When are the new Alienwares with Maxwell coming?

So Alienware 13/15/17. RIP 18

 

You should say RIP to Alienware 17 also ...

 

That page isn't loading for me. Anyone have a different version?

 

Have fun
https://www.zauba.com/import-alienware-hs-code.html

From the tracking info, it seems Alienware is bringing back Alienware 15 with 4710HQ and Alienware 17 with 4980HQ. Both indeed using soldered CPUs.

All other models are with xxxxMQ CPUs, which are old Alienware notebooks that will be dead soon. Alienware 18 R2 are nowhere to be seen so its just another red light that its effectively killed off like a gazillion reasons have shown previously.

 

I'm so depressed right now, lol.

Ladies and gentlemen, the era of upgradeability is gone.

 

Until every little thing is soldered, the era still exists. Just... weaker.

 

All BGA CPU and GPU excrement. RIP Alienware... once a great and mighty brand, but no longer offering one single laptop worth buying... all they sell now is worthless mainstream high school grade bubblegum gamer sissy-boy filth.

Being popular doesn't change reality. The 4980HQ is a pathetic pile of feces. It might be the best jokebook CPU available, but it's still a weak low-TDP piece of garbage.

 

I have a question... why does the 4980HQ only have 6MB of cache?

 

Never said it changed reality. All I said was it was becoming popular, and nothing more. You have little to do to change this as this setting was the plan from the get go thanks to consumers and ends (goals) of the better technology.

 

To reduce power consumption. Everything is focused toward reducing power consumption, even if that means the sacrifice of performance and features. I'm disgusted...

 

Yeah ...

 

I read earlier in the discussion that it is the currently the worst time to buy a gaming laptop. Mr.Fox you also mentioned that you would probably go with an older MX17 R4 and just keep upgrading it, is this an overly difficult process? I've read a lot of things about the risks that come with upgrading... I really need something that can play new games but that isn't just a total waste of money down the line. Not sure how I feel about SAGER or the other non soldered laptop brands still out there...

 

Actually, I would recommend an M18xR2, not an M17xR4. The M18xR2 is a much better machine in numerous ways, not the least of which is dual-GPU capability. Personally, I refuse to buy any machine limited to one GPU. I find that unacceptable regardless of how great the rest of the machine might be. The M17xR4 is a really decent machine, but it is plastic versus metal, doesn't cool an Extreme CPU as well and has TDP limits that affect CPU overclockability. Upgrading is not difficult and there is always a first time for everything... nothing ventured, nothing gained. With any system packing an Ivy Bridge XM CPU and 780M or 980M you're going to be able to stomp the every-loving life out of anything current with a mobile BGA CPU for at least another couple of years, maybe longer if Intel continues on their path to lameness. Heck, even my M18xR1 with a Sandy XM CPU and 780M SLI absolutely destroys anything you can buy brand new with a mobile CPU and that sucker is 4 years old now, LOL.

If I were going to buy a brand new laptop right now the ONLY machine I would consider is the Eurocom Panther 5 (Clevo P570WM3) with 4930K desktop CPU, 120Hz display and 980M SLI. If the Clevo P370SM3 had a better cooling system, that would be my second choice. Both of these machines are better high performance machine than anything else you can buy brand new anywhere else. I cannot recommend going with the Alienware 18 because I fear it will be abruptly discontinued and leave you high and dry with a MASSIVE downgrade if a system exchange is ever necessary.

The only issue with that comment is the inaccuracy of the bolded part. The concept and the implementation are both fundamentally flawed, anti-consumer and extremely undesirable. Performance is impaired and upgrades are impossible. In every way the new technology places consumers in a disadvantaged, compromising position, while financially enriching Intel and the OEMs. So, the new technology is absolutely not better for end users, even if they are misinformed and, out of ignorance, believe otherwise.

