M17 or M15x

So I have been out of computer hardware for a while, due to focusing on getting into medical school, but now that, that is over and done I am looking into purchasing a new laptop.

I just was hoping for some feedback and opinions of you guys. Im looking to spend between 2500 2600ish range.

Thanx in advanced

 

M15x is the way to go, it is more portable.

 

depends on your needs. if you want some more mobility, m15x is better. if you just want a high-powered desktop replacement, the m17 might be the smarter choice.

 

The mobility is not an issue.
I am more concerned with the power and the performance of the machine.

I will do a bit of gaming with it and some research.

Also may i ask you opinion in actual difference between a 2.5Ghz processor and the 2.8?

 

just speed. however, you likely won't notice the difference in anything but synthetic benchmarks. therefore, the extra cost for the 2.8ghz CPU is really not worth it.

 

ok...then....i guess this is what im looking at getting...is this decent?
i game Crysis and WoW...so this would hold up you think correct??

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 P8400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technolog
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Without Media Center Remote Control or TV Tuner
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB
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 Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound

 

sweet config, except one thing: choose a 64bit OS to fully utilize those 4Gb RAM

 

I was hesitant for the 64 bit os, becuase I heard that not everything is fully capable with it.
I was worried if it would affect my ability to play WoW.
I also was going to upgrade to Ultimate, I will buy that from my school though, becuase I recieve killer discount.

Thank You for all of your help Whizzo!!

 

no problem

WoW will definitely work on 64bit, as does (almost) everything nowadays. only really old programs are 32bit-dependent.

 

okay sweet
would you have any other suggestions or is that a decent rig for now?

 

hmm... now i don't know your usage habits, but i got a 160Gb HDD too, and it's full already. so if you want to spare yourself the hassle of upgrading later, you might want to look into that. beyond that, it should be a beauty

 

one last thing..
what is the talk about the screen resolution and stuff with gaming?
should i get the WUXGA?

 

I'm actually in the same boat. I'm not sure which one I want myself. The M15x is good for mobility but the M17 is a powerhouse and arguably better for it's price. But isn't the ATI HD 3870 with crossfireX(?) better than a single Nvidia 9800GT (or whatever comes with the 15x)?

Also has AW fixed the "hinge" problem with the 15x? I feel this is what is holding me back..

 

well, there are two different screen res options for the m17, one being 1440x900 (WXGA+), the other 1920x1200 (WUXGA).
the numbers refer to the number of pixels the screen has horizontally and vertically. the more pixels you have, the more stuff you can show on your monitor. also, with more pixels, text will appear sharper, as will many other things. however, everything will also be displayed smaller.

in the end, i'd definitely recommend getting the WUXGA screen (especially since you're not into heavy gaming). on a 17" display, anything less will not look good. plus, extra screen real estate is always nice to have.

 

Ok...
Sounds great...
Darth, I was talking to an AW rep and they told me that the only umm GPU that is better than the HD3870 is the 9800MGT.
Now as to proving the validity of that statement, im not sure considering it is a biased opinion given to me by a rep.

 

9800m-gtx beats it by a fair margin.

 

is that graphic card alone worth it to change from an M17 to a M17x you think Whizzo?

 

you can't have the 9800m-gtx on the m17, and i believe you can upgrade the m17 to a single 9800m-gtx anyway.

 

yes thats correct.
sorry my question was confusing, would it be worth buying a M17x over a M17 for that card alone?

 

only for the 9800m-gt? not in my opinion, seeing how the m17 has the montevina motherboard, support for quadcore CPUs, and DDR3 RAM.

 

thank you very much for all the help

 

1)So the Nvidia 9800M GT is better than the HD3870 with crossfire?

2)Also how important is speed when playing games? Could either a
Intel Core 2 duo T8100 2.1Ghz (3MB Cache 800Mhz FSB) or Intel Core 2 P8400 2.26Ghz (2MB Cache 1066Mhz FSB) run Crysis? Provided I have a good enough graphics card?

3)Also Does anyone know if AW fixed the hinge issue on the M15x?

 

1) in benchmarks, the ATI cards are better, in games, the Nvidia cards are better. however, this may well be due to immature drivers from ATI, so this could change.

