WOW, I've been away too long!!!

Hello again guys & gals!

Its been a while since I've posted much here of late.....been lurking occasionally, but not much. Anyway, hope you all had a good Christmas and New Year. Mine was okay, up until 5th January when I got back home to discover that my house had been burgled and ALL my computing stuff had been robbed.....my AW14, my Dell U3011 monitor....everything. I'm typing this on a borrowed piece of poop HP laptop.

Anyway, been dealing with the insurers about it all and got a call the other day about replacements and the guy says to me "Sir, this is the proposed replacement for your laptop....it's an Alienware 15....blah blah" and I'm like "Wut??.....Dell don't even make a 15 incher any more!!" - it was then I hopped on to the 'puter and found out about this new 15 and 17.

I can't say I am enamoured with either, because as I see it, they are ALL sporting BGA filth for GPU and CPU - what the hell, Dell?????? - I don't even see an option (in the UK) for a 980m on the 15.....

I guess one good thing about this crappy scenario is that my insurers have offered a cash alternative.

Must admit, I am in a bit of confusion of what to do exactly....I'm not up on things like I once used to be.....don't game as much as I used to but still like to have a decent machine.

What would you guys suggest I consider as an alternative? - any recommendations welcomed

Regards,
Steve.

 

It sucks that you had a robbery, that sounds pretty low for someone to do that and I'm truely sorry.

If these aliens are really BGA jokes like your saying, I can finally say my next laptop will not be alienware. Once I've exhausted all the life out of my R1 I'll go with clevo or origin pc. I'll miss my warranty support. But the support is useless now cause I can't change parts anymore.

 

Indeed, wow! So sad to hear about this unfortunate event. I hope your important data was backed up somewhere.
As for a replacement, I don't know, it all boils down to your current needs. Try maybe posting a thread here answering the questions in the form, if you're open to suggestions from other brands.

Good luck Stevie.

 

Thanks guys.

Yeah, it sucks......every cloud has a silver lining though. I bought my 14 for a song via Ebay and at least it was a 'new for old' policy, so I'll actually be better off which ever way I go. I guess my needs aren't as much as what they used to be - I suppose I have a lot of thinking to do ahead of me. I'd like to stay mobile, but I'm probably not looking for uber-sli performance right now. I'm potentially looking at a payout of around £1,400 - £2,000 gbp......when the insurers take into consideration the parts I upgraded on the 14 such as the mobo and SSD I tossed in......

 

Stevie-boy!
Sorry you got robbed fella! Bright side of things, we get ya back for a while
All the new AW's are sporting BGA filth. For your new laptop are you after a single GPU or SLI..? go on..you know you want some SLI again

 

Welcome back man!! Sorry to hear about what happened. Hope the insurers fix it up quick.

 

Sorry for that terrible incident. And welcome back.

 

Thanks fella's

Well, I guess SLI would be nice again - last thing I recall reading about was the gimped 880m's in the 18. What's this I hear about 'no more 18' - that means no more SLI Alien beasts!!!!! - what about 980m's in a current 18? - do they work?

 

With effort they do.

The new models are ok if you need a machine on the move with moderate power and are then happy to get the full experience at home with a desktop card in the dock.

 

Yeah, I've read about this GA. That might suit my needs in terms of gaming at home as I don't really game on the go that much, however I really can't get my head around the thought of buying an Alienware laptop and not being able to upgrade it other than wireless card, hard drives etc......I am not liking the thought of owning a machine that I cannot upgrade internally. The GA is obviously upgradeable over time, but mobile use is stuck with the soldered on BGA crap at time of purchase. I must say, out of the 15 and 17, I'd be swayed to the 15 due to screen options. What I don't understand is how Dell are aiming to separate the 15 from the 17 bar screen real estate??? - where is the distinction between the two other than that?

 

A lot of companies just use that, screen size is the only difference.

 

Given my record, it wouldn't be appropriate to say 'welcome back', but welcome back, mate! ; )

As to the rest of your comment, I guess now would as good a moment as any to quote straight from Divine Comedy, "Omnem dimittite spem, o vos intrantes."

At least you're covered insurance wise. Since this isn't about blind brand loyalty, perhaps you can consider some other UK options for the 980m SLi configuration. I'm sure there's at least one company that's selling Haswell + 980m SLi in a Clevo/Sager configuration with two-year-warranty.

 

Thanks Kade! - the past is the past, so they say....

A very apt quote, too.....or so it might seem. You're right though...there are other alternatives than to suck up BGA garbage. I am looking potentially at something that sports SLI but the main thing being MXM for single or dual. I'm gonna have to look at UK Clevo rebrands in a bit more detail before making any decisions. I'm certainly no brand loyalist, but I do like the aesthetics of AW more so....warranty with Dell has been hit and miss with me, mainly good in the end, though. These are all things I need to consider before doing anything.

Just a huge pity that AW has gone the route that it has done....I might see if I can snag an M18x R2 or maybe an 18 and upgrade from that point onwards, although I am concerned about the lifespan of MXM and socketed CPU's in the mobile world.....

