When are the new Alienwares with Maxwell coming?

Pfffffft, six more days and a freaking month have past since Nvidia announced the new cards.

 

This is one place where they know exactly where the AW range is going: 'Compal's main production facility is in Kunshan, China.

Compal is one of the main supporters of Intel's Common Building Block initiatives.'

Wikipedia Compal Electronics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The Chinese leaks may well be well founded. They HAVE to be tooling up for the next gen (and maybe the expiry of MXM along with socketed CPU's)?

 

I'm looking forward to buy a laptop,anyone among these two.But I'm confused
HP ENVY M6 has 8 gb of ram with intel i5 4th gen clocked at 2.5 GHz (turbo boost upto 3.1 GHz) ,750 gb HDD, full touch.
While HP Pavilion model has 12 gb of ram with intel i5 4th gen clocked at 1.7 GHz (turbo boost upto 2.7 GHz), 1 TB HDD, full touch.
Should I compromise with the ram and go for clock speed as both are intel i5 ? It's clear that Pavilion is much better in terms of RAM and hard disk space.
All other features are almost same for both of them except that M6 lacks any optical drive but pavilion model has it.
There is one more difference that M6 has a full HD display of 1080 while pavilion has 1366x768 display.
Also,the pavilion model is 29 $ costlier than the M6.
Here is a link for complete specifications-
M6-
HP Envy M6 Touch Smart Core I5 8GB RAM 750GB HDD Windows 8 1 Full HD 1080P | eBay
Pavilion-
HP Pavilion 15 Touch Core I5 4th GEN 12GB RAM 1TB HDD WIN 8 1 15 6" Full Touch | eBay
Please tell me...which one is better?
I'm very much confused!!

 

We have 2 new notebook confirmed:

Alienware 13 4210U 0VMGD7

Alienware 17 (Most likely)
4710HQ & GTX 970M 0146Q8
4960HQ & GTX 980M 0146Q8

Notes:
- Alienware notebook with GTX 980M SLI is nowhere to be found in the database -AW18 confirmed discontinued?
- We know that Alienware will switch to soldered HQ CPUs for the AW17

Looks like our worst fears are coming true. Man this sucks

 

This is old news. Brought up weeks (undefined number) before this week.

 

Yeah but its a nice summary.

With the AW17 coming with soldered CPUs, not launching maybe until 2015 with 980M and no 120Hz support from Nvidia, whats to look forward to?
The wonderful GPU box, our savior? Give me a break

Exactly. If anyone knows, its the chinese leakers.

 

Just so your HP question in the Alieware forums does go unanswered, here's what I would do if considering those two machines - I'd go with the M6, personally.....better cpu speed, better integrated graphics on the cpu, better display - I'd value those three things over HDD and RAM, which you can easily upgrade yourself later on down the line. 8gb is plenty of memory for most things and 250gb isn't really worth worrying about at this kind of level. You can grab an external optical drive if you really need one for peanuts.

Or better still, buy an Alienware as you posted in this sub section!

 

With the speed at which that chat image was taken down by imgur, i am quite sure Dell USA folks are monitoring this thread as Dell China people won't follow these forums and issue takedown order.

Guys at Alienware: Bring back redesigned Alienware 14/15 as soon as possible with both 970M and 980M as options, you don't want others to capture the 14/15 inch market which is quite big and profitable.

 

I'm going to keep my 2013 17 until I can't upgrade gpus anymore then buy a desktop. At least when a new gpu comes out I can just buy it and plug it in and away I go without all this modding drivers and crap to get the darn thing to work

 

So does it mean we are getting our vbios for the 980m to work on our AW 18 very soon?

 

More like its gonna take a loooong time until we see a Dell 980M with Dell vbios because according to that chinese site they wobt ship them until 2015. Over 2 months after MSI/Clevo/Asus and pretty much everyone else. I think Eurocom and HID is at full work modding a 980M vbios to make it work on Alienware systems though so fingers crossed

Alienware, going down the drain, step by step.
Quite the contrast to see them launch a brand new desktop system with 3 * GTX 980 and whats happening with their notebooks

 

I will cheer for HIDevolution and Eurocom to mod those vbios for AW 18 to work. AW has the gall to send their units 2015 while other competitors are releasing it now? What is this?

