M15x now with the 5850!

Yeah this smells of Apple. Overcharging for flashy looks and symbol, while providing underpowered performance. I mean part of the reason everyone loves AW is because the performance along with build quality and looks is impeccable, but I highly doubt smart consumers will settle for a 5850 powered machine thats marked up 30% vs other competitors.

 

the M11x is the websurfer and cafe gamming machine, the M15X is for the average man, I don't see it being counterproductive. Otherwise you're saying every 14-16" laptop is counterproductive, and those are the bread and butter of the mobile segment of any computer company. Is it purposefully held back? Sure, but if it wasn't it would be in competition with the M17x and *that* would be counterproductive.

 

Clevos are looking better and better now.
Sure you don't get the looks but everything else is better
Man this sucks

 

everyone wants to have the mark up that apple has cause its like 150-250% on any macbook/macbook pro, exception ipad is about 100% up from its original cost to apple

 

That's been the whole appeal of an Alienware ever since they went with their own form factor design, and even before then it was mostly because of their 'sprucing up' of the clevo's with the rubber alien stuff.

There are better performing machines, it's only in the M17x's case that it's really been clear cut in a *single* category(SLi or CF cards), everywhere else a Clevo or similar fugly machine has it beat.

 

The build quality and cooling is still alot better than Clevo.

 

build quality - maybe.
cooling - totally false.

 

I was going to say this. Clevo has the best cooling *and* upgrade design in the laptop segment, Period. With metal cases Alienware wins build quality hands down imo.it just reminds me of the late 80's early 90's laptops that could take a hammer swing and work perfect.

 

epic fail dude.everyone here knows the truth.

 

if the cooling is so good where is the xfire or sli clevo??

 

having good cooling and having room for another graphics card in your form factor instead of a 3rd HDD or Desktop processor are two totally different things.

There's a dozen reasons why Clevo hasn't jumped the dual GPU bandwagon Dell has created. Need I point to the plethora of problems Dell has had so far in trying to make it more mainstream?

 

Man, I'm really confused. I've been trying to research the 5850 DDR3 version compared to the GTX 260m, and nothing has been convincing me that this is a viable upgrade. The only thing I can see is that it supports directX 11. Someone please help!!!

 

you're pretty much spot on. The GDDR3 128bit memory is simply insufficient to provide the core with enough bandwidth. The good news is that all of Directx 11's updates have nearly 0% impact on FPS, so it doesn't really matter since it's only competing with a 260M

 

It's a good option if you don't like nvidia. Do a self-install of the 5870 like other members here have done.

 

well its actually cheaper than the 260 so i wouldnt expect to big of an upgrade. it seems to be pretty much just another option really.

IMO it looks like a cop out by delllienware to make sure it doesnt hurt the M17x sales.

 

precisely. The M17x comes with the 5870 standard now. What justification would there be to buy one when the cheaper M15x has basically all the features that count versus the 17x?

 

Ever heard of the clevo X8100?

 

So apparently we are to continue discussing the m15x + 5870 install here and what we are doing to help get temps down?

Rengsey can you post up some temps on all sensors, many of us are curious to cut our temps down if there are no negative effects on cooling the GDDR5 on the 5870 card in the m15x.

 

^^^yeah. im not entirely sure why they wanted to merge the 5850 and 5870 discussions.

im curious whether the heat sink for the 5850 will be the same as the one needed for the 5870 install.

 

I suppose not.


Here's a link anyway.

CLEVO - Products

 

I'm assuming the heatsink on the 5850 will be the same, the 5870 is really within reasonable temps with the stock 240m/260m heatsink. Just most of us aren't comfortable keeping such high temps on the card (though it runs cooler in the m15x stock cooler than the Asus G73JH).

Factor in the 5850 is 10-13 watts TDP lower than the 5870 would easily but it in the same range temps as the 260m.

 

The existing heatsink you have in your M15x's with the 260M has worked out very well for the 5870. Many can attest to that here on the forum.

 

The mystifying part is that the M15x with a 5870 is no threat whatsoever to M17x sales. The M17x is designed for, and only makes sense as, a dual video card solution. The sales beneficiaries of this latest Dell smackdown of the M15x will be Clevo and Asus. The M15x could have been a world class notebook. It is tragic what Dell has done to it virtually since its introduction.

