[-OFFICIAL-] Alienware M17x Owners' Lounge

Ouch, I had no idea it takes so long to return a system. 5 Days for it to ship back, 2-3 weeks to be processed, 5 days for paypal to refund (and I still don't understand why that is). All I can say is hopefully they'll have the build time calmed down a bit by then... and there's no truth to that rumor of an incoming price raise, right? That would absolutely dash any hopes I have of getting this thing.

 

lol nah...It was just somebody making an evil suggestion, no truth to it all. Also if anybody employed to AW/DELL is reading this, just an FYI if your thinking about raising your prices your going to lose a chunk of market share to Clevo instantly ;P

 

what's the Respawn DVD? Is that just an image of your computer that you can restore from? If you don't order it do you still get a CD/DVD of drivers?

 

respwan sets the unit to "as shipped and ordered" from the factory.

 

Hey do yall think I should get the QX9300 or should I get the T9800 and wait until quad-core comes more readily available after-market and upgrade? and if so, is it easy to install myself? (Im a newbie)

I know that quad-cores aren't that useful right now but I know eventually they will and I want this computer to last me a bit.

I'm just trying to cut some costs cuz I'm not a "high roller" and 4K is a little much for me...

 

the t9800 should be just fine for all uses for at least another year or so, so you could easily save that money, yes.

 

Not very relevant to the specific m17x, but is there anything complicated about switching a dual core cpu and a quad cpu? Or do you just flash the bios after putting the quad in?

 

Wow, I wouldn't want that to happen. (the bios issue thing)

Today my dad sort of gave me a green sign to purchasing the M17x(woot!! ). The only thing making it "sort of" is that I need to make contact to my relatives at your side of the pond. If they agree to take it home then it's going to be all systems go!

Another thing bothering me is, if I order with one HDD, would it be possible to install another one? I ask this because with hp, when you order only one HDD you'll be stuck with only one HDD since they don't install the bracket to mount a second one. I hope this is not the case with the M17x.

I'm planning on getting these specs:

Space Black – Anodized Aluminum
Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9000 2.0GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Single NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 1GB
17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
320GB - 2x 160GB 7,200RPM - RAID 0 (still debating on one or 2 HDD's)
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

I plan on using this for games (Valve games, COD series etc), for modeling (CAD etc) and video encoding. So do you think this would be enough? I'm trying to keep it under the low $2,000's and no, upgrading, except the HDD and RAM, is out of the question.

Thanks again guys!

P.S. just to show how unfair prices are overseas, a laptop priced $1,649 over there, cost's around $3404 over here. just to show why I rather buy from the U.S.

Walalang023

 

Where are you buying from?

 

Moo

What happened to the cow??

BRING BACK THE OLD AVATAR!!!!

 

Philippines it's sad how over priced most computer related stuff over here are. (iPod touch 32gb costs $470 here compared to around $399 U.S.)

 

Same goes for Europe

 

Is having dual 280m substantially better than dual 260m? I'm not sure how significant the jump from dual 260-280 is.

 

There is another Mac vs the M17x video but I can't even hear it.
link

 

The numbers others are posting is 10%-15%.

 

There's nothing to flash. It's plug and play. There's no difference between installing a quad or duo.

 

Anyone use either of these sellers before?

eBay 1

eBay 2

 

I was inquiring the same thing about shirley a couple...hundred pages back. There was one person who said they bought from shirley and had no problems.

 

I would prefer something with Intel warranty but doesn't look like that going to happen with the x9100.

 

You can get a QX9300 QS for $400 from Shirley. It's the last step before OEM and most people report no problems with a QS.

On the subject Mandrake I was thinking about why AW doesn't offer the X9100 and the best reason I can think up is that 2 unlocked multipliers would end up pushing the X9100 to it's OC limit and not every chip they sell would be stable at that. So the reason why AW doesn't sell them is because they don't want to deal with people RMAing chips that cause crashes and bluescreens from bad overclocks.

