Best dilemma ever

it does help i am kinda in a dilemma between the M17 and the ASUS W90Vp-X1. for the money i am willing to spend, the Asus has a better CPU, 2.5GHz vs 2.8 GHz and also has the dual 4870s. Alienware has 4 GB of DDR3 RAM as opposed to the Asus's 6GB DDR2.

so i guess i am trying to justify buying Alienware. One thing i don't like about the Asus is the 18 inch screen, that's just too big.

 

ha ha ha thats a no brainer. the AW is more expensive the ASUS only has ddr3 4870's there really only overclocked 4850's and the cpu doesn't matter you can upgrade it any time. the m17 has ddr3 ram with higher speeds then ddr2. Lastly the skullcap is so nice and the illuminated keyboard. It also does not have all the lockup issues and driver issue the w90 does right now.

ps you will not use 6 gigs of ram unless you run VM's and 4870's are coming to the m17 and you can call AW and get them when your ready

 

ok...imma settle this...

get the m17...period!

 

moo. vm's for 6gb? wth you talkin about willis?

 

virtual machines..... (run multiple os's)

i have never heard of a game useing 4 gigs of ram ...so the only reason to have more would be video and music encodeing and virtual machines ...or just to have it i guess lol

 

If the rumor that they are re-tooling the chassis for the M17 to accomodate the heat factor with the 4870, I would definately wait.

 

that "rumor" is BS. they can't just "re-tool" the chassis now. that'd mean an entirely new notebook model.

 

i have another concern...going through these forums it seems that the dual 3870s do not perform as well as the nvidia equivalents, and from what i am able to deduce this is mainly a driver issue.

my question is: has the whole driver situation improved lately? or do the dual 3870s still give less performance in games as opposed to the 880gtx sli?

benchmarks don't mean much if the results are not translated as in game performance in my humble opinion.

also back to the resolution question, this laptop is for gaming and only gaming, i don't care how it looks in windows, so with that in mind should i go for the 1440 x 900?

basically my options are either T9400 CPU + 1920 x 1200 or T9600 + 1440 x 900. again keep in mind that all i care about are games.

 

The 9.2 drivers are somewhat better for ATI but the 3870's and 4870's are still performing well under their ability under the 9.2 IMO.

 

bump because i need advice before i spend 3k (canadian)

 

let me guess....your not happy with the advice given thus far and want a definative (black and white) answer to your "delima." right?
i think many people on the topic have offered you valuable information to date. there is no "one" thing that anyone will "tell" you to get (aside from RAM and HDD/SDD from outside vendors) as each person has/had personal experience or preferences.
if you actually look at everything posted about ANY notebook, they all have had issues and remain with issues to date.
there is no one book out there that can claim top dog in every aspect of computing. you will have to give and take to get a unit within your budget and needs.
i said before just get the m17. it has a great following (OCZ as well) and there is very good forum support on tweaks and how to's. it is a great book for the price.

 

I agree but here is two old sreenshots. this is when i first had the notebook and didnt know how to use it.
http://i41.tinypic.com/5bea2u.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/acbhvc.jpg

 

read my post please before you dish out the hostile reply Ryujin. i am not asking about the best notebook, i am asking about the best configuration for what i am going to use the laptop for, in relation to how much i am able to pay.

i have never seen a 720p screen before, and while Whizzo did mention getting the 1920 x 1200 he also said that comment in light of how my Windows desktop will look, nothing related to gaming performance.

 

well, in general, a lower resolution will equal better gaming performance. however, you can run a low resolution on a high-res monitor - but not the other way round.

 

yes Whizzo, but the question here is the 0.3 GHz upgrade in processor worth the sacrifice in resolution? (i.e going from T9400 CPU to a T9600) i ask this after reading several times that the dual 3870s are every dependent on the CPU unlike Nvidia video cards.

 

*above is a listing of posts you made (not all) that others answered.

you jumped so much, i lost track of what you wanted. i felt people answered your questions, and then you came out with similar and different ways to ask again the same thing. it seems as if you did not read your own thread, or felt the information given was lacking. thus i posted.

 

i admit i jumped a lot, but that because i had several questions that came to me at different times. my first enquiry was about the quad core and after i was informed that a higher clocked processor is better i decided to forget the quads.

Then i browsed the forums to get more info and that's when i found out about the dependency of the ATI cards on the CPU, at that point i went back to the Alienware website and reconfigured my setup to see how much it would cost to upgrade the CPU to a 2.8 GHz, at hat point i realized i would have to make concessions in other areas if i wanted that CPU.

to make a long story short i bought an XPS M1730 in January with a T8300 CPU and 8800gtx sli, 1920x1200 screen, it got stolen 3 weeks ago, and now i am gonna buy another gaming laptop (most definitely the M17), just trying to see which configuration will give me similar performance.

 

just get the t9400 and 1900 rez it will be fine for gaming

 

at least you kept it in one thread... kudos.

as far as rez - get the 19x12. unless you desire to resemble a constant "large print" readers digest subscriber, it will look better and perform better in the long run, and you will be happier with the real estate it offers.
imagine taking your drivers license and zooming in to 50%. you will get a similar effect with the lower rez screen. (at least that is how i looked at it)

 

Whizzo i just visited www.hookedgamers.com, i like it very much, especially the different blogs.

Ryujin i am convinced about the 1920 x 1200 resolution now, because you barely need any more graphical detail when you run a game at that resolution, it just makes everything look so good without AA or any of that stuff.

thank you for everyone's input and sorry if i dragged this on too much.

 

nice to hear you've found a config that suits your needs. good luck with the PhaseGame

PS: thanks for the feedback.

 

these are the specs i ended up getting, placed the order earlier today

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Non-Illuminated Keyboard – with Numeric Pad - No color options available
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 1024MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 250GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Wireless b/g (Full Mini-Card)

going to buy RAM from New Egg
mushkin 4GB (2 x 2GB) 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1066 (PC3 8500) Dual Channel Kit Laptop Memory

 

You should really get a light up key board great for the dark.

 

rarely play in the dark, if at all. i had it on my M1730 and never used it. this setup is costing me 3,500$ Canadian, so saving every dollar matters at this point hehe.

 

Oh ok well if you had it and never used it then i guess your good. why didnt you choose the ripley just wondering.

 

i like the ripley and the skull cap, however i chose the later because, to me its the design that defines Alienware laptops.

 

seems like my order will be delayed because i have to fill out a Credit Card international order verification form, which makes no sense because i didn't have to fill out one when i ordered from Dell, and i called the "Canadian" number to place my order.

 

yeah exactly.. i dont see why everyone likes ripley more.
i guess its something i will never figure out