I do agree with the fault residing with uneducated consumers and their willingness to stoop to that level with their wallets. The only reason things are going this direction is because too many stupid consumers are allowing it by mere virtue of wasting their money on it. Whether I can change it or not, I will continue to bitterly criticize it, stomp it with my benchmarks, and sour as many uneducated consumers as I possibly can. Despise not small beginnings... Grassroots movements generally start with a few vocal people that are not willing to pretend the naked emperor is wearing a beautiful robe. Acceptance merely perpetuates the proliferation of filthy garbage. I am extremely disappointed that Alienware made a conscious decision against standing with the resistance. This is a bad reflection on the character of their executive leadership that allowed it to happen. Now they are part of the problem, which is very, very sad.

 

It might be more accurate to say the golden age/renaissance has ended.

 

Better here is subjective. And honestly, after haswell, there was going to be a pattern of CPU performance not going the leaps of Ivy-Bridge. I don't see many programs utilizing the full power of these power CPUs, so why push more power when Intel can push more power:efficiency ratio. The only thing major is the wide scale of soldering. None of us here agree with it, but not many actually know you can remove the CPU, and even if they could, the cost is exorbitant compared to desktop upgrading. Better business if it can be sold for less. At the time of purchase, many didn't know that you could remove the CPU or GPU, but some of those uneducated people could be very well educated in the computer world.
To add, if people are buying laptops every 1 to 2 years, then why have it removeable when the two major things, easy servicing and upgrading, are not done by the many? Might as well make the products cheaper and solder. People like cheap. Not everybody can buy the best of the best, but at the same time people do have some spare cash to be some luxury items.
And no, the low end or the uneducated are not the sole contributors to this. Even enthusiasts contributed to this end. No matter what position you are in now, people who buy a laptop once or twice a year have helped accelerate this outcome. To also put it blunt, if you remember the PAX AUS video where an Alienware rep described the 13 where he said their gaming consumers wanted? As in, what they, the whole consumer base, asked for? It isn't just the cool kid who has money and cares about games and that's it. There's also the educated adults who know what they would want. People like Observer Jin who asked to ditch the 14 for a thinner 15. Those Alienware thinks are loyal consumers under their eye, since their dawn of time. And so forth. Hence why I did not describe consumers and left it general. Because all parts of the consumer base helped this movement.
At least desktops are saved because it is somewhat a norm for them to be upgradable and customizable. Laptops are going in a different direction. There wasn't so much of a profit to have customizable laptops. Instead of focusing on that, make them smaller and then make them modular. These companies are business first, so they don't need to appeal to that little power-drunk minority that loves them. They can appeal to the other minorities that love them too.
In the end, this is the laptop industry's new direction. At least more companies like Alienware are getting the latest components, but they have to play by the rules. Clevo makes a wide range of laptops so they can afford to sell that laptop with desktop CPU machine. But everybody else? They have an established image, and they must cater one way or another. Alienware did not take the conventional way. They're trying to do something else. It's understandable that people aren't liking what they are seeing, but you accept this, are split on this, or reject it. But to turn a dark eye and give a cold shoulder to those who buy future products and like them for what they are, that I can't condone and won't think its acceptable.
Hey, I'm one who likes portability, hence why I don't have too much of an issue with this. As long as the 14" and below category are pumping out powerful and reliable machines not matter if they are soldered or not, I'm good. So I may not get the mutual feeling virtually everybody in this thread holds. Better to know than to not know.

 

That's my view as well .

The world is changing and the focus (at least in the EU) is on 'carbon footprint'. At first, about a year ago I was angry with Dell as I could see the way the wind was blowing. Then I thought that this (soldered components and less performance) was being driven by Intel. But a recent law passed down to us EU masses made me think.

What was it? Well, vacuum cleaners above a set wattage have been banned. Full stop. No more just getting one with a big engine, you have to pay more for the more efficient 'green' ones. I can't see that flying outside of Cali but it's the shape of things to come.

By soldering they can reduce the power required by mechanical connections. Add to that the saving on gold and you have a better product. It's that word 'better' that is the subjective term. Dinosaurs like me generally don't give a hoot about how the next generation is going to cope when the fossil fuels run out. It's going to run out anyway so I want to be able to use them now. Did I consider the loss of optimus and reduced battery life when purchasing my AW? Not for a second, the loss of things I never use is not high on my purchasing priorities. Looks like the option is being taken away from us.

