What M15x setup should I get?

With all the customization on m15x im having a tough time deciding.
I will be using this laptop for mostly internet browsing, homework (college student), watching movies, and light gaming (nothing new like crysis or anything...sims 2 mainly...lol), and listening to music.
So I want to pick a setup that will match my needs but also gives me the longest battery life possible. Also i read somewhere that some of the faster processors run a little hotter, so if this is true i would like something that is fast but not more than what i need so i can keep the heat and possibly noise down. Also the lighter the better so if you see something i don't need let me know.
This is what im thinking about but would love to hear if someone had any corrections:
Display: 15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p) with Clearview Technology
System Lighting: Alienware® AlienFX® System Lighting - White
Video/Graphics Card: 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 2.5GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB) (Would i be able to tell the difference between this and the T8300?)
Operating System (Office software not included): Windows Vista® Home Premium
Notebook Tuners and Remotes: With Express Card Media Center Remote Control
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: 120GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection (Whats the difference between this and the hybrid 160GB drive??)
Optical Drives : Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless: Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Sound Card : Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
Keyboard Options: AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard – Exclusive Design
Warranty: 1-Year AlienCare Toll-Free 24/7 Phone Support w/ Onsite Service
Please help me, Im really having a hard time deciding with so many options!
Thank you!

 

okay don't take this wrong but for "internet browsing, homework, watching movies, and light gaming", the m15x isn't really the right choice for you. the m15x is targeted towards hardcore gamers. however, if you do want to stick with your choice, i'd say:

1900x1080 screen: a must-have for movies, especially withe the BluRay drive.
2.4GHz CPU: all you'll ever need, considering the aforementioned usage. heck, even the 1.8GHz one might be enough for your needs.
2Gb RAM: don't waste money. AW heavily overcharges, plus you don't need 4Gb of RAM for your needs. i'd even suggest buying 1Gb and upgrading yourself to save some more.
200Gb HDD: not a must-have, but i'd recommend it, in regard of the usage for movies etc. always good to have lots of HD space.
SmartBay Battery: definitely a must-have if you want battery life.
8700M-GT: the 8600m-gt should just suffice for your needs, but it'll be outdated _fast_. future-proofing might be an idea, although the 8700m-gt isn't that potent either.

hope that helped.

 

yes that helped a lot! thank you!

 

yea buy ram off newegg.com lke http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134578
if u realy want to buy 4 gigs of ram, dont buy them all from aw directly

 

Why would you buy the mx 15 if not to get the 8800 gtx in it this seems to be the only advantage i can see compared to most other 15 inchers

 

Looks & lights. Don't discount how important that is to some.

 

if you want it to look fancy go for the asus g1s which is cheaper and about the same spec as he wanteed originally!

 

I wanted the 8700gt and the ability to upgrade it later to the 8800gtx. Ditto for the core2extreme. I also wanted the 15.4" factor. The AlienwareFX was a big sell also. I payed extra for it because I wanted it.

 

fancy? asus g1s? that thing is fancy on a low level. let's be honest, when comparing looks, elegance etc., macbooks still own the lot.

 

Like someone said before...buy ram from newegg and save a LOT of money (4 gb ram at newegg is only 80 bucks). Configure with the 1 gb RAM and then replace it yourself. Its very easy.

 

i'm actually getting pretty tired of macbooks, kinda boring if you ask me. Yeh it's elegant, but after a while they get old.

 

Definitely not 'fancy' as the m15x is, though.

Anyway, if he wants to pay the price premium, which I'm sure he understands, then by all means he should go ahead. whizzo's recommendations were also all spot on.

 

How would the upgrade process go for that? Would the options simply be purchase the gfx card individually and install it yourself, or have an AW "on-site" technician install it if say you purchase it from AW?

 

You would call AW and purchase the card. They will then ship it to you to install yourself.

 

You can purchase through alienware then install your self or with an on-site technician. You can also buy it your self, but then you have to install it your self and AW won't cover the piece if it brakes.

 

Back to the topic~~~ im more interested in your max and minimum budget you have for this notebook... If its not so much then we could recommend other notebook..

the perfect spec for your need is:

8700GT 512mb. DO NOT GO WITH THE 8600GT!!! my friend had the 8600GT ddr3 and regret it for not being able to play some upcoming game on setting that he wanted. Besides, sim 3 is coming you know?? Though i recommend the 8800GTX but hey, an 8700GT is o-kay~

THe T9300 is great but try the 2.6ghz...

Have the 320gb HD, so you can store more stuff. or go with the 200gb; again we really need to know what your budget are...

Optical drive: The blu-ray is a great choice!

The screen i wouldnt know much but if you got the extra bucks then go with the 1900X1080..

Ram: 2 gb is much better and if you can install a 1gb yourself then go with only 1gb Ram..

