Alienware 18, now with Maxwell GPUs (Officially) and a new BIOS

What? No... you're kidding. *checks Dell web site*

Well, OK, forget that, LOL. No thanks... well, hmm. Take my name off the potentially interested listed. That really sucks. I did not see that.

Edit: I wonder if they overclock better than Clevo 980M? The Dell 680M 2GB GPUs always overclocked better than the Clevo 4GB 680M GPUs did. But, I sure don't like the idea of having half the vRAM of a "normal" 980M GPU.

 

Just now realized this thread got huge. Either there have been so many threads about this topic, or there are just that many responses.
In any case, I went and sent most of the questions the community has asked. May have forgotten one, but it may have not been important (trust me, I asked the important questions). I don't expect an answer this weekend, but hopefully soon.
Some strange things are happening for sure. First the CPU changes, now the GPU changes. I wonder what's going on.

 

If you didn't already catch it, ask if the 4GB vRAM is a typo. Not sure why they would release a 980M with 50% less vRAM than any competitor's GPU. Hope that is a typo and the 4790K is accurate.

 

Dell Recommended 4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790K Processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, up to 4.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost) +$900.00
4790k is $280 at MicroCenter. that's the every day price (~$50 off your mthrbrd as a combo). Is it just me, or do you pay for the 4710mq as 'included in base price' and then add $900 more for 4790k? Is that an $1100+ cpu option or do I just need to get some sleep ...

edit after a good night's sleep: agree with Fox's assessment that $900 buys an overall cpu/hardware upgrade per post #210, to maintain it as 'a viable option' --> "the extra cost could be for other things (different motherboard and chipset, more robust heat sink and fan, larger capacity single or dual 330W AC adapter, cost of new product R&D, etc.) which may easily be justification for the extra $900. We shouldn't be too hasty to dismiss the math based solely on CPU pricing because it would have to be different and need to pay for itself to be a viable option".

 

I asked about the VRAM thing. Was a last minute question too. Even then, my screen shot has that information.
If both changes are true, then it might be like what happened with the GTX 680m for the GPU side of matters. Half the VRAM of the competition but still MXM. Alienware has already committed to sell an upgrade-able laptop. They know better than to backtrack on that advertising.

I think we all need sleep.

 

Might be a typo. Perhaps 4940MX (was the other day) is still the CPU, which would explain the $900 premium. AFAIK, the chipset and CPU are not swappable between Haswell mobile MQ/MX and Devil's Canyon CPUs.

If, and only IF, it overclocked a lot better, (and it certainly may because more vRAM chips takes more power and contribute to heat generation to some extent,) I'd be eager and willing to sacrifice half the vRAM for the sake of performance and benchmark scores. It was totally worth it with 680M, but 4GB vRAM is starting to become only adequate with some games rather than ample. I like having excess a lot more than having adequate, but like better overclocking the most.

 

Yeah, I was really excited for a few posts, but reading the 4GB cut back on the 980M and I am put off, even if there is some hope of a mild overclocking potential. It's becoming apparent with this generation of games that some of the newer ones are so poorly optimised for PC that we actually benefit from having over 4GB of vRAM when it comes to avoiding issues with certain engines and texture streaming.

 

Well, for those who want to look at extra VRAM and all laptop processors, someone already uploaded the page to webarchive. If it loads, that is.
Keep in mind that there is a reference to 16 GB of VRAM still on the live page.

 

If the 980Ms overclocked better AND could keep their daily clocks, WITH 4790K at 4.5GHz+ WHILE under very heavy load without crashing or overheating, then I'd say it's ok.

If not, then nope.exe goodbye XD. I know that 3GB 970Ms and 4GB 980Ms exist and are sold in GT72 and GT60/GT70 laptops, so their existence isn't a surprise... but the cards would have to be something special otherwise.

Also $900 for a 4790K is nowhere near worth it. You could just send them a 4790K for $300 and tell them use it in the laptop. Unless they're using a new motherboard... but even then where's the $900 coming from? A 4790K and a 4710MQ cost the same price. $900 for a new mobo is stupid.

