no option to add bluray or gsync to the new alienware 18, 2015 November model seriously?

alright so firstly before i get into the alienware question i need to ask a doubt about this forum.im soo pissed that i cant sort topics correctly by date or last reply.
when i sort by date i expect to see that latest threads/posts first,instead when i click it,it shows eg:
1.2010
2.2009
3.2010
so which essentially means it is not showing in order and when i click on alienware or asus forums and sort by date it seems like the latest post has been in 2009,seriously? coz 2009 is the latest post in top.but guess what ,i could find a 2015 post after searching.but a website like this cant even sort by date ...what a shame.


next thing ,lets move to the topic.
honestly do u guys think this seriously makes any logic.
when alienware has all this cool name and claim they are the best laptop in the world,yes i would support that coz even i think the name is cool.but for a name cool like that why would they want to spoil themselves like apple who overprices stupid low specs at a very high price.
alright but alienwares overpricing is kind of bearable when compared to the asus or msi,its not that much more expensive than asus or msi.etc.
but it usually feels like extreme overpricing when u start upgrading ram and ssd.etc on alienware website or reseller websites,whereas if u do the same upgrade to an msi or asus on reseller websites it wont be that expensive like alienware.

and now with alienware having this cool name,i would still not understand thier stupid ideas to drop most essential important things that makes a laptop stand out as the best.
if they did some things with logic ,people would prefer them over msi or asus anyday.
but unfortunately here are some of my complaints and reasons why people would always have second thoughts before buying alienware and they might probably decide to go for asus or other companies.etc

1.what logic does it make to have the fastest high end laptop like the alienware 18 and then have absolutely no option to add a bluray drive even in the one with the highest configuration.its stuck on having just dvd drives.
even msi gt80 titan has sli 980m's and bluray writer but unfortunately that laptop is just so ugly i wouldnt even think of buying one and having people laugh at me.

2.what logic does it make for alienware to remove optical drive in the alienware 17.
alienware 17 is usually the more affordable laptop that people would buy like me.having no optical drive a shame.
several occasions would arise where you would need to format windows or ur windows crashed or got corrupted with an error then u have only a windows cd most of the time instead of a bootable usb.

3.i dont understand why the stupid alienware company decided to take that beautiful ring of light which was around the alienware 17 2014 model with the 880m.
now in the new 2015 model,the neon light thing is only on the front bottom.
the 2014 alienware looked so damn gorgeous due to having the long strip of lights on the side ,which went along under the usb port and dvd drive.

4.what logic does it make for them to add optimus again to their 2015 model laptops.
optimus is already the biggest issue in any gaming laptops.even asus decided to remove optimus completely since the g751jy.
optimus is completely useless and has somany issues with some games not being able to detect ur main gpu and the biggest problem with optimus as to being ,its locked to the stupid 60hz.it cannot go any higher.many people with oculus rift or 3d projectors have this issue of going to 120hz.
i personally am telling with my g751jy laptop without optimus i still get a good 3 and half hours battery life.many notebook people just complain so badly about optimus causing many problems for them.
oh and what,in optimus laptops,the most important software,3dtv play will not work!!!!
nvidia 3dtv play is only for non optimus laptops.pathetic!!
my question is with displayport on alienware laptops will it even be able to do higher than 60hz despite intel hd optimus gpu limitation to the 60hz.
do u really think its display port will be able to do higher than 60hz.i havent tested but i do know for sure the hdmi is completely locked to 60hz due to optimus as the main gpu is connected first to the integrated gpu and the integrated gpu is connected to the internal screen.

5.what damm stupid logic does it make for them to release a brandnew laptop with 6th gen intel processor but no gsync screen,,,wtf???
already alienware were very late to upgrade their processors and if u didnt know , they even completely skipped the 5th generation intel i7 processors altogether which were already there recently in other gaming laptops.
almost every gaming laptop now has 6th gen proccesor and also gsync.
alienware has only 6th gen but no gsync screen,which is the worst stupid decision by the alienware CEO or whoever.

