m18r1 m290x crossfire OR m17 780m with 120hz 3D?

my m17 has been out of commission 2 out of the past 6 months, mobo replaced 3 times video card twice, dell has agreed to a replacement. below is their first offer
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Here you will find the suggested configuration for the replacement unit:


Dell Outlet Alienware 18 R1
Processor: Intel Core 4th Generation i7-4810MQ Processor (Quad Core, 6MB Cache, up 3.8GHz)
16 GB Dual Channel DDR3L 1600MHz (8GBx2) Memory
1 TB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM) + 80 GB mSATA SSD Caching Drive
Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+/-RW, CD-RW)
Dual AMD Radeon R9 M290X graphics with 8GB total (2x 4GB) GDDR5 - AMD CrossFire Enabled
18.4 Inch WLED FHD (1920 X 1080) TrueLife Display
Windows 8.1 (64Bit) English
8-cell Lithium Ion (86 wHr) Battery
Intel Dual Band Wireless-AC 7260 + Bluetooth 4.0
English Keyboard"

I'm not thrilled about giving up the 120hz 3D for a 290x. Looking for suggestions, should I take it? Keep bugging them till i get a 120hz screen? ( do they even make them anymore!?) tell them no deal unless they throw in something with a newer card like a 980m? ( then again I see some hate directed at the newer models) If I give up the 120hz screen request an sli setup vs crossfire? (no personal experience but from what I hear crossfire has issues ) Open to any suggestions and input.

 

Personally, I would get the 18 R1 as configured (m290x crossfire) then replace the GPUs with GTX 780m SLI aftermarket. But I (personally) would rather have the 18.4 Samsung PLS TrueLife display than the 120 hz 3D display. So that swayed my decision. I'd also rather have 2 GPUs than 1 GPU, all things being equal. I can replace the GPUs more easily (MXM 3.0b card) than the LCD (or at least I think I can). With these Alienware PCs being as locked down as they are, all bets are off!


With that said, laptops are tools. And since the 120 hz 3D display matters to you, I would press AW support to offer a replacement model with that display.


And if AW is out of replacement systems with the 120 hz 3D display, then I would press for a refund, then buy a laptop from a different vendor that meets your needs. I see little to no point to slug through life with substandard tools. Do you agree?


PS: Your title was a little misleading with the "m18r1." At first I thought you meant "M18x R1" which I thought was a year-2011 system with a 2nd Generation i7 (Sandy Bridge). Then I saw you meant "18 R1" which were the year-2013-2014 systems with 4th Generation i7 (Haswell).

If I were holding out for a new system, I would get the AW 17 R2 with i7-4980HQ, GTX 980m, and the 1920x1080 TrueLife touch display. Also get the 240 watt power supply.

The i7-4980HQ has the option to use Intel Iris Pro Graphics 5200 whereas the Plebeian i7-4720HQ (or 4710HQ) lacks this. Plus the CPU is soldered to the motherboard so you can't upgrade later. So you might as well get the best that you can get.

 

I would not recommend any of these new laptops under any circumstances. They are not made as well... Soldered CPU, soldered GPU, only 2 RAM slots instead of four, fewer drive bays, thinner lids, more fragile, lower performance, throttling problems, far less repairable, more challenging to disassemble, and more or less not upgradable. Most of these are not problems that are unique to Alienware, just inherent to anything built around BGA and a low-TDP CPU, etc. Simply having a 120Hz display is not enough of a benefit to make the rest of those problems OK.