Please help me!

So I'm buying an alienware m11x, and I really want it to perform well for gaming and other media.
I am completely useless when it comes to computers, and I couldn't tell you the difference between a processor and a video card.
So here's the specs for the one i'm getting, and I want to know if there's any upgrades that you would recommend, and where I can buy them.
I just want the fastest, best looking laptop possible.
Thanks in advance!

MODEL Alienware M11X
BUNDLE SKU 473821
SCREEN SIZE 11.6in LED W/ Webcam
PROCESSOR Intel Core 2 Duo SU7300 1.3GHz
MEMORY 4GB RAM
VIDEO CARD NVIDIA GeForece GT335M
HARD DRIVE 500 GB
OPTICAL DRIVES External DVD-RW
INTERNET CONNECTIVITY NIC, Wireless
SOUND CARD Integrated
SPEAKERS Integrated
OPERATING SYSTEM MS Windows 7 Professional
PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE Not Included
VIRUS SOFTWARE Norton 360 All-In-One Security

 

Listin the Rams and VGA are all the same thing
the only thing u can change before buying it from dell is the Processor and making it an i5 or i7 huge diffrence from the C2D i think ;p
and as for the harddrive you can always get an SSD but it cost alot like 500 or 600 bucks now >.<" and there is no harm of getting 8GB ram ?
and for Anti virus i Recommend NOD 32

 

So where could I buy these?
Could someone give me the listings for these particular additions?

 

and could you give me the specific name of the solid state and the memory upgrades that you reccomend?

 

when you go in the alienware site you can adjust the procceser to an i7 there is alot of m11x r2 i7 users here they can tell you alot for the 8gb ram do not get it from dell it's to expansive i think the top good rams are from crucil and kingstone i think ;p The SSD i'v been reading alot of good on Crucil SSD and samsung and intel those are like the top SSD
but dont forget if u want to get an SSD u should know that your limited on storage
check out
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Amazon.com: Online Shopping for Electronics, Apparel, Computers, Books, DVDs & more
they got got prices
am sure other people here can direct you to a better choosen rams and SSD

 

--If you're going to get 8gb of ram from a store, don't buy the M11x with 4gb but instead with the cheapest amount possible, since the ram it comes with will be replaced by what you purchase.

--That said, don't bother getting 8gb of ram anyway because there is a 100% chance it will have absolutely 0% of a performance increase with gaming. Your cpu will be the bottleneck, followed by gpu; in other words, upgrading ram to 8gb will not help. It will also *not* make day to day use of the laptop faster.

--There's no harm in getting 8gb of ram as Salue said, except that you're paying a couple hundred bucks to see no difference in performance. If money is meaningless, go for it, I guess.

If you want the fastest laptop possible as you say, you want to go with the M11x r2 with Core I7 and also a SSD as Salue suggested.

 

So won't get the 8gb ram, but i should get a solid state drive and an I7 processor?

What specific brand/model of the drive and processor should I get?

 

If you are just an average user the specs you listed should be fine. You will only see marginally better performance upgrading too the i5/i7, an ssd or 8 gigs of ram. Either of the 3 will give your laptop a boost but in my opinion are not really worth the cost unless you absolutely must have the best available. Go with the core 2 duo and make sure you get 4 gigs of ram. Hard drive choice is up to you. The base 160gb is a little small but should be fine if you have an external. You listed 500 which should be fine either way. I use 250 with an external 500 which works fine for me.

 

JerseyFresh609 is correct. You're getting a lot of good information about laptop configurations you may not need.

Your configuration is fine.

The M11xR1 SU7300 'over-clocked' CPU is powerful enough for most every day tasks.

Dell makes their money on the extras and upgrades. Would you like fries with that?

OK, knowing this, you have ordered an external DVD. This is good as you'll need one, but by paying for it through Dell you may be paying top dollar.

Most computer stores/electronic shops or on-line sites do sell external USB connected DVD drives and 'may' be selling them at competitive prices compared to Dell. This depends on the country you're in and availability or course.

Advance information for consideration


CPU

M11xR1 dual core with NO hyper-threading
M11xR2 i3, i5 or i7 dual core with hyper-threading and turbo boost (excluding i3)

All these CPU can be over-clocked, which boosts the CPU performance.

Hyper-threading can add about 10% more performance to each core when used.

GPU

The M11xR1 which you have selected does have the 'drawback/benefit' of having a hybrid graphics set.
This means it has two graphics processing units (GPU) and you can manually switch between them.
The Intel GPU uses less power and is not designed for gaming. The Nvidia GPU is a powerful gaming GPU.

If you do chase the rainbow of upgrading the M11xR1 GPU at a later date, the path is not always rosy.
With the M11xR1 you can not download directly from Nvidia and have driver sets manually switch.

The M11xR2 uses the nvidia Optimus graphics set to bind both Intel and Nvidia GPUs and switches automatically without you having to press a button like the M11xR1. The upgrade path for the M11xR2 GPU optimus driver set is a little less rocky.
With the M11xR2, you can download directly from Nvidia and install the GPU driver set and it will work with a few configuration modifications.

