M17x Rx or M18x

Unless you're a weakling or have some health issues, traveling with an M18x is totally a piece of cake. I travel with it extensively, and its size and weight are basically a non-issue. Having the better build quality and enhanced performance are totally worth the minor increase in size and weight to most everyone that owns an M18x. If the buyer's ultimate goal is to compromise in favor of a lighter weight machine, that's a legitimate criterion. But, but the decision to go with an M17x versus M18x should not be under the premise that the M18x is "too large" or "too heavy" to be suitable for frequent travel because that is simply not the case. If having the best in performance and build quality is the ultimate goal, there is no option other than the M18x.

 

Hang on, that doesnt answer any of my 5 questions

 

i travel most of the time and i have this beast with me. still alive, as long as you have a healthy body its not an issue

1. depends, ask yourself if you rather have m17xr3 (3d screen, smaller size) or m18x (bigger size, yeah 2 gpus )

2. if you will order now, or given the chance imo, i would go for the higher card, that is 6990m, im not sure how stable enough is the xf config since i own a different gpu.

3. I will answer this but only in the nvidia side, the nvidia drivers have released a beta driver this month (290.53) the previous drivers (including beta) are optimizing the cards with sli, and for them a decent fps boost.

4. it should, but no guarantees in the near future, games like bf3 requires a good gpu to play high settings in 1080p, depends on your liking if your standard is literally max all or just tweak the settings for best-per-performance ration.

5. game on 3D? this is one im not sure i haven't seen it yet.

to summarize, it depends on your need, if you need to buy now, and can squeeze for a little stash now, then its undeniably m18x, it have good aluminum chassis build, 2 gpus and the best cooling solution i owned. downside is yeah it is big and heavier, but if you can manage past that, everyones happy

the m17xr3, you have 3D, but you are stuck with only 1 gpu. smaller size.

your choice now or wait.

 

Nor was it intended to. I hadn't even read your 5 questions, bro. I was responding to the misconception that the M18x was not suitable for travel.

I went and found the post with your questions. Answers below in bold blue text...

 

Mr Fox/Reaversedge, really appreciate your comments, have cancelled the m17x and gone for the m18x, cant wait now, ETA 2nd Jan 2012

 

Alright guys so here's the deal. Being in the military gives me a huge dicount on dell computer, I though I'd put that out there before people started asking why my prices are so low.
Here's the two set ups I'm looking at, One being a M17x and the other M18x.

M18x
i7 2760QM
4GB ram (will update later)
GTX 580m SLI
500GB hybrid SSD
BD drive
soundblaster X-FI
Killer wireless

$2,467.25 (-160 for 6990m X-fire)

M17x
i7 2760QM
4GB ram (will update later)
580m or 6990 (same price)
1920x 1080 WLED
500GB hybrid SSD
BD drive
Killer wireless

$1,951.25

Guess the real question here is, is the M18x size worth the SLi/X-fire? I'm not sure how much I'll be lugging either around. I do enjoy my lan parties. But other then that I think both would pretty much stay at home.

 

3yr warranty is a must.

 

Yes! Don't worry about portability. The M18x is plenty portable! It's not a "carry with you every day on the subway" kind of machine, but it will be an absolute dream to carry so much power to a LAN party every now and then, especially of everyone else is lugging around bigass desktops

Oh: don't get the 6990m xfire. Nice cards, but ATI can't write good drivers at the moment, so us AMD owners have to do extra tinkering to get things working right.

 

By far get the m18x it is truly a desktop replacement. Everyone that has seen mine marvel at the detail it can run at. BF3, skyrim run on max setting even Batman Arkham plays better than on my desktop with all of its issues. Get you Beast ASAP and enjoy. Oh and with the A05 and 12.1 driver out for AMD get either cards you want.

 

to the OP, yes the size is worth it, carrying it around depends to you, in my personal experience, i travel a lot and also joining lan parties, its no problem to me, between your two choices, the aluminum build is one of the most notable difference apart from dual gpu config.

