Finally Dell confirms M11x refresh!

while optimus would be nice, it would be just as cool to have an alien command center function that lets me turn on the gpu for specific programs that i want to run, then automatically disable itself when i get back to the desktop and do some non gaming stuff.

for me, that'd be more appealing to me, as now i just leave it in high power mode except in emergencies (i'm a scatterbrain, and would send my m11x back to dell if i tried gaming with integrated graphics turned on, thinking it was broken)

 

i just wanted to say to everyone who wants a core i7. to go and look at the alienware m15x or m17x. because this machine isnt your one stop for all your gaming needs. as said before in many different threads, this laptop is supposed to be a gaming on the go system so you can game while you travel or arent at your main gaming system be it a console or some other rig.

also, putting a core i7 thats not ULV would probably push the price of the m11x up to where the stock m15x is right now, which would mean both that their products are competing with each other; and if they push the price they cant boast about the super low price of the m11x. The m11x is so valued because of the price to power ratio. your not paying too much for a really great system that can play almost every game on decent settings on the go. theres not really another system that can fill that gap.

just my 2 cents on the topic of corei7s lol. but i think a core i3 or i5 would be nice. just for better optimization.

 

A non-ULV Core i5 with great battery life is entirely possible at $1000. I doubt Dell will do it, however.

 

dell over prices alot of things. its not new. but at least they dont have the apple tax. lol

 

Dell only overprices stuff because they do 20% coupons like every other week.

Funny that the guy in the video has a Lenovo lanyard.

 

lol at engadget. they finally posted an article about the video with the dell representative. took them long enough haha.

 

DO NOT waste your cash on this refresh hold out till Q1 2011 Huron River and sandy bridge is going to be an incredible leap forward. 20% sometimes even more performance gains on the fastest core i7 WHILE adding 20% more battery life, yes that correct adding more power but somehow also adding more battery life. That means if you are pulling 8 hours of battery life on your m11x after the new platform and new sandybridge cpu's you'll now be pulling 9.6 hours or if you are pulling 6.5 hours you will get 7.8 hours now. The turbo boost is greatly improved too. It can turbo boost even past its designated limit for a short period to give a kick in the pants to a long execution action as long as the temps are ok it will go even higher then its max turbo boost frequency. If you can only hold off for 7-8 months you can have the insanely best m11x one that will last you years to come.

PS the Q1 2011 Huron river platform refresh will also most likely include a DX 11 graphics card that is faster then the 335m too. Possible auto switching nvidia optimus that every 1 loves too.

 

lol wish i could wait but i already pulled the trigger. im hoping the refreshes come out before my 21 days is over though. they still havent shipped and shouldnt for at least another week so i think i'll be okay. i think i'd like to get the new processors but id be okay with the one i already have. no time to wait for 7 to 8 months!! I NEED MASS EFFECT NOW

 

I'm waiting till Q1 CeBIT 2012. Sandy bridge will be old tech by then!

 

OKAY! so all of you wondering about the new price range. so i showed the dell sales agent the video and she told me that she wasnt allowed to talk about it. and so i asked her about the price changes and she said she'd check. soo i waitedd for quite a while and then she came back and told me "we can do a core i upgrade for approximately $100 from standard to core i3, $200 to core i5 and around $250 to core i7"

many people will totally jump on it and pay the 250 for the full upgrade. but as im on a student budget 100 is pushing it for the same performance. and so im probably gonna stick to my yummy su4100. lol so what are your guys's opinions on the pricing. a little high in my opinion

 

well today i talked to another "sales rep" as the new engadget article is out.

i asked the lady about the new core i series update. and she said she couldnt comment on it. and so i decided to ask her how much the upgrades would cost when it came out and she said "we can do a core i upgrade for approximately $100 from standard to core i3, $200 to core i5 and around $250 to core i7"

so i already posted this info on the other thread about the refresh but what do you guys say now? is it worth it for the upgrade if the core i3 is just going to give the same performance? it means the only real upgrades are core i5 and i7 and those are set at 200 and 250. is it worth it?

 

Too early to speculate, but the $100 price increase is a 10%+ increase. May or may not be worth it, depends on how much a performance differance there is. At this point we don't know what CPU will be used and how it will perform as well as how the battery life is going to be affected.

I'm definately staying with mine as I think battery life may take a hit. I just got the R2 for the performance, M11x for the portibility and travel.

 

agreed! not enough people understand this. people keep thinking that a core i series processor will make this like the god of all gaming machines lol.

 

the new arrandale CULV/ULV series FAIL

 

LOL

I'm waiting for m13.37x-R1. It will leave m11x-r2 and faizian cores in the dust.

 

A little early to say that but it seems that from the few benckmarks we have seen that the price is not justified.

 

Perhaps like the MASSIVE upgrade from the su4100 to the su7300 at $100?! So glad I didn't waste my money there!

 

If I had purchased my M11x new I definitely would have not done that upgrade.