And @Mr. Fox is right, they do not use the same socket.

 

OK, feel better now. According to that, they are 8GB 980M cards. Now, let's just hope the 4790K is for real.

Well, if it is for real, the extra cost could be for other things (different motherboard and chipset, more robust heat sink and fan, larger capacity single or dual 330W AC adapter, cost of new product R&D, etc.) which may easily be justification for the extra $900. We shouldn't be too hasty to dismiss the math based solely on CPU pricing because it would have to be different and need to pay for itself to be a viable option.

Speaking of AC adapters, I'd love to have a single huge 650W brick for the P570WM and my Alienware laptops. That would be excellent. The dual AC adapter setup works extremely well, but one gigantic brick (approximately same size as 2 or 3 of the 330W units) would be a lot better and less clumsy to fart around with. It's not horrible by any means, but having just 1 instead of 3 connections (two cable ends coming into the adapter and one cable end connecting to the laptop) would be more elegant.

 

Even in the cart, it will show the half VRAM and desktop CPU. Weird. If we wanted a very quick way of verifying this is true, we would need info from an invoice of the AW18 Maxwell. That would be solid evidence (it was for the 13 for those who bought an i7-4510u and found out weeks before Broadwell-U came out that they were getting an i7-5500u).
The search results still show the laptop CPUs, though. All of this is still weird.

 

I can't assume a motherboard/chipset difference should add to the cost, because it's not an add-on. If the motherboard itself cost more because of what it has on it, I'd get it, but not more than maybe a solid $50-100 for it (remember we already overpay for laptop hardware; desktop hardware, even adopted into a mobile form factor, WILL be cheaper). Better/larger heatsinks, yes. I can see price bumps for that. A larger PSU setup? Definitely Price bumps for that. I can't slump R&D cost on an end-consumer, though. All in all I could see (if it's a different system layout and mobo etc) maybe a solid $400-$500 max. But not $900. We'll find out when Dell decides what their pricing and what they're actually offering really is though XD. Currently I don't think even they really know

I would also love a single 650W brick for my machine. Even if I do get temps under control, streaming and such is VERY power hungry. Even at a measly 3.8GHz and 1.085v (what my CPU needs to be stable at that) streaming a game that's light on the CPU can easily pull 60W+ of power constantly. A 4930MX and 4.3GHz? 60W of power would be a joke; I'd expect well over 80W being drawn; more than likely closer to 100W, far less any GPU overclocks. A single 330W brick won't be enough for me if I get this machine in the working order I aim to get it into. Especially if 990M GPUs don't fail to deliver, and when it's time to upgrade I get those instead of 980Ms. Hopefully I won't have to get them with the extra VRMs soldered on either (but this is nVidia let's be real here). I don't mind two power bricks, like you say, but a single larger brick would be much easier to manage. It's the same reason I told the user in the P570WM thread whose name I forget that while his watercooling loop is amazing, I couldn't use that solution because it'd make the machine harder to transport, defeating the purpose of it being a laptop XD.

Who knows? If a 650W brick (or even a 400W-450W brick at the same quality of our 330W bricks; that'd be plenty for a single brick which could then be doubled up I'm betting) is a thing and is compatible with our machines I'd definitely jump on that.

 

You're way low with the "closer to 100W" expectation. Trust me, 4930MX has no trouble sucking down 120W at full tilt load at 4.3GHz. I've seen over 130W many times when overclocking it beyond 4.3GHz. This is why it is an awesome CPU if you can keep it from cratering due to heat. The more watts the better for overclocking. Higher watts (not voltage) almost always translates into performance that rocks. My P570WM 4930K pulls in excess of 200W when I push it hard.

 

Yeah, on the subject of the cards, again, I am not nearly as optimistic about forgoing 4GB of vRAM for a nebulously irrelevant overlcock trade off, knowing what I've come to read on recent threads by those with coding and engine design experience, trying their best to optimise what are otherwise PC optimisation disasters (Arkham Knight, being an example) in the first place. It's just not a compromise I am willing to accept.

