Need a good Spec for alienware m17x

I am looking for a decent spec for gaming.
Looking mainly for SLI 260's.
Anyone got any good suggestions?
My budget is around 2000$-2200 (Max) (I get a discount with employee).

 

SLI 260's
1900 res screen
4 gigs ram
P8600 CPU

 

I have the same questions.

But have about 4,200 total

Areas I been looking at is cpu

core 2 2.8ghz or core 2 2.0 quad which seem best?
windows 7 Ultima
3 year warrintee
dual geforce 280 or dual ati 4870 Pros and cons of each?
17-inch WideUXGA 1920x1200
ddr3 4gb 1066 or ddr3 4gb 1333Mhz Only $40 extra lol.

Can this setup run two differnt hard drives. Like a ssd drive with a regular hard drive. SSD drive with Windows and my games and a 500gb hard drive for muisc and pictures.

 

windows 7 ultimate is useless
4870's DX 10.1 and there just faster
1333 RAM is kinda pointless( if you do get some get the actual good stuff)
Dual core t9600


Yes it can run that setup just fine

 

This is the same setup I'm going to run when mine gets here. Except a 500GB 7200RPM with the OS and 640GB for my data storage.

 

Here is what I am thinking:

Cost would be: Total $2,412.19 (Taxes included)

 

Not a bad system thecore762. My last system was almost the same as yours. Frist gen. You should be able to upgrade later on if you want. Like gpus, Ram and cpu. The one thing I would suggest this is due to issue I had was mybe extend your warrintee if you start seeing some computer issues. If it running 100% fine. Dont worry about it.

 

1066 ram and your goood to go

get a student discount and i have a 100$ off coupon i feel like giving out tis the season

 

Ah!
I am getting -$248.80 discount (10% off with my employer) But could definitely use an additional 100$ discount, not sure if those two will be able to go together.
But I am all sold on the Alienware.

Oh, by the way I chose the cpu: Intel® Core™2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
And then I chose the ram 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz.
That doesn't look like it would go together right? That means I have to switch back to the 1066? Will I see a major performance difference?

 

By the way, are they good when it comes down to shipping the product within the timeframe they quoted?

 

FYI, ANY upgrade (Processor, Raid, Graphics) will increase performance more than the 1333mhz ram.

You can get the 1333 ram with any processor, it will just be pointless without an Extreme Dual Core (correct me if I am wrong) since the Bus cant handle more than 1066 anyway/

 

I see.
Its going to be one of the hardest choices I will ever make, but I just don't want to spend the extra money on the 280gtx, I want something like the 260 sli probably, would save me some money.
N9850 seems like a beast with what it seems to have a better cooling no?
Also If I decide to go with the Blu-ray drive later, I can right? How expensive would it be for me to upgrade things like Hard Drives and Blu-ray drive?

 

keep the SLI 260's

 

Ok, this is my last decision, def getting the alienware.
I can upgrade easily down the road too.
I hear the Quad cores are also good?

Which color is the best? Silver, Black or Red?
The silver one to me looks the best, but how easy for it to get scratches?

 

I personally picked silver just to be different, mine isn't here yet though...

 

Silver probably shows fewer fingerprints than black or red. I know some people have posted about scratches/chips in the paint that crop up over time, such as on the sharper edges. Some of it may be due to friction when trying to shoehorn the machine in/out of a tight-fitting bag many times over.

 

Ah ok, few more questions before I hit "order".

I am going to go with the 260x2 SLI, is that ok? How big of a difference will there be in Modern Warfare 2 running high settings and 1900x1080?
Also should I stick with the processor Intel® Core™2 Duo P8600 2.4GHz (3MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) [Included in Price]

Or go with: Intel® Core™2 Quad Q9000 2.0GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB) [add $225 or $7/month1]

Any other recommendation other than the very expensive Q9300 (can't afford that lol)

Anyways what you guys think of this:

 

Your setup looks really good thecore762. It like my old m17x but I had dual geforce 9800gt. I had Lord of the rings Mines of Moria max out. Crysis I could up the setting some.

 

How will MW2 run with the settings I chose with that dual SLI 260m GTX?
Also will that processor be good enough?

 

Just reading on the forum for mw2.

System: 2.4 GHz Duo Core or faster or equivalent
RAM: 1024 MB
Hard Drive Space: 8000 MB
Other: GeForce 7800 / Ati Radeon X1800 or better

I dont think you will have a problem playing this game. Most games now use more Gpu then cpu power.

 

So the 260 sli should last me for awhile?

 

I think you'll be happy with this setup. If you're confident in upgrading the CPU yourself then The_Moo has some great tutorials in his sig on how to do it. Also, the Qx9300 can be bought for roughly half of what Dell/Alienware charge. I plan on getting one and putting it in myself. If that being the case get the cheapest CPU.

If you don't want to open the laptop yourself and you want a quad core then the Q9000 should be a good choice. Evil has a M17 with an overclocked Q9000 and seems rather happy with it. I'm sure he can tell you more.

And the 260 SLI should server you well. Graphics cards seem to be future proof for atleast two years. So I don't think you'll have to worry about them becoming to slow to handle games anytime soon.

 

Ah ok, aren't dual cores better and faster than quads?

 

For a lot of games, yeah. And you'll be fine with dual GTX260m's; I only have ONE and I can play MW2 on maxed settings at 1920x1200 with no drop in framerate (aka, locked at 60 fps). You can overclock them to be better than a stock GTX280M as well, if you'd like. (I'd take it to about 675/1100/1650 at the most, and use a cooling pad like the Cryo NZXT if you're going to do that)

 

Yes Dual Cores are for the most part are faster than quad cores when it comes to gaming. But, quad cores are more future proof. Sooner or later games will have quad core support as a standard and you'll get the most of a quad core. So if you don't want to get a quad core right now then get a good dual core. I would personally suggest the T9600. It has good GHz speed and should over clock very well.

 

get this one man http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=442156

 

What processor do you have?

 

Ignore this post. OOPs.

 

Ah I need to keep this laptop on me when I start class so it doesn't get jacked.

 

Ok, then I think I am going to be pretty confident to go ahead and pickup the 260gtx sli, seems to be future proof for at least 3+ years.
Anyways one more thing, just the processor question, Quad v s Duo, what do you guys think?
I think I can squeeze more out of the Quad core...but seems like the duo ones are good.

 

Bump*need feedback on cpu

 

the best core two is t9900 and the best quad is qx9300

 

I'd love to go for it, except I would rather have my own name plate, the color lunar silver instead of black .

Outch....overall its a good deal, I PM'ed the guy, lets see what happens.

Can someone put some screenshots of the black and silver cover side by side?

With my employee discount I can get the laptop fairly decent price, except the processor, for that I'd probably have to buy my own and the install it.
Seems to be a decent price on ebay. Would probably cost me the same if I did my own system.

 

Your right, I am probably going to go with that in the morning.
Only thing is the color, but then everything I own is black, so it would match, I just loved the silver skin, just looks better.
The quality of the product does not change right? Its all the same material correct?

 

Yep Same metal just differnt paint

Just to let you know Alienware facilities located in Florida will be closed from December 21st till December 25th.

 

Ok, I went ahead and bought this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=442156

Thats some killer deal! The nice thing is, most likely I will receive it by early next week.
All I need to do now is probably upgrade the ram no? Since I will have the Extreme core version?

 

you will not need to upgrade anything

 

Ah ok, I can't wait for this thing!
Going to be sweet!

 

I've read that you did end up getting a QX9300 correct?
Do you have any guides on overclocking that beast?
For the most part I saw you doing the OC for the P8600.