Buying M17X

Ello guys, actually I've found these interesting forums after searching on the web regarding my purchase for Alienware M17X.

My main reason to buy a gaming laptop is just for playing World Of Warcraft and nothing else tbh

-Why laptop for gaming not desktop? since I do really need it at work with me and I just can't move with my desktop , also getting my broadband usb modem to be connected on more than 3 hours a day to and from work so laptop wud the most suitable for me

-Why M17X not M17 while it's BETTER+CHEAPER?
I won't lie actually my point here is just the looks since the specs of M17X is really good to run World of Warcraft and I don really need higher prformance like M17 so I won't be facing any prob with World Of Warcraft on the standard M17X specs

*Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT – SLI Enabled
*17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
*AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design, OFC
*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
*1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
*160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
**Alienware® Orion Backpack

actually I'm goin to upgrade the Rams to 4G DDR3 when i get it, and I think this wud be very good performance for World Of Warcraft

Any suggestion wud be most welcome

 

m17x doesn't fit ddr3 ram but good luck with the purchase they just went town 500 dollars

 

WoW is more CPU demanding game than GPU. The least you can do is get a 6mb cache cpu to please it

 

i played wow on a 2.4 ghz amd athlon x2 and it ran pretty good and thats saying something lol .. that cpu will run pretty good ... big raids and stuff may not but hey

 

u guys recoming to update the CPU for Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB) since WOW is way more data especially n raids eh ? :O

 

If you need a laptop at work, why not buy a smaller, lower end laptop (perhaps 600 dollar range) and get added portability, then build a desktop with much more power for playing WoW. I've got a friend that plays Lich King and I just built him a computer for 300 dollars that'll probably play WoW on par with that laptop. Besides, even low end laptops these days would squeeze out WoW on lower settings with no issue, so you've got your portable WoW for when you need it.

 

300 dollars ? :S 2 tires for my car cost that much...

 

Yeah, he was squeezed tight on budget.
450 watt nspire PSU
9600GSO 256MB
2GB PC2-6400
Gigabyte P31 motherboard
Intel E5200 (2.5GHz, 2MB L2)
250GB Seagate 7200.11
Some 20 dollar case that I gave him for free.
Old copy of XP Home Upgrade I gave him for free.

 

Crap why?

and shall I go for 4G DDR2 then? with 64-bit?

also btw I don wanna pay 350$ for more 3G DDR2, so I'm gonna upgrade i when i get it wud it make any difference to Alienware Rams? r they better that's y expinsive?

 

Just buy 2x2GB of PC2-6400 SO-DIMMs on a site like Newegg. It will cost you like 60 bucks tops. Alienware's RAM is not better, it is expensive because they can make gross profits by selling it at that price, because people will pay for it. In fact, in many cases, the RAM used by Alienware, and other OEMs is often lower quality. $350 for 3GB of DDR2 is insane.

 

I c m8 but my desktop is now belongs to my lill brother so am buying a new PC so if i buy a new desktop I won't be able to take to work and if I buy that one u r talking abt I'm gonna have to play on it at home too which NO WAY

 

I got another question dudes, why the hell 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology is +300$.... it's not worth it

or does it really makes that big different compared to 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)?

 

Regarding your M17X purchase, I would go with the single 9800M-GT (or dual if you can afford it). The 8600M-GT, even two of them, are rather weak especially for modern games. At some point you're probably going to want to play a game that's newer than WoW . . .

I also suggest the T8300/T9300 processor.

The WUXGA screen has a lot more screen real estate than the WXGA+ . . . however, for $300, I'd get a nice external monitor. It's too much money for a screen upgrade. The WUXGA screen does make a big difference, but IMO, not a difference warranting $300.

 

chaz is right the 300 for the screen is pointless

2 the ram from AW is not better they just want money

3 the single 9800 is much better then the 8700's

4 any of the ddr2 should work off newegg

5 the t9300 cpu if you can afford it as well

 

[1] Area-51® m17x

Video/Graphics Card: Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
Display: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design
AlienFX®: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - Blue
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Memory: 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 512MB
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital/Analog (ATSC) MiniCard TV Tuner free
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound


2099 and it will do good for your needs

 

woot many many thx u guys r really helpfull, however lemme think abt it and do the math

 

Well just to confirm with u guys that this laptop is MAINLY for WOW and I can actually update it to one of these:

Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
OR
Intel® Core™2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

So which one shall I go for?

