Bring back the M15x?

I wonder if dell will bring back the m15x. It seems like the perfect laptop. It had a powerful mxm gpu and the potential to actually be portable with today's tech compared to the gen that it currently has. I feel like it was made in alienware glory days where the bodies where made of metal, quality control was higher and less corners were cut throughout their entire line of systems. They are losing a huge market share by not having it and if they brought it back I'd sell my m18x r2, buy it and build a desktop.
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The M17x R3/R4 replaced the M15x. It weighs the same, and is barely bigger.

If you want something smaller, look at a Clevo P150EM.

 

The M17x R3/R4 is still longer and has a number pad that some people wouldn't like.

Also GPU performance wise, the M17x R3/R4 isn't much better than a M15x with a 7970m/680m. R2 had dual gpu support.

If they shrunk the M17xR3/4 that much from an M17xR2, image how they can make the M15xR2 smaller than the current M15x.

 

The new m15x would be amazing.. They could make it much smaller, good battery life, keep mxm. Was the last m15x made of metal btw?

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It's a painted magnesium frame with plastic trim pieces. It's not anodized aluminum. However, my m15x feels sturdier than my m14x. The m18x is the only anodized aluminum alienware currently in production.

 

How's the magnesium vs the aluminum?

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It is pretty tough. A pain to dissasemble but I can speak for the build quality. Miles better than the Clevo W860cu (clevo's offering of same gen) that I owned before.

I also think a new gen M15x made of ano alum would be excellent! Form factor could also be shrunk down. Come on this lappy is now over 3 years old! I would hope improvements could be made after 3 years!

 

There's definitely room for improvement. By upgrading our M15x's, we are giving it new life. I mean look at the M17x/M18x's starting configuration. I think all of us who have a 7970m/680m and an extreme cpu are not only set for awhile but get better performance than the m17x/m18x unless of course they're also upgraded. Who knows, maybe the 8000M/700M series will work with the M15x as well and we'll get even more performance. =]

 

The new series will work no problem. MXM 3.0B ain't going anywhere while its latest iteration featuring PCI-E 3.1 is fully backwards compatible with the 2.0 speed bus we have in the M15x.

PCI 2.0 x16 is only choked when using 2 high end desktop cards I believe (perhaps also mobile cards) however in single card config it will still be a couple of gens before it becomes a bottleneck so as long as MXM B remains the standard, I see no reason why it shouldn't with its latest update.

The main problem we have is the 920XM. This chip is starting to show its age at stock clocks. It really needs a decent OC at all times to run well with a modern high end GPU. Unfortunately with the GPU circuit design we have to watch power consumption closely. The 8000M series looks promising for the M15x however with lower power consumption. We might be able to run stock clocks with a minor OC and still be able to push our CPU's to the limit without the blessed throttling problem occuring!

Another limit we have is ram speed and therefore bandwidth. Modern alienwares can run 2133mhz memory and we are stuck at 1333mhz. This is starting to hurt! I did see some 1600mhz memory at the same timings as decent 1333mhz mem though so perhaps in the M15x at 1333mhz it will run at even tighter timings say 8-8-8 etc which can then be tightened even further stabley giving us the equivalent performance of decent 1600mhz memory running.

Long live the M15x !!

PS: The M14x is a waste of time. The new M15x could easily fit into that chassis!

 

Count me in the waiting list for a new and improved m15x. I absolutely love the upgrade options. So I hope alienware takes a hint from us fans and at least consider the option. Fingers crossed!!

 

PCI-E x16 2.0 is what I'm using to run my 690(2x Desktop 680s) so there's no bottleneck for sure yet when running one card at full x16 speeds.

I don't really understand how everyone else is having issues with needing to overclock the CPU to maintain performance. I run my 7970m and my 920XM at stock in all my games and they both run fine. There will be time where I use throttlestop to stop modulation, but so far there isn't much need for a OC. Maybe 18x or 19x on a 920XM in some very rare cases. I sometimes get an issue where my 7970m's usage won;t go above 70% in games, but when looking at the CPU, its usage is barely 30-40% too. Can't be a bottleneck if the CPU isn't being used even half way right?

Even if they don't release a new m15x, the m14x r3 will probably have even a faster gpu than the r2. The current R2 has a 650M which is supposedly a bit faster than a 560M. Officially(460M/5850M of the M15x vs 650M of M14x) the M14x has us beat. But unofficially(6990m/7970m/670m/675mx/680m, etc) we have it beat badly.

RAM speed shouldn't be an issue yet. 1333Mhz is still plenty fast. I did a test of my 1333mhz on my 15x and the 1600mhz on my gf's m14x and the difference isn't noticeable.

Also the current M15x cannot fit into a M14x chassis, trust me I've disassembled both before. They do need to shrink the M15x before it can fit, but it can be done. If they continue to keep the M14x for two more years, it will most likely become faster than a m15x wth a extreme processor and 7970m/680m.

 

I find OCing the CPU gives a smoother performance in FC3. You are right not much difference though. Just undervolting GPU gives us the freedom to OC cpu to its potential.

