I wanted to know more about M17x-R1

Hi guys I have some questions about the gaming laptop Alienware M17x-R1 laptop. I'm going to buy this laptop and it's really kinda cheap I want to save more like having a 20% ~ 15% discount? I'll order it online and is there anyway to reduce the amount of this laptop on their site?

The configuration is: OVER $2000 :cry:
Nebula Red - Special Edition – Anodized Aluminum
Intel® Core™2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 260M, 2GB – SLI® Enabled
17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200 (1200p)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz
1TB - 2x 500GB 7,200RPM - RAID 0

Will this configuration enthusiast the settings of Crysis Warhead?
With the settings of: 1920 x 1080, enthusiast, 16x AA? What is the highest possibility to play crysis on this specification? On my side, I believe to do that is reducing the resolution to maximize everything.

Is it okay to upgrade my 4GB of memory someday? What brand or like I can put any memory brand? Does it have to be the same as 1066MHz or I can use a higher thing like 1333 MHz? Do I have to update something on my BIOS when I replaced my memory to a new one with a different MHz and speed?

Is it worth it to upgrade to Q9000? For gaming using this laptop M17x, is it better to have more cores with lower clock speed like 2.0~2.4GHz (Q9000) or to have two cores but with a higher clock speed of 2.8 GHz (T9600)?

Is this configuration good for like two to three years without any upgrades on the specification?

And also I'm going to buy the tact x mouse and keyboard. Is that fine? I mean is there any issues about those two with M17x-R1 like hardware or software conflicts?

I need this guys I hope someone could give me a satisfying answer based on their experience with their m17x-r1

 

If you call up Dell sales support (the states only I think) and ask for a student discount, provided you go to uni, they should give you one... should.. depends on the rep too.
but about you're crysis comment.. your system shouldn't have too much trouble. mine runs crysis, without overclocking at 1920x1200 with all set to very high, besides the AA, at playable framerates (25-30 av). and it looks gorgeous on the screen
the Q9000 or T9600 is a tricky question.. most of the games today only properly utilize 2 cores; but notice the word today. If you want to 'future-proof' the laptop I'd go for the Q9000, and its easily overclockable aparently..

If you buy the TactX mouse let me know how it is.. I've been looking at buying one myself

 

If you can, get the M17X with ATI 4870 cards. They are much better then the nvidia cards and have less issues. For gaming a T9600 will be fine, but a quad will help out from time to time. The thing is not all games are optimized for quad cores. You can upgrade the memory later on down the road if you really need it, but for the average user, 4GB is plenty. Hope this helps. Also check the ordering thread in my sig. May be helpful. Read it all the way through, as it's only 6 pages at the moment.

 

Don't forget to look at the M17x-R2 and the i7 CPUs. You could probably get the i7 720 and a configuration that is better and cheaper than what you first quoted. Definitely call to order and follow the instructions in DR650SE's link in his sig. It really works and can save you some good money.

 

Yeah i got my i7 for 1985/2155 after taxes man look into that i7's are the future any way if your ganna drop the money future proof it a little! Read DR's ordering thread it helped out a ton and i saved around 600-700 dollers basically got the RGB LED and My 320 gb hdd in raid zero for free!

 

I don't know why you wanted to know more about R1 while R2 is out there.

I don't get it. How much did you pay for your laptop? $1,985? Or $1,255?

 

2155 lol 1985 was before taxes

orig post fixed lol dislexic somtimes >_<

 

Wow! Thats a great deal. $2,155 will be my aim if I order one like yours

You gave me an idea on how far I can go when I pull the trigger for R2 w/ 5870M. Thanks + rep

 

I wouldn't spend $2K on a C2D based system. Look into the Asus G73jh-a1 or a M17xR2 with a single 4870. Both will be better systems and the Asus will even be cheaper.

 

For $2,155 a boy here got CF config. So yeah, dont even think about R1

 

That would be me go to DR's ordering advice to see the specs on the system i got and the price dude trust me you can get a way better system for your money.

 

The configuration of R2: $2,549 w/o tax + shipping = boom! busted wallet
Intel® Core™ i7 720QM 1.6GHz (2.8 GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
Dual 1GB ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 4870 in CrossfireX™
17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 (1200p)
1TB Raid 0 (2x 500GB 7,200RPM HDDs)

While my configuration right on my first post is $2,199~+50 w/o tax + shipping = "Worth it? Not sure yet" with the quad core. The only difference is the graphics card and processor. So basically its kinda cheaper and that's the only thing I can afford And my configuration on my R1 is designed for the enthusiast settings of crysis warhead (hopefully it can).

What's the difference between ATI 1GBcrossfire, GTX 280m sli, GTX 260m sli? It has the same video ram right?