 

It could also simply be availability. Dell will add and remove options on the fly. They did it with the M1730. With my luck the x9100 will show up next week and I'll have to cancel and reorder my system.

 

after i recieve my system i will overclock then actually pursue a qx9300 guys

never had a quad before

 

I guess if you want Intel warranty, you have to pay about $900 or more for a CPU.

I also don't see these CPU's as retail version listed anywhere.
They might be OEM-only (not to be sold separately).

Here in Holland I can find retail mobile processors up to the T9400 and not higher.

 

Same here I believe they are OEM only. I would pay $900 more as a upgrade option from Dell if they offered it and not the qx9300.

I'd still rather have something that runs natively @3Ghz rather than having to overclock it to 3Ghz.

Since quad core is really 2 dual cores on a chip, is the extra overhead of distributing to information to 2 processors worth it? I'm sure there are some raw numbers somewhere on this.

 

just saying but the qx9300 is OC'able in bios this time sooooo it would be the upgrade for you

 

Nah the X9100 won't show up until the day after yours ships. j/k


A QX9300 would handle a 3.03Ghz BIOS OC just as well as if it were it's native clock.

 

Maybe I'll invest in a quad next year then! Moo should have his m17x by then, too!

 

lol REALLY hope it wont be a year

 

By the time you sell your m17, it might be. =p

 

That wouldn't hurt the lifespan? making a 2.4 go 3.0?

 

It'll last much longer than you'll have the laptop.

 

otay

10char

 

Just a little thought. If you want to upgrade from a P8600 with a TDP of 25W to a QX9300 with a TDP of 45W, would u then need an other heatsink too?

 

nah, AW will probably ship the same heatsink for all CPUs.

 

it will be the same heatsink set up for all notebooks. Much cheaper and easier to manufacture keeping it all the same.

 

I want to just get a P8600 and upgrade to a qx9300 but I can't seem to find them for sale... will they be out in a few months or something?

 

ebay should have some qx9300's for sale. Did you search ebay? I just got a t9900 on ebay and the t9900's haven't even been out as long as the qx9300 has. So it should be an easy find on ebay.

 

Looks to be another OEM proc only. Meaning eBay would be the easiest place to find them.

 

I think the t9900 is also OEM only cause I didn't even see any ES versions on ebay even if they did have ES versions I would of still got the OEM but just saying it may be OEM only.

 

I'm glad the m17x gets EPP discounts on dell.com. Roughly the difference between a single GTX 260M vs. Dual 280M for me. Now just have to decide between q9000 or qx9300.

 

How easy is it to upgrade the CPU? I just don't wanna pay 4K for something I can do myself

 

the hardest part is getting to the cpu but once you get to it all you gotta do is pop the 1 out plug the other 1 in and bott up and ur done basically.

 

If you are going quad core than qx9300 is the only way to go.

 

Does upgrading void the warranty? Whats the easiest component to upgrade (besides the HDD)?

 

ram is very easy as well. It does not void your warranty as long as you keep the original part and put the original part back in the notebook before you send it back for repair.

 

Yeah thats what I was thinking.... I can't seem to find 8GB DDR3 RAM anywhere. Will this will be coming soon?

 

8GB in 1 stick? I have not read anyhting about that. You want to upgrade to 16GB ram? I think even 2 x 4GB = 8GB ram is too much ram. If you really got the money than go for it but you won't see much of a performance increase and it will just drain your wallet. I suggest 1066mhz 2x 2GB ram = 4GB. If you are going to overclock than get the 1333mhz Ram.

 

You mean a single 8GB stick? The most I know of is a 4GB stick and that's at a rediculous price... Especially the DDR3 sticks

 

8GB sticks are coming.

http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/30/samsungs-4gb-chip-promises-32gb-ddr3-memory-modules-for-pcs-and/

 

This computer is simply going to be an amazing piece of hardware. Booo on Price!!