M17x Crossfire in 7

Well if anything, it's still GTX 280M SLi performance, probably a tiny bit better now that 9.7 seems to work with it.

That said, still not worth the $100 over the GTX 280M until Dell/Alienware acts. Hell, I don't even think both the 4870s and the 280s are worth what they are over the 260s, but I'll save that for another topic.

 

Wow... seriously?
What about that dell guy over the phone who said it definitely was GDDR5?

 

If it is ddr3 what a scam...I doubt mandrake will be happy as I am sure he was hoping to break his own old record...still the Ati cards will game better than the nvidia...hopefully there will be no more stutter issues...

 

That's the funny thing, it seems like DELL wanted to make itself believe these were DDR5's to justify the prices, or maybe they were mislead. Either way I'll wait until a second person gets his 4870's before I make a final judgement, if its the same thing DELL needs to get some angry emails, returns and a price correction on those "4870's"

 

Are you on the phone already with Dell?

 

We have one more person who said they would verify tonight.

 

Well, if the next person gets GDDR5 cards, zennik should return his machine and get the GDDR5-equipped cards or demand a full, complete refund if they don't have genuine GDDR5 cards.

 

Kind of hoping im the only one, but, we'll see.

 

Yah, Waiting till 6:30 p.m. to pick up my m17x is killing me, to find out the truth. It's 5:06 p.m. now arghhhhhhhh

Getting my QX9300 in 2 days from HP. Yay.....

 

not yet, putting it back together first before I lose pieces

 

So, in the end, what will offer better performance? GTX 280m SLI or those 4870 GDDR3 Crossfire?

 

hehehe. that's what we will find out.

 

Save a copy of the doc ichime posted for proof to send to them.

 

Wow, I cant belive Dell made such a huge mistake! Dont know what im going to do now? I mean the 280s in SLI are certainly no chumps in the power department. I just wanted to get something better. I thought that those ATIs would be better.

 

So, Mandrake, Will you be updating your signature to GDDR3 or will you wait for other people's 4870 (or even yours) to arrive?

 

I'll be back in an hour and a half with a second verification. FED-EX here I come !!!!!

 

Well. I just got mine.

Opened it up, didn't take any pictures since there wasn't any point.

Definitely GDDR3 cards. :/

I'm ing pissed. I'm on the phone with Dell as I type this.

 

I still have the option to cancel my whole order so my sig may go blank. I more than likely will accept the order and then return it if I don't think it's up to par with the 280s. I have a few days to decide.

 

So you saw the same memory chips?

 

So you got the "J" code on the memories as well?

 

I'm on the phone with dell sales right now, since Alienware Support keeps insisting that it really is a GDDR5 card.

 

That's what I'm thinking. If the performance is the same, I'm more than likely just going to keep this laptop.

I got Dell to send me a gift-card of $150 to compensate for the $100 price difference between the Nvidia and ATi cards.

ing Dell.

 

To everyone who was posting at the same time as me:

Yes, I have the J code as well on the memory chips.

 

Did you ask them for the card or did they offer it up?

 

Agreed! This is very disappointing indeed!

I would settle for nothing less than what was on my build sheet. I would return this machine immediately, demanding a full & complete refund, unless Dell can immediately comply with the advertised GDDR5 ATI 4870 cards.

Let's hope others are not being ripped-off in the same way, but DARN, this is sooooo reminiscent of the W90 debacle! Hopefully, Dell will make this right.

GEEZZzzzzzzz !!!

 

I told them that they can either offer me a full refund, or send me the difference between the Nvidia and ATi cards.

They chose the latter, which is agreeable if the the performance is equal. If not, I'm returning the order entirely.

 

Wow. They actually have the courage to say it's GDDR5, even though you opened it up and saw the memories yourself. Amazing.

 

Obviously here on this forum, people are well informed and know what to look for. I wonder how many "regular joe's" have ordered this system with the ATI cards and have no clue they're not getting whats advertised? im talking folks who dont frequent forums like this and dont chat with other alienware owners.

 

Plus they gave you another $50 on top of that which is good. You're certainly a better person then me. I would have let them know of my displeasure at their blatant false advertising and returned the system. Good luck my friend!

 

A 'resolution specialist' is going to call me in the morning. The sales guy was like 'Yeah, it's clearly not the card you were sold. We'll get this resolved right away for you.' I didn't specify any ultimatum other than 'I want this fixed', so i'll see what they offer. Maybe they'll dig up some GDDR5 cards and come put them in for me!

