*OFFICIAL* M18x R1/R2 Owner's Lounge Thread

For gaming you dont really need that XM.

 

Still fun to have for bragging rights and benching though.

 

I realize the results will be different based on a variety of conditions, but my point was the larger sized file tests write more data to the drive without really accomplishing anything meaningful.

This is the point I was getting at.

Performance fluctuates with block size as well as file size. Sandforce drives do a nice job with compressible data, but they're crappy with incompressible data.

Optimizing the test in a manner that makes a specific drive look good is something most of the manufacturers do so they can advertise better than normal performance. (My Agility 3 drives are a great example of manipulated performance specs for advertising hype.) If you are trying to compare drives, it is better to be consistent by using the same test and same block sizes to establish a baseline. You can use whatever file size you wish, but the important thing is to be consistent in using the same test so the comparison will be meaningful.

 

Hi Guys

I am ready to purchase But but should I go red or green camp? Looking at these two machines.

Red camp

Dell Alienware M18x ? i7 2960XM ? 1080P ? 16GB ? Dual AMD 6970M ? 515 | eBay

Green camp

Dell Alienware M18x Stealth Black -i7-2860QM - 6GB Ram -Dual 2GB Nvidia 580M SLI | eBay

mark..

 

Personally I think the 580m will do you good/better as the 2860m is perfectly fine for gaming
You might wanna look at the nearer cards too like 7970m (675m is just 580m)

 

Why don’t you want to buy from Dell? You can get a better CPU and GPU for cheaper and you will have warranty. Is there a reason your buying from ebay?

 

To be honest I just assumed Ebay would be cheaper. I shall have a play with their builder. What chip do I need max for gaming as I would rather max the HDD and GPU over chip.

Mark

 

You don't say what your main use is going to be (most assume heavy gaming, but you may just want a powerful portable), and given the difference in CPU's (one w/Extreme that you can overclock) It'd be hard to recommend one over the over at this point.

I will say, though, that given those are Dell refurbished systems, those prices seem ridiculously high compared to the US, considering they are refubs. I assume you're in the UK and not the US, so the US Dell Outlet is not an option?

Personally, the less expensive one with the 2960XM would be my choice. Dual 6970's are still very nice, and the 2960XM gives you lots of options for making your M18x even faster.

Those prices sure make me appreciate the $1500 I paid for my 2920XM/Dual 6970 M18x from the Outlet last week.

 

Here is an example for £2,924.01, then you can call in and get up to 14% off that for a total of £2,514.65. You can upgrade your ram and hard drive when you get it. It is a lot cheaper to upgrade on your on and you will get a lot more for you money. Very easy to do on your own. Just something to think about man. I just want to make sure everyone get the most for their money! Don't like seeing anyone get robbed!

Included in your system:
COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M18x Cosmic Black - Anodized Aluminum edit

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) edit

OPERATING SYSTEM English Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate (64 BIT) edit

GRAPHICS CARD Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD® RADEON HD 7970M CrossFireX™ edit

MEMORY 6144MB (1x2GB + 1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel edit

HARD DRIVE 64GB mSATA Boot Drive + 500GB SATA (7,200rpm) edit

LCD 18.4" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD edit

OPTICAL DRIVE BluRay Combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read & write) edit

WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO with Bluetooth 4.0 edit

PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 12-cell 96W/HR LI-ION edit

 

In checking the UK site for the M18xR2, it's interesting that there is no premium for the factory overclocked 3920XM vs a stock 3920XM, while in the US, there is a $600 premium.

I guess, given the conversion of pounds to dollars, the price of a M18xR2 in the UK is way high to begin with! (i.e.., the above system for £2,924.01 ($4800USD) is about $3100 in the US.

 