And to the hell with soldered CPU.

 

Alienware will come up 900 series within next two weeks. i think Aw m18x R2 was best system ever created so far.

 

Ah, how do you know this, mate? AW 18 is involved as well?

 

well sometimes you got to learn from history, still many ppl wont bother about 900m series as they are payin premium price for 800m Series. Ahh well i can understand your new love Honestly my m8 got Alienware 18 with few unresolved issues. Even still many ppl like old design compare to new look.

 

More musing on this subject,

I'm thinking that all the other OEM's and Compal are pretty fed up with Dell right now. If they had sinply slotted in the 9xxm cards into the existing models none of this deep research would have happened and we would all be thinking 'I wonder what's next?' without much of an idea.

My theory is that when they tried it they had some serious compatibility issue requiring investment to fix. The longer term plan was to switch to the new soldered boards and graphics docking station anyway. So they ignore the new GPU's altogether until someone comes out with a fix, maybe?

Now AW have missed all the early adopters, P'd off existing customers, and given the game away for the whole gaming PC industry.

I will now continue in a holding pattern, probably 6 months or so to see where we are being taken, and I think a lot of educated users will do the same. If a game comes out my AW does not play decent then it's back to desktops - and NO, AW will not get my money there either .

 

The delay could absolutely be because of their stupid GPU box. Probably not an easy job getting a working BIOS that reckognize whatever card the customer choose to plug in to the box and make it work with the hardware that's inside the notebook itsel.
I also think its a pretty stupid move to delay 900M update, when they could just have done a simple refresh on existing systems. Even more stupid if they think that GPU box will replace Alienware 18 and that's why they have come up with the genious plan to discontinue the AW18. I can just foresee the upcoming marketing from Alienware where they compare an Alienware 17 with GTX 980M and the GPU box with GTX 980 and a comparison against the Alienware 18 with GTX 880M SLI with some BS justification that because of this the AW18 is no longer needed because AW17 with GTX 980 beats 880M SLI


To quote Alienware from Facebook commenting on the GPU Box:

Sounds like they have a plan to use the GPU box for more than just the AW13...

 

Well i think they will come up with somethin unexpected, new system will called Alienware Amplified 18

 

Could you imagine carrying AW17/AW18 + that box?
I mean, the box is massive

http://core0.staticworld.net/images/article/2014/10/alienwaregraphicsamp_4-100527294-large.png

 

At least it won't be so severely bottlenecked with the 17 & 18. It's like Alienware is trolling us with the AW 13 and Amplifier.

Alienware be like...

Spoiler

Noobs be like...

Spoiler

 

You never know they will provide backpack for it too. No compromise with serious gaming.

 

Its gonna be awesome

http://www.hobotraveler.com/backpack/front-and-back-backpack.jpg

 

You know, I didn't think they would take this idea so seriously. Idea maker also wanted a thinner 17, and it's featured. And it isn't the only one that is about thin 15 and 17". This one is close enough, but wants to keep the 18.
Well there's only one other time for these new laptops to make a grand arrival: CES 2015 (or around there).

 

Well if MSI can throw GTX 970m into slim GS60 Ghost pro 3K, why not Alienware with better design. Really i dont understand what is wrong with Alienware management, they just want to carry on with their old concept (please dont consider Alienware Amplifier )

 

The GPU box is the key, it's the only investment they have made in a year of cost cutting, using generic parts, and delivering pre-configured options. The 'mistake' publication of of warranty moving to RTB? No mistake, just a plan that is either in the wings or pulled for now, until it dies down a little.

I am thinking that if the range/capability of machines we think are happening do show then there will be a full AW relaunch. Dump existing customers and re-position. Sry, just doom and gloom from my perspective.

The 18 simply has to be RIP if the 17 gets the dock .