 

Here's another vote for the m18x. The dual graphics cards and metal body make it a far more attractive option than the m17x for me. The screen on the m17x looks kinda small as well in comparison.

 

If you buy the m17x, you'll always wish you'd hardened up and got the M18x, whether it was justified or not. that in itself is reason to go with the M18x.

I have 2 M18xs, one with 6990ms in Crossfire and one with 580ms in SLI. the 580m's are the better choice due to better driver support and better performance (5-10FPS) in most games.

 

I would personally say get the M18x since it's got an aluminum chassis and dual GPU. It's not that heavy and it shouldn't be a problem to bring around as long as you transport it with a backpack to distribute the weight evenly.

 

Mike! I am excited you are considering the M18x. Excellent choice. Also, welcome to NBR. We are glad you joined the Community.

This is the M18x sub-forum and I think the poll results would be predictable. However, my vote is the same, and for reasons others have stated. The M18x is the finest mobile gaming system you can buy, and the anodized aluminum chassis and dual-GPU are two of its greatest attributes.

Definitely go with the NVIDIA GTX 580M SLI. I would recommend going with the 2960XM CPU if you can squeeze that into your budget. You cannot get a better CPU for the same money later. The Soundblaster X-FI software is cheap, but doesn't really do much for you that the IDT Control Panel doesn't already do. I had it and it's nothing I found exciting. When I got it originally on an XPS M1730, I did not read the fine print and thought I was getting better hardware. It's nothing but software. Unless you have a special intent for it, I would save the money and put it toward your RAM upgrade.

The 500GB hybrid is a good setup if you don't plan to upgrade later. It's not a substitute for real SSD drives... not even close performance wise. I had the 500GB hybrid RAID0 setup... it was real good, but not awesome. I am using them as external backup drives now. I would recommend (a) ordering with one 256GB SSD (Samsung 830 SATA-III 6GB/s is what they are shipping - they're very good drives and they are on sale right now) and buying your own 750GB HDD for data, or (b) ordering with the 750GB HDD and buying your own SSD, cloning the drive to the SSD and moving the 750GB HDD to serve as your data drive. If it were me, I would go with choice (a). The reason being, if you buy it from Dell, it is supported and will serve as the basis for any replacement system (same logic on the XM CPU can be applied here), should a system exchange ever become necessary. If you buy your own SSD, you're on you own with that part. If you have issues of any kind, it's your baby. SSD drives are reliable, but they can be finicky at times. If you go with (b) the Crucial M4 is an awesome choice for SSD.

Please do yourself a gigantic favor and go with either the 3-year or 4-year advanced warranty, which includes accidental damage. You will end up being glad you did. It's worth every cent, and for the $110 difference (30¢ per day for the extra year) the 4-year option just makes the most sense.

If you were lurking before joining the forum, you have likely noticed that I customarily share helpful links when greeting newer members. Please take a few minutes to click through them. I hope that you and other readers find the links useful in jump-starting participation in the Community. Again, welcome to NBR.

USEFUL THREADS FOR FORUM MEMBERS

All members reading this post are encouraged to become familiar with the rules for our forum. The information on how to search the forum is especially useful, as it should help members find information quickly, avoid creating new threads to ask questions that have already been answered in another thread, as well locating appropriate threads to participate in an established discussion.

Forum Rules - *PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING* | Alienware General Information & HOW TO: Search the forum - *PLEASE READ BEFORE POSTING*

Reputation Points/Power and User Titles | Forum Guide and "How-To" | How To Properly Insert an Image Into Your Post | NBR Marketplace

 

I have heard of the keyboard having bad flex. Has that be a major issue for anyone?

I realized this once I started reading everyone's comment's, I might re-post this in the Alienware section.

Thanks everyone

 

No, please don't create aduplicate thread or cross-post, as doing so is a violation of forum rules. I will move it for you.

The keyboard flex is not a huge problem in my experience. You may find some posts where a few folks have ranted about it, and that would come as no surprise, LOL.

