Alienware M17 *OFFICIAL* Owner's Lounge

What kind of Diffrenece wil the 8gb of Ram really make ?
Will it useful for Gamming
Or Just opening the Browser faster
or open the Excel files Faster
or..............

Anyone ?

Will we have to send back the laptop
if we upgrade to 8gb ram ?
or can just Order & Install ourselfs ?
Thxs

 

None unless you are a professional who extensively uses Cad or photo processing programs you won't notice a difference between 4 and 8. And it's very expensive.

You can install yourself very easily.

 

the 4870s will the big upgrade (i hope) not the ram.

 

It's overkill. I work on AutoCAD 2009 A LOT. And 4GB don't even break a sweat. I multi-task with AutoCAD no problem. Smooth.

Anyone willing to throw away 1k on 8GB should throw it instead to the processor.

 

No kidding, I always thought those were the main apps that needed it.

Good to know.

 

no i sold my old hp with a 8600m gs and 4gb of ram and a c2d 1.5ghz. and he says autocad runs like a dream. smooth. plus if you want to learn about how ram affects your computer check out

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/memory-module-upgrade,2264.html

even though it says 3gb. i recommend 4gb.

 

...sorry if i come across harsh but the info about the ram is in the sticky .....how to install and the warranty info as well

 

Thank you

 

Getting ready to buy the M17 or the Dell M6400 but need to know:

1. if I skimp and leave the default Alienware HDD 160gb 1.5GB installed can I later purchase and install a HDD 320gb SATA 3.0GB? Primarily concerned about the SATA interface since I can't find mobo specs on the Alienware Web site.

2. has anyone had success installing XP Pro on the M17? I don't want to deal with Vista and would rather use XP until Win 7 ships. Please do not try to convince me to leave Vista installed - if XP cannot be installed on the AW I will instead purchase the Dell M6400 with XP Pro.

 

1 yes
2 lol whats wrong with vista? if vista inst your thing try win7 rc1

 

drbackjack why do you have stolen on your sig?

also rc1 right now doesn't support crossfire. it doesn't install the slave at all.

 

Okay so I guess the Dell M6400 is it!

 

His laptop was in shipment and was stolen from a depot in Florida.

 

lmao Box boy win 7 does work on the m17 just not that build ... win 7= vista so drivers r all there

 

Mr Moo I understand Win 7 aka Vista out of rehab, but I keep getting confusing responses.

So the retail version of Windows 7 (not yet released) will run the M17 setup I want, not the release candidate/this build (currently available). So it is safe to assume as I posted before, if I want something now, stable and not with Vista, it will have to be the Dell M6400.

 

No it could be the M17 on which you'd install Windows 7 Release 7077.

 

W7 rocks on the m17, even crossfire workes in the 7000 Beta, only the RC Beta Version desn't support the slave 3870

Greetings
Julian

 

I have no idea what a "7000 beta" is.

Thanks for replying but now I am confused more than ever. I have a copy of the Release Candidate, not a beta, right? Is the version of Windows 7 now available for download from Microsoft's Web site the Release Candidate or the Release Candidate "Beta?" Is there such a thing as a RC Beta?

If the version of Windows 7 I downloaded from Microsoft's Web site last week supports the hardware I want on the Alienware M17, specifically the crossfire enabled video cards, then I am good to go. If this version of Win 7 does not support crossfire enabled video cards on the Alienware M17 then I will pickup the Dell M6400 with the 1gb Quadro.

Am I making sense? Maybe I posted the question in the wrong place.

 

nope you are in the right place.

there are a number of different versions of win7.
6081 before beta
7000 beta
7077 beta
7100 rc

and the m17 will eat the dell. i haven't done much research on it but because of the single gpu solution. crossfire will beat it be alot.


what are you planning to do with you computer?

 

Hi boxboy,

All I know is the version of Windows 7 that was released last week(7100) is the release candidate(RC) and has caused driver issues with the M17 ATi graphics drivers.
All the previous versions worked fine apart from minor bugs. Myself and other M17 owners have reverted back to Vista due to the graphics problem with the RC.
As much as I love Windows 7 and will definitely be buying the final version I have found my M17 works best with Vista simply for reasons of compatibility.
Alienware provide some of their own software like command centre which did not work for me in Win7.
Ive found a new lease of life with my M17 since installing Vista...everything works now!

 

sorry for the double post. but you really shouldn't buy your laptop for that much because of a beta bug. it will be fix. most definatly. that is not going to be the final. it still has a year. plus you can use the others or vista sp2

 

why are you looking at such a low spec Dell XPS? the XPS M1730 is the only XPS that can compare to the Alienware M17 from what Ive heard anyway!

 

please explain alittle better. i thought he was looking for the dell m????. not the m1730

 

Yes, sorry for my lack of PC knowledge. Ive since done a little homework on that Dell PC that you are referring to and it does look tasty.
It also has some good options just like the M17. As to which is better Im sure the guys have already answered that.

good luck!

ps, dondadadah, If you look at my post again you will see that I was suggesting he buy the M1730(just cause my mates have got these)as opposed to the M6400. just in case you were wondering..sorry!

