have a bunch of questions hope you guys can help

i was originally angling for an asus g51j - a1, but got a m15x ordered for Christmas. hasn't even been assembled yet, and i've now read about the throttling issues and what not along with a bunch of other stuff. so here are my questions

1. how upgradeable is the m15x (i.e.a gtx 280m later down the road) also in comparison to the m17x

2. throttling real world issue? how easy is the work around for a moderately advanced computer user.

3. am i better of getting an m17x? and is it possible to put a core i7 in that machine later down the road. or will the quad core in it show its age soon

4. the games i want to play are things like dragon age, crysis, the witcher, starcraft 2 diablo 3 ect. which one will be more future proof for those games and the ones coming down the line

5. is it really better to go with the lower resolution screen on the m15x or m17x??? what would the difference on the gpu/cpu be if i have a 1080p screen but run it at 900p or 720p versus the 900p screen

config of both computers

m15x core i7 920xm gtx 260 1080p (unless it is better to go with 900p) 8gb 1333 ram 320 gb hard drive blu ray and 9cell batt

m17x q9100 quad core 2 x gtx 260 1200p (unless lower res is better) 8gb 1033 ram (since front system is 1033 1666 isn't as usefull right???) 2 x 320gb hard drive blu ray and 9cell batt

 

oh and thanks alot for your help, been lurking for a few days, and wanted to talk to u guys so i can make a decision

 

anyone helooooooo

 

i gotta say mate, i have an m17x but i wouldnt buy it agian because of the dpc latency, if u relaly want an m17x i suggest u wait until they release the new bios, and if it fixes it, THEN get the m17x otherwise stick to an m15x

ps. dont expect an answer from everyone right away give it a couple of hours, we dont refresh the forum page 24/7

 

ahhhhh ok thanks, and what is dpc latency. and its not that i want the m17x its that i want the best for the money and am not sure which way to go.

wanted to ask more experienced users, and people who own the computers.

 

If gaming is you then get the m17x

the qx9300 Is faster then the i7 in games and is more then enough for you. The M15x can be upgraded but the gtx 280m is barely faster 5-8% MAYBE. 8 gb of ram will be useless for you.

You cannot put a i7 into the m17x

all you have to do is look at the throttle thread the directions are right there. Only you can tell us if it's hard.

Get the higher resolution if money is not a problEm


the reason no one has answered is because this Information is here everywhere.

 

i've looked and found similar questions and what not, i was just curious i think my questions are a little varied and to be honest i wanted more opinions from people who own them than answers so much.

also why would 8gb or ram be useless, i have looked at the thread and it's alot of pages he he.

 

Either way my other post stands

 

In my opinion nothing is really future proof.

1. M15x right now is very upgradable, maybe wait for new ATIs to come out then upgrade. 260 to 280 isn't really worth upgrading for the price versus performance gain.

2. throttling issue has a fix rite now, but you don't need to unless you run into the problem.

3. can't put i7 into M17x, maybe wait nest year for a refresh if you want the M17x.

4. both machines can handle those game, M17x will get better fps

5. screen is up to you, if you like more desktop space.


M17x for gaming
M15x for multitasking and lite gaming
both are pretty sweet
and both have a few issues


also what moo said 8gb of memory isn't really needed unless you do photo editing and video encoding or super heavy multitasker, just gaming then no.

 

but isn't the m17 only better for games since the games are (were) made to use that cpu, won't the new ones rely on core i7, i ask only because i don't know

i have looked for 3 days all over the net for answers to all my questions. i made an account because i couldn't find the answers I was looking for, and seeing in the threads how help full everyone was i figured i would ask as i only have a day or so left to cancel the order and make a new one.

this is gonna be my first alienware and my first real gaming pc, i just wanna make sure i get the best i can, and wanted experienced users opinions to help make my decision.

directed at moo

 

okay so inappropriatename_3, quick question, in your opinion can the m15x put out graphics on par with or more powerful than current consoles, i don't need games to look super crazy awesome just on par with consoles. is the m15 capable like easily without to many problems etc. or should i just go with the m17

and will someone explain why 8 gigs of ram aren't any use in the m15 or m17

 

Anything you get on the M15x or M17x will be better than console as far as raw GPU/CPU power, that said the console games are uber optimized to run on a particular hardware and particular resolution, so the overall experience can actually be better on a console (less bugs and such and lower resolutions, most games are going the 720p (or even lower) route instead of 1080p)

I'm thinking you meant the M17x and M15x not the m17 or m15... correct?

well 8GB of RAM won't give you much (if any) advantage in most games or apps, however if you are running Video or Photo editing software, 8GB makes a world of difference as you are effectively quadrupling the memory from 4 GB in some cases (that's because by loading full movies on memory it can take 3-4 GB, then another 4 GB will allow to do all the editing in memory instead of swapping with a page file). Games are meant to go mainstream so they have failry light memory requirements, 2 GB sufices in most cases, 4 GB is more than enough.

 

^^^^^ totally agree with xeneize. M15x will blow away any console graphics.
and also on memory 8gb is too much for gaming needs.

sorry if you get the M15x you are gonna get super crazy awesome graphic. lol

if gaming is your main concern than I think 900 screen with do just fine.

 

thats what i thought, i keep seeing everyone saying the 900p screen is easier on the gpu is this true, how is yours inapporpriatename_3, i see you have the 1080p screen how does it handle

 

mine is fine, i haven't run into any issues with it yet. I just need the extra desktop space for all my apps, i also do photo editing so the screen is awesome, especially watching blueray is totally sweet. i only have one game that doesn't support 1080 so its not full screen when playing, but its not a big deal. its true there is more load on the gpu with a 1080 screen, but i haven't run into any performance problems.

 

so heres something i'm confused about if i get the 1080p screen (which is how it was ordered) if i run the game at 720 or 900 will it tax the gpu as much, and thats still a high resolution so i don't see why it wouldn't look awesome. right???

also inapropriatename_3 u mentioned ati cards, are they better than the nividia ones, and can they be added later when they come out

 

There is no game I have not maxed out on my single 260 that did not run at 1920 res

it will be fine. If you lower the res it will be lesstaxing due to less pixels being managed ...

 

you can still run everything max out on most games, don't worry too much. you can't go wrong with any configuration of the M15x. All my game i run on max without aa because on 1080 looks sweet already.

 

oh yeah forgot about aa it's been a longtime since i gamed on pc

 

AA? First, with 1080p res on a 15.4" screen you dont really need AA. And in most case you can set 2x or even 4x without problem.

And about the high res vs. low res. Back to the old days when I gamed on my 8800GT desktop I saw a very huge impact on performance if I change from 1280x1024 to 1680x1050. Now with dual GTX 260 I notice very slightly performance impact due to higher res. So it comes down to which res you prefer (desktop space vs. tiny characters) rather than gaming performance.

 

fair enough, what about the ati cards coming for the m15x, any info, and can u switch em out later?

 

no info yet on those, but they should be compatibles with the chipset. just have to wait.

 

thanks for your help guys i think i'm pretty sure that i'm gonna keep the m15x and not cancel the order, just gotta call and have em change it to a 920xm

 

8 gbs is useless for you due to the fact that no game or heavy multi-tasking projects would not come close to near 4 gbs. 8 gbs and up would be reserved for server machines