6.the highest end alienware 18 right now on the website comes with sli 980 and the biggest joke of all 4th generation i7 4940mx.
i know its fast and all,but seriously not 6th processor?? alienware 17 has it but all the alienware 18s are stuck with 4th gen.hahahahahahaha.idiots.
even msi gt80 titan has already upgraded to a higher end 6th i7 processor,i gues 6950HQ or something,forgot the model number.

7.final joke , 17 inch 4k displays are finally released for 17 inch laptops recently.
i still cant believe that a laptop like the alienware 18 with sli 980m's dont have an option to add an internal 4k screen which is the biggest joke of all time.it might be to cut costs but come on,980m's in sli are already faster than desktop gtx 980 and slightly faster than titan x.
and the 970m's in sli also beats the gtx 980.
come on we can drive games at 4k high settings easily.
dont tell me i need to buy an external 4k screen due to the alienware 18 not having an internal 4k screen.

 

The reason the 18 is capped at 4th gen i7 (& other older tech) is because they are just using old leftover parts. It's not a new model. They even said in one of the earlier announcements that it was a "special edition" and not a new model.

Besides, if your must have is the BluRay drive, you can just pull out the DVD drive and put one in yourself. It's a standard form factor. Not really a big deal.

 

yes i understand all u said but would u mind replying to all my other questions also.i just want to know what people think.and i dont understand still they didnt remove optimus in any alienware and they still didnt add gsync to any alienware

 

Forget Alienware as a high end brand. The train has gone... DELL are more focused on thin and "nice" laptop design with fully package soldered hardware now. Just look at their new laptop line. Why bother anymore???

 

honestly i was thinking the same thing.but well according to you what exactly do u feel is stupid about the new alienware 2015 lineup

 

Its stupid. Go buy some clevo laptop. You wont be dissapointed.

 

The whole Aw line is crippled... Fully BGA package aka no upgrades later, No raid, only 3 ssd slots (1 of those slots is for 2.5" ssd), thinner design than before aka worse cooling (tiny cpu/gpu shared heat pipes), crippled fan profile, only 2 ram slots, 4Gb vram, no G-sync, no fan control software, no odd, compatibility problems with ssd's and a crippled bios. Maybe much more but I don't remember all flaws with this junk from DELLIENWARE. Sorry but you can rather buy the cheaper Acer gaming laptops or other cheap junk Don't matter what you buy if you only want Garbage.
Maybe this one. Cheaper or same price as Alienware... LOL

 

The Alienware of past is dead and will likely never return. What's worse is, the people that buy into these new models, are mostly computer illiterate and have no idea what they are buying. They just want an Alienware because it's "cool".

 

"IF" DELLIENWARE Release a newer Aw laptop line with socket hardware; it will be with a power limit on the motherboard. Stock speed or a very limited Oc on hardware = The maximum power limits on the motherboard...

 

Well, somewhat TLDR and incomprehensive, but to answer your question about why no 4K display, 980M SLI is not capable of pushing 4K unless you're willing to turn down the settings to medium and then shoot for 30-40 FPS at best, and I'm talking about the latest titles like The Witcher 3 etc. 4K with a 17" display doesn't really make any sense, the pixel density of a 17" 1080 screen is greater than that of my 2560x1440 27" Asus ROG Swift PG278Q, which is very clear at only a slightly greater viewing distance.

Pixel density.

Alienware is done. Asus, MSI, Clevo et al have pushed them out of the market. Their offerings are head-and-shoulders above what mediocrity Dell / Alienware is turning out (G-Sync, detachable liquid cooling, mechanical keyboards, etc.).

If Alienware is to remain relevant it's going to need to, at the very minimum, offer G-Sync displays, Extreme, un-gimped Processors, and competitive pricing. Mechanical keyboards, for those among the DTR crowd who don't mind a little extra heft, would also be nice.

