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    9800GT now available on m15x

    Discussion in 'Alienware' started by ksufiji, Oct 22, 2008.

  1. ksufiji

    ksufiji Notebook Consultant

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    Changing my order now...
     
  2. MastaMarek

    MastaMarek Notebook Evangelist

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    I would be more excited it they switched to Montevina instead
     
  3. Oceanus

    Oceanus Ambassador

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    Oh nice.

    10char.
     
  4. araharja

    araharja Notebook Consultant

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    same price as Sager m660 now o_O
     
  5. arvie

    arvie Notebook Enthusiast

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    would there be a significant difference in performance between the 9800gt and the 8800gtx?
     
  6. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    nope. exactly the same card. just re-labelled.
     
  7. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Correct, there is no difference between the 9800M-GT and the 8800M-GTX. It's not worth changing your order and getting in line again for.
     
  8. JWest

    JWest Master of Notebookery

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    No 9800M GTX?
     
  9. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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  10. JWest

    JWest Master of Notebookery

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    Ah. Knowing the m15X's terrible cooling, I'd safe that's a safe bet :p
     
  11. ksufiji

    ksufiji Notebook Consultant

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    Well Crap

    NVIDIA's graphic card naming scheme is very misleading!

    There wasn't any change in my waiting...

    8800 was on back order until 2 days ago, so... I thinks they just got the 9800GT in instead.
     
  12. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    Alienware will probably end up 'upgrading' people from the 8800M-GTX to the 9800M-GT like they did with the m17x customers a few weeks back.
     
  13. Farseen

    Farseen Notebook Enthusiast

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    Hey how MUCH better is the 8800GTX from the 8700GT? I run the 8700 but I'm just wondering...
     
  14. Stone825

    Stone825 Notebook Virtuoso

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    @Farseen - The 8800GTX = 2x faster
     
  15. ksufiji

    ksufiji Notebook Consultant

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    8800GTX is better than 8700GT sli...

    8800GTX = 9800GT (Its either a die shrink or relabeled 8800gtx)

    Upgrade can be done by sending it in, or they can send you the card and advise you on the install over the phone I believe, but they are not cheap....
     
  16. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    They still charge +$150 for the 8700? Jeez.
     
  17. Deathwinger

    Deathwinger Notebook Virtuoso

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    The 9800m GT performs slightly better than the 8800m GTX. Plus, it has the 9 series features.
     
  18. DRTH_STi

    DRTH_STi can't.stop.buying.laptops

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    Yeah BUT - not montevenia - still santa rosa.

    How should I put it - maybe in alien terms - M15x is LIGHTYEARS behind the competition. lol

    This is a plug to buy my laptop - lol.
     
  19. arvie

    arvie Notebook Enthusiast

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    I would be interested in seeing a side by side comparison between a m15x with the 8800 and a m15x with the 9800gt with otherwise the exact same specs

    ..anyone? :p
     
  20. RFrancis

    RFrancis Notebook Consultant

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    Good, I guess, just in time for my upgrade...

    Hmmm... It seems like they don't even offer the 8800 GTX option anymore.
     
  21. shadedurza

    shadedurza Notebook Consultant

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    Yes me to. seems interesting to me having the same card different label. I understand it but its weird.
     
  22. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    people... please... it's exactly the same card. there's no difference betwen them, ergo, the performances would be the same as well.
     
  23. Ennea

    Ennea wwwwww

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    The only thing worth comparing is the 9800M GT X, but we already know it's slightly better than the 8800M GTX/9800M GT.
     
  24. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    well, technically, it's a whole lot better than the 8800m-gtx/9800m-gt, but it also generates an enormous amount of heat. so we won't see it in any 15" notebooks any time soon.
     
  25. Mystik

    Mystik Notebook Deity

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    "we won't see it in any notebooks any time soon." FTFY.

    For those curious, the 8800M GTX was a die-shrink of the 8700M GT with clockspeed improvements... among other things.

    essentially the 9800M GT is a rebranded 8800M GTX (for all intents and purposes this is true)

    someone said "it has more features" ... yes and no. through some pretty in-depth research I did a few weeks back, I could only find ONE difference, and it had more to do with AES Encryption on Video stream playback than anything.

    bottom line is... yeah, sure there's an extra "feature" but noone will ever give a crap. (no offense)

    for those saying the 9800M GT runs faster than the 8800M GTX... you'd also be mistaken. Notebookcheck doesn't indicate any large difference in performance levels of the 9800M GT. not to mention the sheer lack of statistical data to support any of the claims on the site (too few samples for the 9800) ... not to mention that most of the stats for the 8800 have been on older santa rosa (merom core) systems, where pretty much all the 9800 stats are on montevina or santa rosa refresh (like the m15x)... the differences in FSB and processor speed can likely account for the differences... in all, everything should be taken into perspective.

    with the price I'm sure they'll make you pay for the card, it's definitely not worth it... MAYBE a 200 3dmark change? in 3DMark06... for how much? I think the differences in the averages is actually less than 500.

