Best M17x Gaming Build?

I am not to tech savy so would love some advice. Would like some opinions on some builds before I order. Would like to stay under $3,000
Primary use will be gaming and would like it to last a few years. Will it play crysis on top settings? Should i wait for I7 chip? Anyone know if Nividia 3d vision will work with there mobile cards? One or two video cards? If I skimp on an area that I can easily upgrade later which would be the one to do it with? TX for any replies.

I am considering this.
SYSTEM COLOR Nebula Red - Special Edition – Anodized Aluminum edit
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9000 2.0GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) edit
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English edit
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 1 yr In-home Service after remote diagnosis + My Tech Team edit
VIDEO CARD Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled edit
LCD PANEL 17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p) edit
MEMORY 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz edit
HARD DRIVE 500GB 7,200RPM w/ Free Fall Protection edit
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

 

This is almost the exact build as the ones from microcenter.
except for Nebula Red.

the plus side is that you get all the same specs for $2099 while it's be around $2800 from dell.

So, in general, you lose the Nebula red and personalized nameplate but you save $700.

 

It depends on what you mean top settings. If you want to play it at high resolutions and 4x FSAA or more, it won't suffice, but even two GTX 280Ms in SLI will do that. Maybe the ATi/AMD 4870s in Crossfire X could do it, but I'm not sure.

If you don't need one right now, wait for a good gaming notebook with Core i7 CPU and next generation graphics (Nvidia GTX 3xx or ATi/AMD 58xx series). The GTX 260M/280M are still based on the G92b architecture (same as some of the 8800/9800 series) which is rather outdated when compared to desktop video card technology or even what AMD/ATi is offering.

Personally, I'd have waited if I would have been able to, but I needed a laptop at the time I ordered.

 

I sometimes see some ppl post something like they send Dell an m17 to upgrade to an M17x. How can you do that? If in Jul 2010 (I think at least at this time) AW release a refresh M17x can I exchange my M17x now to the new one, with some money of course?

 

Got a link. Didn't see it on thier site. Is that a local microcenter. If so which one so I can order. TX

 

I will most likely not wait. I want it now! I noticed you upgraded urs to the 280's You think its worth the $300 and which processor would u choose if you where buying today? I will probally be playing Totalwar, Dragon age and crysis on this baby!

 

http://microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0314770

Note that it's only available for in-store pickup order only for now.

I have one from them. It works great. been using it for over two months.
As for crysis, it runs at maximum settings (very high) on lower resolution. and on 1920x1200, it runs smoothly at high.

 

The pics of the Nebula Red dont do it justice!

 

I paid $1800 at micro center for the demo model. Chucked a qx9300 in it and i'm a happy camper.

 

Wow! Let's see if it's true, tomorrow
I used to be like: What? A red laptop??? HELL NO!!! NO! NO! NO!
But the first time I saw an M17x Nebula Red picture I knew my MacBook Pro '09 (which I had just bought in late Jun) was gonna be a history

 

^^^^Well when I first saw the red version on the Alienware sight, I thought it looked less then stellar. After seeing some real world pics from users on this forum, I did a complete 180. The pics looked really good! I guess Ill find out for sure whenever mine arrives.

 

Thats a smoking deal!! Dam they won't ship it... hhmm drive 12 hours to save like $450 bucks. I just called alienware and they knocked a little off was like $600 diffrence now only like $450 but I get new instead of demo. I have to get red though. Its $200 more to get black go figure...

 

Actually, I'd likely wait if I wanted a laptop right now, as I don't have to travel as much as I used to in the upcoming months and get one when my travel schedule gets tougher again.

If I was in the market to buy one today, I'd likely get some sort of Clevo, Sager or other whitebook with Core i7 and a powerful video card.
If I absolutely wanted an Alienware, I'd go with a M15X with the Core i7, the lowest screen resolution possible and upgrade the video card later once ATi 5xxx or Nvidia GTX 3xx cards become available.

If I really wanted an M17X, I'd go with two ATi 4870s Crossfire as video cards, get the cheapest CPU from Dell and upgrade to a QX9300 CPU if I can get it for an affordable price (which I might still get for this one). I'd likely go with the lower resolution screen, however, as even the DDR3 ATi cards are likely not powerful enough to give me the gaming experience I crave for with maximum details and at least 4x FSAA and 8x Anistotropic Filtering or higher at 1920x1200.