alienware system exchange?? trading in a 7200RPM hd for a 5400RPM?

NEW:
Alienware 17 Intel® Core™ i7-4910MQ processor (Quad Core, 8MB Cache, Overclocked up to 4.1GHz w/ Turbo Boost)
16GB DDR3L at 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
1TB 5400RPM SATA 6Gb/s + 80GB mSATA SSD Caching
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (9.5mm)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 880M graphics with 8GB total GDDR5
17.3" WLED FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare Display
802.11ac Dual Band 2x2 AC WiFi + Bluetooth 4.0

OLD:
M14x R2
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3630QM @ 2.40 GHZ 2401Mhz, 4 cores, 8 logical
12GB Ram DDR3 1600mhz
HD: 500gb, 16mb Cache @ 7200 RPM + 64gb mSATA
NVIDIA GeForce GT 650M
Intel(R) HD Graphics 4000
Display: 1600 x 900

What do you guys think? Although I know a bit about computers, hardware isn't my specialty other than being able to research enough to know that 5400 RPM is 30% slower?

 

The cached speed will be the same because the cache speed is what gets measured, and the newer 5400 RPM 1TB HDD are often as fast or even faster than the older 7200 RPM drives. Looking at all the other upgrades you are getting as a free gift, this is trivial and I think I would let it go. Not worth making a big deal over it. You're getting a screaming deal in this exchange. In every way the replacement machine is superior... the CPU, GPU and display resolution alone are massive upgrades.

 

As Mr.Fox has said, take it and run! Your getting an insanely better deal out of this and the cache drive is going to negate the speed difference between the 5400 and 7200 drives. If your THAT worried about it just pick up a 7200 WD black drive and replace it yourself, they are pretty cheap. IMO, if I were you, I would pick up an SSD and install your OS on that, then use the 1tb drive as storage and cache it with RST. The SSD will run faster then your cached drive and then your games and storage will run much quicker due to the cache drive.

 

That's a hell of an upgrade, lol. Damn, Alienware's warranty is so impressive...

Speaking in regards to system replacements, you basically hit the jackpot. :thumbsup:

 

Well.. for the fact that I have owned the computer for 1.5 years and about three or more of those were spent without it, I think it's a trade off

To be fair, the latest issue is the screen hinges are wobbly. And... while on the phone with support he asked "any other issues?" and I casually mentioned that the other month I had a BSOD occur. I think it was after that he said he would "be back 3-5 minutes" (more like 15) and came back with the exchange.


Anyway, thanks for the feedback. I did more research on it and found out that indeed this is a big upgrade from what I have right now. This was my first "gaming" rig, and although it does decent, I definitely realized a few months after owning it that I wish I had (spent more money on it) gotten better specs or built my own.

Can't wait to see how this handles some of the games.

 

The only thing you're missing is a full-pledged SSD. Just grab one down the road and throw it in there, or sell the AW 17 and buy something with Maxwell. Those are my two recommendations for you. While the HDD & mSATA combination is decent, it's definitely the one thing holding you back in regards to raw performance with such a powerful laptop.

 

Heh...if you think that was decent wait till you crank the settings up on a top of the line GPU at full 1080p

Enjoy man, it will be worth it.

 

Wow you are getting a 17" Top Tier for a 14" version, that's damn crazy..
Price / Performance difference is so massive, consider youself lucky....GL :thumbsup:

 

OP you hit the motherload with this.. Here in the UK, they wouldn't even consider giving me a 680M for the 7970M which I had which kept crapping out,,,

 

i do consider myself lucky i definitely didn't spend the 3100 on it that it's valued at

 

Nice-looking exchange you got there. You're going to love gaming in 1080p FHD... it takes me longer to play my games now because of all the graphic goodness I have to keep stop and staring at.