I know a certain Mr. Fox who would be yelling at me to grab an R2

 

Heh. True. And one can hardly fault Mr. Fox . . . The R2, in very general terms, is epic, and his unit's a certifiable beast! I've still got mine and I know it'll keep me sated against this generation of games rather easily, and with DX12 around the corner, things might get even better. I just got the Alienware 18 for some added experimentation and VRAM benefits since some newer titles are being designed with a certain VRAM requirement in mind so it's kind of got me covered on that front.

Having that said, there are some decent deals on used Alienware units. If these benchmark and hardware experimenters can get the R2 (and even the 18 . . . c'mon!) rock-stable with 980m SLi, I think there's very little to worry about in terms of hardcore gaming at high-quality playable settings for the longer haul. Of course, as time progresses, keeping things maxed out to the absolute extreme against jacked-up desktop rigs might become a challenge, but you'll still have a solid edge over the consoles . . . even with a 4GB 680m. What follows after is really anyone's gamble at this point, which is why I had to make a few decisions tailored specifically to my requirements over the next 2-4 year period, which I realise is a bit of a controversially regressive stance in the fast lane realm of the PC Master Race.

I guess it all depends on what you want from the system. If a balance of efficient and quality gaming is the goal, then you have more room for compromise and pragmatism. On the other hand, if you're looking to push the hardware and benchmarks to new extremes, then it's an uncompromising continuum -- nothing's absolutely good enough, and for good reason.

 

I love mine and plan to keep it, but 980M SLI isn't great with it. It doesn't work correctly, requires pure UEFI boot, which requires Windows 8 and makes vBIOS flashing an excruciating ordeal that requires dismantling the machine and having an OS that can switch between Legacy and UEFI or dual boot Windows 7 with one GPU installed at a time for flashing. With the throttling issues it has, especially when overclocked, it's really not much of an improvement over the already potent 780M SLI setup that works flawlessly. Because of all of this ridiculous nonsense, I'd nudge you in the direction of Clevo instead. (Just be aware that not all Clevo models support 980M.) If all goes as planned, a P570WM will replace the M18xR2 as my main pleasure ride and the 980M SLI will get moved into the Clevo. I will put 780M SLI in the R1 back into the R2 and either buy GPUs for the R1 or sell it to someone that needs a great beast and wants to buy their own GPUs.

Speaking of the R1, I have to say that it runs absolutely amazing with the 780M SLI. I just repasted the 2920XM with Liquid Ultra last night and it runs at 4.6GHz effortlessly in benchmarks with a peak temp core temp of about 82°C using nothing but fans. With the M18xR1 and M18xR2, Alienware have painted themselves into a corner on quality and performance. Everything they do now is measured against and falls under the shadow of those incredible machines. So far, they are losing in a race against themselves.

 

Really interested to see what that sager can do when it gets into your hands. Do they have an x99 version? and just a heads up for if you do go that route there is a new website called SiliconLottery.com that sells tested cpu's for an extra price. Might be worth looking into if you're looking for a gold chip for benching and end up with a dud.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/core_i7_4790k_processor_5_ghz_review_a_silicon_lottery,1.html

 

The demand over the whole of the us for the x79 models was apparently not great, they only really sold in Europe and Asia. This has not encouraged development on an x99 system. The z97 models are their new angle on it.

 

ah gotcha. Makes sense. Those systems are super pricey. z97 is way more affordable.

 

Yeah X99 might not be very suitable for notebooks especially with the Haswell E aka Super Ovens aka Super Hotwell processors.. Z97 is already causing heating problem.. X99 will be even worse..

 

Too many stupid American panty waists that like thin and light computer feces have ruined things for everyone else. That seems to be the status quo. When you compare its boxy 1990'ish aesthetics against an 18" Alienware or even the less capable Clevo models that have some character, Clevo also wasn't doing itself any favors in terms of marketing the P570WM. Maybe they did not realize that most American consumers buy first based on looks, second place comes price and third place actually comes functionality and performance. I'm really excited about getting one.

 

What do you guys think about the NP9377-S (P377SM-A)? I was considering the P570WM, but it's out of my price range. I had heard rumors that there is a Clevo SLI desktop CPU variant coming that would support a 4790K type CPU, but I don't know if that is true.

I really wanted to upgrade my R2 to 980m's, but I think that idea has been shot to pieces.

 

Its already out, but it looks like its only available in single gpu configurations. Probably one with SLI hopefully on the horizon.

Clevo P770ZM

 

Do the 980Ms work in the R1. Or is it the same as with the R2? Perhaps AMD will release cards that will work fine in both machines and bring next gen performance.

 

That is pretty much what I am looking for, with a SLI configuration.

 

They don't work at all in the R1

 

I would say a Clevo i7-4790K machine with 980M SLI should be in the pipeline soon.. I assume we'll seem it in H2 2015 tbh which will be perfect for me.. I will be able to build up a reserve to get it..

 

The only issue with that is the lack of ability to then support PCI-express based storage options properly since it only leaves the 4x gen2 lanes from the southbridge.