Yes heavy gaming

BF3
WOW
EVE
RUSE

that sort of thing but also video creating. I just specced this on Dell UK


COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M18x Cosmic Black - Anodized Aluminum edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT) edit
GRAPHICS CARD Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M SLI™ edit
MEMORY 8192MB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel edit
HARD DRIVE 1TB RAID 0 (2x500GB 7,200rpm) edit
LCD 18.4" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD edit
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD+/-RW (Read/Write) edit
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO with Bluetooth 4.0 edit
PRIMARY BATTERY Primary 12-cell 96W/HR LI-ION edit
OFFICE SOFTWARE English Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2010 ( Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note) edit
SECURITY SOFTWARE Anti Virus Not Included edit
SERVICES AND SUPPORT 1 year Next Business Day Hardware Support included with your PC edit
ACCIDENTAL DAMAGE PROTECTION No Accidental Damage Protection edit
Accessories
ALIENFX COLOUR Astral Aqua edit
AVATAR Alienhead Glow edit
PREMIUM CASES "Alienware Orion M18x Backpack edit
SOUND SOFTWARE Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software edit
Also included with your system
COLOUR CHOICE Alienware M18x Base
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Cables UK 2M 250V Power Cord
Documentation/Disks Western Europe Documentation (EN, FR, IT, GER, DUT)
Bundle N05W8M01
Placemat Placemats (Eng, Fre, Ger, Swe)
Order Information Alienware M18x Order
Camera Integrated Skype HD Certified FullHD Camera with dual digital microphones
Additional Software Alienware M18x Resource DVD
Power Supply 330W AC Adapter


£2970 with office and the backpack (I have not seen an 18 inch case anywhere)

is that ok for me?? Do I get that cheaper if I call them as opposed to clicking order on the website?

Mark

 

The 7970M is a lot better card and its cheaper. You can get about 14% off by calling in to order.

Here is an example of 7970M vs. GTX 675M. This is just single cards too, not xfire or sli.

 

Well max gpu at this point in time would be the AMD 7970m
Not sure what you mean about the max hdd but I think a single ssd + regular storage would do you fine
And the best CPU would be the 3920xm but a 3820qm should do fine as well

 

Anyone that relies on Cuda for multimedia content creation and editing would be better off with 675M, but 7970M is the fastest GPU for gamers at this moment in time. It's amazing how much time Cuda shaves off of audio/video editing with apps that can take advantage of it.

 

Im talking about upgrading it yourself of course. No service (fee) to Dell for installing 'insert hardware here'.

Like my 6990m Crossfire on my m18x for instance. Say I wanted to upgrade to 680m's in the foreseeable future, would I be able to do it by myself or is it something I need to pay dell for?

Also, what are the hardest parts to upgrade? Right now im mainly looking into future GPU and CPU upgrades.

 

If you have any previous experience with desktop computers, they're fairly similar in regards to how the components are designed to function together for upgrading. The biggest difference is the form factor, which requires a bit more forethought (get the service manual for your system). Besides that, though, they're easy as cake to upgrade.

 

There are videos on Youtube that show how to do it. Ram and hard drives are easy to change but the video cards and CPU require a tear down to get at the parts.

Alienware M18x r1 r2 complete teardown / how to take apart / disassemble - Hidevolution.com - YouTube

 

None of the components are difficult to upgrade for anyone with experience working on computers. Teardown is simple and requires no special tools. Your upgrades will not void the warranty, but those components will not be covered under the warranty. Hang on to the old parts, as you will need to reinstall them in the event of a system exchange or depot repair. Owner-induced damage is not covered by warranty, so if you break something the repair will be on your own dime.

Spend some time browsing and searching the Alienware forums and you will see many owners upgrading CPU, GPU, memory, SSD, WiFi cards... you name it. Even the lovable old M17x R2 monster can be upgraded to 6990M CF and 580M SLI. Upgrades are not limited to the dual-GPU flagship models. The M17x R3 and M15x have also been upgraded to 7970M, so the ability to upgrade extends to the more sedate models as well.

 

I wonder, have you done any Handbrake transcoding using Cuda? I'd be curious as to the time differences between using Cuda and not using Cuda to transcode a blu-ray?

I've always had AMD(ATI) video cards in my desktops and Handbrake times KILL me!!

 

I haven't tried Handbrake. I use Nero apps for all of my multimedia tasks. I don't do a tremendous amount of transcoding. Typically, I'll just rip a DVD or BD movie to MP4 for portability on my M18x. Sometimes I will recode those ripped MP4's for playback on my BlackBerry or Android phone. Cuda seems to cut the time in half, but I haven't benchmarked it to be exact. Anecdotally, what used to take my M18x 60-90 minutes with 6990M CF takes 30-45 minutes with GTX 580M thanks to Cuda.

 

Awesome config. Congrats! Looking forward to seeing your scores in the http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...alienware-m18x-benchmark-thread-part-2-a.html.

Well, that is true. By the same token, 7970M CF also isn't needed for gaming. But, the option of owning the most powerful hardware available at the time of purchase is one of the things that makes being an Alienware owner so awesome. I'm always excited to see when someone is passionate enough about performance to step up to the plate and order the Extreme CPU. Now that I have one, I don't like the thought of owning anything less.