2) games depend more on GPU than CPU nowadays. however, 2.1ghz might be a bit slow. 2.4-2.5ghz seems to be the best price/performance ratio in the lineup.

3) rumors about chassis updates are abound, but there's no substantial proof so far.

 

1> 9800gtx SLI > (3870 CF ~= 9800gt SLI) > 9800gts SLI > 9800gtx > (3870 ~= 9800gt) > (9800gts = 8800gtx)


Greater defined as an appreciable increase in performance (>10-15%) that is actually noticeable in gaming. Having upgraded and tested more cards and laptops than I care to admit, anything less than 10-15% is not really going to be a deal breaker IMHO for gaming.


For example, in UT3 9800gt SLI had ~120fps versus the ~105 for 3870 CF. To put it in perspective, a single 9800gts had ~58. The 3870 CF obviously packs a decent punch

It is debatable where the 3870 equates more to a 9800gts (64 pipes) or a 9800gt (96 pipes). I'd like to see some UT3 benchmarks with equal CPUs, as the ~15fps gap also has a large CPU gap (x9000 vs. P8400)


The single 9800gts and the CF setup used the same CPU (P8400), while the 9800gt SLI had a x9000.

3DMark06 is not a valid benchmark as real game benchmarks tend to differ from synthetic and ATI tend to optimize their drivers for it (Anyone remember the great quake fiasco from years ago?).

M17 vs. M15x.

Portability - M15x
Future thinking - M17
Best single card solution - debatable
Unique build - M15x
Potential or actual power - M17
Best Candy - Reeses (whoops, wrong thread)


Screen:

1920x1200 on a 15"? As long as you keep the kryptonite away, you should be ok. I advocate a trip to your local Best Buy/Circuit City and use laptops with varying screen resolutions.
WoW:

Some users encounter an error with WoW in Vista 64. Most times it is because they just copied over the gigantor directory from their original machine that was running XP or Vista 32-bit. I had the memory error and I did a clean install of WoW and the problem went away. WoW is 4yrs old. I can run it at full rez, everything to max on my 7811 with a single 9800gts and I have 50-60fps just about everywhere.

 

now I have read reviews by multiple people...
cnet rates the M17x better than most of other laptops in their performance ratio...

could I have your take on that? or as for future thinking the m17 would still stand strong?

 

M17x = Outside of it's GPU subsystem, it is worse than the M17, and the M17 will be upgradable in the future. Even with that, the 3870 CF is close enough to the 9800GT SLI that either will rock your socks. The problem with the Znet unit is that the M17X is using an X9000 2.8ghz 6mb cache extreme processor versus the P8400 (3mb cache 2.26ghz) in the M17. It really isn't a fair fight on just about every level. Even then, the M17 3870CF holds its own. I'm jonsin' to see an M17 with a x9100 or even T9600 (2.8ghz) for a much fairer fight. I suspect outside of some select gaming tests, the M17 will whup it.

 

actually, it's the other way round so far. when both machines are similarly specced, the m17 will pwn at synthetic benchmarks, but get beaten even by a single 8800m-gtx in actual gaming performance. however, this could be due to immature drivers.

 

Immature drivers and ATI don't exactly have a stellar history

So what happened with the UT3 benchmarks? 1920x1200, and the 3870 CF stomped the 9800gts (which is a 8800gtx) soundly and held its own against a 9800gt SLI M17x with a much better processor?

Meh, I guess it will all sort itself out over the next few months like it always does.

 

not true.

8800m-gtx = 9800m-gt =/= 9800m-gts

 

Yeah, don't ask me where I got that. Brain poot. 112, 96, 64....

But any comments on the UT3 benchies?

The 3870 CF is hanging tough with the 9800gt SLI (105 vs 120) with a lesser processor (P8400 vs. X9000) and decimates the 9800gts single solution (58fps)?

It kind of flies in the face of the single 8800m gtx (9800gt) claim it beats the 3870 CF.

Are there any concrete links that outline how ATI drivers are optimized for 3DMark06? I guess a way of looking at this is that if the immature drivers are optimized across the board, in game fps will catch up to 3DMark06 optimizations (I've been looking for more than hearsay on this issue).

