Overwhelmed

Greetings, first time poster here. I've been attempting to ingest as much information about the m11x R2 and R3 since I began lurking these forums a few days ago, but I think I've hit my limit and need to just ask.

Ever since the $350 coupon died I've been trying to build the m11x on the cheap, and I think my bottomline question is this-

How significant is the difference in (gaming) performance between the R2 with the i7/335M and the R3 with an i5/540M? I see from these forums that the R2's i7ULV can, with tweaking, match the benchmarks of the i7 sandy in the R3 test unit, which makes the R2 look very promising (price being a significant factor), but what about dat 540M...?

I think the only demanding task I will be performing on the m11x is gaming, besides that I just want an ultraportable for "every day tasks" and the m11x suits the bill there with the STYLE I demand

 

Check this link to have a clear idea of the performance of processors:

Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

The GT540M is also a better performer to the GT335M, check this link below to get an idea of the gap between the two graphics cards:

Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Just find and compare the respective components. The ranking system should give you a clear idea of just how far apart they are from each other.

Hope this helps. Cheers.

 

Cant really go wrong with either but ever sense the 350$ went bye bye a outlet r2 is a better deal.


And by those benchmarks my overclocked r2 335gt beats the 540gt in 3dmark 06 and vantage which i get 8700 06 score and around 3800 vantage.

Ony way we would know the real performance of the m11x r3 is when people start getting there r3s and post benchmarks of games.

But a overclocked r2 does really well against the r3 and the r2 you can get it really cheap on outlet.

I paid 820shipped for my r2 in sig and just got a 75$ coupon from dell a day ago so i ony paid around 750$ and my friend just paid 783$ for his r2 which is the same as mine but bigger hard drive 500gb.

I was going too get a refund for my r2 when i herd the r3 came out but i be paying 370 too 400 more if i were going too get the r3 with the 350 coupon and for that i didn't even think it was worth it so i kept my r2, And now with out the 350 its really not worth it.

 

If price is your main concern, go with the R2, but if you have some money to burn, go with the R3. Cause if the GT335M OC'd would give you 8k++ on 3DMark06, well the GT540M OC'd is definitely capable of 10k++. I believe this has been done with other laptops that support the 540. As for the ACTUAL performance of the R3, gordesky is right, you'll have to wait until the actual units are shipped and have people actually try and test the machine and OC it to see how far it can go.

Bottomline is if you're all about price, go with the R2 (heck I'd even go as far as to recommend an R1) but if you have some money to spare, get the R3. Note however that the M11x R3 with the top processor costs just as much or even slightly more than a base M14x. Just food for thought.

Cheers.

 

Thanks for the helpful responses, everyone.

Notebookcheck was useful, but did not have benchmark scores for either sandy bridge or arrandale versions of the i7, unfortunately.

Considering I will be placing a SSD in this machine, and 4GB of RAM is all I find to be necessary, I have found these to be my two best options (including tax, free shipping, and available coupons):

Refurbished R2: i7-640UM, 8GB RAM, GT 335M, bluetooth - $820
New R3: i5-2547M, 4GB RAM, GT 540M, bluetooth - $1052

Thus the question is whether or not the the sandy bridge i5, GT 540M, and "brand newness" are worth $232.

Currently... I'm thinking so.

 

Go for the R3 if that's the case..Sandy bridge will also allow you to get a SATA 3 SSD as supposed to a SATA 2. Memory frequency is also increased from 800MHz-1333MHz. Quite a big bump in performance I'd say. Plus 2 USB 3.0 ports.

 

For the ram speed its pretty much not going too make much of a difference real world difference that is. In benchmarks its going too but that's pretty much it.

Its like now on my desktop im force too run my memory at 850mhzs vs 1200mhzs overclock speed and i see no performance lost at all. in benches it was a bit higher but in games and stuff there's no performance lost or increase.

Pretty much why i stayed with this board in my desktop that supports ddr2 instead of going with one that has ddr3 sense pretty much ram speed is just marketing.


But ya for 232$ more i say get the brand new machine if you got the extra money.


But for the 540gt going more than 10k 3dmark 06 i don't think it will sense the cpu is going too hold it back a bit because the cpu isn't going too overclock much pretty much like 100mhzs if that., Half of my 3dmark 06 score was the cpu overclock that i have on my cpu not just the gpu overclock.

will post a 3dmark 06 in couple min with the 335gt at stock.


But ya its best too wait and see when people starts getting instead of saying what it will get now. But it does seem like it wont overclock great sense when you overclock on the m11x sandy bridge everything else gets overclock too like usb pcie and will get unstable. And than throttling will also be a problem like at first on the r2 had at the beginning, And from what i herd throttle stop wont work on r3.


But ya if i was going too buy a m11x and i didn't have a r2 already i probably would've got the r3 and got it when that 350$ coupon was working, Noway i would pay full price for the maxed out r3 now which is around 1500$... Sense when i buy something i like it too have every option just like my r2 almost is maxed.

Just did a 3dmark 06 with stock gpu clocks and got 7301. Think a stock r2 gets like 6700 or 6800. Right now mine is ony at 150mhz fsb. But ya benchmarks mean nothing in real world performance like games. Like my g50vt in sig that will do like 10.7k in 06 but my r2 does better in some games than the g50vt.

 

Two advantages unmentioned thus far in favor of the r3 are direct x11 compatibility and the redesigned hinge as standard. An r2 will need to have the hinge replaced, a minor issue.

It seems likely that at this early stage an r2 will have a slight cpu advantage when fully overclocked, while the r3 has a slightly more powerful gpu. Slight as in 15% or less.

 

I doubt you'll get very far with DirectX 11 on the 540M.