Lastly for a smartbay: is the extra battery for your long usage...

p/s: I think you choose this notebook is due to the ability of the m15x that can switch from intergrated graphic to a powerful one.. which is the silent mode, where you can pro-long the battery life even more...

 

WRONG!! ABSOLUTELY WRONG!!! total overkill for the OP's needs... heck, even the T7100 might be enough, though i'd recommend the T8300 to be sure.

again, OVERKILL for the OP's needs imho. but i guess that's his decision.

EDIT: thx to GRB for his kind words

 

Yeah, I'm with whizzo. I'm pretty sure my 8-year-old 2GHz Pentium 4 desktop could still handle Sims 2 fine, if it weren't for the fact that it only has 256 MB RAM. So, any C2D will really be able to handle that game (as whizzo pointed out) but I would say 2.4 is really the max before he's wasting money.

edit: However, I would say that the 320 drive is a potential option. Since he isn't gonna be loading intensive games, where HDD speed is important, he may want to go with the luxury of more space.

 

okay yeah i see your point. not that one drive is noticably slower in practical usage (the 320gb has a higher density wich compensates for the lower speed).

 

really? i just thought that the extra CPU wouldnt give any lag problem or restricting some of the game performance... my bad, although its just some suggestion.... i just read the article on the Gateway notebook that has the 8800GTS, the performance restrict due to the CPU and maybe he could afford it but we dont know if how much $$ he have for the m15x...

if he want cheaper then he can go with the T8300 or if he can afford it he can go with the 2.6ghz.. just a thought though

 

Did you not ever wonder terek, how the requirements for games seem to only have about 2-2.4ghz cpu speed for the past few years, yet the graphics cards seem to keep on going up?
MOst nvidia graphics cards can actually take most of the information needed to be processed and do them themselves, leaving the cpu with less work.

Just a message to the guy who started this thread, its true that the higher processors give off more heat, but that pretty much only the case with the 2.8ghz extreme processor. just stick below that and the heat issue.... will not be an issue.

Did you know about the stealth feature? if your worried about heat and noise, you can switch over to a less power consuming graphics card (intigrated) and turn on stealth mode. Tjis downllocks the graphics card and cpu so they use less power and give out less heat. This means that the fans can be turned off, so it really becomes a silent computer. have this setting with a smartbay battery and you can get about 4-6hrs of battery life out of it real life depending on the tasks you are doing.

 

I'm at a total loss - the x9000 costs an grand basically (400 bucks more for
0.2 ghz) and you can't overclock it!
That's it's selling point - I think its madness putting one in the m15x.

Nb That's assuming you're price concious - some people just love giving money away.. ha

 

yes, dont get it. MHZ is the last thing you should be looking for in a cpu. it wont make that much of a difference. What matters the most is the cache. these are all the same on all cpu's for the m15x. Just stick with the 2.5ghz one. even the 2/6 one is too expensive i think. almost 200dollars more for only 100mhz faster speed.

 

not true, the T7100 and the T8100 have smaller caches (3mb compared to 6mb) than the more potent CPUs...

 

Well looking at Alienware's customise screen (yeah I know, I've got waaay too much time on my hands -haha) the T7100 isn't an option as regards the T8100 If you're only need a 2.1 gig processor why are you buying an Alienware - Name??

granted twice the cache is a plus hence choose the T9300 - 750 less but only .3 of a gig - 250 bucks for 100megs ahh nope..

If I only intended on watching movies and using the net I don't think I'd shell out for an Alienware though.

 

huh? us europeans, we can choose from:

- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7100 Prozessor - 1,8 GHz 800 MHz FSB mit 2 MB
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8300 Prozessor - 2,4 GHz 800 MHz FSB mit 3 MB
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9300 Prozessor - 2,5 GHz 800 MHz FSB mit 6 MB
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9500 Prozessor - 2,6 GHz 800 MHz FSB mit 6 MB
- Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 Prozessor - 2,8 GHz 800 MHz FSB mit 6 MB

 

oh, nice info... didnt know about it myself!!! now that you mention in, it does make sense that some games recommended spec are only about around 2-2.4ghz... interesting. Thanks for the info~~~

edit: wait, doesnt that mean my xtreme processor are a bit overkill??? is it a waste??

 

you cant overclock the x9000?
edit-for all intent and purposes, I think someone should write a faq on the m15x (why is the "faq" word, linked?)

 

We know that at present the X9000 is un-overclockable. But, knowing AW it may be released as a BIOS update in the future if it passes AW's rigorous testing.

 

In games, sort of. Load times will be shorter, but actual FPS differences will be minimal. In games like Crysis, there'll be no difference.

Higher CPU is better for programs like video editing and certain specialized games (e.g. WoW)