Contemplating on Alienware...

Hey guys!

So look, the thing is, I love gaming. I also love music, which is what I do for a living, so that's why I bought the Macbook Pro in my sig, so I can have a great OS to run my music apps and stuff on.

But the gaming part kills me when I think of the future. Say GTA IV.

That's why I decided to come down here to the Alienware corner and start a nice chat with you guys and galls.

First off, the m9750. I know there's no word on upgrading to 8800's yet, so let me ask you about the SLi 7950 GTX. (Question 1) How strikingly better are they as opposed to, say the 8600m GT? Is there like a "WOW" factor or is it just a bit better, it just pumps up 5-10 frames in certain games? Say, uh, Crysis.

I'm not such a fan of the game, I've just been playing it to get the feel of what my current machine can do, so 1280x800, no AA, all on Medium. Playable to say the least.

How does this compare to the m9750 with two 7950s in SLi?

---

I don't live in the states, but I'll be there from January till May, so that basically gives me 4 months to stack up the dough and contemplate on a new gaming system. Which brings me to the m15x and m17x.

I know there's no reviews out for the 8800s yet (or are there) but I just want to ask your most honest opinion about the cards. (Question 2) Do you really think they'll be at least as close to the desktop counterpart, or at least be able to run games on the long term? Again, GTA IV comes to mind, Crysis 2? etc etc.

---

And one final thing. I've read mixed opinions about support and delivery time. So I can't really work on that, but overall, (Question 3) how's the build quality of these machines? I've never even gone close to one, I've only seen pics and read stuff you guys posted, so I have no idea what-so-ever.

It's a long read, I know, but cheers if you have read it, and maybe you guys could answer some of these questions.

Also, pants

 

Alright, I would say if you can wait for the new models to come out, you may as well. Do not buy one of them when they first come out, I would say wait for the review and see if they like it. From what I've heard, the M8800GTX is supposed to be pretty damn fast, so if you can wait, you may as well.

Also, the leap from an 8600GT to (2) 7950GTX's should be huge. If you have a 1440x900 screen, you should be able to run Crysis on high using the SLi with no hiccups I believe, you may want to see what other people say though.

 

I'd also recommend waiting; get an 8800M-GTX. The Go7950GTX is a great performer and two of them together are beastly, but a single 8800M-GTX is faster especially in newer games.

Stone825 is right that a single Go7950GTX is a huge leap up from an 8600M-GT. I've used both cards extensively.

 

not to mention a single 8800-GTX will deliver better performance then two 7950's While consuming significantly less energy

 

A single 8800-GTX should deliver better performance than two 7950's. However, in some cases it may not if a game really utilizes SLi well.

I think we are trying to say that if you need it now, just go for the 7950GTX SLi and you will see a huge leap in performance. If you can wait 1-3 months, wait for the 8800GTX, because that will have even a larger performance jump.

 

Any new word on 8800ms for the m9750?

 

and as far as the delivery is concerned i ordered from the UK site and i live in the UAE, it arrived 3 days prior to what the website said. So i think thats pretty good as far as the delivery is concerned. As far as the support is concerned i talked to the tech support in order to help me disable the raid on my hdd's and id say he was pretty patient. Though it did take him a little more time than i had thought it should to help me get through the problem but it was ok.

 

Cheers for the answers!

I'm not in a hurry to buy one just yet. I will, next year.

I'm going to wait for the reviews though, see what people think about it!

Oh, one more thing, what do you guys think of the overall build quality of Alienware machines? I'm not really looking for a fanboi answer like "OMG th3y R teh $h17" but more like a realistic opinion.

Cheers!

 

If that's the case, then maybe you can wait for the m15x/m17x. Both I believe are equipped with the 8800M GTX [with the latter having an option for SLI].

 

well the build quality on my system is good id say...not top notch but good....somehow i dont know why but im a bit uncomfortable with the rubber around the keyboard and the touch pad. maybe because im not used to it...but overall i would give it a 7 out of 10 as far as build quality is concerned.

 

My opinion on the build quality is on par with alienware fanatic. 7 out of 10. I have had mine for 3 years and its still running. I have had issues with video cards (had to get mine replaced 4 times!) and an issue with the LCD hibertante switch (close the lid switch). I've even dropped mine a good 6 feet and only had a chip off the chasis (which they repaired when I sent it in for warranty). So all in all I feel that the laptop was more than durable.

I am not going to lie though, my personal experience with support and shipping was so terrible that I refuse to purchase another one of their products. Not going to go on a rant about that but the support is something to keep in mind as a lot of people have the same issues with their support team.

Do some research on resellerratings.com and google it to see if it is something that you want. Thats what I would suggest.