In 2 years our M15x will be running the 9970M and 880M !! These cards ought to be more energy efficient. Hopefully to the point where we can push our cpu 's no problem. The M14x will struggle to beat us!

A modern M15x could now fit into the same form factor as the M14x. Nope not the 3 year old one

 

Ah yes of course.

While a modern m15x would fit in a m14x chassis, it would need to be a bit bigger so it can hold a full size mxm card.

I still have yet to try out your undervolt/underclock method to see if it helps. Does your gpu usage stay in the upper 90s like 98-99% usage in games? I still can't get my gpu to stay up there.

 

Yeah never had that problem. Always 99-100%.

The method is useful and with memory OC one can still maintain stock gpu clock performance but with added benefits of CPU OC.

 

So even before the undervolt/underclock you used to get 99% usage? My gpu sometimes goes from stock 850mhz to 450mhz for a couple of seconds and back to 850mhz at times even though i'm plugged in and temps are fine.(65C max)

 

yup I always get high gpu usage but used to have periodic throttling even at stock clocks across the board like you in FC3. Livable but ultimately very irritating!

I am hoping the next gen 8000M are more efficient like they claim it to be!

 

That's weird. My usage maxes out ta around 72% in some games while CPU is at 30-40% max. In some games I can get 99% usage.

I think for the next gen I want to go the nvidia route. I actually wanted a 680m but they were so expensive. I found this 7970m for a cheap price and it was a dell oem card so I bought it right away.

 

Let's see what the next gen has to offer. The 8000M series looks promising as they seem to want to focus on power efficiency. Something that will favour us. While I am sure alot of the problems are ironed out that plagued the 7000M series.

Nvidia GPU's are generally overpriced I am sure the next gen won't be different. If you were put off this time I think the same will apply next year lol. For me nvidia are like apple. Too much money for too little improvement (in apple's case none in my opinion) Well engineered but very costly.

I haven't ever had a usage problem. However my GPU won't always clock up to 3D clocks when I start a game. I have to unplug and then replug the cable to get the card to switch up under load. Not really an issue for me though.

 

While I agree on the pricing, there's always some deals out there. There was a 680m for $450 with backplate on ebay that I missed, but I got my 7970m for almost $100 cheaper so AMD is definitely cheaper. I hope to sell my 7970m in favor of a 8970m if it works in our m15x (most likely will). I play about three games with PhysX and it really sucks having to play on low PhysX because of an AMD card when the games look really nice with high PhysX, that's one reason I wanted nvidia. As you can see in my sig I have a 690 so price wasn't an issue back then (now it is lol).

My GPU clocks will sometimes(not too often in games, mainly 3DMark11) will go to 450mhz and switch back to 850mhz automatically. That I haven't figured out why yet. I still want to try your 700/1300mhz undervolt.

 

I would love to see the m15x make a comeback. I would gladly take one over a Clevo P150

 

The M15x is just as good as the P150 lol with better build quality. The 920xm can keep pace when OCed with your 2670QM

 

I agree. The m15x when upgraded is definitely not easy to beat without spending a lot of money.

 

Now I currently have a M15X, a brilliant machine, however I have had issues upgrading it, mainly due to my lack of knowledge of computers.

My only qualm is the expense of upgrading the M15X instead of purchasing a whole new computer.
For me to upgrade to a 920Xm it will cost about $400 AUD
Along with a 6970m or higher it'll cost another $300 - 600 AUD
along with an SSD, 256GB $200 AUD

I'm looking at $1200 to get the machine I'm after (god knows how much it would of originally cost if I had those specs from the Dell site... )

I don't know... I think it's time for me to handball my M15X to someone who appreciates its current specs rather than me upgrading it...

NOW... If they ever bring back the M15X, here's what they need to do!

- Make it lighter! It was the reason I purchased my M11X really... Just too heavy on my back and barely fit into my backoack.

- Make the battery flat, like the 6-cell, however manage an 8-cell or higher into the same flat size. However the current 9-cell which I have is great for it's height for airflow... Which I really like; so my proposal is that they engineer a fold up stand for it, something thin and flat to allow for airflow. Similar to what you find on some keyboards or even on the new Microsoft Surface.
Again, the 9-cell sticking out made it hard to fit into backpacks.

- Put those damn rubber stoppers on the palmrest somewhere else, I kept having mine fall off, I lost them so I had the palmrest replace as I didn't want to damage the screen. Now the palmrest is slightly a different shade of black which annoys me... Eh, just cosmetic I guess...

- FOR THE LOVE OF ANY RELIGIOUS DEITY MAKE THE SPEAKERS BETTER!!!!
They are damn "tinny" and have stuff all bass to them! you can hardly crank up the volume without it turning to rubbish.

- Offer a matte screen option!!! This cannot be stressed enough!

My two cents.

 

Yes upgrading costs money! However it should be done in steps. Look for good deals while selling your older hardware allows you to bring the cost of new components down further.

 

Glad the only real upgrades mine needed were a 7970m gpu and ssd. I also got some ram too but mine already came with a 920xm cpu and a 5 year warranty.