 

wow, I am going to flip if mine aren't gddr5 as my invoice states! $150 gift card?? wt f? They better credit my card $150 and they better bench the same or better then the 280's as advertised! Mine is still stuck in the build status so maybe they are getting more cards? I really hope there is some kind of screw up and they mixed the cards from the UK systems which stated gddr3.

 

Will your warranty be voided since you had to open the notebook?

 

It doesn't seem like Dell actually has any GDDR5 cards in stock... I'm not really sure what's happening here.

The Dell representatives are adamant that the cards are in fact DDR5s... so, really, what the hell is happening? Lol.

 

sorry to double post but check this out!

Single 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M [Included in Price]
Single 1GB ATI® GDDR3 Mobility™ Radeon™ HD 4870 add £0.00
SLI™ Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M [add £300.00 or £9/month1]
CrossFire™ Dual 1GB ATI® GDDR3 Mobility™ Radeon™ HD 4870 [add £345.00 or £10/month1]
SLI™ Dual 1GB GDDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M [add £590.00 or £17/month1]
Double your graphics performance with dual NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 280M GPUs! Learn More

On the UK site the ati cards are only 45 euro more then the 260's!! Or they are $245 less then the 280's!!! $150?? I would tell them to shove it! And I just got back from paris 2 days ago....euro is about 1.4 to 1 US makes it $343 US dollar difference!

 

For the most part those type of people aren't buying the M17x because of the price.

It would be nice if zfactor presented these findings to the people he knows and see what they say.

 

It shouldn't, I've replaced tons of laptop parts on Dells before, they always just send me the part, I replace it, send back the old part.

Plus, nothing was damaged at all.

 

Folks, the 4870 cards with GDDR3 should be priced LESS than the GTX280m cards!

Personally, I would expect nothing less than 4870 cards w/ GDDR5. This is what you paid for. I would make Dell fix this, or else!

Geez, I am glad I postponed my order........ I am very sorry to those facing this, and I wish you the best resolutions possible.

 

Glad my M17x is coming with 280's though. Dell is seriously retarted.

 

So if this is a pic of the 4870 w/GDDR5 how many different types of the same card did ATi make? Very odd. The one in the pic is the unicorn of the group.

 

On Dells site I dont see the 4870's saying GDDR5 anymore. LOL

 

I noticed that also! They must have had a few calls....I wonder how long before they state that they aren't 145% increase in graphics over the single 260....Mine is in production as we speak...I hope they call me and ask how I want to proceed and don't just send me gddr3 cards! I would rather have the 280's and some type of adjustment for the trouble and the wait time.

But, my invoice still says it:
1 320-0759 CrossFireX - Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870

 

Well, I am sure you will be happy with your choice, but those expecting the 4870 cards with GDDR5, you got to feel for them right now.

I would be LIVID! Heck, I am anyhow, and I cancelled, LOL!

This is really sad, and I hate to see this sort of thing happening to anyone.

Again, best of luck to all, and I will be watching this carefully. I think I will write a Dell contact of my own, and see if I can get something definitive on this.

 

one gddr3 4870 same price as dual 260m? LOL

 

WHOOPS! Amazing how quickly they can make those corrections, eh?

That's OK, there are plenty of folks right here that can prove the GDDR5 advertising.

 

wow....just got caught up....DAM.....way to go Dell.....

Not to sound really mean....but this makes me glad I have GTX 280m's now (maybe still on top?)

That being said though, how well would these still OC do you all think? A well OC'd ATI card is still a thing to behold

 

I'm going to keep them unless they prove to just be completely worthless, but so far in gaming, im not unhappy with them. Just unhappy with the fact that they aren't the cards I was promised. Worst case, i'll have them drive a guy out here with a pair of 280s and swap them.
For now, im just going to play it cool and wait and hear what they have to say in the morning.

 

Ouch!

I was hoping to see some benchmarks for the "real" HD4870 (as people say the GDDR3 version in the W90 isn't ).

 

the main reason this is ridiculous is that there are real 4870s with GDDR5. Pictures of them have been seen!

Someone needs to take this to ATI not dell and point out how dell is ruining their image. That is probably the best way to score a pair of REAL GDDR5 cards lol

 

I hope sites like Anandtech, Toms Hardware and CNET get wind of this and call Dell on it. Dell shouldnt be able to get away with this huge blunder scott free.

 

Actually, I'm not really sure where you all found the GDDR5 info, but at least for the whole month of october I never found the ATI cards listed as GDDR5 on dell's m17x build site...