But they won't do any of that, they will probably slide quietly into complete irrelevance in the next few years, once their reputation is sullied among what remains of their consumer-base: mostly young adults for whom an Alienware product will be their first PC migrating from a gaming console. The informed and seasoned PC builders and enthusiasts have abandoned ship long ago.

 

Dell offer now also 8GB vram for Gtx980m. Only +100$. A big step up from 4GB VRAM

 

It's not the VRAM that is the sole issue, 980M SLI simply cannot push 4K at respectable frame-rates. This is why people have elected to go 980 Ti / Titan X SLI, that's what's required to push 4K.

You might be able to push Dead Space 2, Mass Effect or some other less demanding title from yesteryear (aside from Crysis, you will need the Large Hadron Collider for that) maxed out and get 60 FPS everywhere at 4K but not The Witcher 3 and other recent titles.

Here, let's assume GTX 980M SLI is 23% slower than the desktop variant:

Desktop GTX 980 SLI, default clocks, is capable of pulling down 56 FPS with an unlocked 4790k at 4K with the settings turned up and 46 FPS in The Witcher 3:

http://www.gamersnexus.net/guides/1970-gtx-980-ti-sli-benchmark-vs-sli-980-titan-x/Page-2

​

​

So 23% less than 56 and 46 FPS is 43 and 33 FPS respectively. You could, in theory, with two 330W PSU's chained together close that gap between GTX 980M SLI and GTX 980 and have performance approximating the latter, but not many are that adventurous or possess that level of technical know-how to chain to PSU's together.

The VRAM issue isn't even present here, 8GB is great, and 4K would definitely make use of it otherwise, but it's core processing power that is the limiting factor here.

 

Man we got some haters up in here on Alienware, you do realize you are in an Alienware thread and own an Alienware? It is true Alienware is no longer the extreme enthusiast go to for laptops but that is not what they are targeting or excel at anymore either. Seriously how big is the market for people who can spend over $3k dollars on a laptop with 980m sli and detachable water cooling? I certainly welcomed the slimmer design of the new BGA machines as they have to find a median between performance, battery life, and weight/austhetics. If they needed to make the processor and gpu soldered to do this I see no issue. Just buy the maxed out configuration 6820k over 4ghz and 980M with 8GB VRAM it will last a good 3+ years. Think about it to upgrade the AW 17 R1 to a 980M GPU and 4930MX CPU it would still cost over $1200! That is redicoulous you could buy a brand new alienware with ddr4, skylake 6820hk, thunderbolt and 980m for $1750 and sell the old laptop. I get it having MXM slots and actual CPU socket on paper sounds nice but in practice since mobile high end parts are so damn expensive its pointless. In regards to the no gync they sacraficed this in return for optimus support to maximize battery life which I find a great deal useful expecially for travels, seriously what other brand gaming laptop gets over 7 hours on wifi/watching video and 2 hour while gaming? Also 4k offers minimal returns in terms of raw gaming because the current hardware cant support it for fluid gaming at high details still needs to mature a couple years to be useful. I currently have the 15 R2 and have had no issues with fan tables or throttling even with prime95 and furmark running at the same time. The fans come on when they should and my temps maintain low with slight overclock on GPU. My battery life is great and aside from a few windows 10 driver bugs my only complaint is the FHD screen for this year sucks. I am coming from an AW 18 so I know what it is like to have fan table issues galor and GPU card incompatibilities. I went from the diesel semi truck (AW 18) with great power to a farrari with just as great of power but much prettier (AW 15 R2).

 

If you like midranged, casual gaming laptops, go right ahead. Nobody's stopping you.

But the minute you try to tell me your full-soldered, buggy-BIOS, can't-even-hit-promised-BIOS-OCs Alienware is better than the quality of the stuff we had before... you're absolutely so far off your rocker it's a joke.

There is a difference between "liking" something and it being "better". Factually, every single new alienware is inferior to the previous generations. Whether you like the new ones more or not means nothing.