Having that said, my question to the experts on the scene here. Would it be probable (as it was with the M18X R2 with the Clevo 680Ms), over the longer term, to update older Alienware 18s to the 8GB 980M SLi configuration without any of these funny compatibility trade-offs of having to use HWInfo64, etc.?

 

XD if it pulls that much for you, then it definitely would pull more for me. I might have to limit my chip to 150W. I'm REALLY gonna need those EM heatsinks and I'll have to lap them properly and apply CLU as best I can.

 

ok just woke up here and....wtf? devils canyon in the AW18? im highly skeptical of this info, especially considering they cite the HM87 express chipset, which is for mobile cpus only...unless they offer two completely different revisions of the aw18 i dont see this happening...unless they decided to include a "cpu-amplifier" as a counterpart for the other models' external gpu solutions *lol*
in any case, if this holds true then the aw18 will be smth to behold!
but beware, updated clevo sli machines with skylake have already been rumored about (P870DM as the successor of the P37x series), although not sure yet if were talking desktop or mobile cpus here...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

I just woke up and checked this thread... Am I dreaming or is this real?

Is the Alienware 18 R2 is coming out next month...? The shipment date says 24-28 business days, and the CPU says 4790k. The 980M's say 4GB.

 

IT'S MADNESS! MADNESS!

 

If they offer the 8GB variants, I may actually put Alienware back in my fav 5.

Spoiler: lol

 

Well isn't it possible to scale the 4940mx to a 4790k? I mean they're similar cpu's and both unlocked so it's possible for the 4940mx to match the specs of a 4790k if all the settings are tweaked properly. Just the thermal limit will kill it.

 

4Gb 980M, desktop haswell. DELL, are you seriously? Where is R2 with desktop skylake and 980m 8gb or 990m SLI?

 

I think it's a typo on the website. The Z97 chipset doesn't have soldered GPU's.

 

So apparantly Alienware have begun to sell the Alienware 18 with desktop i7-4790 and i7-4790K CPUs.
The price premium over 4710MQ is pretty big (+$900 for 4790K) but I would guess its because they make a new motherboard for you with the correct socket plus you get the 4790K.

Talk about a sick comeback Alienware. Full GTX 980M SLI support but also following the footsteps of Clevo and abandoning the mobile platform so that you avoid soldered CPUs which notebooks are now exclusively moving towards.

Unless this is a type on your behalf, the Alienware 18 will be a monster!

EDIT: Its not a typo.

https://www.facebook.com/Alienware?fref=ts





Available for purchase now: http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-18/pd.aspx

 

I also like to know if the GTX 980M is now soldered since the version Dell sell is 4GB and not 8GB? Or is this 4GB GTX 980M MXM cards?

 

If this is true, I'm assuming that would mean a different motherboard depending on what configuration the customer chose?

Desktop chips make quite a bit more heat too. I wonder if they'll have the same CPU heatsink across the board or install a beefier one for the desktop chip.

You'd think the website would be hyping up the fact that they now offer desktop CPUs.

 

i7-4790K use socket 1150 while 4940MX use socket FPGA946 so Alienware have to change the motherboard for those who order the 4790 or 4790K

TDP/Heatwise I don`t think the 4790k will be much of a problem to Alienware 18. The notebook is very thick plus the TDP increase is only 57W>88W from 4940MX to 4790K.

Totally agree with you on the marketing TurbodTalon. I had no idea that Alienware 18 is using desktop chips until now. This need to be added to their website and marketed for everything it got and new reviews of this notebook needs to happen.
You get a unlocked 4.4GHz chip that overclocks like a champ from what I`ve heard!
I guess this is why Alienware wrote "unlocked BIOS" for the Alienware 18.