Now and then someone definitely gets a keyboard that seems a little squishier than others and they just call Alienware Support and get a replacement keyboard sent out. The M18x and the M17xR3 (I believe) share the same keyboard part number. The TactX keys on the left side are not part of the M18x keyboard.

 

Thank you for moving my post.
After reading trough some of the M18x forum, If the keyboard is a problem most people don't feel that it's a reason to not get the M18x.
I know Im going to get some fan boy answers here, but for some one who does not want to tweak his GPU's too much would you suggest AMD or Nvidia in SLi/CF. I'm sure once I build more software skills I will love to mess around with them, but for now I want more something thats going to work with little tinkering.

 

I don't know how you did it, but that response right there solved a lot of conflicts I was having about getting a M18x. You absolutely right. If I'm thinking about a M17x, why not go all out and get a Monster. The M18x!

 

Good deal, AlphaMike7 and sdt777! Glad it helped both you decide.

I'm excited for you guys.

 

I'm not a fanboy for AMD or NVIDIA. I like whatever performs best and has the least problems. Through the years I've been more of an ATI Graphics user than I have NVIDIA, but after owning 6970 CrossFire, 6990 CrossFire and now having 580M SLI, my answer is absolutely go with the 580M SLI. The AMD cards are very powerful and easier to get nice benchmark scores out of, but if gaming performance and overall smooth operation and improved image quality are things you value, you cannot do better than the 580M SLI. I am on my third M18x and both of the previous replacements were necessary because of AMD GPU problems.

I still like AMD OK and had many good years of service from them. Over the last year or so their driver support has gotten to the point of being just about unacceptable.

Look at the opening post in this thread. http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...d-re-dell-aw-conference-call.html#post8030512

You will need to take some easy steps to overcome a throttling issue with the 580M SLI setup. Link for that is in my signature.

 

A lot of good info on that thread, Thank you

With the overheating problems, Are people using any type of external cooler and having this issue or is it just when running the stock cooling system?

 

The AMD 6990M overheating problem was essentially cured with the A05 BIOS. While waiting for the fix, most of the affected owners were using HWiNFO64 or SpeedFan to manually operate the fans. There is no problem with the cooling system at all... it is one of the best of any laptop made. The problem was the GPU fans were staying turned off and the cards were cooking and shutting down the laptop. Some folks (included me) had 6990 cards that were killed by heat before the problem was identified.

Many are using coolers/chill pads for added cooling. I don't find them necessary and don't even own one. I have no issues with overheating whatsoever.

Looks like 2 voters are suggesting the M17x R3. Hopefully, they will mention why. I'm sure there are legitimate reasons for them to prefer the R3.

 

Mr. Fox I must ask what you lug your m18x around in? I've been debating on what backpack to buy for the laptop but haven't pin pointed one that isn't butt ugly. For the m17x there were at least a handful of backpacks, now that I'm set on a m18x I can't seem to find one.

 

Hi tble - I was about to shut down for the evening (1:00 AM here) and just happened to see your post. Welcome to the NBR Forum, and especially the Alienware Community. As a new member, please click the link in my signature. There are a number of things to explorer that should be of interest to you.

I have the Orion M18x backpack. I love it to death. It's perfect for my M18x and all the extra tech stuff I take on the road with me. Some don't like the way it looks, and others like it, but worry that advertises "I am an Alienware, steal me" LOL. (Possibly a real concern in some areas where mugging is an issue.) I'm proud to advertise the fact that I am a gamer and PC enthusiast, but the appearance may not be ideal in a professional business environment for some folks. I'm in that type of environment, but the professionals I work with (including customers) think it's cool, too. All of those professionals ask if they can see "the beast" and that feels good.

There are a number of very nice backpacks out there. You many not have seen it yet, but we have a thread especially for this topic. NBR member joecait is the thread owner and the first post has a list of what fits. You'll find many posts, some with hyperlinks and photos. The first post also includes a list of what does not fit. Below is a link.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...backpacks-cases-would-fit-alienware-m18x.html

Have a great evening. Again, welcome to NBR. We're glad you join us.