Dell is a global company, just look at how many certification marks they have to be able to sell them across the globe. If it doesn't meet our masters dictates on carbon footprint then they will legislate against it. Dell are simply bending with the wind. Our toys have become a victim of governments listening to the younger generations who haven't yet realised their own mortality.

Woah, got a bit heavy there... Oh well I'll post anyway

 

There is no logic to sway me... so, need to bother trying. I cannot justify evil regardless of intentions. For those consumers that got their way with this filth, I have a body part that I can only see in a mirror that they can smooch. As for the cold shoulder bit, I think it's fitting and appropriate to shun evil. In the timeless words of the most famous man that ever lived, whose boots I am unworthy to polish, "If you're not for me, you're against me." If it is understandable that people would not like it, then you have to question either their motives or their intelligence for doing it anyway. I sincerely hope their "business decision" to maximize profits, satisfy the mainstream jokebook jockeys, all at the total and complete exclusion of enthusiasts causes them very serious financial harm, and I'm not kidding. If they only care about money, then I hope they lose a crap ton of it as a wake-up call. If they upright the ship before it sinks, I'll grab a bucket in each hand and help them bale the water. Otherwise, I will be content to watch the ship sink, arms crossed, wallet closed.

That rationale doesn't work either... sorry. It is really unfortunate that the masses are so misguided by lies perpetrated by their governments. That's just popular junk science. But, don't forget... One of its inventors (a dufus from Tennessee) also invented the internet. But yeah, I don't believe in that tree-hugging baloney any more than Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny... complete hogwash. And, even if it were true, and back on topic, BGA being the only option would still be no less unacceptable. I write my own definitions for words like "better" and don't really give a hoot how someone else defines it. That eliminates the subjective element for me. My measuring stick doesn't tell any lies... low-TDP energy-efficient BGA feces has been weighed, measured and found wanting, not to mention very smelly. They can tell me it's blue with a green core and claim that it is more desirable all they want to, but I can still tell that it is slimy, dark-colored, smelly and covered with flies.

 

Hail M18x R2, the last Alienware king to rule over the domain of laptops. Looks like the throne is going to Clevo now. Grab the upgradeable Alienwares while you can!

 

I don't know, my post seems very heavy compared to yours.

I guess here is where we agree to disagree. I do await Alienware's response to soldering though. Until then, we interpret very differently.

 

It really doesn't matter. Agreement is nice when it comes easy, but it is really not very important at the end of the day. I've already interpreted, and it's simple: BGA is trash... end of story. I do not care what their response is, unless it is, " We've made a very terrible mistake. We are extremely sorry about being so stupid and will fix it immediately." If that's not their response, their is no point in them bothering to offer one because anything they can say will be completely unacceptable... just like Secure Flash... decision to cripple fans and impose power-handling limitations on the flagship AW18 SLI motherboard: unacceptable.

 

I'm fully with you brother Fox, but the crazy treehuggers are getting a lot of press that their scare tactics are true so I have to assume business' are getting behind this as the market bends that way. We all know the stupidity of the so-called economic hybrid car. The production and shipping of the batteries alone is far more harmful to the environment but the film stars and icons selecting this product gives it legitimacy. A niche market is going mainstream, and another one is dieing.

Haha, yeah, your post hit me after I had posted. Curious we both picked on the subjectiveness of 'better'

 

I actually don't mind "efficiency" if those who throw that word around actually stayed true to its original meaning. To me, "efficiency" implies "doing more for less" ie better performance than previous gen hardware AND with lower power draw. At a bare minimum, for something to be qualified as "efficient", it must do the same for less. This is why I rag on Haswell CPUs so much, because when overclocked they consume at least 30% more power than Ivy Bridge, while performing the same or in some cases actually perform worse. Using more power to do less work is NOT efficiency. Artificially decreasing the lowest possible clockspeed (800Mz for Haswell vs 1200MHz for Ivy) to make Haswell look better is NOT efficiency. Consuming more power, outputting more heat, while performing less IS NOT EFFICIENCY!!

Unfortunately these days most seem to <del>equate</del> confuse "doing less for less" with efficiency, and that as I see it is the crux of our problems.

