This forum sold another M17 today

I wanted the folks at Alienware to know that the machine I bought today was based on the things I learned from reading some of the posts on here. The modders in these forums represent what always kicked a$$ about the gaming community.

My spec:

[1] M17

Video/Graphics Card: Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
Design & Display: Black Skullcap Design
Chassis: 17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Keyboard Options: Illuminated Keyboard – Alienware Exclusive Design - Astral Blue
Operating System (Office software not included): Genuine Windows Vista® Ultimate (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: Internal Digital / Analog (ATSC) TV Tuner with Adapter
Memory: 4GB« Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB

System Drive: Extreme Performance (RAID 0) - 1TB (500GB x 2) 7,200RPM (16MB Cache) w/Free Fall Protection
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW )
Wireless Network Card: Internal Intel® Ultimate N 5300 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card with MIMO Technology
The World's First 450 Mbps Wi-Fi Adapter!
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Onsite Service and 24/7 Toll-Free Phone Support
AlienRespawn: AlienRespawn v2.0 Recovery DVD – Windows Vista® Edition
Productivity & Benchmark Software: 3DMark®06
The standard in 3D benchmarking
Power: Additional AC Adapter - Alienware® M17 230 Watt Additional AC Adapter
Game Controllers: Saitek P2900 Wireless Pad
Mobile Bags: Alienware® Odyssey Messenger Bag
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Default Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: Standard Power Plan
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Time Zones: (GMT - 5.00) Eastern Time (US & Canada)

Benchmarks to come as soon as it arrives.

Thanks for all the info you guys have posted here!
-Warz0ne

 

Man..that's a nice setup you have! I'm jealous of all that power. lol

 

Congrats, trust me your gonna be happy with this laptop for some time =).

 

you had to of hit over 4 k with that im jealous but its gonna be a amazing machine

POWER :EEK:

CONGRATS AND WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!

 

Is it wrong of me to have already downloaded E-Wrecked's bios update, the temp monitoring tools for CPU and video cards, and Steam to download half the library just so I can be here to witness the FPS that comes off this thing?

You crazy bunch of yahoo's have infected my brain.

 

Congrats on the awesume machine... ENJOY it but dont get caught up in the Phase game when its being built. Just get ready to rock!

 

Congrats on your new system. I pulled the trigger on mine this morning. Not as powerful as yours though. I am jealous I wish I could have went for the proc. Oh well.

 

Remember that using Ewrecks mods will void warranty. So if you plan on doing it dont waste money on extended warranty.

 

Congrats WarzOne! and welcome!
I have the same system... no doubt you will love it!
A couple of advices:
1. your system is for serious gaming, so buy a serious mice and headphones
2. remember that the alienrespawn dvd will ONLY be useful if you keep your RAID config...

 

I agree. I have a Razer Barracuda headset, Klipshe headphones, Razer Lach mouse, and a new Logitech mouse Im playing with as well. As for the raid partition, Im going to leave it alone for the moment. But I might split them in the future.

 

Nice machine bro, i have to agree. I bought my m15x after reading all the posts on here about it from everyone (thanks guys). Even though i knew it was a bit flaky build. For traveling, size and speed nothing still comes close to it. And the m15x was a awesome machine except for some keyboard lag still an issue on most m15x's i think.

I just ordered a M17 last week after reading the 3dmark scores for it on this forum. I had a m15x but got it stolen last week from my home (break in). I paid about US$4300 for the new M17, same stuff as yours exccept no blueray or quad only a 2.8ghz cpu. Australian prices are ALOT more expensive than USA. And that was after i got them to drop $1000 off they wanted to charge me $5300 USD for it at the start before I threatened to buy it in USA and ship to a friend there.

I went with the 250 gig Solid state drive. THEY ROCK. once you gone solid state there is no going back. they are so fast. I'm using a desktop 2.8ghz now and it feels sluggish and slow compared to everything being instant with the m15x solid state i had.

