Need suggestion to pick new Alienware

Hello everyone, i was wondering if you guys could give me some input in which of the following four babies i should get (finally losing my Alienware virginity!!!! ):

* Note: the 4 following laptops are really close price wise, but i will put them down in order from less expensive to the ''most'' although, it is not a massive difference anyways:

1) M17x-R3

17.3" 1920 x 1080 full hd led screen
Intel Core i7 2860 QUAD CORE up to 3.60 GHZ
16 GB ddr3-1600 mhz Memory
ATI HD 6970 2GB GDDR5
1TB hard drive,with space for a second hard drive
DVD/CD RW Drive
Wifi BIGFOOT KILLER N

2) M18X R1

2nd gen Intel® Core™ i7-2960XM processor (2.7GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.7 GHz)
1080P 18.4" (44 cm) Scren WideFHD (1920 x1080) WLED LCD
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD® Radeon™ HD 6970MCrossFireX™
Windows® 7 Professional 64-Bit
Corsair Vengeance 8GB 1600MHz DDR3 DualChannel SDRAM (Memory)
Slot-Load 8x Dual Layer DVD Burner ( DVD+-RW,CD-RW)
256GB Hard Drive Samsung 830 SSD - 2.5" SerialATA
Killer Wireless N 1103 (2x2 b/g/n+)
Bluetooth 3.0
Audio & Speakers Integrated Analog 5.1 Surround Audio Support
Camera 3.0 Megapixel HD Video and Picture Camera with dual digital microphones
Battery High Capacity 12-cell Lithium Ion (97whr)
Keyboard AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard –
Exclusive Design
Color Options Space Black Anodized Aluminum

3) M17x R4

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-3840QM (8MB Cache, up to 3.8GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)

Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium Operating System

Graphics : 2 GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 7970M

Display : 17.3 Inch Wide Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED

12 GB 1600MHz Dual Channel DDR3 Memory (2x2GB + 2x4GB )

256 GB Mobility Solid State Drive

Optical Drive : BluRay Combo (Blu-ray read only, DVD, CD read & write)

Wireless : Killer Wireless-N 1103 Card

LCD Back Cover : Soft Touch – Stealth Black

Power Supply: 250V AC Adapter

Internal Qwerty Keyboard

Battery : Primary 9-cell 90W/HR LI-ION

4) M18x R2
Operating System Windows 8 64bit, English
Memory 16000MB 1600MHz DDR3 Dual Channel
Keyboard Internal UK/Irish Qwerty Keyboard
Video Card DUAL (2x) 4GB GDDR5 ATI 7970 Graphics
Hard Drive 500GB 7,200 RPM
Optical Devices DVD+/-RW (Read/Write)
Sound Creative Sound Blaster Recon3Di with THX TruStudio Pro Software
Wireless Networking intel wireless card
LCD 18.4" WideFHD (1920 x 1080) WLED LCD
Processor 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB Cache, up to 3.4GHz w/ Turbo Boost 2.0)
Camera Integrated FullHD Camera with dual digital microphones (Win 8)

Any opinions or suggestions regarding this matter will be highly appreciated!

(New to this forum and a bit confused with the layout.. might have double posted, if so, i apologize for that!)

All the best.

 

If you want the best performance possible, choose #4. From there you can upgrade to 3920XM/3940XM and 680M SLI or 780M SLI if you want more horsepower later on.

If these are close in price as you say, then options 1 and 2 would be sort of a waste of money because they have comparatively weak GPUs. Except for the fact that #2 has a 2960XM CPU, and that is a huge plus. It's unfortunate that it has 6970M CF, because that GPU is getting long in the tooth. If there were a substantial savings (like $1,000 cheaper) then #2 would be the best choice.

You can find a 3920XM or 3940XM CPU to upgrade #4 a whole lot cheaper than upgrading the GPUs on #2, so still go with #4 for that reason.

 

Note though that options 2 and 3 come with 256GB SSDs, which is probably what's driving the price up. It's a pity that M18x R1 has those GPUs as you said, because it would be a very speedy option.

I'd go for 4, with my first upgrade being an SSD.

 

Mr fox and Serephacus are right in the options they've chosen.

Let's face it, not only do we like our alienwares because of their look, we like the performance too.

The 7970M gpus in Option 4 will provide you with essentially double the raw power for applications and games' as to the m17x's listed; considering there are two of them in that unit and the fact that they're a much newer revision - therefore perform better.

The only thing lacking in the M18X r2 is the processor, and in quite a majority of games, they aren't the bottleneck anyway, so it doesn't really matter. If a processor replacement is needed - you can always - as Mr Fox said, upgrade it later down the track.

 

Considering the above quote, I would choose #2. Depending on how much #2 is, you may be able to grab two 7970M's off eBay (or something) -- while remaining in budget -- and just swap out those 6970M's. The XM CPU is definitely going to be a bonus to have. On the other hand, the M18x R1 and R2 are easily upgradeable, and this should be a deciding factor in your choice of one of these four options.

Either way, grab one of the M18x's. If it were me, I would probably get the R2 and upgrade the CPU later on.

 

I still believe the fourth option would be the best option. 7970ms are going close to $500 each from laptopmonkey
ShirleyCPU on ebay is selling the 3940xm for only $550

Gah, hardware drops in price so fast, not too long ago it was more than double that