Buying M17 system

I'm looking for an M17 but i'm undecided whether to wait the ati 4870 or buying a system with 2x3870


PS: is the 4870x2 better than gtx280m?

 

How soon do you need your system?

 

I need it for the end of April

 

Well the last I heard we the 48's were coming out in a couple of months. YOu can always upgrade your cards to the 48 when they come out.

 

I can also wait first or second week of April to see if prices fall down (e.g. QX9300), or think you not?

 

If you don't need the system now, of course wait. But if you are antsy and want to purchase it now, I would pull the trigger today and don't wait. There has been no official word on when/if the cards will be released for the m17, and if they will be compatible with the current iteration of the m17. So bottom line, I wouldnt wait if the only reason you are waiting is for the cards.

 

I see your system on signature, does it work well?

Does Crysis warhead works fine?

 

yes there has been confirmed release and confirmed ddr5
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=355235

there is no release date, but when they do come out you will be able to upgrade. I would suggest waiting because it has been thought they would release some time in march but i'm just throwin poo though :/
crysis warhead runs pretty good btw.

the 4870 xfire will beat the 280m. Nvidia just relabeled the 280m gtx its really a quadro 3700m with higher clocks.

 

yeah, waiting could let you down if you're soley interested in the 4870s.

Alienware was 100% pushing that the 8800m gtx would be compatible with the M9750, and of course, when the 8800m gtx debuted, Alienware continued saying they would support the card for about another month until the rest of the world realized it was impossible and Alienware lied about it. there was also a lot of mixed positions Alienware was taking at the time when trying to support the 8800m gtx. many reps said they would, others said they wouldn't. the fully marketted the late 2007 M9750's as a 17 incher with 8800m gtx compatibility.

however, the 3870 can be supported by the M9750, Alienware refuses to recognize the compatibility here with the cards, so they will not authorize an upgrade path via those cards. i don't see them releasing a new notebook for a bit, so they shouldn't cancel support of the 4870 as it won't take business from any of their other models.

so, be careful. with the speculation, the 4870 should work and whatnot and Alienware says they will support it, but do note they have claimed they would support other notebook cards and then flat out lied.

 

Wait till mid april, if tehre is no news of the 4870's order the M17 with 3870's?

 

well AW would be crazy not to put them in there they fit , there the right mxm and every thing. only problem is heat ....

 

Who knows how long it's going to be for the 4870s to come out. Look at all the problems with the new Asus that was just released with these cards.

 

there driver problems thats ATI issue, but the asus was rushed out and asus is to blame for that one

 

This just means the 4870s aren't ready yet and there is no way to tell when they will be.

 

asus wanted to have theres out first and they had not began produceing with ddr5 yet so they just released it.

all reports indicate that they are testing them now(flextronics) and there are issues with heat and thats why they have not been released yet

 

Hi

I don't know what touble the 4870 in the Asus makes ... so could sb pls bring me up to date?
THX!

Greetings
Julian

 

well the asus laptop freezes up on boot sometimes and it gets random BSoD and just all around issues. the laptop itself is fine but the drivers are causeing it to freeze and sometimes crash. the cards are good cards even though theres has ddr3 ram. Asus just rushed them out to quick and now the system is unstable

 

It seems the Asus issue was a BIOS problem, the second batch seems to be stable so far, just FYI. I am comtemplating getting the Asus or the M17, but would rather have the 4870's . . . decisions decisions

 

Sager with 2x gtx280m is better than an ipotetic alienware with 4870x2?

 

THE ASUS PROBLEMS ARE FIXED. a new batch came out, with a new system bios and video bios, and now the systems are running great.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=354885&page=192

 

don yes they are running okay now but still UNDERPERFORMING a lot. they are still far from what asus claimed for scores from pre release units. like the 20k 3d mark score. and im gonna go out and say it.. no way going from ddr3 to ddr5 will add 5k points. not gonna happen. maybe another 1.5 to 2k or so would be my guess.

 

do you think it is the drivers from the new mobile chipset that needs a update, and a video driver because it might not be useing all the stream cpu's. and that large bandwidth.


i think that cpu is to little for those cards. i heard of were a q6600 was struggling @3.2ghz. with this(desktop cards. and i have to find the link.)

 

well yeah ati needs a new gpu driver for both the 3870 and 48series cards.

but what i mean was asus showed a 20k 3dmark score that was with the quad overclocked to 4ghz as of now there is no way ive been seeing 4ghz out of the 9300. not saying its not possible but for sure not running every day at those speeds that would simply be a benchmark machine.

and yes the ati card are highly cpu dependant.

 

yeah i saw that to. @4ghz i dont think our machines can last long either. with a 9300, @3ghz, how much do you think it will get on 3dmark?

 

i would guess maybe around 17k-17.5k or so maybe push 18. unless im proven wrong. but imo no way it will do over 20k as was shown

 

asus didnt OC that a person did that

 

Sager with 2x gtx280m is better than an ipotetic alienware with 4870x2?