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

4/3GB version of the MXM GPUs do indeed exist, but I think you can't actually buy them independently. They seem to only come with laptops.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/gtx-970-980m-4gb-vs-8gb.768910/
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...an-owners-lounge.769092/page-134#post-9978387
http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...m-owner’s-lounge.762800/page-150#post-9963018

I also actually owned a MSI GT72 Dominator with the MXM GTX 970M 3GB variant. So I know for a FACT it exists. It was there in front of me.

Unless they somehow messed up the hardware IDs and none of the software picked it up correctly.

Could also ask @Splintah to check his machine, he has one.

 

Too bad the GPUs don't have 6GB/8GBs of RAM and there isn't a larger PSU. Also a shame there is no support for an external desktop video card. The desktop K CPU support sounds nice, hopefully it can be overclocked and it and the video cards won't throttle like mad. I'll wait for a Pascal refresh, I think, unless my M18x-R2 decides to die on me and Dell decides to force me to replace it with this new one.

 

because no one in their right mind would even give a damn about the graphics amplifier!

 

Well, they're not upgradeable. Not sure what else to tell ya. That's the whole point of having the two different versions.

Is anyone going to order one of these Alienware 18's?

 

One question. If these 970ms/980ms have the same amount of VRAm as the soldered ones, wouldn't you be able to use Prema's vBIOS or no? I just want to know as I really don't know if it's possible or not.

 

If they're soldered 3GB and 4GB cards, they should be the same, so most likely.

If they're not soldered 3GB and 4GB cards, then probably not.

 

just need a dual psu for it then its awesome

 

And I'm telling you they do indeed make 3/4GB MXM variants of the 970/980M.

Not sure what else to tell ya. Take a look at those links I posted. Not to mention I actually had a machine with the 3GB 970M MXM card in my house. I saw it. They do exist.

Here's a review of the exact model I had. If you look at the pic of the opened underside, you can clearly see the MXM card. A 3GB GTX 970M MXM card.

http://www.gaminglaptopsjunky.com/msi-gt72-2qd-review-broadwell-and-gsync-update/

 

It must be a special case because I've never seen that before. All of the 3GB and 4GB versions I've encountered were all soldered.

Maybe NVIDIA made it special for MSI, like they did the 680MX for Apple. It's definitely uncommon.

Not sure what else to tell ya, lol.

 

Oh I know they're "unique" (or rare, or whatever). Pretty much ALL MXM versions are the 6GB/8GB models.

My entire point was that they DO exist (in 3/4GB) and that as such, the info on the AW18 page is not necessarily a typo. If MSI has them, maybe AW will too.

 

Alienware has had some serious typos on their website before. I'm hoping it is a typo.

Samsung is producing 48GB HBM2 chips for NVIDIA for 2017. 3GB-4GB is going to be barely enough for gaming in 2016/2017. It may be how the 2GB models are now - bare minimum required to handle a game. For that price, I'd want something a little more "future proof."

 

i hope they release a new BIOS for the older 17 and 18 models...that would be nice.

 

I don't know if I am alone in this, but this announcement has rejuvenated my enthusiasm towards the computer world. Between the soldered components, the disaster so far that is known as Windows 10, and what was the complete and total demise of Alienware, I felt as though everything that I cared about computing wise had been destroyed.

This makes things a little bit better. Even if it doesn't turn out to be as awesome as we all hope it will, at least the 18 is back.

 

Just because there are some rare morphodite MXM modules with oddball memory capacities doesn't mean it's OK or anyone with a lick of sense wants them. I'm going with it being a typo until proven otherwise. Proprietary products really suck, so let's hope not.

Yes, absolutely... even with all of its faults... the world is definitely a better place now that the 18 is back. With Alienware having completely bowed out of the picture and offering absolutely nothing that an extreme performance enthusiast would care to own, things were looking extremely grim. Clevo is no different that anyone else. They're not going to try to make anything awesome if they have no competition. We've already seen what happens in that scenario with Intel and NVIDIA having no competition and it's not something to be happy about.

 

This. What is the point of having modular components if you can never upgrade due to BIOS/UEFI limitations.

 

someone better get one and dissect the crap out of it.

 

They are indeed making a return

i7-4970K is a good deal faster than i7-4940MX.


Plus you can minimum expect 4.6GHz on i7-4970K and more if you get good silicon. So they overclock better than 4940MX
https://pcdiy.asus.com/2014/06/6-49...ns-of-devils-canyon-on-asus-z97-motherboards/

 

What about Skylake? I think Alienware forgot.

Skylake, hmm? This skylake you speak of, what is, hmm...? As lakes in the sky, know not of such thing."

 

It's not the GT72 alone. The GT60 and GT70 also have 3GB/4GB versions just like 6GB/8GB. Just like they previously had 3GB/6GB 870M variants. And we know soldered high vRAM cards exist; the Gigabyte models have them, and some of MSI's GS60/GS70 laptops also have them.

Basically, wtf is mobile GPUs right now? Nobody knows.

 

I'm sure someone has already ordered one. Probably more than one someone, in fact. Anyone shopping for a brand new machine should at least consider it if their budget can accommodate over $4K for something awesome.

 

MSI is special. Cool. Don't care.

Gigabyte doesn't count. They'd put anything in their systems.