 

go with the higher graphics for sure.... itll relieve your cpu to a degree and you'll still be able to play other games now because you have the better gpu. the cpu will still run great ..but with the better gpu its a bigger difference then the cpu upgrade

just my 2 cents

 

I really do not understand, imo the M17 is the wtg for price, future upgrades, price, gaming, so on and so on. Why the M17x, it has to the the shell, its always the shell and the purty lights...


lol, enjoy your new purchase!

Just trying to rib you into the M17...

 

Ok plz 4get abt any other game it's only WOW I'd Play even for next 2 years the point is gaming components priority wud be GPU > DDR > CPU as far as I know but when it comes to WOW some ppl say its' more CPU performance needed especially in Raids which I need the most

so I'd now compare between:

Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT–SLI Enabled + Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

VS

Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT + Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

And put in mind that this is only for WOW raiding nothing else which means loads of data, so it's WO PC and nothing else (LOOKS TOO BTW)

 

Definitely go for the single 9800M GT and T8100 CPU as Mr.Moo said. It's a much better combo. The 8600s are weak as I noted - I've tested 'em.

The 9800M GT is several times faster than dual 8600M GTs.

 

I'd definitely go with the 9800M GT w/ T8100 compared to the 8600M GT in SLI w/ T9300 if that's all your budget can afford atm.

Better to have a fast GPU. I don't play WOW but so far my 8600M GT is limiting any extra performance compared to my T8100 in most games.

 

Better to get the single 9800 GPU. I've also heard that WoW can have problems with SLi if you do not have optimized drivers. Go for the single/stronger GPu, you wont regret it.

Cheers.

 

yea wow is kinda fickle witht he sli i forgot that +1

 

Word.. lol ill just confirm what everyone is saying go with the single stronger GPU 9800M GT and if u can afford the stronger CPU go for what u can,

WOW does not like SLI or Crossfire you would not get any benefit from either with this game.

 

WoW likes crossfire just fine I dont know where you get your facts but they are wrong.

 

I think Crossfire is good to go in WoW, but SLI still isn't. Don't ask me.

 

yea i was walking around doutar and hit 350 fps

crossfire>sli i think that must be it

 

Your help is much appreciated guys, and here's wut am goin for:

*Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
*17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
*AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design
*Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
*Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
*1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz 2 x 512MB > will update to 4GB

Total is 1849$ without tax & shipping

 

I went with what you have but I got 4 gb of ram instead and the 1200p clearview screen. Dont be cheap, get the clearview screen its amazing. I recently upgrade mine to the 2 9800 GT's with SLI and wow runs worse but alienware sent me a differant 9800 GT then the one that came with my computer so im still waiting on the new one to see if it fixes my problem. I was running around 50 fps with the single 9800 GT max settings on wow.

 

Lol that's cuz wow hates Ali as previously stated and he has to go cheap he is on a budget some people are ....( like me)

 

it's not worth it to add 300$ for it tbh, or u r telling me the one i'm getting is that bloody screen that turns black when i'm looking from sides ? :O is it that crapy screen OMG, like the one I have on my acer piece of junk

 

no all of AW screens are great i have m17 1440 screen and its great .....dont worry acer is poo lol

 

PHEW I thought it's like my crapy black dark looks screen when i try to watch a movie with a friend we gotta line up for that LOL

thx pal

and ooh 300$ OMG I'm thinking of adding 4G when i recieve it I cud add 8G instead tho better than the screen

 

Well I was actually planning to order tomorrow but guess what Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT is no longer available so wut a hell am I suppose to o now?

 

the m17x also has an extra GB of mem standard now...

Just gotta take the good with the bad I guess.

If I were you, I'd move on to the m17. Lights be buggered. By the time you're ready to pull the trigger again perhaps the 4870s will be out, and you'll see a price drop on the dual 3870s.

Conversely you could inquire about the costs of a single 9800m GT purchase from AW after the fact, and just get it kitted with the dual 8600s from them.

 

So which wud be giving me higher performance?
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8700M GT–SLI Enabled
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>OR<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Single 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT
Which is not available now lol but just wondering, since I've asked friends of mine playing wow and they got SLI and they say that's when it's on it's higher FPS, while many ppl here say it's not
I'm kinda confused

 

SLI kills fps in WoW lol some one else on here reported worse performance with the m17x with SLI so the single 9800m GT. and i think it is actually faster then the SLI option