 

This actually boggles my mind. The overclocking bit. It would first be thought that what is claimed to be more efficient should be efficient across the board, not in one area. But in this case, only stock does better. Weird (though this isn't new to me).
At least Nvidia's Maxwell fares better in efficiency.

 

Ivy bridge goes to 800MHz too.

 

Probably something to do with the shape of the power curve. At or below stock it's completely linear, but once overclocked it quickly becomes exponential.

My bad, I was thinking of desktop chips. Ivy-M goes to 800MHz, but desktop chips stay at 1200MHz. Haswell desktop chips now go down to 800MHz as well thanks to "efficiency" improvements.

 

That's why I usually place the word "efficient" in quotation marks, LOL. It's a joke, but I view it as being dishonest rather than misuse of the word. And, even more sadly, many have been deceived by outright lies about efficiency. To be accurate, they would need to call their products "less capable." Clearly, they do not ascribe to the notion that honesty is the best policy. It's also sad that some people that own the garbage don't know any better, have nothing to compare with, and believe they have a superior product when, in fact, they have a defective product.

But, isn't it so stinking unbelievable and beyond awesome that their defective efficient products will be permanently welded to their motherboard going forward. Flipping, jumping, yay!

 

The biggest disaster comes when all laptop manufacturers are coming with soldered high performing graphics card in about 1-2 years. Then it end all upgradeable laptops forever .. The future is a gaming rig with the right hardware, then laptop manufacturers argue about the the market with the same hardware solutions. No laptops sold more expensive than max 1500 - 2000 $ because gaming laptop needs to be replaced with more powerful hardware every year .. Finally, those who want more powerful hardware in laptops, stop buying such a solution.

 

It looks as though Alienware did take their foolishness one step further to discontinue the AW 18 and replace it with the AW 15...

@Docsteel: I want to apologize for my ignorance weeks ago (earlier in this thread). You asked me to admit my being wrong if it were to be so, and it looks as though I was indeed wrong to think Alienware would not abandon the 18" form factor. It is shocking to me that they would not only discontinue SLI - handing over the 18" market to MSI - but take things one step further, literally destroying their entire lineup, including the 17" model which has held such high regard in the gaming world for its 3D/120Hz package (in the past).

I'm not going to jump ship just yet, but I am prepared to do just that at a moments notice. One thing I know for certain: I will not be saving up for an Alienware laptop. My first Alienware system was something I had saved up to purchase for nearly an entire year. It was a brand worthy of such loyalty. But no more. Perhaps the next time I need to pick up toiletries from Walmart, I will stop by the electronics section to see what has become of this brand I was once loyal to.

 

Why talk about energy-saving components in a gaming laptop can save earth planet? Everyone knows that you can obtain a monster gaming rig that uses 1500 watts. Why can not laptop manufacturers selling a high performance gaming Laptop who use a little more watt's when you can get something that uses much more power as a proper desktop rig? No one can stop a pc manufacturer from offering something that uses little more watts than these new silly laptop.

 

I think we are reaching the end of Moore's Law and manufactures are having a harder time coming up with faster gpus and cpus so they are making things smaller and more efficient with close to same power as last gen so they have a selling point.
He look it's half the size as last year's and runs longer . But it has less power . Hurry up and buy one.
O don't worry about the soldered cpu and gpu next year's gonna be even smaller and run longer so you will want that one instead. Lol

 

Is it profitable by Intel to launch a new non soldered extreme processor when there is almost no laptop manufacturers that are going to use it in their laptops? :laugh:

 

This is from someone who has posted new info:


Some speculations after recovering more details from duty records.
(note: price speculations are based on declared duty value and INR to USD conversion. Prices may vary from final ones when other accessories will be introduced to a complete setup)

Given declared value, base codes and previous information about GPU memory and PSU size, it looks like GPUs are also soldered.
GX code may point to GTX980M (N16E-GX) and GT is possibly GTX970M (N16E-GT). What AME stands for is unknown so far.

