M17x Rx or M18x

I really cant justify the extra cash for the 18x.. a similarly equipped 17x and 18x are almost $1,000 difference in price. If you want the best of the best and 2 SLI/Crossfire Graphics Cards then the 18x is your only option. But I really dont see that as being necessary.. I think with just 1 7970m or 680m video card you will be fine for 2-4 years at least.

Go for the I7-3610qm or I7-3720qm chip.. I saw a few writeups saying with these new 3rd Gen i7 chips really make a speed difference on laptops and either one of these chips should serve you well.

As for RAM I would do 8 gigs minimum but really think 16gigs right now is ideal and its not all that much more. Some people get the min ram from Alienware and buy what they want..but since you seem to not be so computer tech savvy you may not be into that.

Hard drive is another area people here like to upgrade on their own afterwards.. if you've ever swapped out a PS3 HD its about that easy. I think right now 240-256gig SSDs are at a great price point and for me would be plenty of space for a main drive. For the laptop I am planning now I dont want any kind of HD other than a SSD for speed and lack of moving parts. Another pretty fast option are the Hybrid drives where you get a rather fast 7200 RPM drive with 4 or 8 gigs of SSD cache. If you dont want to get a SSD from Dell just make sure its at least a 7200 RPM HD.

I like having a BluRay player.. I have tons of movies and use media drives all the time. Some people with laptops chose to live without them and do well too because a lack of an optic drive gives you another Hard Drive slot.

Finally screen I think 3D is overrated and not worth going for.. but the screen you should get is the 1080p one as it will be the only resolution you will be using unless you plug in an external monitor.

One last thing is dont just config an Alienware and take that price as set in stone.. there are alot of threads here saying you can get a better deal if you call and talk to a dell salesperson directly and you should save some more cash or get Dell giftcards, upgraded shipping or something else thrown in.. haggling is your friend

 

Joe85 great info thanks. Quick question, CPU intensive software would be like?

Kastulu you hit it on the money that is exactly a response for a not so smart computer guy I was looking for. What components can be upgraded later exactly? I've heard the labtop parts are mainly set in stone as they are rigged into the motherboard is that true?

 

Not in an Alienware, just about every part is upgradable (some at a more considerable cost the others)
RAM, HDD's, GPU, CPU, CD drive, wifi card are all basic upgrades.

As for CPU intensive software, for example, Video/Photo editing or CAD. For gaming, movies and music, 3610 will be fine.

As for Kastulu's point about the PS3 HDD, its slightly more complicated in that you need to read one of the guides on here to get the Driver install order. (To install an SSD you'll need to wipe your Dell installed OS and start fresh) It is ridculously simple (with the guide) but as i myself know, can be daunting when you do it for the first time. Luckily places like this are filled with people brimming with knowldge and answers. You'll find a well written, comprehensive guide to just about all upgrades your likely to attempt.

 

What do you mean by not in an alienware then go to say every basic part is upgradeable? Yes, I feel this website will help me years to come and am very happy I stumbled upon it.

 

You said soldered to the MOBO so i meant not in an alienware (PARTS are not soldered to mobo in alienware lol)

Almost every part is upgradable (in an alienware )

 

Ahh my fault I see. Well thank you for the help. I feel I need more research till I make my decision but people like you will help me a bunch. Just need to figure what parts would be best suited/enough for the job. I want a good put together machine.

 

I'm confused... what is a lab top? I've never heard of a lab top. Did I miss something?

Serious question. I assume it's a laptop?

Tapatalk 2

 

Hey guys,

Bascially I have found a deal where i can purchase a m17x brand new from dell with the following specs: total price being (£1400)

Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.6GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
English Windows® 7 Home Premium (64 BIT)
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M
MEMORY 8192MB (2x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
HARD DRIVE 750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD
LCD 17.3" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Alienware M17x Stealth Black
OPTICAL DRIVE DVD+/-RW (Read/Write)
WIRELESS CONNECTIVITY Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO with Bluetooth 4.0

or a M18x R2 which is not from dell but the owner says its new in the brown dell box with and that its a cancelled order! when he says brown dell box does he mean it comes in its original packaging?
the price for this is (£1400) aswell.

The specs for the m18x is:

6144MB (1x2GB + 1x4GB) 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 660M
Intel® Core™ i7-3610QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.3GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 2230 with Bluetooth 4.0
750GB 7,200rpm SATA 6Gb/s HDD
18.4" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD

Can you guys please advise me which I should get?