 

Is it going to be possible to upgrade to the next high grade graphics cards after the 580m in the m17x r3?

Just wondering if the m17r3 will do me...

 

trolling content - deleted by moderator

 

This thread is for people considering whether to go with an M17x or an M18x. Trolling will not be tolerated and may result in an infraction or other moderator action. This thread is not a place for the expression of an off-topic opinion or to state a personal bias against Dell/Alienware products. The topic at hand is whether you recommend an M17x or an M18x. If you post, you need to provide an explanation for the recommendation. The poll is closed.

Posts that constitute trolling or go off topic will be deleted. See forum rules if there are any questions.

Anyone that needs a place to spew can visit this thread: http://forum.notebookreview.com/off-topic/567605-what-bothering-you-right-now.html in the Off-Topic Forum.

 

I was debating on the M17x R3 or the M18x for a few months until I purchased the M18x this month. I even drove to the Comp USA to see what an AW looked like up close. They had the M14x and M17x on display. The salesman was trying to steer me into a different mfg. However, the rubber everywhere was a concern. Reading the various threads sold me with the M18. Being the flagship it was almost like buying a new sports car aluminum and all. After more than a week, I'm still in awe on how it moves. I did have concerns about reliability but that was cured with buying a warranty. Got the Orion backpack to lug it around. It is heavy but not unmanageable for a weak guy like myself (surgical recovery). Amazing how much faster than my Macs and Dell Inspiron. So brand new buyer here with no regrets whatsoever. Now just got to buy and install a SSD. Time to look through the threads

 

Hey guys,

I ended up paying $600 more for the upgrade but what i got was:

a) metal body
b) bigger screen
c) dual SLI radeon 6990 (as opposed to one 6990).

The extra radeon 6990 would cost around an additional $440.
So for $160 i get a bigger screen and metal body...which seems reasonable?

FYI i got $275 off from Dell after a) using $200 coupon b) called dell and the sales gave me an additional $75 off.

Concerns:

SIZE and heaviness...is there an alternative case to carry around the m18x other than the orion backpack/messenger bag offered by alienware? ty

 

I do know the Alienware backpack for the M18x was $40 cheaper on Amazon. Anyway, I saw a couple threads with alternatives but I forget the names. You could probably search and find it.

 

I have the Everki 18.4 backpack and it's brilliant.

 

sentinel and mitchrapp,

Thanks for your responses. I will look at the alienware backpack and the Everki 18.4 backpack. What i do not like about the alienware backpack is the ALIENWARE logo. Do you guys think it is removable? Or anyone have creative ways to hide it? lol

 

If there's a way to remove I don't know it. Not sure about hiding it either, I'm not very creative. Lol.

 

Have a look thru this thread too:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...backpacks-cases-would-fit-alienware-m18x.html

 

Awesome thanks Mr. Fox. I'll take a look at the thread. Just ordered the m18x with dual 580s, sort of wish I could afford at 2960xm cpu haha. Oh well one can dream.

Nice, grats on the purchase. I just ordered an m18x myself, I've got TIM and ram ready for a tear down after I've tested it. Hopefully it won't take to long to get to my door, otherwise I will turn into a mole rat from refusing to leave my home in anticipation for a month.

 

Very wise choice imo.

Enjoy.

 

i had the same dilema earlier this week. Ended up doing what you did. m18x is much better and as far as upgrading we have two cards to upgrade as oppose to the one.

 

Much smarter to purchase the Flagship, than an escape pod. lol

 

lol..thanks guys.
Too bad the m18x didn't have just a single 6990 configuration..i am afraid that the dual 6990 wont be compatible with some of my CAD software

The kicker for me was the a) bigger screen b) metal chasis

 

You dont have to run it in Xfire. You have the option in the CCC menu. Also you could just disable the slave card in the device manager.

 

Smoke Skull i see your Toshiba X500-067 QOSMIO in your sig. It was Toshiba's gaming rig that got me into gaming systems. They are nice rigs for the general public. Wish i had not sold my old one.