 

If the desktop CPU option is not a typo, Alienware will be on par with the other machines that are offering a desktop CPU with high-end graphics. AW's machines are also very stylish as well. If this new 18 ends up reaching its full potential it could be very exciting.

 

There are MXM GPUs with half the VRAM (4/3 instead of 8/6). It isn't necessarily a typo.

 

If this is indeed true, and the 980Ms are the 8GB non soldered versions, then I need to figure out how to convince my wife to let me spend $4K on a new laptop.......

 

There are 4GB MXM GTX 980M cards and 3GB MXM GTX 970M cards. MSI uses them.

 

I've called that favor in too many times already, lol.

If the machine doesn't have soldered components, and isn't locked down, AW may have actually pulled their heads from their rectums and listened to their customers. There may be hope yet.

Or it could be a typo that gets pulled off of the website soon. Let's hope that isn't the case.

 

With Tj of 74c is the 4790K is even a reasonable option for a laptop ? I believe no laptop cooling system will keep that power siphon below 74c at all let alone with comfortable safety margin ?

 

dont mix up tcase with tjmax. the latter one is important and is specified as 100C for the 4790K i can also assure u that this cpu is a beast inside a proper laptop, mine clocks up to 4.8 ghz without throttling

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

There are not 4GB 980M's that are MXM 3.0B.

The upgradeable versions are 6GB (970M) and 8GB (980M).

 

One can only hope that Alienware decided to not use a 330w PSU (dual 330w instead?) and removed the power draw limit from the main board if they are using the desktop CPU's.

 

The 330W should be just enough to power the system with the 4790k, but I'm sure overclocking will throttle.

My system draws like 180W-210W from the wall. Add another 980M and that's another 100W~.

 

Niceeee

 

obviously typos, not going to waste 2 seconds thinking about it

ntel® Core™ i7-4710MQ processor, 4-cores, 6MB Cache, Overclocked up to 3.7GHz w/ Intel TurboBoost

+$400.00or $12/month^
4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790 Processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, up to 4.0GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

+$900.00or $27/month^
Dell Recommended4th Generation Intel® Core™ i7-4790K Processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, up to 4.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost)

 

The overclocking is what I was referring to. The majority who would opt for the 4790k are going to overclock it, which would make the PSU cry if the system was also running 980m's.

 

The 980M's can also draw north of 120W when overclocked. They actually draw more than the CPU.

Doubt Alienware even cares. They gave people a 180W PSU with the AW 15 and 980M, lol.

 

DELL:
Intel ARK:

 

OMFG! are they making a comeback !!!

 

edit 8.25.15 --> no more 4970(k) options? Oh well. A boyhood friend of mine moved to Chino Hills, CA & just took delivery of a Challenger HellCat; he promised me Dodge did not make that special-ordered 707hp cheap. Back to the $ on Aw18. It isn't good it isn't bad: it is what it is. It's Alienware. A given that they'll levy righteous AlienTax on the FlagShips. On the one hand, if & when the Aliens indeed ever grow a set then so will the customer have to. #ResurrectAlienware

 

But wait, whats the performance difference between 4970K and the 4940xm ?? is DELL charging over 1,000$ for a 300$ CPU ????

 

lol

 

Also noticed there is only windows 8.1 and not windows 7 NOR is there windows 10 support. LOL

 

I'm glad Alienware is taking things seriously. This is good news.
Unfortunately, their lack of BIOS support with the previous 18 range (m18x r2 and maxwell) precludes me from ever investing such a large sum of money in them ever again.

I need some kind of guarantee they'll support future GPU upgrades otherwise I might as just buy a soldered heap of junk.

 

It must be a mistake. Wouldn't be the first time. Their web developers are lazy.

 

The MSI GT72 has MXM GTX 970M with 3GB and 980m with 4 GB.

Are those not MXM 3.0B?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152661

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-GT72-DOMINATOR-PRO-211-17-3-Inch/dp/B00O4ORYN4

They say 8GB. Yes, they are upgradeable because they're the 6GB and 8GB versions.