I wouldn't pass judgement on the R3 until we can confirm where else it's throttling. Sandy Bridge is supposed to have a 15-30% clock for clock advantage in Cinebench and yet it's being matched or beaten by the i7, so it throttling there.

 

Yep too me direct x 11 isn't a big deal and the 540 isn't going too be great with it like davy said. Well not max settings i know that.

The real truth will come when it start shipping too everyone that order it and benchmarks shows up.

 

It's still early yet and afaik no modders have an r3 to compare. Time will tell. The r3 is the safe nonfiddly option but at this point I don't find it very compelling. My hope for the r3 was an improved display and it seems to be a wash according to notebookcheck.

 

Gah, such a touch decision. Being able to pull the trigger on an R2 that is so close in power for less money and have it shipped this week instead of in three weeks is so tempting.

 

The point is, if the OP has enough money, he/she should go for the R3. If he/she is more budget-conscious, he/she should go for the R2. Though I highly recommend getting the R3..You stated getting an SSD, SATA 3 will help "future-proof" in a sense that you'd be able to get new SATA 3 SSDs which are pretty significantly faster than SATA 2 SSDs..Plus having a USB 3.0 port will also help future-proof. The truth is, benchmarks wise the R2 and R3 will probably have a very slight difference, slight enough that it won't matter as if you were looking for a "true" gaming notebook, then you wouldn't consider the M11x in the first place..Well the slight difference in RAM freq + GPU + CPU + SATA 3 will all lead to some sort of improvement, not a great improvement, but still an improvement. So if you have the extra cash, get the R3 as it is also the newer model..And you won't ever have to think "maybe I should've gone with the newer model." if you get an R2. IMHO of course.

Cheers.

 

What's the point of SATA3 if the OP is more budget conscious? You're suggesting a SATA3 SSD, an even greater cost further down the line.
It's a good thing the R2 has a low RAM frequency, otherwise they won't overclock well and catch an R3 or two. 1333mhz memory is all show anyway. You will be very hard pressed to find a notable difference. Note that link shows DDR3 1333 running at CL7 timings. On the R3 will likely run at slower CL9 timings.
About USB3, DrGoodvibes is onto something.

It's funny how you say this:

And then say this:

 

The OP said he plans on getting an SSD, how can he possibly be budget conscious? If he were really budget conscious then he wouldn't even think of getting an SSD. And why would you get an older model as supposed to a new 1? The point is if he is willing to accept the price difference, the newer model will still be more future proof as with all technology, technology evolves, and for me, IMO, getting a laptop with the newer ports (SATA 3, USB 3.0, 1333MHz RAM, scam or not it's still "newer" tech) will be a better buy as he/she can always save up and get a better SSD or say a USB 3.0 capable external drive, or get "better" RAM @ 1333MHz as supposed to 800MHz. Of course the difference isn't extremely great, but really, when was the last time tech has made an "extreme" leap lately? It is just a matter of at least being able to save up and get "better" parts in the future.

This is my opinion but it is still up to the OP if he/she wants to save up for parts that are prev. generation. If the OP doesn't mind this, then he/she should go for the R2. It just seems or feels better (for me anyway) so save up and upgrade with parts that are of the latest generation. (SATA 3, USB 3.0, 1333MHz RAM) rather than having to purchase prev. generation hardware when you know you could've gotten the laptop that supports the newer parts.

 

Then why is he trying to build an M11x on the cheap ever since the $350 coupon died?

I never suggested the R2 over the R3 but I never suggested the R3 over the R2 either. Reason being is that I can see this ending in 2 ways: the i5 could be much slower then the R2 i7 because it's throttling or it could similar in speed to the review R3 i7 because that is throttling. Both endings stem from uncertainty. Not enough is known about the i5 to make a decision. It's not as clear cut as the R2 i5 where the difference was "unnoticeable". Here, it's confirmed throttling. To what degree it will affect the R3 i5 is unknown. For all we know, the R2 i7 with Throttlestop can match the i5.

The R2 includes 1333mhz RAM clocked down to 800mhz. Other then that, if the OP is willing to accept being a tester for this untested and unreviewed technology he get all those newer features.

That's a different thread in itself. This thread is about comparing the R2 against the R3, not about justifying why the R3 isn't a extreme leap in technology.

This is my opinion but it is still up to the OP if he/she wants to take a leap of faith: We have no bearing on CPU performance at the moment. At least wait for the user reviews of the i7 so you know the degree of throttling that is occurring. There are no comparisons between the R3 540M and the R2 335M either so we don't know how much faster. That is if throttling doesn't take it down.

 

I have no idea, but the OPs second post is him stating he plans to put an SSD..The board won't be able to make use of the 1333MHz RAM on the R2, I mean wouldn't it be better to know that you're 1333MHz RAM is actually running at 1333 and not 800MHz? If your not suggesting anything, then how are you helping the OP decide which laptop to get? As the thread is him asking about whether he should get an R2 or R3?

Hey if it helps, I'm done posting on this thread, you're making things more complicated than it really is. I've said everything I have to say and it seems like Dave has everything covered anyway.

Good luck choosing your laptop. Cheers

 

The DDR3 1333mhz RAM on the R2 and R3 are the same. 1333mhz is better only if you've run out of tweaking options and want to have a bigger number. I'd much prefer the R2 800mhz RAM speed then 1333mhz as it allows better overclocking. CPU speed >> RAM speed.

You're reading it wrong. I never suggested I'm not suggesting anything. I said I'm against suggesting the R2 or R3 because it we are all uncertain on how it performs. As such, at the last paragraph, I suggested waiting for user reviews.

And you're rushing in. Best do it right and choose the right M11x and not regret it later then fall for the uncertain and hype and do regret it later.