The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Super Quick Unboxing of the Alienware 13

    Discussion in 'Alienware M11x' started by TheSandman2236, Dec 8, 2014.

  1. TheSandman2236

    TheSandman2236 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    91
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    116
    Trophy Points:
    56
    It's here!

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]


    Please send me any requests for video or pictures -- i'll do my best. I'm at work right now so I couldn't take a ton of time with the pictures like I did before.
     
    x1kc, reborn2003, DelFang and 2 others like this.
  2. Game7a1

    Game7a1 ?

    Reputations:
    529
    Messages:
    3,159
    Likes Received:
    1,040
    Trophy Points:
    231
    So simple, so bare, so... tiny. But hey, a handle!
    How much bigger is the box compared to the GA's box?
     
  3. TheSandman2236

    TheSandman2236 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    91
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    116
    Trophy Points:
    56
    It's VERY small, almost like my old m11x. I'll take some photos tonight with them together.
     
  4. sformasforma

    sformasforma Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    42
    Likes Received:
    17
    Trophy Points:
    16
    I believe that we are all waiting for some benchmarks with Graphics Amp!:hi2:
     
  5. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,700
    Messages:
    8,323
    Likes Received:
    3,820
    Trophy Points:
    431
    I want to know how that ULV processor handles a desktop GTX 980, lol. That's like putting a 1000HP engine in a Honda Civic (everything else stock).

    Thanks for sharing. Please do some benchmarks, gameplay videos, etc. :thumbsup:
     
    reborn2003 and HebronCL like this.
  6. bumbo2

    bumbo2 Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    324
    Messages:
    1,612
    Likes Received:
    104
    Trophy Points:
    81
    Cool, Cool Bro.
     
  7. TheSandman2236

    TheSandman2236 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    91
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    116
    Trophy Points:
    56
    Waiting to get my 970/980 -- been trying to find a good deal!

    You think I should go for the 970 instead? I'll deff get some videos out there.
     
  8. Docsteel

    Docsteel Vast Alien Conspiracy

    Reputations:
    776
    Messages:
    2,147
    Likes Received:
    911
    Trophy Points:
    131
    It all depends really on 970 vs 980 costs and how you plan to use it over the next few years... if the price is not much difference I would go with the 980. It's that much better if you decide to stick it in a desktop. If it's only ever going to be used with the G/A and AW 13 then I would go 970. Odds are though, you may end up 1) upgrading your lappy at some point and still use the G/A with a newer laptop with a better processor or 2) building a desktop and desiring the 980 there.... thinking about it I would be inclined to go 980 if I could afford it for future-proofing despite the fact it is overkill with the AW 13+G/A setup... but that's just my opinion :)
     
    Last edited: Dec 9, 2014
  9. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,700
    Messages:
    8,323
    Likes Received:
    3,820
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Short answer, no.

    Long answer: That 980 can be used elsewhere down the road. I do agree with Doc. It depends on many things. That CPU will bottleneck almost any desktop GPU - 760Ti and up - at a certain point in most games (not all), but those desktop cards will also provide you with much better performance than the 860M will ever offer.

    Having compared recent benchmarks provided by Reborn (in the Alienware 13 thread) to NotebookCheck benchmarks of the 860M coupled with a quad-core CPU (4702HQ/4710HQ), it looks as though the i5-4210U even bottlenecks the 860M by up to 20% in some games. But 20% at the 860M level is not worrisome. Although, a 20%+ bottleneck of the GTX 980 would be. You will not see the same FPS in games that others on YouTube do with desktop setups. :(

    I think it could be a good combination with a quad-core mobile CPU like the 4910MQ or 4930MX/4940MX.
     
  10. Docsteel

    Docsteel Vast Alien Conspiracy

    Reputations:
    776
    Messages:
    2,147
    Likes Received:
    911
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Curious - by the results AW presented on their site (yes, I know), with Tomb Raider they do show a substantial increase with the G/A, so unless they have totally falsified the results even under CPU bottle necking the sheer response of the card may results in increases, no?
     
  11. J.Dre

    J.Dre Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    3,700
    Messages:
    8,323
    Likes Received:
    3,820
    Trophy Points:
    431
    Yeah, it will obviously be better than the 860M. That little CPU is probably at 100% usage the entire time while gaming.

    You will have really random FPS with such difference between the CPU and GPU.
     
  12. TheSandman2236

    TheSandman2236 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    91
    Messages:
    269
    Likes Received:
    116
    Trophy Points:
    56
  13. Docsteel

    Docsteel Vast Alien Conspiracy

    Reputations:
    776
    Messages:
    2,147
    Likes Received:
    911
    Trophy Points:
    131
    Yeah, I would expect that to be true as well. I still say that they should have debuted the G/A with the AW 17 first... that would be such a great setup, it really starts to make the argument for going with a powerful laptop over a desktop if you are using the G/A, larger monitor, etc.
     
  14. gabswiss

    gabswiss Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    11
    Messages:
    229
    Likes Received:
    42
    Trophy Points:
    41
    Thanks for the pics and video!
     
    TheSandman2236 likes this.