 

Exactly what babyhemi says. I assume dell/alienware took the easy route, same 240m/260m/5850 heatsink fan on all three models, introducing the 5870 would require a redesign heatsink fan for it to "pass" dell/alienwares thermal thresholds I'm sure. Then factor in the competition between the m15x and m17x offering the same exact single 5870 solution as well.

I want some updates on "Rengsey edition" cooling here would love to knock these temps down and I don't want to go buying clevo heatsinks and cutting up stuff if it doesn't give me any real gains .

 

^^ i knew that from reading through the upgrade thread. i was just curious. i was waiting for this GPU upgrade before i ordered a system, but now im really considering trying to switch out for a 5870.

honest opinion. how tough of an upgrade would it be for someone who isn't really an expert at upgrading or replacing components?

 

I'm sure more Single Gpu M17x's sell than dual GPU M17x's do(ebay's *FULL* of single GPU M17x's). I'm also sure an advertising and sales staff with 15-20years of experience knows better than any of us. Also, you're talking about shoving a 60W GPU into a chassis that's designed in part at least, to be somewhat mobile. What you're suggesting while in our opinions is fantastic, is just is a sales no-no in the real world.

 

Can you install a PCI-express desktop video card in a Desktop PC? It's really just as easy. Card has two phillips screws hold it down, unscrew them and the card tilts up (like a wifi card, bluetooth, etc) and it comes right out of the slot. It's not really major at all and with proper mx3/as5/ocz freeze application and some thermal pads your temps are more than reasonable (lower than a g73jh in all test!).

 

thanks for the advice. im no expert but id love a 5870 in an M15x, andim pretty sure i could handle that . i may end up going for an upgrade once i do order.

 

At least this is something....shame though. Can't say I am surprised......

 

InappropriateName_3 put together a good guide for beginners on doing the install (getting it apart, heatsink removal, and card swap). That should help settle you , for a laptop you plan on keeping a bit I would put the best card possible to help with future games and current games (thinks Crysis 2 later this year).

 

I think even with GDDR3 it won't be that bad. There are those with Envy 15 and 5830s have it oced to a 6100 vantage gpu score with an i5 520. I'm assuming the 5850s could hit 7-8k in vantaged OCED. So still an improvement over the GTX260, while using a lot less power and giving close to 3 hours of battery life with the 9 cell.

 

A 5850MR with GDDR5 is like an underclocked 5870MR, but a 5850MR with GDDR3, is only an overclocked 5830MR, the difference is very big. The stock vantage score is 5200, I suspect it will at most hit 7000 without the card burning.

Funny that even GX640 with single fan solution is using 5850MR with GDDR5 but dell chose to use GDDR3 for m15x.

 

true but benches have been done with the GDDR5 model and it yields a higher score than the 260m gtx but the one AW is a gDDR3 with 128bit it doesnt have the proper graphics memory to out due the 260m with 256bit imo if it is the gddr3 model.

 

Just to check but is it definately confirmed that its GDDR3? (I really hope not....)

 

Waiting for someone else to post that the rep they talked to said it was GDDR5 so that no one knows what's really what....cause you know it's going to happen.

 

The large number of single card M17x's for sale on eBay may be the proof of the concept, evidencing dissatisfaction with a computer whose use did not conform to the design purpose. I have no data, but would be surprised if a majority of M17x's are sold with single cards. On the other hand, one should never underestimate consumer gullibility.

As the owner of a 5870m, I can assure you that it would not impair the mobility of a M15x. There are plenty of M15x-based custom notebooks using the 5870m in use by forum members without weight gain or power deficiency.

One should be able to assume the expertise of Dell's sales and marketing staffs, but in the face of declines in market share, reliability, customer satisfaction and profits in recent years, one might at least wonder.

 

lol that's is exactly why i said what i just said without claiming it did cause only saw a post with someone saying earlier in this thread that it supposedly has GDDR3

@revelator dude dell is playing it safe because they are trying to have customers hold onto these machines without returning them in 21 days and also not en masse breakage of laptops for a replacement system with the upgraded graphics card all the time imo a marketing tactic to make the current owners hold onto their systems.

 

Well, at least you pay 50 dollars less for the 5850MR and diy to 5870MR compared to the 260M option.