 

sorry. i misread.

 

/hijack

Just wanted to post that even though I went through USPS/APO shipping pains (Understatement!! Shipped Jan 19th, Arrived Mar 30, but didn't get it in hand until May 6th!) I FINALLY got my very own M17 here in Iraq and I'm loving it! Only thing left is to get a nice cooler and to wait on the stutter(more of a flicker) fix for the quads!

Specs are:
Q9100
DUAL 3870s
1920x1200 Display
4GB RAM
2x250GB 7200 drives
Ripley top

I sorta regret not getting the illum keys and a couple smaller options. But it's nothing I more than likely can't upgrade or fix or just deal with myself.

=D

/hijack off

 

yup you can just ask AW to ship the keybolard n you caninstall really easy ill linkt he guide if you want

 

Congrats!
Did you buy it through AAFES?

 

Wow, there has to be a faster way for military.

 

help us out
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=368282

 

/megahijack on

Nope, didn't buy from AAFES and using my .mil email I got a discount. As for the links, I've been lurking here a bit and found the nice post with all the M17 goodies/links so I won't have to bug people with the same ??'s all over again. haha.

As for the shipping stuff, the majority of it was due to units changing and not telling anyone so the address was changed without knowing. Next was the mail clerk not doing thier job so it sat there from Mar 30 till I found it May 6th.

All I know is if anyone here is overseas and wants some tips, PM me. =P

As for help on the stutter/flicker I'm afraid I'm not too much help yet as I haven't found a "fix". I did however download and install the 9.4 drivers from ATI.

Another issue I've had a couple times with some more intense games "Call Of Duty 4+5, Frontlines, etc" is if I don't have atleast the rear of the laptop lifted, it'll BSOD after about 20min of play. So seems like cooling issue. I have heard sometimes when they build the system they use WAY too much thermal paste, etc. I plan to check it while on R&R.

/megahijack off

 

we are all try see what's wrong with it.

 

Yeah I've been reading about it. Sad that it seems to be only the quads. BTW just to make sure, the stuttering ya'll speak of is kinda like the screen (like the menu in WoW), jitters back and forth a bit?

 

@ dondadah88

I just read a couple pages of your "help us out" thread. Is this what I have to expect? Seems like a lot of folks having problems with the M17!

 

Very laggy mouse
Stuttering Issues in games
is some of the others. and fps drops alot.

 

no that sounds like driver issues stuttering the whole game lags

 

no the laptop is great unless you get a quad trust us we will figure this out

 

From what I have read, the majority of the issues seem to be with the quad CPU's? And it's a bit more of an annoyance than anything.

 

it isn't everyone that is stutter but it is for some who is. some people are perfectly fine.

this thread is also optimizing your notebook because we are trying to make the northbrigde cooler and other components. i love my notebook and instead of getting rid of it, i am trying to fix these issues not only for me but for everyone else.


this is a great notebook. don't let this issue make you not buy it.

 

I will say I don't regret the purchase at all. If anything I'd have gotten the now 8GB RAM and the QX CPU if I had the $$ at the time.

 

so you have the q9100. i think you can overclock to 2.8 using setfsb.

 

why 8 gigs?

 

I've been looking for "mods" to maybe open up the system some, or maybe find some heatsinks that would fit better and cool better on the NBridge. Until I get back home on R&R I don't dare open it up yet. haha.

 

Got it. Buy the M17. Do not buy the Quad processor.

@Kachooo

I read a few posts suggesting not purchasing RAM from Alienware, instead purchase the laptop from Alienware and buy the RAM elsewhere. It seems you are disappointed because you did not purchase a system with 8GB's of RAM from Alienware?

I was also considering purchasing the smallest HDD with the laptop and then purchase a SSD elsewhere when the prices drop.

 

Yeah the Q9100. With heat over here getting worse I don't plan to OC it. As for "Why 8GB?" it's almost like a "why not?" haha.

I've looked into ways to run programs/games completely from RAM which would speed them up a lot, hence the 8GB.

 

.... ugh they do open and run int he ram lol

any way a SSD would be way more effective

 

True but I'm a bit lazy and with the mail system the way it is here it would have been a bit easier to have the 8GB installed already. The 4GB sticks of DDR3 are still a tad "new" so it won't kill me to wait. I also agree with you about the HDDs which is why I got the 250's. I'm waiting on a couple things.
1: Toshiba to release thier 512GB SSD
2: Better performance on the 500GB 7200RPM drives.

The Toshiba drives of course will cost your first born, but they should drive the prices of the 256's and 128's down a good chunk. Just a quick warning though about SSD. They are a pain to set up at times, and you will not be able to use any sort of "respawn" or "image" on them from a normal HDD.

The 500GB 7200's have been getting slammed at the moment because they are performing slower than thier 5400RPM counter parts by the way.

 

@ Mr Moo.

You're right, an SSD is much easier and just as effective. I just like to do weird stuff. LOL. But in essence you can create a virtual drive on your RAM and run stuff from/on it with sick speeds.

 

i knwo but a SSD would be cheaper then 8 gigs prolly ....

 

Yeah an SSD would definatly be cheaper.