And few more concrete items:
- There are 2 base setups for 17 R2: WN968 and 86MF0,
- 86MF0 looks like a richer setup with extra USD 220 price tag
- 4710 to 4980 upgrade is around USD 470

- There are 2 base setups for 15: 3FD5W and 4TR21 ,
- Both setups have similar price tag
- There is AME and GT options with AME being USD490 more expensive

Alienware 17 R2

Date HS Code Description Origin Country
Port of Discharge Unit Quantity Value (INR) Per Unit (INR)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12-Dec-2014 84713010 850642409 WN968 ALIENWARE 17 R2 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4980HQ,GX,E17 P43F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FO China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 136,791 136,791
10-Dec-2014 84713010 850642408 86MF0 ALIENWARE 17 R2 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4980HQ,GX,E17 P43F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FO China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 157,405 157,405
10-Dec-2014 84713010 850642406 WN968 ALIENWARE 17 R2 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4980HQ,GX,E17 P43F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FOR China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 136,791 136,791
10-Dec-2014 84713010 850642407 WN968 ALIENWARE 17 R2 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,GX,E17 P43F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FOR China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 102,212 102,212
6-Dec-2014 84713010 850642410 86MF0 ALIENWARE 17 R2 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,GX,E17 P43F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 116,283 116,283


Alienware 15

Date HS Code Description Origin Country
Port of Discharge Unit Quantity Value (INR) Per Unit (INR)
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11-Dec-2014 84713010 850640846 3FD5W ALIENWARE 15 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,AME,15 P42F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FOR S China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 125,505 125,505
11-Dec-2014 84713010 850640836 4TR21 ALIENWARE 15 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,GT,E15 P42F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FOR S China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 83,168 83,168
10-Dec-2014 84713010 850640839 4TR21 ALIENWARE 15 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,AME,15 P42F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FOR S China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 124,842 124,842
6-Dec-2014 84713010 850640829 4TR21 ALIENWARE 15 PORTABLE COMPUTER-NOTEBOOK *,ASSY,BASE,NBK,I7-4710HQ,GT,E15 P42F (LAPTOP)
(ITEM MEANT FO China Banglore Air Cargo NOS 1 79,208 79,208

Source:
https://www.zauba.com/import-alienware-17-r2-hs-code.html
https://www.zauba.com/import-alienware-15-hs-code.html

Because few people asked me - I have no connection to Dell or Alienware whatsoever. All informations I find and post are publicly available in the internet and I look for them to get information about new products.
Dell or Alienware never disclosed any information about Alienware 17 R2 or Alienware 15 to me. (and that this one of main reasons why I keep doing this )

 

I also think this is the quiet truth behind all of this. Intel is panicking, they know they are quickly hitting the roof with what they can do with silicon. How else would you explain the crappy rollout of haswell, and the even crappier rollout of broadwell, and the ever so postponed fate of skylake. R&D is likely all going into graphene, as silicon limits are pretty much here now.

 

If Nvidia managed and create a better chip with Maxwell, then surely manages Intel and create a better one too ..

 

Remember it took nVidia 3 iterations to give is the full kepler core (which turned out to be the crappy 880M), and it will likely take another 3 iterations to get to the full maxwell core. Time will tell. The CPU is also much more complicated than the GPU, considering intel is trying to consolidate many traditional chipset features into a single die.

 

The brand Alienware which boasts "High performance systems" is no-more, Dell is just using the Alienware brand to make money now & Intel being the Antagonist here, I'm afraid the mobile enthusiast machines are gonna diminish soon...:cry:

 

Intel is going to ruin their processors with intel graphics. They focus more on fixing this than speed up processors.

 

All the hate on how intel is trying to improve their integrated graphics, however we must think about what amd is trying to do with their APU's, amd being the only real competitor to intel apart from intel itself which only stands to reason they want to provide more than what their competition offers meaning they have to crank up the power of the integrated graphics, because lets face it is performance really even contested by amd's processors at this point? intel is running far ahead already so they are the ones that dictate their own pace.

 

AMD APU and Intel IGFX are not even important except for low budget and mainstream consumer machines that are basically disposable. Anyone that is a performance enthusiast or hardcore PC gamer is not going to care about anything except for discrete graphics performance. I have used my integrated graphics less than 20 hours in about 3 years. It means absolutely nothing to me. AMD really hasn't done a good job at anything related to laptops in several years. Calling them competition for Intel is almost a joke, and that's really unfortunate. I think it is part of the reason Intel is pushing the BGA crap. They don't need to do anything right because their competition consistent fails. To a large extent the same applies to NVIDIA, particularly in the laptop realm. It's like bragging about winning a race even though you are the only runner, LOL.