 

just to be clear, sale representatives don't have the access to company's development or what will be released. They are just introducing the available products and of course they will surely say no cause they don't have any idea of it. if you really wanted to know, ask the managers or the CEO(ehehe).

 

Hopefully the upgrade does not cost an arm and a leg,if it's reasonable then the CPU upgrade will be worth it.

 

will alienware get a gpu upgrade?

 

can anybody advise me if it is possible to pay for the upgrade mobo/cpu and send my current m11x to be upgraded ??

 

no one knows yet and no information leaked. so far i can think of 3 possibilities.

1. they will stick with NVIDIA or the same GPU
2.They will move to ATI because of DX11 because games are now developing with tesselation or in short DX11(i think i saw one game with tesselation in youtube)
3. There is possibility too they will put Fermi(NVIDIA announced last month) but some ppl doubt it because of power hunger and i can't blame them because its true.

but one thing they don't know yet is whether the new laptop GPU fermi may not as power hungry as they think to be(and its a new GPU development not the crap GT 480/470) and no laptop has one yet so far and i think it will be a good opportunity for alienware to be the 1st one. Hopefully.

 

if you are within your 21 day return policy window you can return it, there is a 15% restocking fee bit i've heard it can be waived if you reorder another dell or alienware system

 

ahaha, they are getting smart so ppl won't abuse the return policy system.

 

how can i get a free upgrade?

 

The point is that the performance increase is much smaller than the price increase looks to be.

 

how sure are you? did they give the price? did they release it already? you are just assuming without the real knowledge of it.

besides its not all the same. as they said, you are about to choose i3,i5,i7 so if you think the i7 is not much as i3 then choose i3 for cheaper price. no one is forcing you to buy the most expensive one. if we can afford it, price will no longer be a matter, we want performance even it gives only 5-10% as long as it gives.

 

Someone's rep (seriously rofl...) tossed around some prices. I think the guy said something like $250 for i7-ulv upgrade.

 

I am only guessing that it is going to cost more than it is worth but based on what we have seen from computer manufacturers in the past I would argue that it is a pretty good guess.

 

Bought mine 2.5 weeks ago. Oh well. Not really that worried about it. I do not expect this to play every game maxed out. This is why I have a desktop

Seriously though: For all you people worried about max/high end gaming performance. Why are you looking at an M11x?

 

Ahah, that would be really expensive. Knowing that the i7s are priced ~300$.

But anyway, we'll see!

 

you GUESS!? i highly doubt you would know anything about the truth.

if you say you have seen from other computer manufacturer in the past. well, bad new for you. not all manufacturer had the same way of manufacturing it. price maybe higher or not or even just a slight increase and you can't tell the future. you can't even predict what will the performance will be. no company were expecting an m11x during the CES 2010 and yet they make it beyond what was expected.

and don't be like those on other threads says "not worthy of waiting just buy the m11x and the release won't be so soon" and oh, they were put to shame.

if i were there i would say " buy it if u really need it now but if can wait for confirmation of the rumor then wait for it"

i don't guess in life because it gives you lies. i just based everything on reality and truth.

 

You seem to be willing to guess that the price increase is going to be offset by the performance increase but you say my educated guess based on factual data is not valid?

 

So here's what we have

Celeron U3400 - 1.066 GHz (8 x 133 MHz)

Core i3 330UM - 1.200 GHz (9 x 133 MHz)

Core i5 520UM - 1.066 GHz (8 x 133 MHz, Turbo Boost 1.866 GHz)

Core i7 620UM - 1.066 GHz (8 x 133 MHz, Turbo Boost 2.133 GHz)
Core i7 640UM - 1.200 GHz (9 x 133 MHz, Turbo Boost 2.266 GHz)

The Core i3 should have Hyperthreading over the Celeron. You'd increase the BLCK to overclock from 133 MHz on the Core i3 to 166 MHz (1.5 GHz) or to 200 MHz (1.8 GHz). I haven't taken RAM clocks into consideration for this. I'm expecting the Core i3 330UM to replace the SU4100 at the same price point. You'd overclock to get more performance after that.

After that it's Core i5 UM and Core i7 UM options. You'd get Turbo Boost and additional VT support.

 

yes thats what iam saying. i3 = cheaper than i5 and i5 is cheaper than i7. you really need to read my previous post properly and also your own post.

from your post, you said price is higher and performance is slight increase and this is just a guess.

you see the difference now.

 

So what kind of reality and truth can we expect, since you seem to be quite knowledgable. If everyone elses guesses are wrong, I'm assuming you have support for your answers so I'm just interested in hearing it because I'm curious as to what the revison would looke like. I'm honestly asking, and not looking to start and arguement, as some people apparently seem to be trying

Internet fighting/special olympics...

 

But my point is that it is an educated guess. Alienware charged $100 more for the SU7300 over the SU4100 when they are basically the same. Dell, and other companies, often charge for differences in GPU memory (say $50 more for 512MB over 256MB) when the card's bus is only 64 bit.

 

Is a Turbo Boost esentially the same thing as an OC? And surely an i3 at 1.2Ghz wouldn't be as much OC'd than the SU7300 OC'd?