I will read DR's thread thank you

 

Dont be worry lol.

First, no one would ask you for shipping. If someone does, slap at her/his face

Second, you are going to pay exactly $2,500 for that? No. Hanggle with Dell and make it to at least, say $2,200 max. Don't pay for more than $2,200 shipped. Read DR's thread and make it out for you.

Third, as I said, dont even think about R1, PLEASE!!! Spend some time reading on R1 stutter, DPC Latency, Lock-up... There are billions posts out there regarding R1 issues.

Dont get me wrong. R1 is ok and I was very very happy with mine. But... You dont want an outdated system with extremely mediorce display and has potential for a lot of issues, do you?

Hope this helps you go the right way. And hey, did I tell you "DONT'T EVEN THINK ABOUT R1"?

 

+1. im about to pay 2581 for 820qm, 8gb 1333 ram, 4870 crossfire, rgb led screen, a 250gb hdd, and a 320gb hdd. no tax, no shipping. being military has its perks.

edit: and did i mention the orion backpack too. thats included in that price.

 

diablo the only diffrence i see with your set up compared to mine was the processor is the processor really 500 dollers more expensive then the 720? because i got mine for 1985/ 2155 with taxes? just saw the 8gigs of to much ram 8 gigs wont help your gaming just so you know but you do what you want i am also military.

 

not going to just be gaming on the M17x, but thanks for the advice. i plan on keeping this computer around for ~2-2.5 years so i wanted to max it out to make it as future proof as possible.

 

Woah! No tax? No shipping? That would be great! You're just paying for your configuration! But it should have been better to cut off the tax to upgrade more things on my system. For the people not working for the army / gorvernment like me On alienware's site there's like $9 for the shipping. Before they said that the standard shipping of the 5 business days is free so no worries but today I don't know why did it change.

Also, could somebody give me like a basic information or whatever on the difference between the 1GB SLI and 1GB Crossfire? Both of them gives 2GB of video ram don't they? So why do most of them say that this video card beats this one those and so on since both of them has the same video ram? In benchmarking, they should be the same score/rate/performance since the video ram is the same. What is the contributing factor to say that ATI is better than the GTX SLI's? For me the only difference is, the company and like a tag word that says SLI for Nvidea and Crossfrie for ATI. I'm just kinda confused

 

there 2 diffrent card companys thats why they make them and code them a little diffrently the 4870's are newer then the 280s so there going to push and prossess data better ram dosent make a card the tech makes the card

 

all the ram is there for is rendering the game to the cpu and so on more ram gives the cards more space to process data there for helping with performance

 

Okay so that would only mean the new video cards with the same ram are way better than the previous video cards because of the new added thing on it?

 

lol newer is always better and id say nvidia and ati is all about taste they offer an actual diffrence in visuals so its all about what you like but again newer tech is always better it dosent matter how much ram it has it helps sure but its never the defining part of them.

 

SLI/Crossfire are the same thing. nvidia calls it SLI (Scalable Link Interface), ATI calls it Crossfire. What SLI/Crossfire does is it links two GPUs with a "jumper" so they can work in tandum with each other. One card is the Master, and one is the slave. The Master recieves the data from the CPU, and then forwards it on to the slave via the "jumper." The rendering can now be one of two ways. (Alternate Frame Rendering) or Split Frame Rendering (SPF). AFR is when one GPU renders the even frames, and the other renders the odd frames. Each GPU takes turn rendering each individual frame. SFR is when each GPU is used to render half of each frame. The basis of SFR/AFR is determined by the profile of each game. This enables the load to be shared between two cards, and increases quality.

But yes to answer your question, you have two cards, each with 1GB so there is 2GB.

Each card is made up differantly and differant quality. ATI's have scored better then the nvida cards for the M17X in benchmarks. This is based on the cards ability to render graphically complex images. This is where the scoring of cards comes in to play. As cards become more complex, they consist of more transisters which increase the cards capabilities. Newer cards have over a billion transisters. Crazy stuff. Just check out this GPU, ATI Readeon 5970, for a desktop pc

 

Regarding the card, it's not just about newer or better in this case. I suggested you read about DPC Latency, Stutter and Lock-up and you should do that to have at least a basic idea of what you gonna spend $2,000 for.

Regarding R1 vs. R2, it's not just about the card, it's about new mobo, better CPU, much more advanced display. You are more future-proof and can upgrade down the road when you save up some more cash. You gonna spend at least 2k either way. Why dont you throw in $200 to make it a lot better?

People here are getting huge discount of Dell and no one ever paid for listed price on the website. So make your choice wisely.

 

uhh yeah that a much better explination hehe good job dr

 

Thanks