I am also intrigued as to how this is supposed to work? Sli with a different dGPU to whatever desktop card(s?) you put in? I would think it's an either/or situation but that's today's tech so we will see. It could just use the dGPU for physics and not be true Sli?

 

2 GA boxes for desktop SLI/Crossfire? The laptop will have 2 of the GA ports?

 

It might be but I think that it's going to be one or the other as far as whatever you have inside the laptop. With what is available right now physx could be off loaded but it's all conjecture until someone gets hold of one of these things and pulls it apart!

 

According to PCworld and KitGuru the GA's PCIe bandwidth is limited to x4, and could potentially bottleneck high end cards...

 

Well, that answers that, thanks.

 

That's due to the ULV CPU; the slot in the GA is PCI-E x16. If the GA were to be used on a full-voltage CPU, he bandwidth should increase.

 

Because Dell is a serious company where support issues and logistics of repairs actually matter.... they are not in the current "turn 'em out, burn 'em out" design nonsense that so many ultrabook style laptops are currently being made in. Troll the other forums where those are prominent and you will read accounts of very high temperatures... those systems are going to need serious repairs down the road soon but I am convinced the makers believe most gamers who focus on fps and raw specs will just get another system in short order, and they really won't have to deal with the issue and slide by. The problem right with the AW 13 is Dell went too conservative on the question of heat vs. component lifetime vs. reliability with the AW 13, and gimped the system rather than strike a happy balance.

 

Well i5-4210U supports 12 PCIe lanes, so x8 should still be feasible. I think this is more to do with the limitations of whatever interface they're using, just like how old school DIY eGPUs that connected via an ExpressCard or mPCIe interface could only get x1.

 

Despite it supporting up to 12 PCI lanes, the i5-4210U can only support 4 per lane

Compared to, say, an i7-4712HQ could run 16 for 1 lane, 8 for 2 lanes, and 4 for 4 lanes (maybe?)

Unless the expansion port happens to take 2 per lane, the bandwidth is restricted to x4 due to CPU limitation.
Now how the bandwidth couldn't be x8 since the CPU supports up to 12 lanes is beyond me. I don't know.

 

All I'm saying is the interface itself might be a bottleneck, since ExpressCard and mPCIe eGPU setups couldn't get more than x1 due to interface limitations.

But yes in the case of 4210U the CPU itself is also a restriction.

 

Hmm, from the looks of things, you can buy a new Inspiron Ultrabook with a better CPU than what is available in the Alienware 13. Maybe they are going to release an lnspiron or XPS laptop with a 900M-based GPU before the first Alienware has one.

I find myself wondering, now that they cannot sell new machines with Windows 7 any more if all of the new Alienware systems will have Secure Boot enabled and no BIOS option available for changing to Legacy Boot in order to comply with executive orders from Micro$hift? If that's the case, they do offer an XPS 12 or 13 with an i7 CPU and Ubuntu Linux as an alternative, so maybe that would be an option for anyone that wants to upgrade to Windows 7.

 

You can still buy new machines with Windows 7 Pro, just not Home/Ultimate. Alienware still has windows 7 pro as an option.

 

For now... hopefully that will continue if they release new (as in not the same) machines. That's what I meant by "new Alienware systems" - not the current products. I apologize; I should have been more clear on that. I doubt Micro$haft has the power to force them to pull existing machines in inventory off the shelf to re-image the drives with Windows 8. Or, I certainly hope they do not have that kind of power and influence. If they do, any OEM that puts up with that needs to grow a pair and stop letting them push them around.

 

I think they will. The AW13 has it as an option. Microsoft still hasn't put an end of sale date on 7 Pro, so at this point it's all on Dell/Alienware to have it as an option. All of the events from AW so far, we have only seen Windows 7. I think even Alienware likes 7. :thumbsup:

 

I sure hope they do. I think that could be the last thing holding them back from completely destroying the system BIOS with no option to disable Secure Boot, since it cannot be used with Windows 7. I am pretty sure that is why Micro$haft is cutting off Windows 7 access for new machines intended for consumers. Windows 7 Pro and Enterprise have to continue to receive support for businesses that refuse to be told they are required to upgrade, not because Micro$haft is a good company that cares about what customers want.

