocking and playing single-threaded games like Morrowind? Older to an extent, that is. I wish somebody who owned an M18x also played Morrowind because I could ask that person to try out the mod I'm working on to see what their frame rate is.

Well, from your experience, would the M18x with an overclocked i7-2960XM be best for what I want to do? Running intense mods on Morrowind, which is a single-threaded game. Or would the i7-980x be a better choice? Or the i7-990x? Oh, do you know if the 990x overclocks higher than the 980x? Or is it the other way around?

Don't worry about that, Dellienware. Be proud to be a nerd. We're all computer nerds. Even my title says "computer geek". You just wear your nerdiness proudly and there will be girls that are attracted to that.

 

Hi there all ! MEGA PUMPED finally placed an order for my M18X ! should be on my doorstep 20th of this month ! (starts countdown !) spec is as follows !

Alienware M18x Dual 2GB NVIDIA GTX 580M SLI
System Color
Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Processor
Intel® Core™ i7 2960XM Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz (8MB Cache) -
Operating System
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, English
Video Card
Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M – NVIDIA® SLI® Enabled
LCD Panel
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Memory
Kingston HyperX 16GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1866MHz (4DIMMS) - 1866MHz
Hard Drive
Intel 510 Series SATA3 6Gb/s 120GB SSD SATA III
2nd Hard Drive Bay
750GB 7200RPM HDD - INSTALLED BY HIDevolution
Internal Optical/3rd HDD Bay
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Battery Options
97 WHr 12-Cell Lithium-Ion Battery
Power Adapter
Wireless Cards
Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology - installed by
Bluetooth
Bluetooth 3.0 Included
Sound Options
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Nameplate
"M18x"

cant wait to see how this bad boy runs !

 

Ouch! ReD_LiiNe I know that had to hurt the old wallet a little. Close to maxed out spec's there, you will truly enjoy that Beastly machine.
And welcome to the forum and the club ..The otherside,The Alienside

I have The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, V: Skyrim, and I am downloading III: Morrowind. I will test them all for FPS on my I7 975 and 2960xm and do a run with threads parked and get back to you. We will find out just how well or bad they all play.

 

Those would all be desktop numbers, but that doesn't really matter. A laptop chip is the same as a desktop just slower. The idea still holds, on a desktop, with phase change cooling, the fastest frequency people are able to achieve is steadily going down with each new processor. The same will hold true for laptops, except you will never get anywhere near those clocks. I have heard in the 4.4 ghz range is pretty close to max for the 2960XM. This is primarily because laptops don't have nearly the same cooling power.

Now, as we already discussed that 4.4 ghz is probably equal to a 10+ ghz P4, so technically things are still getting faster performance wise, but clock speeds are going down.

 

A 4.4 GHz 2960xm is like a 15Ghz P4...there is no comparison. Architecture differences make clock speed comparisons irrelevant. Any chip on the market today at stock speeds will play better than an 8 GHz P4. Stop getting hung up on clock speed and number of cores, I promise you it will just confuse you (Like it already is)

 

For folks with M4 SSDs, check this out:
M4 firmware 0309 is now available

 

Thanks, katalin. Will have to apply that to my M4 when my system gets back from depot.

 

comparing usa and canada lol

Canada, Alienware Custom-Built Gaming Laptops & Computers | Dell Canada
System Color Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 2960XM (Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz 8MB Cache)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
Display Panel 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Video Card Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M – NVIDIA® SLI® Enabled
Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
AlienFX Quasar Blue
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat X Reader
Optical Drive Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless and Bluetooth Intel® Advanced N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology and Bluetooth 3.0
Security Software McAfee SecurityCenter, 30-Days Trial
Hardware Support Services 4 Year Advanced Service Plan
Misc 5 Please contact me with more details
Standard Nameplate Trigger Standard Nameplate
TOTAL: $4,917.99


