M17x refresh buyers- why not wait for ATI 5870's??

well if you buy now what do you think will happen? Wait for the 5870's

 

I feel your pain. I bought a M11x out of boredom. Hang in there.

 

I don't know why some of you guys agonize over this.

It's a computer. Is it worth getting upset over?

With that said, you always buy a computer when you need it. If you have been waiting for 2 months for the 5870's then you obviously don't need a new computer right now.

And waiting for the 5870's (or any new upgrades for that matter) is pointless. Even if the 5870's come out 22 days after you receive your order you can always purchase them and install yourself.

 

lol i also was looking at m11x, instead i got msi u230 netbook... my daughters got toshiba l300d, i was gonna upgrade that for her least so i could play me games. but the wife aint having any of it.

 

You'll be paying a *huge* premium if you part them out separately versus buying a new computer *with* them. Dual CF 4870's are a $300 option, I challenge you to purchase a brand new 4870 from dell for $300, CF cable included. Possible yes, financially sound, not so much. Then again a high end gaming computer isn't exactly an investment either.

 

pfft, like you don't agonize over it. I remember last summer you were probably calling Dell status line once every ten minutes. lol!

 

There is ALWAYS the option of either a) selling the your current hardware to pay for new stuff, or b) selling the entire system.

You think I am rich or something? The only way I am able to switch systems is by selling and/or returning (and I have been selling more lately then returning so hold the comments from the peanut gallery )

That was because I was very excited to get my M17x. It had JUST been released, remember?

And that is way different than agonizing over when to buy because a new GPU is coming out, or in this case has been out for a couple of months but no one knows when Dell will pick it up as an option.

See the difference?

 

^^^^^ lol just like the rest of us he he

 

Yeah, I can understand that. Am so bored that might even get that new HP... And I H-A-T-E HP

 

Yep, I'm sure everyone visiting this thread is agonizing more or less.
What's funny is that Dell/AW turned out to be even more secretive than Apple, who are notorious for keeiping new tech a secret until the day of the anouncement (new Iphone pics leaked today). Who knew...

 

The slate?

I heard it is mediocre at best....

 

At least it's got a 5870-based FirePro. And they listed a future Nvidia card with 2GB GDDR5. At least some upgrade...

 

The slate is a tablet. If it had a 5870m, I'd be all over it.

 

Ooops, I mean the 17" 8740w.

 

Why should he agonize when he's just going to send it back anyway. :wink:

I think he means the Elitebook 8740w.

 

Yep, but I'm afraid it's gonna face some serious overheating issues, especially if equipped with an extreme CPU, as it has a single fan for both CPU and GPU. Plus, its thinness is not gonna help the cooling

 

Oh okay. So glad I didn't wait all this time and got to enjoy the R2 to it's fullest. Time to go play some BFBC2, anyone wanna join me? Game name is Dirty Scrubz.

 

So..... 0 (zero) updates on the 5870's coming in Crossfire, huh? So far it's still a smart move Joker. lol. Watch news come out about the 5870's this week.

Anyway, I don't care. At least my M17x is still METAL. Down goes the quality of Alienware Build from here on forward. *sigh* Glad I got in JUST IN TIME.

 

Not a bad way to go but you'd need to wait for HP to come out with more pre-config models.

In the HP forums they're talking about the Envy 17 coming out in May with a Mob. HD5850....it's is it GDDR3 or GDDR5 rehashed though.

 

Is your system working okay now?

 

MSI GX740 is managing a 920xm and HD5870 on a single fan.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=6155480#post6155480

 

I realize the answers are speculation, but let's suppose I get the 5870 CF machine and turn out to prefer whatever NV comes out with in a few months time? Are there any reasons to suspect I wouldn't be able to changeover the GPU's when the NV solutions come?

I was just thinking that if I hate it I could live with it for a few months, and if I like it I could live with the 5870's for a few years

 

Well the Bios would have to support it for one thing

 

Interesting, but he used MX-3 on the memory chips!
His stock runs were hot in mid 90's.
I'll wait till the first owners get some real testing.

 

100C in furmark?

 

If someone purchases the m17x with 4870's then couldn't they, when the 5870's come out, upgrade them?

 

No, but my replacement should be on it's way soon. The site/phone order status is pretty much useless to me. Going on week 3 and I am still in "In Production" with an EDD of "Unavailable".

However, from researching forum posts in here, it seems that last minute updates are the norm and the average user that has an M17x R2 being completely replaced for crossfire issues after being troubleshot several times is about 1 month from the date it is ordered. In my case, 1 month from April 3rd.

So going from that, my 1 month is almost up and I should get some last minute updates on Dell.com either this Friday or next week tues or so.

 

Yeah he had to do some modding, since really the system was designed for an i5, but he managed to get it under control. The HP shouldn't have as much trouble seeing as it's single fan is designed to be able to handle a 820qm and an FX3800M.

 

yes you can.... but be prepaired to pay! I bet dell charges a mint for the cards... probably more than $300 for the additional crossfire 4870. You would probably pay 1000 bucks from dell just for the 2 ati 5870's. Does anyone know how much dell currently charges per card for 4870 MXM? that would give you the best idea of how much it will cost you in the future

 

the last quote I received from a Parts rep was $1107.43, not including tax or shipping

 

Hmm. I'm totally cool with the 4870s but let's say a year or so down the line I want to throw the 5870s or whatever "new hotness" will fit in my m17x. Do the cards typically come down in price enough to make it worth the investment? I'm not a gotta have the new thing all the time kinda guy. I like to buy something and possibly make a few upgrades along the way if I have to.