I've been mulling over the results here:

http://www.lancelhoff.com/2008/09/02/9800m-gt-vs-9800m-gtx-benchmark/

Which really doesn't show the GTX being that much more powerful than the GT and the GT being near equal with the GTS in many tests.

And finally Killer's post here:

http://www.guruofgaming.com/modules...opic&t=2294&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=75

His Summary:

"So to summarize:

- Single ATi 3870 = a little more than 9800 GTS a little less than 8800 GTX / 9800 GT
- Dual ATi 3870 = a little more than SLi 8800 GTX / 9800 GT a little less than Sli 9800 GTX's

Idea Crossfire mathematically turns out to be more efficient than SLi in my tests."

A few things to mull over....

 

i think whizzo said that with numbers the ATI units do beat the nVidia...
but in actual game usage the ATI units fall well short of nVidia...

maybe i read his post wrong...

 

It's possible because benchmarking programs may just be accounting for raw power. However in gaming, that may be unrealistic. The game needs to know how to handle all of it. If it can't, what use is that power?

 

that's what i remember from the benchies i read. might be wrong though.

 

i'm also doubting about these 2 machines
things sure are
4gb ram (both can be upgraded to 8 this is what AW told me)
2 HD's (later one will be replaced by ssd now i think it's still to be expencive)
1920x1200 screen

a few things i'm doubting about.
1.
m17 with dual ati or just single. save money or take a blueray with it.
m15x with the quadro fx or just a GeForce® 8700M GT save money or take a blueray with it.

you probably want to know what for i will use the laptop:
1 for work. mostly using excell sheets & word documents. if i get the m15x i might take a extra screen.
2 to deejay with. i'm a native instruments traktor pro user. maybe that a m15x user could tell me but i'm wondering if i still can read the letters using the 1920x1200 on the 15" ??
3 some graphical use. photoshop & adobe lightroom. as hobby i'm a photographer & for work i make the folders & magazine adds.
4 run ableton

i won't be playing any games on it and no autocad. portability is not to big of an issue.

so to get to the point.
Do i need to buy the higher graphic preformances? or is it just a waste of money for me?
can i still read the letters of traktor pro ?

i'm not allowed yet to post a link yet.
but a example of a traktor deck can be found at the following webfolder:
dj - wb . com / extra /
without the spaces
the file is called example.JPG

 

If you're getting the m17, WUXGA shouldn't be a problem. However, I find WUXGA on a 15.4" to be subjective. Some people don't like it, but I have it and I absolutely love it. The real estate makes up for the small text, which is not even that small to me in the first place.

If you're not gaming or using any engineering programs you'll probably be okay with a single 3870 or 8700M GT. Sounds like you could use a more powerful processor. Though, I'd still recommend the T9300 or T9400. They're just the most cost efficient options.

 

thnx. but how is the image on your screen then ?? can you read everything off it.

some of the font sizes i can change but the buttons on the bottom left (move cue grid) can't be changed. the whole window will be the exact size.

it doesn't have to be viewable @ 1 meter but i would like to be able to read it when the laptop is on my lap for example

 

Ok...
So im about to hit the purchase button...
is it a bad decision to go with a 2.53 Ghz....
I want the Extreme 3.0 but i just can't cough out that kind of money right now because i just bought a bulldog....

 

i have a 2.5 in my m15x...from what people have posted is that the cost to speed ratio is great at the 2.5 lvl, and too much money at the 3.0 lvl.

 

no1 who can tell me if the picture is readable on a wuxga 15"??

www dj-wb com/extra/example JPG

space = .

 

it depends on the person....
i personally have no issues with the small font, and opted for the realestate the great pixels afford me. but that is why it is personal.
a few have been upset when they got the unit with the larger rez and the same was true for the lower rez...
so - to answer your question: yes i can read the stuff on my screen when i use the laptop...

 

thnx
with this
i'm a young person & have good eyes. this is a + for the m15x for me
and
my own test
i now have a 1280 x 800 screen on a 15". so to simulate it a bit i resized the picture to 66%.