When are the new Alienwares with Maxwell coming?

I think Alienware 14 or 15 will be back as Dell won't leave such big gap in the lineup, maybe they are waiting for Broadwell chips, so that they can thin out the laptops a bit as even Alienware 14 was very thick and weighed nearly 2.8kg.

At present, only Broadwell Y is being shipped in products but full voltage Broadwell may start shipping by Jan/Feb. So, Alienware can announce the new stuff in Jan and start shipping in Feb.

 

Doesn't matter Dell vbios is similar for Optimus or SLI as Clevo.

 

*bump*

Frustrating that we are past the middle of November and still no word on updates

 

So I couldn't wait any longer and I snagged an Alienware 18 with m290x crossfire for $2,035 off Amazon (I watched the price drop like a hawk and got lucky since it went back to $2,600 the same day).

I get the laptop and try to ignore the behomoth of a laptop it is by setting it up. I boot into dedicated GPU mode and BAM faulty cards... Tried 3 drivers to make sure its not a driver problem and same issue keeps happening. I couldn't use the system longer than 5 minutes before I had white and grey horizontal bars on the screen or other weird graphical artifacts.

Complete and utter dissapointment, if it would have worked I could have somehow justified keeping it despite being larger than a stove top. However just like with women looks can only get you so far and my laptop was effectively useless.

I returned it and went directly to my second choice. Now I'm waiting for my ASUS g751 with a 970m to arrive.

I hope when Alienware does release Maxwell It does something special to make up for the loss of sales.

 

Maybe it was marked down for that reason. Still, thats the first reported failure of a M290X, which saddens me a little

 

Could well just have needed the GPU's reseating......still, we'll never know now. It would have been worth tinkering with before returning.

 

Yeah well that's why I've learned over the years to check the opinions of my buddies over here before pursuing any course of action in situations like these

 

Dont count on AW18 with Maxwell being released this or next year

 

Part of me wonders whether the delay could be related to stuff like this... ( original source)

 

Maybe so... that's really sucky. So, they go from a totally borked flagship mobile product (880M) to flagship desktop product (980) and it's little brother (970) that are screwed up. Nice! All of this dynamic power efficiency butt-crust is really turning things upside down for enthusiasts. They need to just knock it off and let end users decide how their components work and behave, as well as how much power they want their chips to draw. Their "helpfulness" in developing energy-efficient trash is extremely unwelcome.

 

Screwing things up is one thing, but claiming that it's all "normal behavior" and telling us to go pound sand is another matter entirely. And all the 344.xx drivers besides 344.11 seem to have a whole slew of issues especially with the desktop 980/970 cards. At this point I can actually honestly say nVidia has no advantages over AMD whatsoever on the desktop side, well maybe except for efficiency (nobody cares) and heat (can be managed).

Between 880M and the semi-broken desktop 980/970 and the downright terrible drivers, I'm seriously considering AMD for my next purchase. Rumor is 390X will be on 20nm and feature HBM, none of which nVidia will have until Pascal. Let's hope AMD makes a comeback for once and crushes nVidia, so they'll be forced out of their complacency and actually do something. Or not because they know people will buy their stuff regardless.

 

Oh man, I'd absolutely love to see AMD make a comeback, and I would jump ship without batting an eye. However, I'll need to see some rock solid proof of a good reason to even entertain the idea. NVIDIA being sucky is really bad, but not necessarily a good enough reason to jump from the frying pan to the fire. My recent experiences with AMD have been so terrible that I am extremely skeptical of their ability to execute on anything well, especially in the realm of mobile GPUs and CPUs. At the end of the day, if they don't get more substantially more FPS and higher benchmark scores in most things, choosing a GPU that does not perform as well and has a dramatically shorter usable lifespan (not to mention the high frequency of generally unstable Catalyst drivers) AMD is not going to be more acceptable than NVIDIA's recent screw-ups.

 

Jump back to AMD, are you serious? :S I had enough AMD, mostly in every game there is shuttering when Xfire enabled. I've tried almost every Catalyst driver and all possible tricks. Additionally there is frame lag with Xfire, clearly noticeable in COD games (BOII, Ghost). Im just like crying while playin game all the time. I hope with Nvidia there is not shutter. I got really no idea what Alien Team doin with 980m.

