Making the move to Notebook gaming

Hi all, I've been gaming on a bootcamp Mac Pro with a GTX 285 for the last two years now but moving two and from my friends house with the thing is becoming shall we say a bit of a chore.

To cut to the chase I've been looking at gaming notebooks (if we can call some of them notebooks) for the last month or so with the intention of buying one around December time when I have acquired the money for one. I've been looking at all sort's of systems and M17x ascetically and build wise appeals to me the most and I just wanted to run by the spec's I'm considering and would love some feedback on what I have selected from some of your expertise

Ok so I've been looking at the following configuration

M17x Lunar Silver
-Windows 7 Home Premium
- i7 620M Processor
- Crossfire Dual 1GB ATi 5870's
-4GB Ram
- 160GB HD
-17" 1920x1200 RGBLED Display
-Blu-Ray ROM Combo
- Dell Wireless Bluetooth
-Intel Wireless LAN 6300

Reasons for the part’s I chose firstly include Windows Home Premium I read that purley for gaming Home Premium is enough so the upgrade here seemed a mute point, secondly for gaming I read that the 620M Processor is more than enough with regards to cost of upgrade to say a 940XM and these can be purchased of say eBay at a later date for a much cheaper price.

With regards to RAM and Hard Drive’s these seemed like a fairly easy future upgrade and the standard configuration seemed sufficient, I’m considering going for a RAID setup when I have additional funds maybe two 300GB WD Raptor’s although any opinions of a much more cost/performance effective option here is welcome as I’m just doing a bit of initial guess work.

I don’t think there is anything else I chose the Intel Wireless adaptor as I’d read this was much better and I chose the Crossfire setup as I’m after the best possible in this area and my parents have agreed to fork out for any hardware support costs.

Before I forget games I tend to play include Left 4 Dead 2, most FPS (COD,MoH) and RTS games currently Supreme Commander 2 and Starcraft 2

I think that's about it so again any feedback on what I've selected, what would be a better option or if I've got it spot on it would be greatly appreciated as my head is just spinning from the amounts of laptops out there
and I'd prefer to get it right first time

Thanks
Matt

 

What kind of HD is that :O? I don't see 160gb listed as an option here.

Also, you forgot to add nebula red.

 

The UK site list's 160GB (7,200rpm) Serial ATA Hard Drive [Included in Price] I'm guessing on other countries this isn't an option, but I did work out that it was cheaper to buy a hard drive elsewhere than to use the upgrade options.

As for red it's a nice colour but Silver is a bit more subtle that option won't be changing

 

this si a nice build do you have plan to buy an 920XM ES of ebay? or do you plan on keeping runing on that dual core ethier way it's a great build

 

The intention is to keep the 620m for now as I'm assuming this is a quite capable processor from what I've read? and upgrade it at a later date, thanks for the positive response on what I've chosen

 

Matt - I'm also looking at buying an M17x in the immediate future. That spec you've got is looking good, but I'm wondering what price they're quoting you for it? If you configure this through the usual Alienware "Personalise" option on the UK site it'll come to around £2410 assuming 1 year of service coverage. However if you go through the Gaming Deals part of the main Dell site you can get the same machine with a 1TB raid 0 setup for £2200...

 

it's a capable cpu but the XM version have a special thing in the m17x and they can equal a desktop cpu some time

but jumping from a bootcamped machine any cpu is good

 

Yes that's how I made my configuration through the personalize option via the Alienware site and £2410 is what it came to, I didn't realize I could go to Dell's site and view specific deals I'm really glad I posed the question on here first otherwise I'd have been none the wiser...Just having a look there now thanks

 

Yep the gaming deal is great, also if you're a student or work for certain companies you may be able to get an EPP 8% discount aswell, if not you can still order over the phone and get a great deal aswell. If you're a student google "dell SCI" and you'll find the website, if you click the laptops link from there and config the gaming deal it'll apply the discount from there but IFC you have to check if youre eligible for EPP just a further tip , as I said if you're nor eligable for EPP then just do the order by phone and you'll be sorted. There is a thread back a few pages about a great UK rep who I also contacted very good guy so you could go through him. On iPhone right now so difficult to go find the link to the thread but it shouldn't be too far back in the alienware section! Good luck hope this helps.

 

Wait for new revision of m17x or newsystem altogether.

 

Check the sig in the link. Should help save some money

 

Go for the i7-740qm rather than the 620. Granted the 620 will get you 5-600 more mhz in dual core situations but games like MOH and BFBC2 that utilize more cores play much better with true quad core, 8 thread, cpu's. Trust me.. I went from an I3 to the I7-720 and it's a good boost in BFBC2 and MOH. Still plays dual core games fine as well.

Best Wishes, StevenX

 

or go for the lowest possible and get a 920XM of ebay

 

There will always be a carrot on a stick when it comes to buying laptops.

The next revision will most likely only be next year, and will probably only include sandy bridge processors and USB 3.0. I don't think sandy will be worth the upgrade performance wise, and being a first generation of a new architecture will be probably plagued with problems. USB 3.0 is useless IMO, eSata is currently faster for external storage and video cameras and audio devices run off of Firewire. I don't see USB 3.0 becoming a necessity any time soon.

But, you can, however, wait to see if they ever adopt the 480M SLI cards without extreme heating and power issues if you prefer the green over the red.

 

Thanks again for all the comments, I've decided to try and go through with the current deal for the Raid 1TB drives which rules out all except the 620M upwards so I imagine I'll go with this and upgrade later or buy the 840QM and stick with it?

I also agree about carrot on a stick I recall buying my 2007 Macbook Pro only to find one came out the month after so at this point I'm more than happy to go with the current model.

I'm going to look into EPP as I know I've had office software through this type of scheme in the past, also the student SCI as my GF is on an apprenticeship I was considering seeing if she is eligible maybe

thanks again, the current Gaming deal ends tomorrow so I may be making an order sooner than intended

 

if you go plan to go 840QM do your self a favor got minimal cpu and get a 920XM from ebay they are cheap there (cheaper then the 840 from dell) and the performance diference in the m17x is very worth it
in fact in the m17x it might invalidate the need for getting the next generation of cpu

 

I've finally made my order with some of the advise here is what I have ordered

Alienware M17x Lunar Silver
Intel® Core™ i7 Processor 620M(2.66GHz,4MB cache)
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
2Yr Next Day Hardware Support
2 years Accidental Damage Support
CrossFire™ Dual 1GB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 5870
4096MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
1TB (7200 RPM) Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 "Stripe" Dual HDD - (2x500GB)
43cm (17") Wide UXGA (1920x1200) - Beyond HD (1200p) RGBLED
Blu-Ray ROM combo Slot Load Drive
Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module
Intel® Wireless LAN 6300 3x3 802.11a/b/g/n card

With the advise given I've chosen the 620M Processor for now over the 840QM and will change this to a 9xx at a later date, I've also managed to get the gaming deals offer of two 500GB HD's in Raid 0 and discount as well as this I've also managed to get EPP discount as my company has this with Dell little bit sore in the wallet but all in all it's been a swift purchase

 

Congrats! Great specs . I'll end up with a very similar package minus the Blu-ray and Intel wifi, not sure about warranty yet doing the order tomorrow! What's your estimated date of delivery? Like November 19th?

 

The time was estimated on or before 17th November, can't wait no more lugging the Mac Pro about the thing weighs a ton

 

great buy you won't regret it

 

Congrats on the purchase.

for order status posts:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/487300-m17x-order-status-discussion-part-3-a.html

Enojy the new system!