Also, you said that it's better to buy a 6820HK with (worse) DDR4 RAM and a 980M and be done with it rather than upgrade an AW17 R1... but let me ask you. What happens when pascal comes out and the AW17 R1 uses it and you need to buy a whole new laptop to do so? =D.

 

I didn't read his wall of text, but he actually said that? Huh.

Only valid reason to get the new model would be the nicer screen. Beyond that, just upgrade the (better) AW17 R1 with a 980M.

 

Lol how are the current gen alienware midrange and casual gaming laptops? They specs are better than Asus and Msi current offerings (same price range) of the G752 for a cheaper price...6820hk vs 6700hq, 8GB 980M....granted it lacks g sync for superior battery life so what.

The 6820HK is ranked way above the 4940mx http://www.futuremark.com/hardware/cpu as with all things I understand this isnt a difinitive benchmark as different hardware excels in different categories.

Also once 16gb ddr4 on a single stick memory starts to be released you can upgrade the new alienware line to 32gb ddr4 2133MHz+ again better than 32gb of ddr3...

As far as pascal goes who knows for sure if it will even be supported by the AW 17R1 could be a different MXM slot or not even be MXM at all and soldered onto the board then you are SOL.

http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-17-r3/pd#overrides=dkcwg03m:29~NBD1;6~GT9808G $1750 with 10% coupon code, 6820hk, 8gb ddr4, 980m 8gb, ips fhd display.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...82&cm_re=6820hk_laptop-_-34-152-935-_-Product $2050 if you substact cost of 8gb ram and 128gb ssd. 6820hk, 8gb ddr4, 980m 8gb, it is an extra $300 for g sync, much more bulky chassis, and far less battery life.

http://www.amazon.com/G752VY-DH72-1...id=1447687735&sr=8-3-fkmr0&keywords=g752+980m $2300 if you subtract $400 for 24gb ram and 256gb ssd. 6700hq, 8gb ddr4, 980 4GB. almost extra $600 for gync, bulkier and less battery life....

So how is the alienware midrange or casual with equal specs...just because it doesnt have g sync...

 

Yes I did say the 6820hk is better than the 4930mx, and 16gb ddr4 ram is better than 16gb ddr3 ram.

How is the AW17 R1 better that the 17 R3 what are you smoking?

17 R3 - better screen, better battery life, better CPU, better RAM, thunderbolt support, slimmer design and less weight, amplifier port.

17 R1 - upgradable components with possible compatability issues. 3D screen but that is getting phased out be VR.

Spend $1200 to upgrade R1 cpu to less performance than R3 and upgrade to 980M. vs $1750 for brand new laptop with all of the above advantages. Upgradable components currently make no sense in the mobile platform unless you are talking about the clevos with desktop chipsets then I could see advantage from a cpu standpoint but GPU is still outrageously expensive might as well use graphics amplifier. Even when disregarding the cost to upgrade you still will never have the advantages to the 17 R3 listed above, so please still tell me what is better about the R1....

 

No, if this was the rationale, this was a HUGE blunder. No-one buys these things for portability or battery life.

 

I don't even know where to begin with your walls of text, but let us set a few things straight here:

1. The BGA CPUs have locked TDP at 47W that CANNOT even hold turbo clock speeds. I cannot stress enough how lame this is. I had an "unlocked" 4980HQ in the Alienware 17 R2, and it never hit advertised clock speed, and forget overclocking. It never worked. It cannot be corrected because the BIOS is locked down with SecureFlash. Same deal for AW 17 R3/15 R2

2. The screen is subjectively "nicer". The AW17 R2 I had is a "TrueLife Touch IPS" display but here is the kicker.... you will DEFINITELY notices yellows around the edges of the screen on a dark background. They are pronounced and incredibly annoying. No such problems on the AW 17 R1 and previous displays due to using TN technology, and they still had fantastic color and viewing angles. Guarantee the issue persists in new models.