 

Pretty much but it'll also respect the 18W TDP constraints that Intel binned out. You'll get Turbo Boost on AC power or when using Full Performance settings on the battery.

It's up to Alienware. They'd be the ones choosing the BCLKs.

It's a bit strange to see lower clocked Core i5 and Core i7 components compared to the 1.2 GHz Core i3. Overclocking the cheaper processor yields the same performance of the other ones in Turbo Boost. You sacrifice battery life and generate more heat but you don't pay money for it.

It's going to be hard to sell the 1.066 GHz Core i5 and Core i7 processors when you can overclock. VT/VT-d and NX bit on the more expensive processors are of little value on a gaming ultraportable notebook.

 

Thanks Eidorian, your posts are very informative.

Do you know if these processors can be overclocked beyond their Turbo Boost caps?

For those that don't know, Tom's Hardware researched Intel Turbo Boost, and concluded that manual overclocking those very processors is still superior (although they didn't experiment with ULV):

Experiment: Does Intel?s Turbo Boost Trump Overclocking? : Introduction

I was thinking of going for the i7-620UM, would the i5-520UM be able to output the same?

 

I haven't been able to replicate Turbo Boost overlocking on my Core i5 750 and P55M-UD2. Turbo Boost will not engage and you'll be limited to the maximum overclocked speed. It won't boost beyond the maximum four core, full load speed into Turbo Boost bins.

It's going to be a new frontier with this ULV processors.

The Core i7-620UM is 267 MHz faster in Turbo Boost and has an additional 1 MB of L3 cache. It's up to you then.

 

Sorry to go over what you've explained already, but I didn't understand what you said here:

You seem to imply that there's some similarities between cheaper and expensive processors. Could you possibly give an example?

Thanks a lot!

 

I know a former sales rep. I probably know more from reading forums, than she did/does from working there.

 

Overclocking the Core i3 UM effectively negates most of the benefits of Turbo Boost on the higher end parts. You'll be generating more heat and draining more power though.

VT/VT-d and the NX bit are the only significant differences after Turbo Boost. It's up to the purchaser if they want to step beyond the more than likely Core i3 330UM stock processor.

 

guesses are not wrong but giving a wrong guess is wrong and become lies.

If you are asking me for revision, you are asking the wrong guy. ask the CEO of alienware and you would know it.

of course, we are talking here about the new i3,i5, and i7. we all know i3 is cheaper than i5 and i5 is faster than i3 and this is real not a guess.

he guessed a high price with a slight improvement is basically a wrong theory and we don't even know the actual revision yet.

iam not trying to start a argue, iam trying to point out the real thing.

yes, because thats SU4100 and SU7300(P4 to C2D) but the I-core series is different from those two. take note it has turbo boost.

 

Why does anyone listen to anything a rep says??? Listening to a Dell rep speak simply makes me want to amputate my head from my body.

 

Agreed, the sxps13 disapeared from the belgian dell website for weeks, if not months. I expected a new sxps13 to be released before they would give the m11x new cpu's...

Anyway, I have til oktober to decide what kind of alround portbale 13 inch (or 11 inch with a 13 inch chassis size like the m11x :d) i'll get. Or I might aswell wait till sandy bridge and go for the cheap option of a netbook for the time being.

It seems the new m11x won't have such great increased performance anyway, unless you opt for the i7 at a price point where you might aswel get the m15x.

Besides, if the m11x had a decent sturdy not falling apart hinge system and decently 'not popping out' screen I would have ordered one already. I care more about decent build quality than a new cpu line up with minor performance increase.

 

I havent experienced either of those issues with mine. In-fact my macbook has a horrendously squeaky hinge system which doesnt feel up to scratch, but not the m11x. Just because the odd person has had this doesnt mean it has build quality issues. The people who generally come on forums are the ones with broken machines and not the majority who have working and perfect ones.

 

Well to say a "wrong guess" is wrong is to imply that there is a right answer. Without knowing that right answer, you cannot say something is wrong. So until we know exactly whats going on, there is no wrong answer, only a differant guess. My guess is ther performance improvement is not going to be drastic. Even with turbo boost, depending on the CPU, only one core boosts, giving you two threads, which I don't see as much differant than the performance of two cores. With the introduction of turbo boost in the M11x, I can say that I'm 85% sure there will be no overclocking option in the M11x R2. The M15x and M17xR2 only offer OCing options with the extreme CPU. Not to mention with the BSOD issues incured with the M11x R1, I doubt dell is going to want to go through that headache again. Plus we'll have to see how stable the R2 is. Remember with the newer tech, it's not really a refined product, it' is essentially a new product, so my guess is there will likely be some unforseen problems with it, as there are with any new system launch.

Hopefully they give the new CPU proper voltage regulation, otherwise with turbo boost enabled, the R2 will BSOD, which dell will have to recognize since it's not a BIOS OC feature. Which Dell was shady for advertising a product at a specified freq and not covering the specs. Thats one of the biggest disappointments with the R1.