    I havn't gone to check in a while so I may be mistaken.

    bottom line: 9800M GT: costs too much, not enough benefit, no real improvement in features.
     
  26. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    "we won't see it in any notebooks except the Clevo NP9262 any time soon." FTFY ;)
     
  27. Mystik

    Mystik Notebook Deity

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    I see what you did there....

    sneaky sneaky.
     
  28. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    "we won't see it in any notebooks except the Clevo NP9262 and NP5796 any time soon." FTFM :D
     
  29. ksufiji

    ksufiji Notebook Consultant

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    9800GT is the same price as 8800GTX fyi
     
  30. findvikas

    findvikas Notebook Deity

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    Anybody aware if they will allow me to upgrade to 9800GT from 8700M ?
    Can anyone give them a ring and ask for upgrade price for it, since I am in India.

    I may visit there or some other friend of mine and I will get it, if that does not cost me a fortune.
     
  31. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    course they'll allow it. why shouldn't they?
     
  32. findvikas

    findvikas Notebook Deity

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    I meant to ask, would there be any need for extra heat sink + silver solution or some extra fans? This guy will get veryyy hot I guess
     
  33. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    well, you'll have to ship it to them for the upgrade anyway. interestingly, the spare part i'm SUPPOSED TO RECIEVE is called "Thermal Module m15x GTX", which to me implies there are different thermal modules for different cards. no clue if that's true tho.
     
  34. Stone825

    Stone825 Notebook Virtuoso

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    Umm look at the specs between the two. The 8800GTX is 256bit (4 x 64) and the 8700GT is 128bit (2 x 64). Much bigger difference than that. I mean it is 2x faster than the 8700GT.
     
  35. TheHoodedRonin

    TheHoodedRonin Notebook Enthusiast

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    Quote I got a week and a half ago on the 8800 was $519. I was told the upgrade was done by myself.

    I would assume it's the same since the price during configuration for the 9800 is the same.
     
  36. findvikas

    findvikas Notebook Deity

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    Hm... and they would not trade my 2months old 8700, right?
    So in that scenario I do not want to take a hit of 500 bucks and better shut my mouth and go back to work :)
     
  37. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    sell the 8700m-gt on ebay, i bet a lot of 8600m-gt users would like to upgrade ;)
     
  38. TheHoodedRonin

    TheHoodedRonin Notebook Enthusiast

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    So, I thought about that. Don't you need your initial configuration for warranty purposes? Or am I good as long as my upgrades came through alienware themselves?
     
  39. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    well you won't find the 8800m-gtx on the interwebs. but you could buy the 8800m-gtx from AW for 500, pop it in, and sell the old 8700m-gt on ebay.
     
  40. Charles P. Jefferies

    Charles P. Jefferies Lead Moderator Super Moderator

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    I'd like to further highlight this. There is no difference between the 9800M-GT and the 8800M-GTX.

    These are the benchmarks I ran on the Sager NP8660 for the review; it has 9800M-GT:
    http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsId=4591

    Alienware m15x benchmarks section w/ 8800M-GTX:
    http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsId=4329

    The benchmarks are nearly identical; note the m15x review was done several months earlier with older drivers so I'd venture than any difference you see can can be attributed to that.
     
  41. Loggie

    Loggie Notebook Evangelist

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    Sager and other Clevo resellers have discontinued use of the 9800 GT in their Clevo notebooks, replacing it with the 9800 GTX a more expensive card. This may mean that nVidia is phasing out the 9800 GT.
     
  42. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    actually, depends on the notebook. in the np5796, yes. in the np8660, they've replaced it with the 9800m-gts, a cheaper, weaker card.

    i'm wondering when AW will move away from the 9800m-gt again (probably towards the 9800m-gts, the thermal profile of the -gtx is too hefty for a 15"er).
     
  43. Napbree

    Napbree Notebook Evangelist

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    It'd be pretty amazing if alienware could pull it off. If they boosted up the fans and made a few more holes here and there, added a fan here and there, then surely they could give it a **** good attempt!
     
  44. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    dude, where? the whole back's already one gigantic vent, where would you want to put more holes?
     
  45. dwend

    dwend Notebook Evangelist

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    I guess you could make it a Battery less laptop, don't know why you would. Just put some fans in that spot.
     
  46. ChutneyRemix

    ChutneyRemix Notebook Geek

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    why not where you put your hands, like cool them while their there, or heat them when its cold (it gets cold up here) :p
     
  47. Napbree

    Napbree Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm sure you could put some at the front of the notebook.
     
  48. whizzo

    whizzo Notebook Prophet

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    wouldn't look especially good though :)
     
  49. Loggie

    Loggie Notebook Evangelist

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    Also discontinued on the np9262 and replaced with the 9800 GTX.
     
  50. steveninspokane

    steveninspokane John 14:6 - Only ONE Way!

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    Not sure if anyone else noticed this already, butwas browsing the AW site, and saw that they arnt offering the 8800m gtx, but now offering the 9800m gt.

    Whats that mean excatly?
     
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