3. Heat. I have never had my M17x R3, M17x R4, AW17 R1, M18x R2, or AW18 hit anywhere near 90 degrees. I was watching a movie and found the CPU temp to go up to 92 degrees and GPU at 70. For watching a MOVIE. Your board will be dead soon, and everything is soldered. Guess what that means. Dead GPU? Replace the whole board. Dead CPU? Replace the whole board.

4. The "slimness" is not slim at all. AW17 R2 is the same chassis as the R3, and it is CHUNKY. Not as chunky as they used to be, but still stupidly chunky and the temps are still absolutely miserable.

I've owned several Alienwares, and they have progressively gotten worse and worse over time. That much is fact.

 

I almost took time to type out a response, but then realized that I'm better off doing the same thing most others are doing - not wasting my time. You clearly don't understand that what was gained in the new models doesn't compensate for what was given up.

 

I too did not want to waste time in a response but felt it had to be done for the good of all people on this forum.

 

I am certain people care to buy gaming laptops for portability and battery life are you kidding. As I said Alienware is no longer catering to EXTREME enthusiast who wish to have SLI and desktop cpu chips in a laptop that is what a desktop is for.....if you do not care about portability or battery life and it is going to sit on your desk its entire life get a desktop.....for the other people who have a desktop and a laptop it makes perfect sense with the new alienware line. What about when you want to go to a LAN party or have a trip and need to watch movies on a plane or airport? You need the battery life and portability.

 

1. My 6700HQ has no issues holding turbo clock speeds and running prime95 my TDP has exceeded 50W so I know this is not true. The case is different for the 4980HQ that CPU is a hothead regardless of the laptop which would explain thermal throttling. The bios on the 17 R3 / 15 R2 is not the same as as the previous gens, no problem with fan tables and there is OC settings in the bios or use intel XTU.

2. You can either get a screen from LG or Samsung with the 17 R3 and 15 R2, each screen exhibites different properties its a lottery. Dont try to tell me TN panels are better than IPS panels its simply not true(granted there are bad IPS panels out there).

3. Something was wrong with you system bios / revision or thermal paste application. Temps should never be that high watching a movie and you had a problem with your system(not running how it was designed) which is a warranty issue not a problem with ALL new alienwares. I have not had a CPU or GPU fail on me in a laptop or desktop in MANY MANY years doesnt mean it wont happen but unlikely.

4. The slimness is inbetween the GS70 msi ghost and the asus G751 or GT72 msi. A happy medium the GS70 runs way hotter overheating than the AW due to slimness.

 

M18x is a perfectly portable machine that gets 7-8 hours of battery life on iGPU and no alienfx. It also doesn't turn into a toaster oven when I need power and would stomp all over anything Alienware offers today sans the GTX 980M SLI Alienware 18. And this is a 3-4 year old machine. I also don't have to worry about it bricking if god forbid I undervolt 1mV too far past what is considered a stable value, or use a screwdriver to swap a new battery in. There are far far far more features than just performance that were better on old Alienwares, including better build quality (aluminum M18x vs plastic models now), more ports, more tuner friendly BIOS, etc. I don't think your Alienware 17 R3 can fit 3 standard 2.5MM drives, a mSATA drive, and two more 2 more 2.5" HDDs or more mSATAs if you pull the DVD drive out.

Also, your panel being IPS does not automatically mean better. Yes it may be brighter with better viewing angles, but the old TN panels did have faster response time and covered more of the color space. Viewing angles don't even matter if you're using a laptop normally....you're looking right at the screen head on.

Anyway, there is no sense in continuing to argue with you or anybody else that buys into the new Alienwares. You've joined the the rest of the consumer grade "gaming" disposable laptop junk, and if that keeps you happy, so be it. Most of us are irritated because we expect more from what used to be an enthusiast brand.