 

I've been through the forums and I haven't found the info I'm most intereasted in. I've got a m17x and m18x customized atm and trying to decide between the 2. My current machine is the xps1730 WoW edition so size isnt an issue to me as I already own quite a benamoth. My decision is pending on the graphics cards. Though my current laptop is sli capable I never bought the hardware to utalize it. Basically I'm looking for some personal consumer feedback from m18x owners to find out if the gtx580m sli config is having the micro freezing issues I've heard are releated to sli/crossfire configs, are is that issue already solved this far down the road. I've never owed sli/crossfire before and I guess I'm nervous to spend the extra cash if the product is glitchy. I'm a mid-high lvl gamer and I'm decently computer savvy. I've changes graphics cards/ram in both my current laptop and desktop. Never messed with overclocking or motherboards. If I do get the m18x I will not be overclocking anything and though I am basic pc savvy if sli is an overly complicated process to get things working right, id rather just stick to the mx17. Also will sli keep the computer current significantly longer than the single card? I'm planning to order soon to try to take advantage of the current 15% off after so much customization which ends on the 19th so quick responses will be appreciated.

 

Micro stuttering isn't much of a problem any more as for complications with sli not really any.

However, the 580m in general have throttle which is easily fixed and there's plenty of stickied threads to deal with it. As for longevity of the sli system it would be quite a bit longer than the single card solution as the sli provides a rather large increase in performance.

If space and money isn't an issue there is almost no reason to not to get the m18x.

 

lol @ "if space isn't an issue". It's a LAPTOP. How much more space could it take over a DESKTOP? Too funny.

 

Lol ,meant size fail.

 

My Problem is that I still have an R1 going strong. I want to get a replacement but cant really justify owning two laptops. I dont think would get much for it if I sold it.

So , I am either going to buy a desktop (chillblast) or wait for the next gen in Q2. I think the m18x is a fine machine but I prefer the m17x series. Im not a big fan of SLI and would rather go with a single config.

 

sli was introduced years ago, so its good to say that they made solutions by giving more mature drivers in the past months. me also owning sli for the first time i have my doubts, but seeing the performance jump made me own it. let's face it, m18x owners primarily have one objective why they bought one, its dual gpu config, the 2nd privilege could be the anodized aluminum which is a nice plus also.

also note that, not all games utilize sli. sli is not complicated, the logic is simple, you have 2 gpus, and you can bridge them together so you can add more beef in your frames. in the nvidia control panel, you can activate the second card, laptop will reboot. sli is enabled.

of course 2 cards, more power and more heat, but heat is not really an issue. m18x is made to have top of the notch cooling. there's no real need to OC the cards, on stock, they are flawless (except bf3, i do need sli for constant fps). these cards, even at sli are quite stable and can't even deliver past 68C temps at mild OC.

 

m17x r2 has an amazing RGB LED and from looking at these forums, there is a huge topic about the m17x r2 being capable of having either dual 6970's or 6990's. imo, if you can keep the amazing screen of the R2 and have the performance of an m18x, id run with it. I have had my R2 for about two weeks now, and i have put a multitude of games on it seeing how they all perform on it (only with CF 5870's and a i7 m620). I was completely content with my rig, mostly cause i got it at a great price *cough* 800.00 *cough*, but when i started to looks into adding 6XXX series cards in my R2 it was intresting so i read more. what i came to the conclusion of was that, even though i upgraded my m9750 (old) to this m17x r2 and it was a huge upgrade, newer games such as BF3 and NFS the run recommend 6XXX series for optimal performance. That leads me to believe that games that coming out from now on will recommend 6XXX series or better (for optimal). What im getting at though, is i paid 800 for my R2, a 920xm will run me 275, and 2x 6970's will run me 840... so ultimately im looking at 1920ish overall... I havent done as much reading into the process of installing 2x 6XXX series cards or about their stability with the system but i think my biggest worry is thinking that the R2 wasnt designed for the 6XXX series cards and were essentially forcing the computers to use them when the m18x uses them practically plug n play.. comming from an older alienware, i never would have thought id be contemplating upgrading yet again, to an m18x when i already have a more than capable system. i could sell my m17x r2 for 800 and pay an additional 800 to buy a somewhat base model m18x from ebay. which means that the money id use for the upgraded gpu's and cpu, could go towards a system that already has em or has the correct capability to use em. i think that, its going to be a really tough choice between the rigs and i think it may take more reading into what other people think of the R2 (people that have added 6XXX series cards to it or are going to) compared to the 18x to decide if i wanna sell and upgrade or not. my biggest scare about adding the 6 series cards is that itll be a nightmare when i have to reinstall my OS if i decide i want a fresh start. im worried ill be jumping through hoops getting the cards to work and all the drivers and once i finally get everything right, undervolting the cards, it just sounds like a hassle. i would really like to hear what other people have to say. thinking it will be realistically possible to upgrade to an 18x in a few weeks, makes me look at my R2 and think its outdated....