 

Serious? No, not really. Not because I don't want AMD to be successful. I really do want them to be. I want that for everyone, including AMD, but primarily I want them to be successful for me and for us (enthusiasts). But, my comments about jumping ship should not be taken too seriously because I have zero reason to believe they will be successful based on their 3-year track record of doing nothing meaningful in mobile GPUs and barely anything worthy of mention on anything else. They're too busy making chips for consoles for children to play games on to be bothered with developing amazing enthusiast products. That's really bad for all of us, because it gives NVIDIA plenty of liberty to suck at what they do as well. Now, if AMD did get their act together would I kick NVIDIA to the curb? Sure I would, without any hesitation. Red or green doesn't matter. The company that releases the best high performance product as long as it doesn't fail prematurely due to poor quality control is the winner. I'm not loyal to either brand. Both of them have screwed up plenty of times, but AMD seems to excel at making crappy and unreliable products.

 

I'm not going to defend the 7970M or AMD rebranding the same damn thing for 2 years straight. But I will say that with the recent 344.xx drivers beyond 344.11, nVidia really has stooped to AMD levels of suckiness (or arguably even worse), at least with the new 980/970 cards, which is sad because these 344 drivers are supposed to be optimized for Maxwell.

The other thing to keep in mind is with AMD you know what you're getting yourself into, so you're prepared, and they do cost less than nVidia, so you could argue you get what you're paying for. I originally chose nVidia because I wanted to avoid the AMD driver headaches I kept hearing about, but now nVidia is turning to be the same, at least with 980/970 and recent drivers. That and their blatant refusal to fix the issue infuriates me even more. Not to mention charging a premium while providing essentially the same broken POS, so I'm paying more for less. So as I said, at least on the desktop side of things, no reason to go with nVidia for the time being.

Also FWIW I used ATi exclusively on my desktops prior to going mobile in 2004, and I've never had a single issue with them.

 

AMD has neglected mobile enthusiasts for a long time, but on desktop they're right in the thick of things. I just don't think they're focused on this particular aspect of their business like Nvidia is.

 

I don't know that I would call what NVIDIA is doing "focused" because they're screwing up too much to get full credit for awesomeness. But, it certainly is accurate to say that we haven't been ignored for 3 years.

I was a very happy ATI customer for many years in desktop world, but when AMD took over things started going sideways. The 4870M CrossFire setup in our M17xR2, although obsolete and weak by today's standards, is still rock solid and trouble-free. AMD doesn't seem to have the ability to make MXM cards that are dependable like ATI used to.

 

AMD bought ATi in 2006 but didn't retire the ATi name until 2010. So your Mobility 4870 CrossFire are technically AMD cards too.

 

I take it no update yet? Are they going to make these Xmas sales?

 

I will absolutely defend the 7970M. It was a great card in 2012 and bested the 680M in several areas, and still does so today. I will not, however, defend the 8970M and the R9 M290X. 2 years of rebranding without any additional features other than a VRAM increase from 2 to 4GB is unacceptable. AMD drivers used to suck, but they've been fantastic as of late (other than the 14.9 WHQL, which was remedied by 14.9.2), as in P8000 on 3DMark11 on 900Mhz core on a single 7970M. I will also hate nVidia forever for removing professional computing from the GTX series (the hate will stop when they decide to stop being greedy s and bring back the pro power). They're fnaggle with the 880M and attempted coverup/half assed fix is also bullcrap.

I'm really counting on AMD to come through with a HBM R9 M390X (and please, drop this stupid naming scheme. Its a mouthful and really should go back to like just M390X or something like that)

 

Saw this on Alieware 18 UK

Special Offer Details
Save £ 300 (Inc Vat) until 01.30.2015

Special Offer - Expires: 29 January 2015

This means something?

 

What about the numerous reports of 7970M dying a premature death both on the AW and Clevo forums? Just curious, not trying to start anything.

As for drivers yeah seems like the recent releases are getting better from what I've been reading. Sadly it took them forever before they finally addressed frame pacing in 13.8, so I think XFire will still be haunted by its microstutter legacy for some time to come.

