Desktop Replacement (M17x) or...Desktop; Decisions..Decsions..

I am in a bit of a dilema, and was hoping some of you fine people would be able to help with suggestions. I recently told me friend about my planned purchase of the Alienware M17x. I was planning on getting it fully spec'd out..QX9300, 2x SSD in Raid 0, the works. He called me a..to put it in his words.."F***ing Moron".

He suggested I buy (or build) a desktop, and spend the rest on a mediocre laptop (for school and such). I took his suggestion, researched, and this is what I found:

If I go with the M17x:

QX9300 processor
Dual 280M
256GB SSD x 2 (Raid 0)
8GB DDR3 Dual-Channel RAM
etc

Grand Total of (about): $5,399 (thats w/ EEP)

Then I discovered Dell's Studio XPS 435..It offered the following specs:

Core i7 965 Processor
12GB Triple-Channel RAM
4870 GDDR5 (only one, I'd add in another after-market for about 250)
Soundblaster Xi-Fi Soundcard
[Add in: 2 256GB SSD in Raid 0, After market]
2TB 7200 RPM in Performance Raid 0 (for backing up, harboring movies/music & such)

This would give me a Grand Total of (about): $3,200

It is also much more upgradable than the M17x...and the power of the desktop is phenomenal compared to the M17x. The leftover $2k I would spend on another laptop, maybe the Asus W90 (Quad Core, 2x 4870, 6GB RAM)

But the thing is...I really, really did not want another desktop. I've had desktops all my life, and its just a major annoyance. Giant heat emitting, dirt collecting device, that you have to get behind of, squished againt the wall everytime you want to configure something; I'm sure you all agree...seeing how these are notebook forums xD

But in the end...the desktop + laptop is a lot more reasonable... I need help making this decision, because I was really set on a desktop replacement laptop, and just don't know what to do anymore

I would appreciate all/any suggestions

 

SSD = waste.. Horrible write speeds, and it overall slows down after time.
Get the M17X

 

What? You obviously don't know much about SSD's. Write speeds on newer generation drives are phenomenal.

Also, ssd's do tend to slow down over time, but there are measures to prevent that from happening.

Either way if you have the money it is one of the best upgrades for a laptop with re: to performance.

 

LOL stop talking about what u don't know lol.

TBH IMHO both M17x and Desktop is a total waste...

965 is in end of life and doesn't worth because i can just pick a 920 and overclock it to 4.0-4.1

I would go with a decent configuration in M17x (TBH you look like a "normal" user so i can't see why pick QX9300 + 8GB ram... specially when just this proc and ram is half price of the entire laptop).

Pick something like Q9000 + 4GB + SLI gtx260m and a custom desktop... U will have 2 awesome machines by the same price of this M17x config

 

The best config for the M17x is the second e-value code ($2799).

Add the EPP and DPA discounts and it's worth it

 

agree'd the write times are faster then a normal HD ..... do i need to even post my hdtune results?

the m17x would be a better deal if you got the qx9300 aftermarket and did not waste your money on 8 gigs of ram .... unless you are encodeing or running vmware its useless

 

QX9300 limit ATM is 3.06 so i don't think it worth (specially because it's under warranty)

A Q9000 @ 2.4 will be more than enough for ANY new game when playing at 1200P (vga's will be the bottleneck before you can THINK about cpu holding your back lol) and in not that new games u r already getting pretty decent FPS.

For me 8gigs looks much more reasonable than a QX9300 but 4gig modules price is just way too high to worth it ATM.

 

i agree but he looked set on the q9300 ... i say get a t9600 and go with that

cpu = bottle neck @ low res
gpu = bottleneck @ high res

 

Well, really the point is that you can get a system(although a desktop) thats probably over 2 times more powerful..for the same price (or slightly more than) you guys paid for your M17x rigs..Im just very unsure on what I want to do xD

 

Payng for the max spec'd M17x doesn't mean you'll get your money's worth or that you'll last longer without upgrading. Most times all it means is you got suckered into buying something you didn't need and will never use.

Your investment suffers diminishing returns in performance gained.

 

BIG im starting to agree with every thign you say

 

Well... I'm a "professional" gamer and i always used custom desktops overclocked till the day i start traveling to attend to lan events...

After i bought my first notebook i simply lost any interest in my desktop (and it was a 100% high-end desktop vs a cheap gaming notebook).

My team is from the same state but from different citys and we make some mini lan-partys to practice every 1-2 months and a notebook just made my life much easier because i don't need to take my desktop with me (and a desktop with 8 hds, steel case is pretty hard to move... My case doesn't even fit in my mom honda civic! i need to use the dodge dakota to bring it to lan party).

I prefer notebooks at any time but it depends in what u want and what u r ready to trade to have more comfort/mobility. You REALLY need the extra horse power that a desktop can give? .

 

OP I was in the same boat as you... desktops all my life, and with my new tiny studio i wanted something small(ish) and even though it cost double to get the same performance as I could have gotten in a tower, I went ahead and pulled the trigger.

D I regret it? Hmmm, not sure yet. The system is beautiful looking, I love how much less space it takes up compared to giant desktop+22" monitor.
However, jury is still out on the screen (really too dark for my personal taste, I suppose if I had to I could get used to it), and while it may be the most powerful gaming laptop on the market atm, coming from souped-up desktop ownership... the raw power is a little underwhelming. Any half-decently equipped no-name gaming desktop's gonna beat it.

All in all, 50-50 on whether I'm going to keep it.

One last thing. Despite how practically and intellectually I told myself I didn't need this... it didn't matter. I wanted it. So i got it.

 

why would you want a gaming laptop and a gaming desktop? stupid, really... also, if you do eventually decide to get a gaming desktop and a practical notebook, i'd suggest building the desktop yourself - for under 2000$, you can get an absolute killer rig, and learn something about computers to boot.