 

I have a couple of question`s I wish @AW Khan or @Alienware-Frank_L or @Alienware-L_Porras could answer with this amazing news:

• Since Alienware 18 will now have a Z97 motherboard, is there any PCIe slots routed from the CPU or PCIe to the M2 slots so that we can finally get 1-2GB/s speeds for our SSDs? If yes, how many lanes? 2x or 4x?
• Is the GTX 980M GPU MXM or soldered like AW17/AW15?
• Does the display support G-sync?
• The DDR3 is only at 1600MHz. There are quite a few games that scale nicely with faster RAM (GTA V for example). Could Alienware try to source for faster RAM and offer that with the notebooks if the customer wants to upgrade? 2133MHz DDR3 comes to mind.
• Any chance you might offer Z170 and i7-6700K in the future? Clevo are moving towards that route with their upcoming notebooks. Temps are lower on 6700K than 4790K too so it will for sure benefit a notebook such as AW18.

Since Alienware seems to have listened to the previous Q&A which @Alienware-Frank_L and @AW Khan participated in (thanks guys), are there any chance/hope Alienware is willing to give us a quick way or a secret hotkey method of resetting the BIOS if one undervolt or overclock the CPU too much? The way of resetting the BIOS now is hell, you have to take the machine apart twice and its much hassle for us the users plus I`m sure there are a lot more that could go wrong there that end up costing Alienware more money than simply giving us a quick way of resetting the BIOS to factory settings

 

$900 for that processor.... I....Ha....LOL......

 

Wish the 17 models could/would take desktop cpus.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

You are joking right?

As unbelievably cool as the idea of incorporating desktop parts into a mobile platform is.......would you pay that sort of money for that kind of CPU?

God only knows how much that will be when it's released here in the UK.

 

Just wait for the Dell Mystery Coupons...

 

Have a look at the Clevo P770ZM or P750ZM.

Ths is nothing new, except Clevo doesn't charge that much for the CPU.

 

Add ASUS to the list for 3 strikes. They have never offered anything that even remotely interests me. Not even open for consideration... all trash boxes in my mind. So, the 13, 15 and 17 R2 are in good company with similar mass production belly-button consumer grade filth for the offering.

C'mon now, you've been a follower long enough to know what we are seeing in with respect to ludicrous everyday pricing is business as usual. Since when have they ever listed prices on their web page that are consistent with the going rate? They have always been way crazy overpriced looking on the web site even though many folks get screaming deals offline by phone and chat. If people are willing to load their shopping cart and check out with those prices, why should they offer stuff at fire sale prices? Status quo.

 

I'd keep a note of it and do it as an aftermarket upgrade. Though it means the components won't be soldered on.

A full teardown video would be nice.

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk

 

For real though. There needs to be a NVRAM reset the user can trigger using a keyboard combination. Apple has one, you can do it too Alienware.

 

In before Alienware offers dual 8 GB 990m (tee hee).
Forgot to mention, but like the 2013 launch of the 18, there won't be any AMD offerings. At least from what I know. The R9 m295x / R9 m390x doesn't seem to be an option, and the reason for that is unknown. And don't ask about the R9 m395x. Who knows what will happen to that GPU (besides Apple).

 

dere's bears in the pool!

 

Regardless of whether or not that is classed as the ludicrous norm, it is, even by those standards, absurd.

I don't recall seeing an upgrade cost that much before on the Alienware site.
Has there ever been a component priced that high on previous models?

 

I can venture a logical guess at answering that: Unmatched performance lameness by 2014/2015 standards and product reliability issues. No point in burning calories on offering pathetic AMD MXM cards. It probably costs them too much to mess with trying to offer them, especially when so many people take delivery and immediately begin trying to work the system by complaining until they eventually get a free upgrade to green cards. Solution: only offer what most people want and shut the door on freeloaders. After-sale free ride upgrade problems are solved... no pay/no play probably works best for all concerned. That business model only sucks if you're one of the rare birds actually wants to own an AMD-powered laptop.

 

Or just a dip-switch on the motherboard so that its impossible to do it by mistake. Just place it underneath the notebook under the DVD-ROM for example.

Do not make us take the keyboard and palmrest apart to find it. Might as well do the old hellish way of resetting then

 

Who wants a $35,770.35 Alienware 18? You can buy one here.

 

i'd get a decent desktop with that money!

 

So, on average we're talking 10%... I am curious how they plan to dissipate this much heat... but, the fact it, they are still charging 3-4X the value of a 4970K They want 1500$ or rather +1000$ from a 4710mq

 

LOL wow, your not kidding

 

That is exactly my fear.

BUT WAIT ! its using windows 8.1 so, technically, it should support a whole list of stuff. I wonder if it took them this long to add support

 

I hope they begin to offer larger psu or dual psu option.... 330 is not going to come close to cutting it

 

I hope they got it right, non BGA all around,bugger and or dual psu and for me windows 7 no other option for me...

 

Geez for that price you would think they would at least throw in free shipping. lol

 

Picture said: 970MSLI (2x6G VRAM)
Sentence said: 970M with 3G VRAM SLI enabled

 

There's a typo somewhere.....



Picture states 16GB total (2x8GB)
Sentence states 4GB (8GB total)

 

The desktop i7 are probably typos too ROFL

 

It's very possible the page has a few typos as it was only recently re-added to the dell/alienware website in the last week or so (it had been removed for several months from active status - it could be searched for but not linked to from the products drop down)

 

I dont think thats true at all. The website was on friday like that should be. Look at the pic, that should be true. On Friday you could exactly choose that.
And sorry for my bad english

Website by DerSchlachter95 posted Aug 23, 2015 at 9:12 AM

 

Nope. It is confirmed.
Read first post

 

Odds are, the memory amounts are typos. They're already making a poor choice on the adoption of Z97 when it's being replaced in a month, and they'd be making an even bigger mistake adopting a custom Z97 chipset when the MXM variants are much more readily available. Doesn't make sense. No one would be using it except them. Everyone else is using Z170 in September/October. Eventually, this chipset supply will dwindle.

Alienware see, Alienware do, one year after everyone else don't.

Great effort and it's awesome to see, but they're WAY behind the curve here.