That being said even with a single 970 running, somewhere between 45 and 50 FPS the game really starts to lose that smoothness. Almost as if nVidia borked a single card the way they borked SLI with desktop Maxwell.

 

Granted, early batches of 7970Ms were not that great. Mine crapped out after 2 years, but as far as I know, later 7970Ms are just fine (as stated by a MXM seller here on the forum, and evidenced by much higher overclocking capability on my current 7970M), and the lack of complaints on the 8970M and the R9 M290X. AMD and nVidia have their faults, I just take nVidia's more seriously, considering how much more expensive they are.

 

That means nothin they do change offer overnight. Im surprise that they are still listed old generation cards at premium price. They are just destroying Alienware Brand.

 

Clevo machines are going to be reborn while Alienware machines are gonna die soon with their Delleinware stupidity from Anodized AL finish extending to BIOS lockdown, lack of upgradability and here goes the last nail in the coffin for choosing Intel's HQ BGA filth...While the clevos are opting for Intel's Devil's Canyon :cry:.

 

Well, I never thought I would have a reason to be excited about Devil's Canyon CPUs, and in the context of desktop performance they're just a lame quad core. But, Clevo putting it in a laptop as a viable alternative to BGA butt-crust is a huge deal. With a high end Devil's Canyon CPU in a laptop you can expect 3920XM/3940XM performance without the 4930MX/4940MX blast furnace effect for less money than a mobile Extreme CPU. That's actually pretty stinking smart. Alienware should pay closer attention to the world around them.

 

Hey I'm not married to a company that's been screwing us bad the past couple of years are you? Heck the only reasons I didn't go for a CLEVO to begin are the bad cooling system, the chiclet keyboard and the lackluster look of their notebooks.

But I have to admit that P751ZM looks really good! And if CLEVO have managed to address those issues I mentioned above I'm all for switching camps.

We all have a strong affection towards Alienware for so many reasons that is undeniable, but at what point does loyalty become stupidity? Dell are willing to sacrifice our performance for their profit, are we supposed to just sit idle and accept their offerings?

God knows how excited I was about finally getting an AW18 after being a long time admirer, and I'm a patient guy I'll still wait to see what Dell end up doing about this whole situation in the next month or so, but if the outcome is anything less than satisfactory I have absolutely no problem in taking my business elsewhere.

The P751ZM and the GT80 are the front runners at this stage.

 

Yeah, it's really too bad the P751ZM is one GPU short of a full load. I'd order one immediately with a 4790K CPU, but only if it had 980M SLI. Although, I'd much prefer to have at least a 17" machine for the extra screen and keyboard real estate.

All indications suggest that the GT80 will have a pathetic BGA HQ turd CPU, so I wouldn't touch it with a 10 foot pole if that turns out to be true. Maybe MSI will surprise us with a competent CPU (mobile Extreme or desktop K) option. If they do, then they will turn the laptop gaming scene upside down.

 

Exactly my thoughts Fox, these are the 2 reasons I'm leaning towards the GT80. Too bad we don't have much information about the full specs yet, but two 980Ms in SLI along with an 18" IPS screen might be too tempting.

The only hurdle standing in the way remains finding out what CPU this machine will be equipped with.

 

Let's hope and pray they do something amazing with the CPU. A magnificent machine of this caliber deserves better than to be completely ruined by a pile of crap HQ CPU.

 

I think they will soon offer the 2x SLI setups soon..

Well all Sager/Clevos don't have chiclet. That P751ZM is far better than most of other alternatives from MSI, GB, ASUS. All these companies could have rolled out the same instead they jumped onto the HQ crapwagon.

I hope AW won't just do the same denying the rumor mill, It'd be really awesome if they look onto this segment for true enthusiasts/ loyal customers as it was before & giving a competition against clevos. But this 900M series still not rolling from AW plus the 980M's not working on the current gen machines unlike Clevos.. it's is a bad sign

 

What areas?
Running cooler? GTX 680M
Overclocking? GTX 680M by miles thanks to unlocked vbios
OpenCL/Computing? 7970M, no doubt. But thats the only benefit it have over GTX 680M.
Reliability? Many reports of dying 7970M cards on this board. I think I have seen very few about GTX 680M if any.