Of course 250 gig isn't enough for most people these days, it is for me.

mine arrives in a couple of weeks i guess. new toys rock, hope yours is everything you wanted ;-)

Sam

 

I agree with everyone else, that setup is a powerhouse. You'll love it Congratulations! If ya use the BIOS, do so at your own risk.. But it can only help with your performance Anyhow, keep us updated!

 

and you can't even overclock the cpu without losing the warranty

 

Honestly, alot of the work you did on this machine sold it for me dude. I followed your driver update thread, as well as the M17 owners forum. I am definitely going to OC the machine. I understand it voids the warrenty. If I fry a Motherboard or a CPU, its totally on me and I wouldn't expect Alienware to cover it.

Im planning on benchmarking my factory install with 3dmark06 and some titles, and then Ill mod it...gently. Is 3.33 the magic number for the CPU?

Also, if Im not mistaken you OC'd the 3870's by 100mhz didn't you? Does the 8.12 driver allow you to OC thru some control panel, or is there a 3rd party app for the video cards that Ill need to adjust the clocks?

Looking forward to those 4870's down the road if they will actually work in this bad boy

 

lol E is a founding father of the whitebook on here

and yes it seems that 3.33 is the magical number

every thing you will ever need to know thanks to E again

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=325944

 

It isn't clear to me that this headset will work on the M17 without needing extra hardware. I'm looking into purchasing a set. Could you tell me if you know it will work?

- F

 

It will work. It uses USB for power, and a 3.5mm headphone and mic jack. The clarity is simply amazing. The headset also has a different jack that can be used with a desktop card for a more advanced sound config. But just using the analog jacks the headset is awesome. And Im saying that as the owner of Sennheiser PC350's, Alienware Ozma 7's and the Bose Quiet Comfort 3's....not that Im an audiophile or anything

 

But I suppose the one headphone jack won't guarantee surround sound, or will it?

- F

 

nope. you'll need to install the USB driver for that.

 

so does the surround sound work as advertised?

 

if you install the driver, sure.

 

I need to fiddle around with the driver. I was having a challenge getting the headset to be recognized by Vista(32bit) when I was setting it up. I had a friend waiting to team up on COH on Skype so I was in a hurry. But I was impressed with how comfortable they are, and how well the jawbone mic worked.

I'll fiddle with the USB and get the surround working.

 

I'm flattered. Really, thanks. As far as overcloking.. Any drivers later than 8.10 won't hold a clock change. CPU wise, I got my best performance @ x12 which gives you the 3.19 speed. Some rigs can run the 3.33, but not all. There's a fine balance between CPU and GPU clocks.. If you push one too high then you can't push the other AS high. Just gotta trial and error the system to see how stable it is. I wanna say my max clocks @3.19 were 710/908 with DX9 program like 3dMark06.. dx10 tends to run with more stability and higher clocks. Then you can push about 100 over stock. But as I said, the CPU overclocking may narrow the gap. I'll be happy to help ya out once you get ahold of it. Just PM me otherwise, I'll definately be around the AW forum - these guys are like family.

 

My order is in Phase 5. -Happy Dance-

I have no idea why they still let us look at Phases on construction when they now we are going to sit in front of the computer pounding the refresh button on the browser and get totally neurotic lol. We sit around making irrational statements like "ITS BEEN IN PHASE 6 For 8 Hours!!! Come On!!! How long does it take you retards to install Vista!!!"

That page takes totally rational geeks and turns us in to sociopaths

 

If you split it PM me. I had a couple of issues. Remember that after the change in your HDD config (deleting the RAID) your respawn DVD will be useless.

If you have an external HDD to backup your info, dont change your RAID config.

 

dont trust the phase pages....thats all i will say....

 

You made a good decision on buying the M17. I've never been happier with mine. I love the feature of carrying my powermule in a backbag where ever I go. Been on a trip for couple weeks nice now, and it's very nice to be able to relax in the evening and play the same games with your buddies as you would do when back home. And, with all the eye candy turned on.