The GPU driver set you get with the M11xR1 is good enough for 'most' of your needs and doesn't require continually upgrades, but you may be stuck in a time capsule for the life of your M11xR1 without going down the upgrade path.
Microsoft Windows Update does attempt to sucker you into installing optional upgrades for the Intel GPU, which you CAN NOT install!.

 

Don't get Norton.

 

If you do upgrade to the I series processor, do not get the i7. Tests have shown that the i7 vs the i5 in the M11x will have little or no increases in performance.

 

Blab Really no difference between the i7 an i5 ? there is two i7's for the M11x last time i was on dell site i think there will be a difference really >.<"
and bro the guy who wants to buy i have an R1 i'v played all my games Mw2 Black ops need for speed hot pursit Streefighter starcraft II the dwon side i see in the R1 is no VGA update from dell which we need ALOT >.<"
but am sure if u upgrade from C2D to an I5 is a huge improvement but if what blab is saying the I7 wont make difference

but like i said there is 2 I7's on dell site as i rember am sure it will make a diffrence than the I5
and for the RAM like the other Guy said about the 8GB true to be said on that side but i ahve been playing Starcraft II and i do a Multi-Tasking while gaming alot and my ram Sometimes goes to 3gb and above XD am upgrading to 6gb ram am gona say this i have C2D i have played every game i have except BC 2 gona test it today ;p

and since your getting M11x why dont u check out
http://store.steampowered.com/
cheap cheap prices am buying BC2 today inshallah *in gods well *

 

sticking to the question at hand, like you i am also a relative fledgling and wanted the same thing you wanted: a cool laptop that's fast and can handle whatever i dish out in terms of games, media, and productivity. read many things here and there and finally settled on some things that i believe to be what i wanted. i can't tell you definitively what is the best because i'm not a pro, but i can give myself as an example and tell you what i did and maybe you can learn from my experience and decide on things for yourself.

in choosing the specs, i went with an i5 - it's better than the i3 because of turbo boost and i don't really need an i7 because the i5 will handle most of what i do with relative ease.

went with 4 gb of ram because that was the option at the time, but i really wanted 8 gb because i do a lot of multitasking and messing around with cs4 but i knew that i could get the ram on my own cheaper; so i did. waited for pre-black friday and got a set of 4 gb g.skill ddr3 1333 mhz ram from newegg for roughly $80. many people in this forum say that the m11x wont even see the 1333 but i contacted g.skill and they told me that the system supports it so i got it. installed myself after watching the alienware breakdown video on youtube.

HDD: got the cheapest dell had at the time, again dell sells stuff at a ridiculous markup. bought a western digital scorpio black 7200 rpm 250 gb for $50 at newegg. it has very good reviews and was pretty satisfied with it till i discovered the benefits of a ssd and of course i wanted more. was going to get vertex 2 because of the sandforce controller, but after more reading went with an intel x25-m 120 gb due to reliability and random writes. a big factor was also price. was able to take advantage of another newegg sales and got it for $165 with a newegg gift card for $100 which is like getting it for $65 to me. installed myself and its great. noticeable improvement in os speeds in terms of startup and shutdown, installation of regular programs are quick, laptop runs much cooler, and overall the system is more responsive. bought an external hdd case from mwave for $0 using member coupon and now the scorpio black is my portable hdd for storing sensitive files. very happy camper.

Had to have bluetooth because i like the option of transferring files from my htc aria wirelessly. also use my jawbone icon to listen to music without the hassle of wires. got a microsoft bluetooth mouse m5000 ($15 meritline.com) but the ergonomics was horrible and the response lag irritated the crap out of me so i got a logitech anywhere mouse and i love it. ill sit in bed and it works on my sheets, i was in vegas recently and the hotel room had glass table tops and my mouse was able to work flawlessly - can't do that with an ordinary mouse. got it at staples for $30.

got wifi because i hate wires. am thinkin that i should have upgraded to the better option because people have been commenting on the better range and signal. hmm, oh wells.

got soft black and am happy with choice because it looks sleek, low key, aggressive, and feels good the touch. i like the fact that it has some grip so i dont drop my expensive investment.

the rest of the m11x is pretty standard and my total out the door was roughly $750 thanks to dell epp and boeing discount. bought kaspersky at frys for $0 after rebate for 3 user license. normally i use microsoft security essentials but i like the extra control kaspersky provides. installed microsoft office 2010 - got that free because a buddy of mine had a volume license. installed cs4 of course, and a couple of games like rise of nations, and chessmaster grandmaster edition. also used poweriso since the m11x has no optical drive. installed winrar, revo uninstaller, ccleaner, vlc, teracopy, dvix - all free. installed the intel ssd toolbox and followed the ssd optimization guides found in this forum (although someone just referred a new one to me and i am just now digesting the info - friggin hundreds of posts to go thru)

decided to get a dvdr since it was cheap and for just in case im on the road and need to make a cd. bought the 8x asus external dvdr from newegg for $15. bought a swissgear laptop backpack and its friggin awesome, so many pockets and the laptop compartment is heavily lined to protect the m11x. got it for $0 after rebate from staples.