Totally agree. Nvidia offered a full GM204 after 680M with high voltage VRAM. And they have been out with midrange Maxwell 860M for almost a year now and high end Maxwell for 2 months. AMD still offering a mobile card that came out in may 2012...
You see who prioritize mobile users and who doesnt give a damn...

You are talking about the Kepler architecture. Absolutely not good in OpenCL or computing.
But don`t stay in the past. Maxwell (970M/980M) have greatly increased OpenCL performance and it trumps AMD by miles in performance/watt and in raw performance. Single precision is far far better than AMD cards. Double precision is not as good as AMD cards, but also here they have greatly increased the performance over Kepler cards.
So one can say that Geforce cards isnt having the lacky computation performance it was previously known for and its only for the expensive Quadro cards.

Check out GTX 970 in this review and see for yourself. GTX 980M only have 1SMX (128 cores) less so 970 and 980M should be close. You will notice that it trump R9 290X in most areas except Double precision. And R9 290X is lightyears ahead of 7970M so GTX 980M is in an entirely different league in computation than what AMD can currently offer on mobile.

 

Anyone else noticed our AW rep has vanished? Used to post a lot every day.

Seems like AW is dead, they just haven't told anyone yet...

 

Dead silent after all the criticism in this thread was brought up indeed. Even a thread title with one of them from a user asking for help but no help recieved.

Can`t wait to see what happens to this subforum after they announce AW18 dead. It wont be pretty.

 

I am aware of the other points, but what specifically is wrong with the anodized AL finish, weight...?

 

With all other manufactures (aside from Clevo) moving to HQ, I can't see why MSi would go for non-BGA sadly. Including our beloved Alienware.

 

It will most likely be HQ as well because the unit they have been testing on 3DMark.com is 4710HQ and using MQ processors will require a different motherboard. Too much hassle and engineering costs to have two motherboards so it wont happen.

The "Extreme i7" MSI are reffering to is the 4980HQ I think. They will spin it and greatly boast the 4GHz speed and call it extreme. Just wait

 

No, the old machines used to have a full AL finish, basically most of the chassis & the coolest part was you can do a custom paint job. They could've finish the newer machines with most metal keeping the new design.
Plus this new matte palm rest feels delicate over the older hard plastic....

 

Yeah - I keep my M17x-R2 just because 1) it still works and 2) because it is a beautiful laptop to behold. I look at my soft-touch M14x-R2 and just shake my head sometimes... if it had been even a thin anodized shell ... instead it looks almost like a rebadged Lenovo

 

Aye when I was browsing I saw that the 4860HQ comes in a "special edition" MSi GT72, instead of black it's red with drawings of Dragons etc. Quite pricey though.

 

Solder is really expensive! That's why it's "special" LOL.

MSI can make some super nice things when they want to, but sometimes their attempts to look special are just soooo tacky... like something you would expect to find in the red light district of a poverty-stricken Mexican border town.

 

The gt72 only comes in one colour at the moment (black). The gt70 dragon edition did come in red but is the older design.

 

Whether gt72 comes in red or black it does not matter as long as it comes with HQ processor. :cry:

 

Gonna go OT again, but thought I'd share this just for everyone's benefit. Figured might as well since I put the time into doing the testing:

tl;dr version: be prepared to play the ASIC and voltage lottery if you're going SLI with Maxwell. Since all available cards are based off of GM204, there's a very good chance mobile cards might be affected as well.

 

Cmon AMD.. get in the game. Nvidia is having their way with us.

 

The 4980hq is fine to be fair.

 

There should be a 17" version of the Clevo.. I highly doubt it will have SLI as it would have to be of the size of the P570WM.. I don't know about you but once the 17 is out and I have the cash, I'm buying it and dumping this R4 junk..

 

Do you not like the R4? (I think the R3 is great, and most people have good experiences with the R4 too - good cooling on both those laptops). In some respects from what I've seen the R3 & R4 have better cooling than the A17 - (loose impression).

 

Woah ! , the R3 and R4's cooling better than AW17, I thought they all share similar design of fans, heatsinks so the end result must be identical...

 

Who said clevo was moving towards desktop cards? Who is after shock? Are they reputable?