which one should i buy alienware 17 or 18?

Yeah even we can't offer it with one, SLI 770M is not sluggish however and is very tweakable as you wait for the true next gen chips.....

 

Ok so I sold my M17x R4 this past week and now realize that though I enjoy my Alienware 14 I miss the size and power of the 17 inch screen along with the ten key pad (for work). So I am trying to decide on which gaming laptop to buy, the 17 or the 18. I will spend the same on both about $2,700 tops. Mobility is not crucial as I now have a 14 inch business laptop (Dell) for travel. So what is your advice? Do you like the 17 screen (matte) or the 18 (glossy)? Is SLI that much better for gaming?

 

Um, well, if you're looking for the ultimate performance laptop, I'm going to have to go with what I know Mr. Fox will say: Get an M18x R2.

There are still sealed refurbs for sale on eBay: Dell Alienware M18x R2 Laptop i7 3940XM 3 9GHz 32GB 512GB SSD Blu Ray | eBay. Pop another GTX 680M (or dual 780M's) in there and it will outperform almost any Alienware 18. However, if I were in your position, I would considering waiting until May or June of this year to decide. The issues presented in the AW 18 now will hopefully be resolved in the second release ("AW 18 R2").

If you must choose between the AW 17 or AW 18: The AW 18 will outperform the AW 17 because of SLI, although, the AW 17 (in my opinion) is a much more balanced and "pro gamer" package with the option of upgrading the screen to 120Hz. And having a single 780M is all one really needs to enjoy 60+ FPS, even on the latest games (i.e. BF4). For the "overclocking enthusiast" - the M18x R2 (maybe the AW 18) is what you'll want.

EDIT: By the way, there are probably a dozen threads over this topic. A quick search may prove to be quite beneficial. :thumbsup:

 

any laptop with an m or M in front of it is old tech and off the table for me, but thanks.

 

The 18 also comes with 5 additional macro keys and a subwoofer, if that matters to you.

 

I would go for an AW 18 , then if you feel you need to downgrade, you can always trade to a AW 17 +/- Cash. That is a win win situation.

BTW, there is a 25% off that will expire on 01/04/14 - Code: 876W8229L2WXBM

 

Well, I hope the other information in my post is helpful. Let us know what you decide.

FYI: You can upgrade almost everything in the "M18x" and it will perform better than the AW 18. This is a proven fact.

 

Depending on the game (or benchmark) about 60 to 100% higher FPS. Where you get 40-60 FPS with a single GPU you can typically expect 80-120 FPS with SLI.

As they say, "the latest ain't always the greatest" and that definitely applies here. The "old tech" completely annihilates the latest with respect to CPU performance. Look at all of the threads on this and save yourself some heartache. Haswell sucks unless you have an Ultrabook that runs at low clock speeds. This applies to Haswell mobile and desktop processors. They throttle like dogs, run way too hot and don't overclock well.

The M17xR4 that you sold would have easily taken a 780M upgrade and it would stomp the life out of the Alienware 17 with a 780M. Same goes for the M18xR1/R2 with 780M SLI versus the new Alienware 18 with 780M SLI.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...e-m18xr1-r2-18-benchmark-thread-part-3-a.html

3DMARK11

#	USER	VER	CPU	CARD	LINK	SCORE	GPU	PHYSICS	COMBINED	GT1 FPS	GT2 FPS	GT3 FPS	GT4 FPS	PT FPS	CT FPS	CLOCKS
1	MR FOX	R2	3920XM	780M	LINK	P17197	20917	11779	10464	97.84	96.91	128.64	63.82	37.40	48.67	1125/1500
2	NORTHSTAR	R2	3940XM	780M	LINK	P16564	19921	11624	10185	93.01	91.96	122.54	61.00	36.90	47.37	1086/1500
3	MR FOX	R3	4930MX	780M	LINK	P15993	19395	10824	10004	93.07	91.37	118.71	57.73	34.46	46.53	1111/1500
4	MR FOX	R2	3920XM	680M	LINK	P15413	17892	11987	9581	84.82	84.11	109.87	53.65	38.03	44.56	1130/1168
5	KH90123	R3	4930MX	780M	LINK	P14889	18336	9860	9053	88.00	86.30	112.30	54.60	31.30	42.10	1046/1500
6	JOECAIT	R3	4800QM	780M	LINK	P11861	14361	8060	7423	61.00	69.80	91.30	44.60	25.60	34.50	771/1250

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...7-4900mq-up-4-0ghz-w-intel-r-turbo-boost.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/ali...w-overclock-4930mx-4-3ghz-messed-up-bios.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-18-m18x/741417-big-mistake-time-throwing-towel.html

If you're still hell-bent on getting "new tech" go with the Alienware 18 with 780M SLI. It will knock the teeth out of a 17 with the same specs, and the 18 it is much easier to work on compared to the 17. They are really nice machines, good build quality, etc. If all you plan to do is press the power button, tweak the GPUs a little bit and click on icons to launch games, you will likely be happy with it. If you enjoy CPU performance tuning, forget it... don't waste your time or money on anything with Haswell.

M18xR2 has a subwoofer, too. This actually makes a little bit of difference in audio quality. I did not think so for a long time, but I disconnected it to see and it was noticeably better with the subwoofer. I was surprised since it is so small.

 

Agree with everything said above. I always get a kick seeing my name on the list above Not sure why, maybe I feel like I'm at the Cheers bar <laugh>.