 

I agree in no sense disputing this, to each his own. If a 15" laptop can barely fit on an airport pull out tray no way the M18x is fitting. I have the 15 R2 with 1 x 2.5mm and 2 x M.2 slots (1 capable of pcie speeds of 2000mb/s+). SSDs are phasing out HDD so why would you any longer need 3 x 2.5mm bays in a LAPTOP. Hook up an external for more storage or use a desktop. People have to remember there is a line which separates desktops from laptops it seems people looks sight of this. Just get a decent laptop for otg gaming and a desktop for at home.....seriously a loaded AW 18 is over 3,000 dollars...buy a 1500$ laptop and use the other $1500 to build a beast desktop which will outperform the AW 18.

 

My argument would be that NO other gaming laptop has an hdmi in, like the GOAT Alienware 18. For me, this is the gamechanger..this gives you a portable TV wherever you go and I can hook my gaming consoles to them. Show me another gaming laptop that has this feature and I might change my mind.

 

READ... He Understood this finally. But too late ^^^ Hope several old/new potential buyer's of Aw laptops see this before it is too late...
Is there anyone in the thread that can test its new AW laptop with latest HK BGA processor and match my Wprime 1024 score? Everything new is not the same as it is better... Rather the opposite some times. @Tony V You said; The 6820hk is better than the 4930mx. Prove this. You remember HK BGA can overclock ? My " old" Haswell processor is now three years old. Then it should be easy match with a new OC'd high end Hk BGA. Come with some Wprime 1024 results. Everyone has the opportunity to compare.
http://hwbot.org/submission/3005419_papusan_wprime___1024m_core_i7_4930mx_2min_47sec_460ms

 

All of what the above persons expierience was due to driver related issues with windows 10, and fixed with later drivers apart from the strange noise. I agree alienware should have worked more closely with the hardware manufactures and microsoft to fix driver bugs but they where on a deadline to release a product and not enough time. Its true my 15 R2 had the above issues and was fixed with driver updates. Unfortunately there is not enough benchmarks for the 6820hk with wprime score. If you look at below though @ 3.9GHz the XTu score is over 200 points higher with same cinebench. It was already proven in forum the 6820hk can hit 4ghz no problem on the alienware.

 

This is what we wanted Dell / Alienware to do:



100Hz G-Sync Potential?

Instead, Sager, MSI, Asus are eating their lunch.

RIP Alienware.

 

You can just forget Cinebench 11.5 score at similar level with the new modern CrApple thin Awbooks + Oc'd i7-6820BGA. The Cinebench 11.5 test is run on a Asus ROG Watercooled laptop. Maybe someone would like to test with their new Awbooks? And Xtu bench provides benefit if you use faster and newer memory technology. Wprime 32M/1024M is a more suitable test. Newer Aw laptops aka AWbooks is now left behind in terms of high end and performance. Even Asus and MSI are far ahead now, LOL. Awbooks must compete with eMachine and Acer Predator now. Acer Predator have even G-sync but not the newest AWbook . More appropriate I think. Nice... Next year maybe with even a slimmer design ? More like Razerbooks ? Yeees.

 

Where is the HDMI in tho? Alienware 18 still goat.

 

Full goat lol, haven't heard that one before.

Anyhow, but seriously though, isn't this new offering from Sager awesome?

Desktop CPU (6700k!)

Desktop GPU (GTX 980!)

Not one but two M.2 drives.

Upwards of 64GB of 2400MHz memory.

A G-Sync panel with 100MHz overclocking potential.

All for of the above for right around $3k.

I don't know about you but I would much much rather pay the difference between 980M SLI upgrade ($1800-1900) and $3k for the G-Sync panel, unlocked 6700k, M.2 drives (3GB read and write!) and all of that desktop 980 power on one GPU (reduce SLI issues).

Yeah and the fact that the thermals are identical means that the OC potential should be around 15k GPU Firestrike Normal around 1450MHz core:

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/nvidia_geforce_gtx_970_and_980_reference_review,28.html

I'm seriously saving up now, just in case I should find myself in need of mobility again in the coming years.

The awesome news is that Sager will probably release a 2016-2017 successor to this model with desktop Pascal....Now that is something to REALLY be excited about.