 

Hehehe this is why I spent $200 and hoarded 4 Win 7 Pro keys for myself.

Figured that should last me through Skylake on the desktop front, and any laptops that may pique my interest in the future.

 

The eGPU might be actually useful for a very few users of the alienware 13 after deciding they giving up that money. I'm pretty sure at that point when you use the desktop GPU 1st of all, it WILL be bottlenecked by the CPU through all kinds of means. and the onboard 860M is rendered useless at the time of using the eGPU. COuld have been at least interesting to see it used for encoding video cpatures etc. But not my issue. Like I said the target audiance is quite small.

Now even if that eGPU were to come to like bigger laienware laptops. THose are able to run the 980M, which is almost as powerful as the GTX 970. So I don't think someone would pay 300$+600$ for a GTX 980 to get an extra performance that is totally not worth the price.

And then there is also the fact that both 970M in SLI and 980M in SLI are quite stronger than the GTX 980 in most games. So yeah I still totally don't see the point in that eGPU except for that small audience. But then again I don't know why alienware put so much effort just for that small audiance.

Well there are still those ignorant people that just try put as much money as possible in the system despite of thinking about their advantages.So yeah.

Still waiting for alienware 14/15 with 970m/980m ...And WITHOUT an eGPU

 

Good plan... as long as the BIOS has an option to disable Secure Boot. I'm thinking of grabbing some retail Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate keys as a contingency plan as well. All of my Windows 7 licenses are tied to Alienware and Dell machines and will not activate on something else.

 

I am giving Alienware Max 1 week more. That's how long I'm willing to wait before I lose my sanity.

If nothing new is revealed from them, well then so be it, it will be quite sad because I loved my AW18, but I will be forced to move to MSI instead.

I have already waited a month since the other OEMS started shipping 980M, to try to see even the slightest hint from Alienware, and I think I'm not really asking for much.
To hell with their secrecy and the "everything will go to hell if I mention about when they arrive before our glorious marketing department- Porras Alienware" just shows how much they have lost touch with reality and what is expected from a gamer brand.

There are still certain Clevo and Gigabyte machines with 980M/970M that isn't shipping, but unlike Alienware, the resellers and the guys working for Clevo/Gigabyte have given interested customers some approx ETA for those machines. Exactly how it should be.

 

Why? Just purchase two 970M's or 980M's and upgrade your AW 18.

 

I think I've had it too. I think I will go with an asus one.

 

I no longer have the Alienware. It was sold in anticipation for a better display or improved cooling in addition to 980M SLI on the AW18. I at least expected AW18 to be ready to order within a month and wasn't expecting them to ditch the whole thing.

Asus G751 with IPS or MSI GT72 for me as well. Most likely the GT72 due to MXM GPUs and a sick audio system.
Plus MSI have a fan firmware that is easily tweaked with software. GT70 had many mods and user made software that let you control the fan easily whether you wanted a quiet machine or excellent cooling.

Should be fairly easy to make some changes to the fan speed and let it be quiet and cool now that the GT72 got excellent cooling from stock firmware

 

Well, those cards are not working yet. Hopefully soon.

 

Well you know what's going to happen once they finally do refresh the lineup?

For the 18 they'll lower the price of 880m SLI configurations slightly, do away completely with 860m. R9 M290x will probably become the lowest end version of an 18 available.

970m SLI configurations will be priced $600+ over competitors and 980m SLI $1000+ over competitors.

I have a feeling the refreshes will be ridiculously marked up to soften the sales losses made in being so late to market. However that comes at an advantage as those who waited are willing to put up that cash to finally get their hands on it. This anticipation is like watching paint dry.

 

They are working... HIDEvolution is selling Alienware 18's with 980M SLI.

But I didn't realize he had sold it. His signature still says he owns it.

 

No one's actually using them yet. Hidevolution is "selling" but not shipping them. It seems they need a vbios to work.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-18-m18x/764354-fyi-980m.html

Going to test clevo 980m in alienware m17x R4, m18x R2, AW17