Core i7 coming to M17?

Ave,

Anyone has a word on whether Core i7 would be coming to M17? And if yes, when?

Thanks!

 

Chaz has stated there are no new notebook rumors coming out of the AW headquarters. Don't expect anything new this year.

 

Sucks!!

 

Are you talking about the M17 notebook with ATi 3870 mobility cards, or the new M17 x with GTX 260/280Ms and 4870s?

Neither of the current generation laptops will be upgradeable to Core i7, I can tell you that for a fact. If Alienware want to get an i7 into the M17x it'll require a whole new motherboard.

 

Well, quite honestly, I'm looking for any Alienware with a 17" LCD & Core i7. Be it an old upgraded model, or a new model altogether. Basically I need a LCD > 15" ~ 16" & Core i7 CPU line.

I'm open to other brands as well, and for now Toshiba's upcoming x505 seems to be looking the strongest. HP's upcoming DV8 is loosing solely based on it's poor GPU Choice. Was hoping Alienware would give me the ultimate choice.

 

and the M17 is a Rebranded Armia/Flextronics notebook which Alienware will not be doing anymore (rebranding) now that they're under Dell.

 

Both Sager and Clevo have 17" Core i7 CPU Laptops, but none yet with SLI or Crossfire.
Sager NP8760 or NP9280
Clevo W870CU or D900F

 

Interesting.

In my opinion, with the launch of both Windows 7 & Core i7, two new features almost simultaneously, they should launch a completely brand new line of notebooks, not the Mxxx at all!! Something along the lines of 17" or 18.4" LCD, Core i7 choices, nVidia GTX choices (w/ SLI), and the works...

But from the looks of posts here, it doesn't seem likely that will happen anytime soon.

I'm holding off on my purchase till Mid-November when most lineups should appear (HP, Toshiba, etc.) ... but I was really hoping Alienware would do something beyond the M15x.

 

Id love to see a 18.4 LED backlit i7 4870ddr5 machine .

 

Drooool

 

ahhhh....that would be a dream machine indeed....

 

You mean 4870 x 2 Crossfire...

 

5870s at least guys you are aiming to low ....

 

Went ahead and fixed that for ya.

 

I am willing to bet that the Core I7 will find its way on the M17X before Christmas. I don't care that no rumors are coming out. It would be a marketing non sense to not come out with it and Dell is all about marketing.

Changing the motherboard is definitely one of the easiest things to do especially that they can keep the same design. It will be done in no time.

 

Winter CES has been my prediction all along for the i7 offering and ill stick to that time line ..

 

That's in January right? I say most likely

 

Dell has no reason to upgrade the M17x since they have the best gaming machine out even with just a QX9300 and will continue to have it until someone releases a notebook with a 5870 or an i7 and Crossfire 4870s.

None of the i7 notebook announced so far are going to be better than the M17x for gaming...but even if one of them were I doubt it would spark Dell into action. The M15x should be enough proof that Dell isn't really all that serious about being on the cutting edge of tech.

 

They really dont have much reason to just switch up right now you are correct indeed..

The next change what ever it will be though is surely to be fairly major with i7 possibly new GPUs and 16:9 LED screens. If they just shifted gears right now to the i7 there would be some unhappy M17x owners for sure and honestly it think the switch will come with the new GPUs vs just a new CPU..

 

only time will tell

 

Yeah, but what about heat issues, hardware and software compatibility, drivers update, etc? There are many design-based difficulties when changing the motherboard. They will have to redesign their current design.

 

http://laptops.toshiba.com/laptops/Qosmio/X500

Guys you should check this out. A 18.4" laptop with core i7 from Toshiba. Looks pretty sleek IMO. Shame its only got a GTS 250M under its hood.

 

Probably has flames on the back of that thing to.

 

Not continuing to evolve the design will be looked upon as a negative. That obviously can hurt sales. Plus there are no system board standards like the desktop world when it comes to size and shape. I'm not sure why you think that would be an easy swap. An i7 17" system will be a completely different system. Rumors/prototype will probably come out around CES.

 

the cpu cooler of the M17x would not fit an i7 cpu either, they are physically larger and would not fit between the screws

so at least that would have to be replaced for your motherboard swap idea to work

 

What a waste of space all that is with only a 250m. The 250m should be only when your on battery and it should be sporting some serious cards for gaming .

 

X305 was atrocious but this one looks better. I actually believe it's a replacement of the Qosmio G50 (also non-flaming) which only had a 9600m and not a refresh of the X305...which we may end up seeing down the road. An F55 refresh would be nice too if Tosh tried to put in the current equivalent of the 9700 GTS level card in a 15" machine.

 

This version of Qosmio actually don't. It looks better than the previous generations IMO. I know the flames make it look powerful (My brother has x300 with the flames) but I think this one looks more professional. Don't you think?



From gadgetblind.com

 

BTW sorry for getting a bit off topic here. Just wanted to share that with you guys.

I think the i7 will not come to the m17x this year. If they switch all the m17x to using the i7 that means they are discontinuing all their m17x with the core 2 processors. This is very bad for their customers as they will feel to be lefted out. Even if they current ones will still be on sale, it is too quick for them to release products into the market and that may dilute sales. The current m17x is actually still really new and as Mandrake stated above, it will hurt sales if they do that. Take into account every company's main goal is to make profit, not to race who's got the best product.

I think what they will do is release a new laptop that is 17 inch, and has the core i7 in it. Just a prediction. But this will take a long time because they will have to redesign everything from scratch.