 

Congrats! Great config! Somehow missed your post until I seen Mr. Fox comment on it. Wish I could have afforded the extreme CPU, but I’m always happy to see someone else get it!

 

Quontum, how long did you get the advanced warranty for? (how many years)

 

Ok guys, here's my order of the M18x-R2:

Alienware M18x Nebula Red - Anodized Aluminum
Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Dual AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M CrossFireX™
8 192 Mo (2 x 4 096) dual channel DDR3 SDRAM @ 1600 MHz
64GB mSATA Boot Drive + 500GB SATA (7,200rpm)
Blu-ray combo (Blu-ray read only, CD/DVD read and write)
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 with Bluetooth 4.0 (Killer not available, will get later)
1 year support
1 year ACcidental damage protection
3 years licence Computrace LoJack

Price is 3000€ with the Orion M18x backpack, VAT included. Seems ok to you ?

 

I only got it for one year.

I also got them to bump up the ram to 8gb, and they drop my price down a little to $3577.89. I'll also get $378 in eGift card, I'm hoping I can extend the warranty by buying an additional year or two with the eGift card, does anyone know if that can be done? Overall I guess its a pretty good deal considering I am getting the i7-3920XM and Crossfire 7970M.

 

They might get you with the warranty after the fact. I would look into that soon as getting the warranty after you have the laptop, it jumps through the roof.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. The eGift coupon will get here in the next 5-10 days then hopefully I can get an additional few years that way because the laptop won't be here til around the 30th.

Actually, is the advanced warranty really good? I was actually thinking of getting an SSD or maybe two for RAID from dell with the eGift coupon.

 

I've never had it but the little extra it is, seems like it would be a nice peace of mind.

 

Well! I just ordered mine from Dell Canada. Here is the config:

Alienware M18x Space Black - Anodized Aluminum
Intel® Core™ i7-3820QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.7GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Dual AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M CrossFireX™
6 Go dual channel DDR3 SDRAM @ 1600 MHz
750GB SATA (7,200rpm)
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 with Bluetooth 4.0
4 Year Bsic Service Plan

$3,186.00 before Tax

$3,663.10 after Tax.

Did I make a good deal??? I was only able to get a 300$ discount on that.

 

Okay, because I normally don't buy warranty beyond what warranty that comes with the unit.

 

I had a similar config quoted for around $3100 before tax the other day, so I think you got a good deal there.

I was only able to get around $300 discount, the eGift coupon I get I don't see as discount because I still need to spend it at Dell.

 

Just ordered mine

Space Black Anodized Aluminum
3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3820QM
8GB Dual Channel XMP DDR3 at 1866MHz
SLI 2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 675M
256 SSD Samsung PM830
512 SSD Samsung PM830

Including taxes its costing me $5200.... They still have to get back to me for the rebate.. looks like compared to other ppl in the forum i got a bad deal.. also ordered accessories for 600.... Cant believe they havnt given me a rebate... But its worth it cant wait ship date is 6/6/12

 

Smart. Every consumer shopping expert says they are a ripoff.

Smarter--use a credit card that automatically extends the manufacturer warranty when you charge your purchase to their card. I do that with American Express for everything I think I could take advantage of it. They match EXACTLY whatever warranty you have (CompleteCare, Accidental Damage, Advanced) for an extra year FOR FREE. I spent $69 to upgrade to CompleteCare on my M18x for 1 year, and AMEX gives me another year of the same for FREE. They pay for everything related to the repair, should you need it, including diagnosis, shipping and repair. If the cost of repair is excessive, they refund the purchase price back to your card. I've used it a couple of times with Dell laptops in the past. Love it.

I figure I won't have it after two years anyways since something more spectacular will be out, so it's perfect!

 

how exactly did you get the 300 dollars discount? did you get one of the promotion laptop? or configure it from 1999 the basic model? cause the only way i could think of getting discount is telling them ive got a quote of 10% off from reflexnotebook and that seems to be the only way i know of which comes out to be 300 for 3k, 400k for 4k and so on.

 

Under normal circumstances, I would agree. The experts are generally right on target with this advice. The American Express deal is pretty sweet and I have used that also, for other large purchases like major appliances. A lot of the financial experts would advise against purchasing an expensive laptop as well; especially if they are not PC gaming enthusiasts.

I know Dave Ramsey would want to slap me, but in this case I would recommend purchasing more than one year, for the same reason that many members of our forum recommend more than one year. Most of us recommend 3 or 4 years. If I had the opportunity to do it over again, I would still go with the 4 year advanced warranty.