 

5870 DIYers would get the 240M.

 

Dude, you have uncovered the genius at the heart of Dell's marketing strategy.

 

that some one was me i was on hold for about ten minutes with thenm on the phone the guy said gddr3 then i hoped on chat an the chat guy told me gddr3 also


Session Started with Agent (B)
05/04/2010 04:49:32PM Agent (B): "Welcome to Dell US Chat! I hope you are doing well and thank you for waiting. My name is J and I will be your online Dell product advisor today. I can be reached at [email protected] or via phone at 1-****-****-**** Ext-2160085. There are se"
&nbsp veral instances where chats get disconnected (we don’t disconnect you on purpose), just in case this happens, what phone number can I reach you at?"
05/04/2010 04:49:38PM eric: "yes i was interested in buying a m15x with the ati card and cant find if it is gddr3 or gddr5"
05/04/2010 04:50:04PM eric: "
"
05/04/2010 04:51:33PM Agent (B): "let me check on that"
05/04/2010 04:51:47PM eric: "thanks"
05/04/2010 04:52:45PM Agent (B): "i dont see ATI video card on the m15x?"
05/04/2010 04:53:40PM eric: "here is the product code ****-****"
05/04/2010 04:54:18PM Agent (B): "can you instead give me the link?"
05/04/2010 04:55:36PM eric: "the dell website has the m15x with ati5850"
05/04/2010 04:57:07PM Agent (B): "okay for me to be able to check that can i have the link then?"
05/04/2010 04:57:59PM eric: "http://www.dell.com/us/en/home/notebooks/alienware-m15x/pd.aspx?refid=alienware-m15x&s=dhs&cs=19"
05/04/2010 04:58:19PM Agent (B): "thanks let me now check that"
05/04/2010 04:58:24PM eric: "tthanks"
05/04/2010 05:01:31PM Agent (B): "i see the link for the m15x and i only see nvidia video card"
05/04/2010 05:04:57PM eric: "i can see a ati mobilty **** in the video card configure"
05/04/2010 05:06:47PM Agent (B): "is it the $**** package?"
05/04/2010 05:07:29PM eric: "click custimize then video card"
05/04/2010 05:08:04PM Agent (B): "okay"
05/04/2010 05:09:18PM Agent (B): "i see that now let me check if its gddr3"
05/04/2010 05:09:26PM eric: "thanks"
05/04/2010 05:12:23PM Agent (B): "still checking"
05/04/2010 05:12:59PM eric: "no worries"
05/04/2010 05:14:17PM Agent (B): "its gddr3"
05/04/2010 05:14:27PM Agent (B): "are you purchasing today?"
05/04/2010 05:19:51PM eric: "no thanks"

 

ive worked in retail and you never keep pumping the latest thing out there because you can never get your larger stock items or the last top item out the door without causing a huge bottom line increase i.e. more money to keep using the 260m so they are putting a different gfx card but its not their real long term upgrade so i thinking a fermi card might be on the table early to late august.

 

if that conversation is real.. I would take it with a grain of salt considering the questions he asked you prior to telling you it's GDDR3 =.=''

 

thats what i thought also just trying to get all the info i got out there.

 

lol, he told you exactly what you were looking for then asked if you wanted to purchase today XD

 

It's funny the Dell Malaysia Sales Agent told my friend that it would be HD5850 GDDR5.. lol

 

Yeah I *totally* believe that agent. Oh wait.... no I don't. Rule no. 1 of the AW club: Never trust dell reps.

 

#2 wait till someone actually has it up with gpuz

 

Yeah umm....it's not going to be DDR5 EVER with ATI!!

We've been through this with the 3870, the 4870, the 5870 and now officially the 5850 lol!

I mean they claim DDR5 is too hot to run in laptops which to their credit may very well be true and probably is. If the 4870 DDR5 was too hot certainly the 5850 DDR5 would be too hot. It still really doesnt excuse AW's throwing the M15x to the dogs, the only viable and worthwhile options IMO are the M11x or the M17x. Unless of course you manually upgrade the M15x to the 5870

 

Well yeah, too bad that a lot of people are going to have to resort to manual upgrades. Putting 5850 when it seems there have been quite a few successful attempts of making 5870 work... it's really low... like a spit in your face.

It seems they are reserving 5870 for m17x-r2 (officially).