 

i believe that is precisely the situation right now, amd is flopping like a flounder providing no real challenge so that intel can screw around with the market and introduce ridiculous stuff which a lot of consumers have almost no choice but to buy in the end. it will be a sad future if intel continues this path.

 

The sad future is already here for laptop owners, unfortunately. It's even sadder that some don't have a clue about how bad they are getting shafted by Intel, but the saddest part of all is that some do know and don't care.

 

The only benefit i can see that may come out of this is if the manufacturers also cut down on the pricing of the notebooks as well to make it in line with the BGA garbage they're forcing down our throats, god knows they most likely arent going to do that though.

 

4980HQ should be more expensive because it features eDRAM on the package. Not sure if better IGP is so much interesting to Alienware owners

4980HQ


MQ processors

 

It's sad I know - what I really expected was that the AW 17 would once again become an SLI setup... but it looks like the use of the G/A is going to be their answer to this but the use of the G/A should have been an alternative, not the only answer : /

I am wondering too if behind the scenes there is a struggle within Dell to get rid of Alienware and just re-establish the XPS line as their top end (conspiracy theories ahoy). It's very common in the automotive world for a hot car to be ditched by entrenched executives leading an older brand by pushing for production of the hot new car in old factories, bad parts decisions, etc. which result in poorer quality and hurting the move to the new vehicle. I could easily see Dell execs who never liked the Alienware line coming into the company working to kill it behind the scenes (particularly with going private) and devaluing the name to the point Dell spins it off again. Pushing BGA prematurely in the space to make sure the AW line doesn't have a real advantage over the XPS line would make a lot of sense under those circumstances.

 

After goin through this 100 page thread at TI, The 900M series are a hell of a job to make them efficiently run in Alienwares, thinking about newer machines are not even coming with MXM anymore (no more dell vbioses for us) & heck they even killed the SLI beast....they wanted to shift and leave the high-end hihg performance market to Clevo, damn them !!

Processor side Intel screwed up and they are ok with that but what is this GPU crap MXM are going to be widely available, atleast till Pascal rolls out. They just want that GA to be the stupid castrated future of aw...
It's the Dell that screwed this brand once and for all, the demise of Alienware begins in 2015

 

Well my 970M has run with minimal problems if any at all.. I'm running in Optimus mode and the games I've tested run perfectly on full boost clocks

 

I still think we need to wait and see exactly what develops... it's entirely possible a revised AW 18 is delayed (though if an AW 15 is truly coming I would be surprised if the AW 18 continues for a time, Dell for some reason thinks having four systems is a bad thing while all their competitors have like half a dozen).

 

An Alienware rep confirmed there is a 15 coming as well as a touchscreen for it. He said to check Alienware's facebook for the next lineup and for more surprises (he was actually positive about the whole thing, so we may not know something Alienware has kept a secret).
I guess for the 18 will remain until stocks depleted, much like how the m17xR4 and m18xR2 were when the 14, 17, and 18 were introduced. After that, we'll be left with three laptops.

 

Thanks I was unaware that the 15 was now confirmed. I am still happy with the AW 13 as an M11x replacement, and my M14x-R2 is still going strong as a work machine/game system on the road.... but I have fallen in love with the 1440p Truelife screen, and now my M14x-R2 screen looks like @$$ so I may be figuring out how to pick up an AW 15 in Spring if it makes sense.

I still suspect that there might be an 18 with some mutant setup with not one but two G/A's possibly.... or possibly one housing two cards shortly.

 

I'd be surprised if that was the case, sounds kind of ridiculous, if it is the case then those people shouldn't be in the position they're in - would just hurt Dell in the long run. I think they're just cutting costs & supplying to the main market and losing some focus on the enthusiast market - I think they're doing it to make more profit ultimately, rather than some complicated scheme to ruin the Alienware brand.