 

No, if anything the price goes up and availability plummets as Dell hordes the stuff for the 4 year warranty service contracts. Sometimes even Dell runs out of supply before their contracts do and they have to upgrade clients just because of the fact that they don't have the repair products available. As long as we're playing with laptops we're going to be a generation behind, and that's never a good thing when you're in a market as volatile and changing as computer hardware. Either you upgrade every few months, or deal with ever decreasing HW capabilities.

 

Keep in mind that those cards and the entire system are not built for gaming in mind so we can't predict how will they handle long sessions.

 

If it has a FX3800M it's going to be(or designed to be) used for CAD or some other Graphic CGI program which will be just as if not more intensive than a game. It's not like they're shoving a 100W TDP GPU into a Laptop with the cooling capacity for just an IGP and then expect the consumer to only use 10% of the GPU's processing capability.

 

That's not what I mean, m8.
For example, my W510 (FX880M) has a decent cooling as well, running CAD doesn't even bring the GPU/CPU above 70C. Crysis on the other hand kicks them into 90C.
Do you know why?

1) Gaming creates a constant high-level stress for the GPU/CPU that will be keeping the fan/s busy non-stop for hours.

2) The cards and drivers aren't optimized for gaming and will handle those less efficiently.

On a side note, you could probably flash the GPU to the gaming variant if possible (e.g. M7820->M5870, FX...->GTX 280/285M ) but then the 1) is still there.

 

Hmm. The cards are hard to find from non-Dell retailers?

 

The cards will eventually be available, IMHO. Those in Clevo's don't have the CF connector mounted, so they won't help us much, unless you settle for a single GPU. But you can have a point of reference: a single 5870 is ~400-500$. You can even get them for under 400$ in some places.
So when they are officially out, grab a pair for ~800$, keep your stock HS's and the CF cable and sell the 4870s for 600$ => 200$ upgrade I bet, some will even earn money from that kind of transaction.

 

I wish I had a M17x to try it... NOW!

 

Either way, I'm not sure HP would shove a 100WTDP graphics card into a laptop that can't handle full load for extended periods and then sell it as a workstation, it just seems like very low QC standards, even by HP.

I agree, but eventually could be a few months, or a year.

 

yea i got mine in December so i will wait till the i7 drops like a brick b4 upgrading.

 

You'll be waiting a long time. Dell still sells CD2 systems with base prices that are identical for the i7 systems.

 

One simple thing stops me from doing it right now:
Warranty
Messing with connectors could ruin the 4870s and nobody knows for sure if 5870s will work out of the box.

If in a month from now Dellienware releases the new cards, I might use my warranty,...in a way

 

lol We're on the same page.

 

Fill me in on this way if it saves $1000.

 

Lol, yes.
That's what I like the most about Dell - nice warranty + you can negotiate. Others would not even let you replace the thermal paste (e.g. Lenovo) without voiding your warranty.

 

It'll probably take a few weeks and will only save 200-400$ (with all the hours on the phone with them...R1->R2 was about 250$)

 

Yeah after being spoiled by Dell's warranty I have to say I would personally have a difficult time going to another company no matter how good their product is. There is just no competing with Dell's warranty.

 

Yeah i know what you mean, its hard to go another company and not have most of the absolute freedom that dell gives you.

 

the high cost of MXM from dell is exactly why im holding out. Also with the comments on dells warranty service... you guys have had good experiences with them? Just curious because I saw some youtube vid of a guy that had some bad luck with their services.... although he did end up getting his laptop replaced after 4 attempts to correct an issue. Repair guy screwed up his laptop.... dell sent him a refurb that was scratched up... then sent another repair guy to replace scratched screen on refurb but still had protruding section on the keyboard... he then got the replacement. Seems like a round about way... they should have just sent him a new one from the start, definately when your spending 2000+ on a laptop! Its good to hear that some people are having good responses about warranty... that was one issue I was worried about.

 

My past experiences with Dell`s warranty have been poor to say the least, ive had engineers fail to show up on 3 seperate occasions after waiting in all day, also they seem in a bit of a rush to get the job done when they do eventually arrive. I wouldn`t say they take the greatest of care, make sure you have some kind of soft protection to place between the laptop and the table they are working on.

Anyway, they couldn`t repair my M1730 and they tried to fob me off with a refund which was far less than what i paid for the machine, when i refused that they then said they would replace it with a like for like refurb M1730. After telling me on 2 seperate occasions that they had sourced one with the exact same spec they then turned round a couple of days later and said they no longer had any in stock. It was an outlet laptop that i bought from a reputable Dell re-seller which came with a 4 year NBR warranty.

After a very long battle with Dell i was lucky that the re-seller finally offered me a full refund minus the cost to ship it back to him, he said that i shouldn`t have had to put up with what i did from Dell.

In my own experience the Dell warranty was a bit of a joke, it may be better if you buy brand new from Dell but even then i wouldn`t 100% trust some of the engineers that turn up as they look like an accident waiting to happen, naturally some of the engineers will be very good but i would say its a bit of a lottery as to what type of engineer turns up.