 

Well, a good company never simply rests on its laurels, but constantly innovates to keep ahead of the competition.

That was nVidia's mistake, and they will be paying for it....

 

Not necessarily, Helios, Dell could easily offer both, they would simply be using two different motherboards. Naturally, the Core2duo systems would have the 9400m integrated, while the i7 would not, and there would be other differences between the two "versions" of the M17x.

It may be that customers would tend to buy the i7 hypothetical version more than the Core2duo version and Dell would eventually discontinue it, but for a short period, I can see two versions out there.

 

Saw this on orkut in one of the Alienware communities. Don't know how true it is though. Note he says NZ dollars.

 

Yeah sorry, but that guys a big fat liar, he probably got a Quad Core and he thinks he got an i7 lol.

FYI: 4,200.00 NZD=3,094.15 USD

 

lol...life goes on

 

I don't know why but I find it hard to believe that Dell/Alienware is going allow themselves to be left behind in the i7 race. Sure, they have some i7's already out there ... but if you think about Competition, both Toshiba & HP are hitting the stores with 18.4" Entertainment Machines supporting i7's. For Dell/Alienware to support an i7 in a 15" max LCD just seems a bit odd to me.

I do understand the point you guys are raising though about the "re-work" of the entire design/hardware in order to put an i7 in the M17x ... but I'm inclined to think that before the end of the year, they will come up with a New model altogether to support a larger screen & LCD. Like someone else also said above, I think eventually you will see both Quad Cores M17 and whatever new i7 they coem up with Co-Exist for a while, until they phase out the older one.

Just my $0.02

PS: The Toshiba Qosmio x505 does look awesome; I've been looking into it for a few days and I had posted a detailed Review Article with tons of pictures in the Toshiba thread here yesterday. The GPU is weak, but still better then HP's DV8, and if Screen Size & i7 was the priority -- this notebook scores over others by a mile.

 

I do like that version better than the one with the flames. I would definitely rate the x300 as a top 3 "ugliest system" but that just my opinion.

 

A recognizable brand name trumps innovative tech in a market where the vast majority of consumers have no idea what the tech is doing for them. This is why Dell is the 3rd highest seller of notebook PCs in the world behind HP (who has the same business practice as Dell) and Acer (who have only found success being innovative in the consumer oriented netbook/CULV market).


We're talking about all the same PC manufacturers that pressured Intel into canceling Auburndale and Havendale because they had too many Monty CPUs in stock that needed selling off.

 

well this will reinforce the absence of an Nvidia chipset for i7 in a future M17x

http://www.tomshardware.com/news/Nvidia-Chipset-Nehalem-Core-i7,8810.html

I also made a thread with this

 

the i7 will not be designed for the M17x. they're most likely going to phase out the M17x with a new laptop - that is just how alienware does it. they already have the new GPU's out for the M17x; they're not going to redesign their model.

rather, alienware will do what they always do. to make better the 'most powerful laptop' they will just design a new one.

 

Considering the amount of time and money they have invested into the M17x i think it will infact have an i7 upgrade using the same chassis.. They wanted to launch the M17x at a time when the Mobile i7s were just not ready..

It wont be hard to fit an i7 motherboard in that chassis at all nor 16:9 screens.


New motherboard that supports the same Ram and Video cards is all were really looking at here and everything else could remain the same.

 

Personally I agree with this too; and quite honestly believe this is going to be the case.

 

yes, but they will make a new model and get rid of the old model. i really doubt current iterations of the M17x will receive i7's. alienware won't change that track record.

 

Well, as far as I'm concerned, the point is ... as long as there's a LCD > 16" + Core i7 + good nVidia GPU (possibly SLI) + all the usual she-bang of the M17 ... I could care less if it's an "M17x" or a new model. I guess this is something I should have even stated in my very first opening post for this thread ... It's not exactly an M17x w/ i7 that I'm looking for ... All I'm looking for is an Alienware w/ i7 with a large LCD and all the good works!!! If Alienware can deliver that, good enough!!

 

As luci5r says. If I for example just wanted an i7 laptop, I'd go for that one which has a desktop i7 (the Eurocom D900f, I think it is, if I remember rightly). However, it can only take a single 280M therefore I'd rather go for a laptop with SLi 280Ms, even if it only had a Core 2 series processor.

No point of putting an i7 in a 17 inch or bigger gaming laptop really if you can't fit two graphics cards in it as well.

 

Agreed. I remember one time going to Applebee's to crush some beers with some buds and a kid had a Qosmio with him sitting there waiting for a table using it on the waiting bench and if you think it is ugly online, in person it was just hideous. I mean, wow.....

I'm trying to think of an uglier laptop I've seen, but I'm pretty sure the Qosmio is top dog followed closely by any laptop that is pink or a close facsimile thereof.


So glad they scaled back a bit.

 

M17x + i7 + 17" RGBLED + SLI = Mmmmmmmmmmmm

Oh, and an empty pocket.

 

i7 is not verer than core Q for gamez ok

 

I meanin for example a good game require a least 3.0 ghez to be playe smoo..

 

Er......


What?

 

IMHO, the only worthy upgrade over current M17X would be 5870 CF, and probably Arrandale. I've got to say that i7-i5 cpus could(theoretically) have a little benefit in gaming notebooks by minimizing some stuttering issues, but this is yet to be proven.
As for now, even i7+4870x2 will not be a huge boost in games over Core2+280m in SLI.
I hope ATI will leave us some juice in 5870M.
Itchy....