wanted a nice cooling fan so i decided to go with a macally tunefan because it is small and light, has decent built-in speakers and subwoofer, extra usb ports, and a really cool but useless blue neon light to match my m11x color scheme. it can also play ipods and mp3s via auxiliary so the thing is nearly a replicator in my book. very cool. $70 free shipping from j&r.com. the m11x only has 3 usb ports so i bought a usb hub from mwave for $0 with membership coupon. now the only thing left is perhaps an antiglare screen protector, possibly mwave for $5. not sure about the quality and its currently out of stock so we'll see. bought a 16 gb usb thumbdrive from newegg (ocz rally 2) for $5 and it helps me move around files from my desktop at work and home to my m11x.

so that in a nutshell is my m11x purchase experience - hope it provides some insight.

 

So I posted a thread a few days ago, and I got great advice about what to get for my new m11x. It was suggested that I got an i5 or i7 processor, and a solid state drive.

I have only a very vague idea as to what these things do, but i've been told they're important.

That said, I don't know exactly where to get these, and what brand/model I should get.

Can someone PLEASE suggest a specific solid state drive and i5 or i7 processor.

Thanks again

 

well for starters, you can go to alienware.com and look in their laptop section and get an idea for the prices on the m11x. It is suggested that you order your purchase over the phone, usually you can haggle a bit with the sales rep

Assuming you are willing to go for the best, you can get the best edition of the m11x, the r2 which you can get either the intel Core i5 520 or the Intel core i7 640. Both of these are fantastic processors and the i7 has a bit higher cash size and can run at a faster speed. If money is no factor, heck go for the i7 640. You have the ability to go through the entire construction of the m11x and choose the parts you want. If you really want the bleeding edge of ultra portable computing, go for the i7 640 processor, 8 gb RAM, and especially an SSD or solid state disk. An ssd is pretty much the ferrari of hard drives. I am rocking an 80gb intel x25m ssd, but you will probably want one with a bit more storage. I do recommend however that you DO NOT get the ssd offered when you customize the laptop. Get the regular hard drive then just buy an ssd from Fry's or best buy or newegg. If I had the cash, I would go for:
Intel core i7 640
OCZ Vertex 2 120 GB SSD
8gb RAM

An SSD is pretty much the ferrari of hard drives, it has no moving parts, super efficient, super powerful, and super quiet.
So feel free to go to their site and check out the specs. The parts above are what I recommend. I didn't have a huge budget so I sprung for a less expensive m11x

 

Well as far as your choices for a processor goes, Alienware M11X Revision 2 (R2) is made with either an I5 or an I7. Whether there is an actual tangible difference between the power and battery life of an I5 vs I7 is debatable, so you can get either when you are ordering your machine.

As far as the SSD goes, there is a 256GB Samsung SSD available directly from Alienware if you dont mind the price tag. If you dont go with the Alienware option, your best place to look for SSDs would probably be newegg.com, they have a large selection and good prices. When shopping for an SSD, consider the capacity of the drive. Obviously, the larger the capacity the more things you can store but the price is also higher. And also make sure that the drive has an Sandforce controller, these are newer and faster. OCZ Agility 2 or OCZ Vertex 2 are some good starting points.

Good luck with your purchase.

 

i have a OCZ vertex2 SSD in my desktop and its smoking fast!

 

I am not buying directly from dell, so customization directly from dell is not an option.

 

You can only customize the processor with Dell.

 

so If I buy this computer, I'm stuck with this horrible processor?
No way to replace it?

 

You're stuck with whatever processor comes with it.

 

What's so horrible about it?

 

Well, I was going to use it for relatively demanding gaming.
Is there no way at all I can upgrade, modify, or add to it so that it will run better?
And is replacing/upgrading the processor technically impossible, or just frowned upon?

 

You dont need a huge processor to game demanding games. I dont see why it wouldn't be possible, but the m11x might be different then most, someone will need to confirm this.

 

You can change the HD and memory, but that's basically it (you can add a WWAN card as well, and probably a bluetooth module too, if one isn't already included in your configuration). But you can't change the CPU because it's soldered onto the motherboard.

 

I'd go with the i5 or i7 processor if I were you. I have two computers that I use, the M11x for gaming and movies, and the new Mac Air 11" for work. The Mac Air is amazingly light, and has a Core2 1.4Ghz CPU. The M11x feels like a bulky beast compared to it, but they are designed for different purposes. I've tried some demanding 1080p videos and the Air struggles with them, while the i7 I have in my M11x flys. (These are anime mkvs with subtitles, and Im playing both in Win7)

SSDs in both. Id say the SSD is a must have if you want speed, and quietness.