 

actually i think if you bet that your rig is still capable on dx11 games even at high to ultra settings or so, then i don't see any reason of upgrading or buying a new one. in the past i only owned one laptop and its the top of the crop that time (2008) asus g50vt with 9800mgs. lasted for 3 years and now i bought m18x (g50vt has died finally, may she rest in peace) so unless you really want one and have the money means to do so, then go for it, but note that this year more powerful configurations could be available in the market for months. in my case, my satisfaction ends when and if my m18x dies in years, which what happened to my asus, don't be dubbed by peer pressure on techs imo . if in general its worth the upgrade for you then no problem, go for it.

 

Hey everybody.

I'm new at this forum and I just have few questions regarding future Alienware laptop purchase.

I currently own a mac, which is driving me crazy with the fact that I can't properly game with it, so I decided that I want to get Alienware laptop.
First I wanted to get a desktop for myself, but because I live in Canada and travel few times a year back home to Finland for month or two, It would be nicer to have a great gaming laptop. Other than that I'm not going to be moving it around a lot so the laptop being heavy isn't really a problem as it is basically a desktop replacement.

Games what I'm going to be playing are Skyrim, Battlefield 3, Guild Wars 2 and Diablo 3 when they're released, Metro 2033 and older games.

I don't really have that strict budget but I'd prefer the end price with taxes to be around $2800

So my first question is, what do you think would suit my needs the best M17x or M18x?

Few things that are different, if understood correct:

- M17x has the soft touch case while M18x has the anodized aluminum case bringing few more pounds of weight.
- M17x only has single video card option while M18x has dual video cards.

Anything else that I've missed, expect a bit larger screen?

I want the laptop to last at least three years but of course prefer a bit more. Though at some point I might want to make few component changes like changing the processor, add more memory if needed etc. And then there's the overclocking which I don't have any experience yet, but is something I'd like to do. I was also thinking about getting two displays, but it is more "maybe in the future" thing.

But in terms of future proof and getting extra displays might make M18x more suitable for me?

About components, which processor would you prefer?

Standard for all Alienware laptops seems to be the Intel Core i7 2670QM. Is there much performance difference between 2670QM and 2760QM considering that I need to pay $150 more for the upgrade? My impression is that if I don't do benchmarking, I won't notice the difference in gameplay. But what about with dual video cards?

What about video card?

What I understood from reading few topics for M17x GTX 580 is recommended, even though it still has the throttling problem at 77c?
Then what about M18x? I don't feel like going for dual GTX 580, as it would make it too expensive for me, but someone said that dual Radeon 6990M's do the job very well, which would save some money. I've used both ATI and NVIDIA in my desktop computers over the years and I've had both positive and negative experiences with both, so It doesn't matter too much which one I take "liking" wise. I guess NVIDIA has the most stable drivers, but 6990M has been around a while so those drivers are pretty stable too?

Dell Support?

I was thinking of 2 year advanced service plan, but I honestly don't know much about dells support, but coverage for accidental damage does sound most useful.

That is pretty much what I have concerns about.

M18x would cost $3,357.98 according to the website. Though I guess it could be haggled to around $2700 with taxes…I hope.