 

I can relate...and you just helped me make my decision. Now I just have to decide on exactly which specs I want

 

Unh... It's good

What u r going to do with your notebook?, what games u will be playing?.

 

Oh it'll range..a lot

It would go from...Black & White...to Crysis....down back to Planescape Torment...back up to Fallout 3....Warcraft3/Diablo 3/SC2...Assassins Creed 2/Splinter Cell Conviction....Sins of a Solar Empire...etc, you get the idea

Not only that, but I create websites as well. My first attempt at a flash website(my Dad's): Linky
So I do tinker around with Adobe CS4 (master collection) a lot. I'm pretty sure I'd put this power to good use

 

Damn.... You must be a rich kid, huh?

 

Talk about pointing out the obvious. This is the way it is, and always has been. I hate those silly 'buy a desktop, they are more powerful' comments that some guys make in laptop forums, or that I guess your friend made. It's like someone asking about a motorbike and being recommended a car - 'much better value, carries more people and luggage'

Do you want/need a desktop or a laptop? That is your choice, not your friends, and only you can know the answer. Come on, you already know the differences, and the pro's and cons. And you already know a desktop will have more power for the money, you don't need to be a rocket scientist to have known that. So you already know all the facts, and now it is up to YOU to make the decision, not your friend, or not some guys on the internet.

 

My desktop would probably smoke my M17x, but that didn't stop me from buying one

 

No not really

money is actually pretty tight right now xD

Felt like I was watching an army recruiting commercial xD
or..well...reading

But I see your point

 

I don't think u need a QX9300 (specially buying it from dell with a price tag of $1k lol), 8GB would be REALLY useful but at this price tag... I think is better to wait and buy it later (specially because ram price generally drop A LOT).

And one SSD already give u 250mb/s read speed... U r not going to notice any difference by using 2 in raid 0 in real world .

BTW... Just a tip... Use css to make your layout not tables

 

I used CSS on the front page?

...teehee? xD

 

Yeah but you r using < br > (another tip... When using single tags like "br" you should use with a / like < br/ >) to put your text down and the right way is to put it inside a block like div or p and use margin/padding in your css to move it.

Title and style tags should be under < head >< / head > and you forget to close the div tag.

Sorry about the off-top but I'm a web-developer lol.

 

ahh

br was basically the first thing I learned when starting html, it just kinda...stuck. A lazy way out I guess xD

and you're completely right about head & div...forgot about those

I appreciate you informing me, I can go fix it now

 

still think a t9600 or t9800 would be better .... specially since you can overclock

and ram you could get later much much cheaper ....4 gigs should hold you off for now

 

the only reason i'm buying a laptop gaming rig is coz i can't buy ( assemble) a desktop gaming rig. i move around a lot and have no fixed long-term location. even if i was in one country for 6 months straight (not really happened yet), after that am i supposed to lug around my desktop and monitor? not a chance, even if it was a flat panel.

while some effort and money put into fedex/dhl-ing a desktop would probably be economically worth it, i don't see myself doing all that. so i'm buying a laptop at double the cost of an even more kickass desktop.

if i were in ur place, i would: assemble a high-end desktop gaming rig and buy a just below high-end laptop so if u need to 'work' on ur laptop (not play games) coz you're going somewhere, u can.

just my $0.02.

 

i havent read this whole thread so i am going to just address the first poster -

if you dont need to be mobile at all and want superior performance for a better price point desktop wins out every time.

as the owner of the new M17x i would have gone with a desktop hands down if that was an option for me. the only reason i didnt go that way is because i find myself out of the country for months at a time and my computer becomes my main form of getting work done as well as my primary entertainment resource in my hotel rooms.

when i am actually at my home i will treat this thing just like a desktop...plug it into a 28 inch samsung LCD keyboard and mouse.

desktop 4tw if your life allows for it. just my opinion

 

Well i prefer mobility.

Im in the 2nd year of my college so I go in and out of classes, I occasionally LAN...

..and I prefer going out rather than staying in, so mobility is definately a big plus for me

 

build a nice desktop for 1500 and get a M17x with

t9600
260 SLI
4gb ram
(what ever HD)

and you will still be in budget

that m17x will still play some games and later down the road you can upgrade

 

Ive noticed you're amazingly set on the t9600...why is that?

dont like quads?

 

the t9600 is a pretty good balance between cost and performance. plus, a fast dualcore (like the t9600) is (still) all you need for gaming, seeing how many games don't take advantage of quadcores yet.

 

thanks Whizzo you can always read my mind

 

no problem.

in related news, how'd you get 6k+ posts?

 

got no idea.......

i just jump forum to forum ...heck i have even posted in the Apple thread about Quanta becoming the MAIN Macbook makers

 

I got the laptop because I travel a lot for starters, and taking a laptop with you is a lot harder than taking a desktop. Laptops are much more manageable as well, easy to move around the house...they have a large 'convenience' factor to them.

However, that desktop is damn tempting...

It honestly depends on what you think. I took the laptop option because it's just more convenient for me and it satisfies my gaming needs with no problems.

Do some research. Yes, they do slow down over time, but only write speeds slow down. Read speeds on the SSDs stay the same constantly and that's the one that matters for loading times. Burst reading times are incredible, under 0.1ms compared to 6-8ms for high performance HDDs. And even after the write speed time, the write speeds still compete with the leading HDDs.

I'm planning to upgrade to an Intel X25-M later in the year. It's a phenomenal SSD, read speeds of up to 300MB/s...in benchmarks it boots twice as fast as a pair of VelociRaptors in Raid, the leader in desktop HDDs...and game loading times are similar. It even led to an increase in frame rates.