Had I gone with one year instead of my 4 year advanced warranty, I would still be the proud owner of a defective $4,000 XPS M1730, usable only as a fancy door stop or paperweight instead of an M18x. The 4 year warranty I purchased has paid for itself in multiple system and component replacements valued at many times the cost of the warranty. I'd say that's a wise use of the few hundred dollars extra that I paid for that warranty. It paid for itself instantly the first time a system replacement was necessary, which was around month #14. Simply replacing one pair of GPU modules for an SLI or CF configuration will exceed the cost of the 3 or 4 year advanced warranty. Just one 6990M or one 580M module is about the equivalent cost of 3 years advance warranty coverage. An M18x or M17x motherboard is more expensive than a 3 year advanced warranty.

When my warranty runs out in August of 2013 and I purchase my next Alienware, it will include the advanced warranty for the longest time period available.

 

Totally agree. I also plan on upgrading when my 4 yr plan runs out....unless my system dies before then - in which case, I will obviously be seeking a nice shiny new replacement from Dell - courtesy of Dell's great warranty!

 

Good points. It really boils down to the individual. If you're sure you're going to keep your PC the length of the warranty, then it makes sense to extend for four years.

On the other hand, with some smart shopping (using AMEX for example to get an extra year for FREE), and buying just a one to two year advanced warranty, I think most people will be covered until the "new model bug" bites and they upgrade to the newest and latest. I, for one, rarely keep a PC more than a year, so a cheap upgrade to Advanced and using AMEX covers me for two years for next-to-nothing. I see many new R2 owners upgrading from R1's, so they obviously are not the "keeper" type.

I'm more of a frugal shopper anyways, and while I love having the latest and best, I wait until the object of my desire arrives at the Outlet, then with generous coupon code in hand, I find my awesome deal and bite, most times saving at least 50% off the cost of a new model (and, having the same full warranty). Sure, I had to wait a month or two after introduction, but compared to the 4 year ownership lifetime your talking about, what's a month or two wait to save 50%?

To each their own, as they say.

 

yes, couldnt agree more, all comes down to individual, and i am in canada so purchasing from dell outlet is probably out of the option for me, so i will be getting the 4 years warranty..

 

Nothing wrong with frugal. Heaven knows the world needs a LOT more of that.

I don't normally sell my systems after upgrading. I keep them and use them for other things or give them as gifts to my family members. For anyone that only plans to keep their system 2 years or so and then sell, having the longer warranty might make it easier to sell, and for more money. The 4 year advanced warranty costs about $157 USD per year when purchased with a new system. If I were to be shopping for a used M18x, I would definitely be more attracted to, and pay slightly more for, a used M18x with 1 or 2 years of advanced warranty remaining. I'm not sure if the pricing structure is identical for the advanced warranty on a system purchased from the depot.

 

ok bad news guys.. the msata port is most likely, 99% sataII 3.0gbps speed.. heres the article but its actually the comments down below. although do note motherboards is probably different, or the same, however these are the latest chipset so this shouldnt be wrong. Transcend Launches MSA720 mSATA 6Gbps SSD With LSI SandForce Driven Performance - The SSD Review

msata port is sata 3.0gbps speed =( bye bye to raid 0 3x ssds

 

I just bought this from dell over the phone.


Base Alienware M18x Base
Operating System English Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
Memory 8192MB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Video Card Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD® RADEON HD 7970M CrossFireX™
Hard Drive 256GB SSD + 1TB 5,400rpm SATA
Optical Devices DVD+/-RW (Read/Write)
Sound Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software
Wireless Networking Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO with Bluetooth 4.0
Cables UK 2M 250V Power Cord
Documentation/Disks Western Europe Documentation (EN, FR, IT, GER, DUT)
Bundle N05W8M01
Extended Service 2 yr Next Day In-Home Hardware Support
Placemat Placemats (Eng, Fre, Ger, Swe)
Order Information Alienware M18x Order
Primary Battery Primary 12-cell 96W/HR LI-ION
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 3920XM (8MB Cache, up to 4.1GHz Overclocked)
Camera Integrated Skype HD Certified FullHD Camera with dual digital microphones
Color Choice Alienware M18x Cosmic Black - Anodized Aluminum
Avatar Alienhead Glow
TimeZone (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London
AlienFx Colour Quasar Blue
Accidental Damage Support No Accidental Damage Protection
OS Customization Alienware Glow Wallpaper
LCD 18.4" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Microsoft Application Software English Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2010 ( Word, Excel, Powerpoint, One Note)
Additional Software Alienware M18x Resource DVD
Protect your new PC Anti Virus Not Included
Power Supply 330W AC Adapter

£3500

Excited now

mark

 

Looks like it. juliant posted some screenshots confirming Sata operations - as per his post on the benchmark thread below:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...enchmark-thread-part-2-a-136.html#post8524974

 

Congrats! Awesome config!