USA, Alienware - Custom Gaming Computers - PC Gaming At Its Best
System Color Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 2960XM Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz (8MB Cache)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
Display Panel 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Video Card Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M – NVIDIA® SLI® Enabled
Hard Drive 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
AlienFX Quasar Blue
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat X Reader
Optical Drive Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless and Bluetooth Intel® Advanced-N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology and Bluetooth 3.0
Security Software No Anti-Virus Software Selected
Hardware Support Services 4 Year Advanced Plan
Pre-Installed Software Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Standard Nameplate Trigger Standard Nameplate
TOTAL: $3,495.20


with currently featured promotion, 15% off if spent addition $1800 on m18x, save about $620 on the configured specs above. most of the cost difference came from 15% promotion, warranty ($250) differences and dual GTX580m SLI ($600) difference.

really, dell canada?

edit: right, i believe only the states have customized name plate avaliable

 

Thank you, Alienwolf. Oblivion and Skyrim run pretty well on 4 cores. Oblivion is GPU intensive and MW is CPU intensive. It's Morrowind that is the primitive game.
Pelagiad Expanded is the mod that you would want to install to test your frame rate. When you install it, and start a new game, you can press the ` button on your keyboard which opens the console during gameplay. Then you can type coc "pelagiad" and press Enter. That will teleport you to Pelagiad where you can walk around the city and see what your frame rate is. There are tons of buildings and NPCs, which is the biggest FPS killer I've experieced. Also, to see what your frame rate is in game, set your "show FPS" to 1 instead of 0, like this. Likewise, if you want to be able to take screenshots during gameplay, set your "screen shot enable" to 1, like this. Then during gameplay, press the PrtSc button to take screenshots.



Pelagiad Expanded mod. I'm assuming you know how to install mods to games. If not, let me know.

Are you installing the Steam version? If so, then you won't have a "c:/program files/bethesda softworks/morrowind/data files" directory. In that case, when you extract the files from the winrar bundle, just put the .esp file and the meshes,textures,sound,icons folders in this location.

Thank you for doing this for me.

Yes, it is confusing me. haha Thanks for the clarification, Scook.

 

Lol yup sucks to be me haha

 

pretty coolthing, i called up dell.ca today and got to canadian alienware department. i told them about both sides configuration and straight out ask the guy who i was speaking with, why it would cost so much more in canada.

he obviously had no idea and i believe dell has nothing to say, there should be no reason, under most circumstances to cost 50% more on the same configuration in specs.

i would understand 5% more due to everything in states is cheaper. without 15% promotion, machine in states would cost $4112. i talked to the sales operator he told me he could give 4112 to me as a canadian customer, but then i go on and on about promotions etc and how we're all north americans, he then decided to give another 112 dollars off with just 4k pre-tax.

still im kinda sad that i'd lose out on 15% promotion just cause im in canada, sux.

 

my at dell just secretly took a pic of this.

Spoiler

ivy ES

 

what does that mean?

also at alienwolf: you are totally right about upgrades and ivy-bridge.

looks like it isn't the right time to get the new pci3.0 ivy-bridge cpu + gpu since its only mini performance upgrades for a huge cost, unless of course something big like a 15-20% promotion happens again, which is unlikely to happen in Canada =/

the new gpu/cpu will be out in April/may, then it takes dell to have that new motherboard/design perhaps m18x R2 as well as testing everything out, by the time R2 comes out it'll be extremely expensive, and untested, highly unreliable, and that's probably around July or august.

again by the time it stabilizes and releases all the good drivers, it'll be next year already and thats when new batch of processor releases i believe... frustrating

 

new m18x r2 in the lab testing already...

 

=]]

 

can't wait.

 

i wont get it unless it has pci 3.0 motherboard/chipset and new cpu so.. lul

also, the new gpu looks awesome.

 

Hi guys, I've been thinking about buying an m18x with dual 580Ms. Just how much of a beast is it to transport? I'm not a student and only really plan to move it from desk to desk at home or in my car on the road - not walking around in a backpack or anything. I have a Fujitsu T2010 and an iPhone for any actual mobile computing. I'd just like a gaming machine that I can use at the hotel when I go on trips for work and whatnot.

