Offical update M17 IS getting 4870's

Everything that Alienware does is watched closely by many people. I'm sure those employees have been threatened up, down, and sideways about what they can and cannot say.

No one had any idea they were even going to offer a new laptop until less than a month before it became available for sale.

And even if the M17 never gets another upgrade, 16K 3DMarks is nothing to be upset about.

 

I would love the upgrade, thats for sure. I just wish I could get more sources of info .

Because right now two people say they are for the M17, and one person confirms they are for the M17x. So =/

 

why cant both be true?

chances are that the same card would be offered in both anyway just fitted to different machines

 

I suppose they could, but why? The base price of an M17 is cheaper then the M17x, if the M17x offers the same gpu then why would anyone buy the more expensive model? Sure you get some cool details on the outside, but the hardware isn't very different. And im not sure a little brighter keyboard, and aluminum chassis is worth the extra 1600 dollars they want.

It would make more business sense to offer ati in one model or nvidia in another or both in the M17x.

 

i just would like to say

wohooooo

 

I'd wait until they actually say it on their website.

 

will the 4870's work on the new M17x?

 

If MXM 3.0b, then quite possibly yes.

 

We know two thing 100%: the M17 is definitely MXM 2.1, and the M17x is definitely MXM 3.0b. Therefore, the same pair of 4870s cannot be used by the M17 and the M17x. This is the issue.

 

well if this is true. then the 4870 gddr5 will blow out the 280mm out the sky DEPENDING on the clock speeds. i don't know how high gddr5 can go(i heard really high with so much bandwidth) but if they use at least 650 or high on the core clock then it will great (not like 550 on the 4850.)

so hopefully the clock speeds will he high enough. there is not competion with gddr5. right now we are doing a test between them we are just waiting for everyone to be there and get some numbers but it's a dead tie between 4850 OC'd, 9800m gtx oc'd and 280m oc'd

we are going to do stock clocks and then another overclocked run to prove the final results. but the real 4870 will beat them all.

 

Give me a link to the topic where these tests are taking place.

 

dude some one really needs to buy my m17 now

 

sorry for taking so long give me 5-10 mins

edit it's taking me longer then expected.

 

the cards will have to be different as i already said for the m17 vs the m17x

 

either way its coming

 

Clockspeeds for the GDDR5 version (according to ATi) are 550mhz core and 888mhz Memory. GDDR5 would add about 10% of performance over the GDDR3 version and usually more when either AA is involved or when the frame buffer is reached. The extra memory (if it's 1gb per card) would also add to its performance in certain situations.

 

well damn...m17 with 2x 4870s or the new M17x with 2x 280s?

...hmmm

 

Have you seen the "sponsored links" on the M17 pages at ebay?

Looks like Alienware is doing a bit of advertising for the new M17X.

Are they trying to steer potential buyers away from there to increase sales of their new rig?

 

ok so then what do you think the max percent increase will be over the the 4850 or asus 4870. i now you said 10 percent but it has to be higher don't you think. i think that's alittle low.


and i thought the clocks and the memory would be at least 600 and hit 900 stock but it's not.

 

cards are the same-ish

the ddr5 could add max 20% but thats with the clocks helping


its not ground breaking ...better yes but its not much. The 4870's over the 3870's is 20-30%

 

according to the following tests/forum posts:

http://www.xtremesystems.org/FORUMS/showthread.php?t=192690&page=4

http://www.techenclave.com/reviews-and-previews/sapphire-hd-4870-review-115201-gars4.html

That's how it looks like clock for clock. Core speed does help a lot with this architecture and if you're able to overclock the GDDR3 versions to 650 and 1000+ on memory (which some have reportedly gone up to), then that's better than desktop 4850 performance.

Interestingly enough, the initial core and memory clocks for the mobility 4870 GDDR5 when first unveiled at CES was 680mhz for the core and 700mhz for the memory. On paper it's a lot and I'm sure the thermal specs would be well over 75w with that rating. With no immediate support, I guess they decided to rethink the standard specs.

 

thanks alot that helped me out alot. so on desktops the stock 4850 vs 4870 is a big difference but when at the same clocks it' 5-10 percent average and 15 max.


so we have to wait on the clock speeds on these cards before making a jugdement on them.

how far do you think the memory will overclock on the gddr5 4870's?

 

Moo, are you bailing on the M17 for the new 17x?

 

yes i explained for 3 reasons

school
mxm 3.0
i want it

 

I guess I'll believe GDDR5 when I see it. I'm wondering if they decided to use the 1GB DDR3 4870s in the M17. I hope you guys do get your upgrades, but I'm just skeptical.