Reasons for purchase:
The reason I am purchasing this laptop mainly is becuase am going off to university and i would need to some form of entertainment in my halls and also a powerfull computer to do my work. I also would like to connect my xbox up to it in order to play some games now and then and also to watch High Def movies.
The laptop will just be sitting in my room most of the time, i have no intention of taking it around with me.

which one do you think i will benefit the most with?

Thank You

 

@ lqs,

Firstly, brown box is NOT original packaging.....sounds to me like it could be a refurb. I would be a bit skeptical on it TBH but that's me maybe.

Secondly, the 17x has a better gpu and cpu and more memory....you would have the benefit of knowing its 100% new from Dell and if there is something wrong, you are covered.

Out of the two you listed, I would go with the 17x for sure. The only thing I would say is that if you can stretch your budget, see if you can get a 7970m or 680m in the 17x. The 675m is not a bad card by any means but it IS a rebadged version of the 580m.

 

I would say neither one. If you want the best laptop available, buy the M18x with 680M SLI directly from Alienware. If that's out of your price range, I would suggest the thought of going for a M18x R1 with 580M SLI as a Dell Refurb. If having the best is not that important and you want something that will do a good job for you overall, the M17x R4 with 680M is probably a good choice. It's made of plastic instead of anodized aluminum like the M18x, but it does have many similarities to the M18x. I would recommend steering clear of AMD 7970M because AMD driver support is not very good and there are some issues with Enduro not functioning as advertised. AMD drivers and CrossFire support is also an issue with the M18x R1 and R2. Fortunately, you can disable Enduro with the M17x R4 (unlike Clevo products that are stuck with it) but your battery life will be poor running exclusively on the discreet graphics card. I take it from your intended use that battery life will be important. Using the M18x IGFX will yield 4 to 5 hours of battery life. I believe that is equivalent, if not slightly more battery run time than the M17x R4 with Enduro enabled.

 

Ahh guys thank you for the reply. However, I can get a amd 7970m and downgrade the cpu to the 3610qm. Do you think this is worth it for the m17x R4?

 

Bottom line, if you can stretch to the 680m in either system, that would be the ideal way to go....if your budget is capped at £1400 and its a toss up between the two you listed before, I would still go with the 17x over the 18x (if you have no future plans to do any upgrades such as adding a second GPU to enable SLI on the 18x) simply because the 675m is much more capable than the 660m.

If you have the patience to wait whilst AMD/Dell work through issues with the 7970m, that's a powerful card and is cheap but is not without its problems right now. You may buy now and repent at leisure. I'd personally stick to the 675m or like Fox said, a 580m SLI enabled outlet model if you can grab one.....

 

If you are not using Enduro or Crossfire, there are no issues. On the R4, Enduro can be disabled and re-enabled with a quick restart.

The R4 with a 7970M with a 3610QM would be the best choice IMO. SLI 580M/675M (same card, different name) is old tech & pointless when a single 7970M will perform just as well.

 

I agree with what ever is being said, I'd say (despite having no AW's at the moment, refunded my last r3 a few months ago, and a toss up b/w IVY now or HASWELL later) go for the 7970M now rather the 675, which is still previous gen. And the potential seems to be capped, the only thing holding back the 7970M seems to be the driver support, and my experiences from the r3 showed that the hardware switching was a far more superior and definitive option than Optimus (in terms of perf., hassles, and battery saving) with enduro being able to cut physically (bios) you can have the option of a dedicated gpu and igpu when needed, and in doing so my r3 with a ssd and mech. Hdd was able to give 5.25 hours on the 9 cell,

M18's aren't truly a direct competition for one they have a 12 cell battery, and do dual gpus, on that accord maximal power savings should be in the range in 6 hours plus, not to mention the size (not weight which is nearly equal b/w the 17 and 18).

If I were you, and I have always specked the 7970M because I believe you will find some driver or hack that'll make it behave, I experienced the 6990m a d wasn't left wanting in terms of pricing and bang-4-buck.

All of this comes from an avid NV fan, but the Optimus implementation on the r3 for the 580 and 460 really made me quite upset (and yes all the methods posted here were tried, couldn't get it to engage the nv in GTA4) and despite the cautious entry into ATI (1st time, ever,desktop /laptop) I didn't have issues

 

thank you guys
much appreciated