Also, am I correct in estimating that dual 580Ms is roughly between a single desktop 570 and 580 in terms of performance? Thanks

 

I soilder it to uni and back almost everyday on trains, its not as bad as people say I think, just get a comfortable bag. But according to your needs it shouldnt be a problem. Just keep in mind its heavy weight champion and its worthy of its weight.

According to this chart 580ms are ranked 38th out of all cards to date. While 6990ms are 21st. Could anyone tell me if these are reliable?

PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmarks - High End Video Cards

 

I doubt that chart. It also shows the 6970m as better than the 6990m and the 485m as better than the 580m.

 

Yep that chart is nonsense.

 

i travel a lot and use this machine specially in my field, i have a lot of airport terminal transfer overseas and i drag this beast a lot, imo this is just portable and good build, the weight is naturally nothing. i use a hand carry stroller, in my case i go on a field to field travels. the fact that it is big is the one you have to live about, the weight is manageable imo as long as you have arms. i have 5 transfer sometimes, go to the airport, sometimes check in a hotel and all that, this beast always come in my hand carry. i think you should do fine

for your 2nd question, its really inappropriate to compare mobile gpus to their desktop counterparts, given a good margin and stable OC, i think 580m will go as far as a desktop 560ti stock will do. im not much of a bencher myself, but so far 580m and 6990m are the top gpu performers up to date. both being on par and exchanging tops on each other.

 

The m18x is heavy, but I travel with it every day at work. I find the performance is well worth any extra weight I have to contend with.
I agree with reaversedge the 580m is close in performance to the 560ti which
when your running sli well lets just say it is a Beast for a notebook. It can truly out perform a lot of gaming desktops.

 

True it's a beastly laptop but I'm wondering if it's close enough to a desktop 580 to warrant buying instead of a cheap-ish desktop with 580 plus a cheap-ish laptop with a 570M for roughly the same total price. My usage will be roughly 90% home and 10% away so I would take the lower mobile performance if it means a significant upgrade in home performance for the same total price.

If it wasn't clear I'm talking dual 580m vs a single desktop 580.

 

From the benchmarks that I've seen, the 6990M in crossfire is about 10-15% less powerful than a single desktop 580, and the 580m is equivalent to the 6990m, so with 580m SLI you're talking about a ridiculous amount of GPU power in a heavy laptop that's still more than portable if you're going to be bringing it around with you every now and then.

I'm so impressed with my M18x that I will find it hard to justify buying a full-on desktop machine... The portability just brings too much to the table, so to speak...

 

Good to know. I just want to know where 6990Ms in CX rank with desktop GPUs. Anybody know where I can find the ranks?

 

mmm i think you should search stock clocks score let say in 3dmark11 of some desktop card and compare it to your scores.

In a magazine that i have recently purchased for example they did a review of 8 desktop videocards. With the config on my sign for example i score about 800 point more in 3dmark11 than a single desktop 6970 The desktop card @stock clocks, 11.10 whql, it scored P5500, cpu was a 980x. I score P6300 with cards flashed @715/1000 0.96V. You should score higher than this.

 

oopss ok dual 580m vs single desktop 580, still i think the 580m's won't still cut their desktop equal

imo depends on how you will use it, a desktop is always the best choice, 90% at home then i think you should go for a desktop, laptops are normally 'on the go' basis, 570m is already a good performer anyway.

 

Single beats out the dual 580m by a fair margin but honestly you cannot go wrong with the m18x. But if you're using the laptop at home 90% of the time you may as well as get a desktop and a cheap gaming laptop, unless you "must" have the best on the go.

 

I love traveling with the M18x. The size and weight are a non-issue. There's no substitute for the best if you can afford it. There is no laptop that compares to the M18x on the basis of appearance, build quality, performance and price.

 

hi guys

I just bought my m18x couple weeks ago and just joined this community. I m looking for a program that will optimize my system, you know, clean up caches, free up spaces, all the things that keep my notebook in top-notch conditions. I would prefer a free software, but if the program is good I ll still pay for it. So people give me some suggestions thanks a lot guys!

 

Ccleaner works wonders keeps everything in tip top shape