 

Hi again... Hmmmm just put my order on hold as i opted for the sli gtx675 and now im thinking to change it to amd 7970 crossfire.... Can anyone tell me which one is better? Actually the comparison shown was done by amd i think...hmmm its just difficult to believe that there is so much diff between the 2.....anyway my order is on hold until i decide please help...

 

Well, that depends. In terms of pure power, the 7970M is more powerful by a significant margin. The GTX 675M is essentially a GTX 580M with a new name. Those cards are no slouch. In fact, until a couple of weeks ago, the GTX 580M was the most powerful mobile GPU available. They are very powerful, but yesterday's high end video card is not today's. We can expect the GTX 680M to be more powerful and more expensive than 7970M, but right now the card is like vaporware. It does not really exist except in R&D phase. No confirmation yet on when RTM will occur.

If you frequently run apps that need Cuda and that matters to you, then the GTX 675M is hands down better than the 7970M. If running benchmarks and games at the highest FPS is more important, then 7970M will be at the top of the mobile GPU performance food chain for at least a month or two longer. If GTX 680M does not end up in RTM phase, the 7970M will keep the performance crown for this round.

 

SO!! Idk if you guys remember me but I was one of the first people to receive the R2. I had the 675m's in SLI and strongly stated that I PREFFERED Nvidia. I am here to say that I called up dell since the release for 7970m's happened within my return period. Told them that I was told they wouldnt come out at all with the r2 and was lied to and they processed an exchange for me !!! So I wont have to go through the return process and they are building me a replacement with 7970's!!! The price/performance ratio in these GPU options is by FARRRR too much to pass up.. anyways here's my new setup! let me know what you guys think!



1 225-2944 Alienware M18X R2 - Direct
1 312-1333 96WHr 12-Cell Primary Battery
1 313-8792 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
1 317-9698 3rd Generation Intel Core i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
1 317-9705 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
1 318-0770 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
1 318-2002 Slot-Loading Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
1 318-2319 Nebula Red Anodized Aluminum
1 320-3263 18.4 inch (467.36 mm) WLED WideFHD (1080p) display (1920 X 1080)
1 320-3624 CrossfireX 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M
1 330-5090 Thank You for Purchasing AlienWare
1 331-2425 Standard Nameplate
1 331-6854 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
1 331-6858 Placement, M18X R2
1 331-6865 Alienware Documentation
1 331-6908 Resource DVD, M18X R2
1 331-6910 English Keyboard, 101 Key, M18X R2
1 331-6915 Shipping Material, M18X R2
1 331-8045 Windows 7 OS Label, Alienware Notebooks
1 342-4396 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
1 410-0548 Adobe Acrobat Reader
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 420-9956 PC Restore
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-1719 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
1 421-1723 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
1 421-3874 Camera Software 2.X, Factory Install
1 421-4289 Dell Support Center Software 3.0
1 421-5789 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
1 421-7437 AW Command Center M18XR2
1 421-7438 Quickset, M18X R2
1 430-4708 Intel 2230 Wireless-N
1 461-8389 NO VIRUS PROTECTION REQUESTED

oh and by the way.. this was my final price!
$2,386.00

do you guys think this is good? only upgraded RAM to 8gb and 1 year advanced warranty.

 

Hi Mark,

Looking to order something similar, would you say its better to order over the phone for a discounted price.

Also does your final price, £3500 , include VAT ??

 

Wow looking over that that is an awesome deal if it is without VAT

 

Yep its a totally awesome deal if with VAT

Not too sure about needing the XM cpu , a QM clocked to 3.7ghz should be fine ? Its just the expense of the XM that makes me question it.

Also not to convinced about speccing a 5400rpm drive into a top spec machine ? Not sure what its going to be used for ? If its just storage then fine but you will fill up a 256gb SSD pretty easy with games .

Looking at a pair of 750gb XT momentus 8mb hybrids along with an 512gb M4 for my rig Just have to find out if they will all fit !!!!

 

For anyone considering oredering from Dell in the UK, I would strongly advise you have a word with my rep. He does some pretty wicked deals, especially on larger orders like the M18x with high spec's.....

You can have a read of my thread http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...-aw-system-accessories-please-contribute.html or just PM me and I will do my best to help you get a goooood price!