The 4870s of the M17x will be clocked much higher in comparison either way.

 

heh at stock they might be

but not once we get our hands on em

i must admit i didnt confirm or even attempt to confirm if it was ddr5 version for the m17 that i enquired about

 

hi guys just called up alienware uk Tech support and asked about the 4870x2 and he said that there is never going to be an upgrade for the M17

I also emailed them this is what they said

Hello
I currently own an M17 with 3870x2 could you please tell me if it will be possible in the future to have it upgraded to the 4870x2 if so what would the cost be

Thanks

Dear Mr. Grey ,

I'm sorry but we don't offer such a upgrade and regarding to the technical specifications from the M- 17s motherboard and cooling system
we don't plan to to offer such a upgrade.

 

i don't have an alienware.


call them and be specific. "i have an m17 with 3870's crossfired. i have just recently recieved my laptop. i heard that you were going to upgrade these gpu's to the new 4870's with gddr5 is this true? and i was wondering if you will have this as a diy kit or we have to send it in. "

 

ok il give it a go its not easy talking to these people

 

really. they can't speak english or they don't care

 

i said
"i have an m17 with 3870's crossfired. i have just recently recieved my laptop. i heard that you were going to upgrade these gpu's to the new 4870's with gddr5 is this true? and i was wondering if you will have this as a diy kit or we have to send it in. "

They said
we are currently waiting on the arrival of the 4870 but this is for the M17x and are not compatible with the m17 because of the mxm type and cooling system.
at this time i am unable to give you the date that the 4870 will be available on the m17x and i don't have any technical info on them

 

can any one tell me what mxm type the 4870s are in the asus w90

 

There are no 4870s in the ASUS w90.

Yeah I know I'm not being helpful but couldn't resist.

 

well the Asus W90Vp with the ddr3 4870x2

 

NBR search returned this:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=4549017&postcount=5

 

I just hope that the M17 gets SOME form of 4870. Whether it's GDDR3 or GDDR5, I don't care, I just want them >.<

Lol, I just called AW to ask where my laptop is. Apparently they've shipped it and I SHOULD get it today or tomorrow, but they can't find my tracking number for DHL...yeah. I do tend to think that they're lying.

 

well if they dont i will be hunting the 4850's in te asus

 

i thought they were propriety just go look for their pics they will give you one

ask vicioususmc

 

If - and a big IF i keep my laptop (if its not sold) and IF the 4870 or 4850s are released from aw as a diy kit and IF they give more than 10% improvement over the current 3870s (id need to see some tests and scores from some people who buy it before me - the asus 4850 scores are practicaly the same as ours.. no real improvement as far as i can tell) and IF they are really around 300GBP then id get them too. But if theres any IF that is a not met than id stick with the current 3870s.
No really people.. the graphics in the m17 is amazing as it is.. dont really know why id shell out more money for a few % performance increase. We have yet to see what the sli gtx 280m will do - am leaning more to that one (but not from alienware but clevo this time).

 

From what I've heard, the 4870s are 50% better performing than the 3870s at minimum.

 

i dont believe that ^^^

 

the benching with the asus is around 15k 3dmark06 at default iirc

 

One 4870 has more shaders than two 3870s combined. Two 4870s is almost 3x. Giving then at least a 40% advantage to Crossfire GDDR5 4870s vs a pair of 3870s isn't that wild of a guess.

Don't forget that it takes a 512-bit GDDR3 Nvidia card to match the 256-bit GDDR5 4870.

 

50% is absolutely massive!

I'd have to see some result on that one.

 

GDDR5 is a massive leap in performance, Rob. Read my post.

 

dont know why anybody is compairing drr3,4,5,6 what ever..... if its true that the m17 aint getting the 4870 ( flippin joke)

ive feel like ive been stung again ffs

did this when i brought m9700 few years bk

so now where left with a laptop that cannot fully use quadcore and crossfire as it stutters and the graphics in it is already 2 years old.

 

worst case i will use this for a year, save up and buy whatevever replaces the m17x

 

The problem is 3Dmark06 is outdated for testing modern GPUs. According to 06, my Whitebook (3870x2) was equal to my W90Vp (4870x2) which was clearly false in real world gaming.


Try Vantage GPU. W90Vp = 10.3k GPU score. M17/OCZ = ~6.3k GPU score which correlated to my in game performance with WoW.

06 is dead.....let it die.

 

try finding a uk supplier for that asus is a pain tho

i couldnt find a retailer i would trust with my cash when i ordered this