If anyone from Sager is reading this, THANK YOU, it seems that at least there are some enthusiasts among some of the manufacturers who have some balls.

 

If you haven't seen it already, have a look at my in-process review of Eurocom's version of this amazing beast. Sager's version is locked down and crippled by a worthless stock Clevo BIOS and Eurocom sponsored @Prema to unlock everything there is to be unlocked. If you want to see what it is capable of rather than taking some paid pinhead reviewer's word for it, my 4.7-4.8GHz CPU overclocks and extreme GPU overclocking is on page #5, but don't skip the rest because you'll miss some of the details about why it's so awesome.

EUROCOM SKY X9 Desktop Laptop ÜberBook | Prema Mod

Clevo/Sager BIOS have basically nothing except the most basic drive configuration and Secure Boot options.

If you have a EUROCOM SKY X9, you will find awesomeness abounding with menus like these...
[parsehtml]<iframe src="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Bwdqi25LDwZyOWJqUml1NGQwRDQ/preview" width="1280" height="720"></iframe>[/parsehtml]Note: Please don't assume any settings shown here are optimized. They are only photos of some Sky X9 unlocked BIOS screens and some of the settings shown are not optimal at all. One or two of them may have been removed from the RC1 or RTM version, as the beta versions I have been testing with Prema had some potentially "dangerous" settings that have been removed to protect people (and the machine) from damage.

 

Damn, I didn't know Clevo offered an alternative, and yes 4K display?! This thing is beast, I like your blog by the way.

 

Thanks for the compliment, Brother @vulcan78

 

the only reason i took my time to reply here is after reading ur comment.im not looking for insane 4k gaming.even desktop gtx 980 with sli cannot run games on extreme ultra settings with 4k.but u need to be aware that desktop gtx 980 sli is good enough for 4k gaming,just things like msaa will be a big problem,but most other settings can be maxed out.
most importanttly witcher 3 is not a very well optimised game and does not have all that great wow effect graphics to justify its horrible framerate.
take for example star wars battlefront.i can play star wars battlefront on ultra settings on my single gtx mobile 980m at 60fps and star wars is well optimised and has the best near photorealistic visuals to date,which everyone thought would just be cutscenes and not actual gameplay.i can also play star wars at 4k 30 fps on my 980m with everything on ultra inlcuding msaa.
now to justify my point u dont have to tell low to medium settings @4k about the mobile 980m in sli.coz that is very degrading.if u have knowledge about the 980m in sli,first of all u have to know it beats the single desktop gtx 980 by far and it also slightly beats a single titan x by a few frames or sometimes same frame rate.now many people would invest in a single titan x for 4k gaming.
u need to know that the 980m is more than good enough for 4k gaming except for some unoptimised or in some cases well optimised but very demanding titles.as of 2015 it can run most games at 4k resolutions and very good frame rate.lets take some examples.
1.it can run star wars battlefront(by far the most realistic looking game) at 4k 60fps constant,everything on ultra inlcuding msaa
2.it can run gta 5 on all the most important settings maxed out,except 3 settings like,grass quality (from ultra to very high),soft shadows(sharp instead of nvidia pcss),msaa off.
if u see for urself gta 5 looks very good or good enough with fxaa on instead of msaa.
rest all settings including the advanced graphics tab is maxed.
now with these settings i tested at my friends house with msaa off i get 50 to 60 fps at 4k,and with msaa 2x and nvidia txaa on i get 45 to 60 fps,which means it is still very playable and enjoyable.

the minimum requirement for any gamer is to play at 30 fps but most pc gamers who love graphics like 60 fps.

but the thing is the 980m sli can run most games at high to ultra at 4k,except some few very demanding titles.
already the single 980m can run at 4k medium to high to ultra at 30fps most of the time.
please without testing this moster of a mobile gpu dont degrade it by saying low to medium settings at 4k.
u r just under estimnating the power of this sli gpu. u need to remember that as of 2015 i was able to run somany games at 4k on an external monitor with everything high or ultra and only,msaa levels turned down