PLEASE HELP 15Z and M14X help desperately needed

OK...

Both laptops have the following
8gb Ram
750gb 7200rpm HDD
Top spec screen,
all the extras etc...

The attraction for me with the XPS is a few things, slimness, alu made, weight lastly, the biggy, before I start negotiating on price, it's listed as £1229 with 10% discount on the website... AND it has a better 2.7ghz processor with turbo boost etc...
Downside - only has a GT525M 2gb graphics card - I play total war and SC2...

Alienware has a 2.0 ghz processor, all the cool Alienware extras, is gaming designed, but is heavier, bulkier, however has the 3gb GT555M graphics card. I'm buying it with an Inspiron for my partner, so will get a big discount, but WITH the discount and all the extras, the Alienware is still £1400...

So I know, the 15z with 10% I will easily get for less than £1000 with EVERYTHING

Is the GT555M REALLY worth that much more??? As I might even be able to get a 256gb SSD thrown in with the 15Z and STILL be £200 cheaper...

Please help, this has to last me a few years, it will go to college/uni/home/friends/family etc...

These are my only2 options, I have spent months looking and style is a must I don't want Sony this or HP that thanks...

 

yes the gt 555m is a lot more powerful, you will notice a difference between the two cards. If you need performance for gaming the alienwware will be much better since it has a better GPU. Also keep in mind that the alienware has a quad core processor vs a dual core in the 15z.

 

So we are talking a massive difference then? Like the difference between running SC2 on Ultra High and High?

 

Look at

555m
NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M - Notebookcheck.net Tech


525m
NVIDIA GeForce GT 525M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

If you scroll down, you can see the general FPS that people have reported in those games.

 

I never played that game but i guess its gpu intensive, then yes. If you don't do tasks that require a lot of processor power don't worry about the processors then, both are good enough.

 

Thanks, very helpful

Thanks, don't really play FPS on laptop/PC as i'm a firm believer in why spend thousands on getting the equivalent of Xbox graphics, when you can get an Xbo, designed for running games, with no lag, settings, installing, etc for less than £150

But back on topic, i'm trying to see if it's worth the justification, or if the 525 would "do" the job

 

So having looked at those tests, the GT555M is essentially a scaled down version of the GTX series, specially designed for laptops and gaming...

The 525 on the other hand, is designed to do a bit of everything, and is essentially a "PC World" version for the mass market, if that makes sense?

 

The 555m is massively stronger than the 525m. Yes, a difference in quality level on SC2, if not 2 levels. The 555m at stock speeds can run any game right now at decent or great quality (even Crysis/Crysis 2 is playable albeit maybe not at FHD super-settings).

 

Here is power vs style M14X is much more powerfull than 15z.4 core vs 2.Geforce 555 can paly games on high\ultra on 1600/900 res.On starcraft 2 i get 30-40 fps on ultra and GPU can be overclocked wich rise his gaming potential + 10-15 %.On the other side AW looks little ugly for me.15z is very good loking but i think in this slim body tempreture in gaming will be a problem.If you pay games get m14x.I played shogun total war on my laptop wich has the same spec as AW 14 and on max setting the game run little slower, wich means that gt 525 can play this game on low medium.

 

The below may be worth mentioning, I am playing currently on an 11.6" Sony,, my temporary laptop, which only has a 512mb HD 6310, however this will run both Starcraft 2 AND Shogun 2 AND al the other total war titles,
SC2 - Medium settings, no lag until the screen is FULL of units
Total War, fine on map, but in battle struggles on lag...

Now this is rated as 259 on the "graphics card table, low - midrange"
So surely the GT525 (scoring 114), whilst not playing the likes of Crysis 2 on Ultra should be able to do everything I need it too??? EG, play all the above titles on High,
Incidentally the GT555 scores 64 in the table...

You are right however, I prefer the style of the XPS15Z over the Alienware but am concerned that in 1 - 2 years time when Total War release their next title, my laptop won't run it lol...

Lastly, I like the fact I "could" easily take the 15z anywhere and with a baby on the way the extra £400 saving go easily go elsewhere... £400 is a lot just for a graphics card... bearing in mind I would also lose the SSD from the 15Z, god damn this is driving me nuts and yes I figured the 15Z would overheat a lot too, hence needing the SSD... Grrr.....

 

I dont know what is that graphics card table and whats that scores mean,but i see you have made your choise But if you use this laptop for a long time 3-4 years or more you must consider that the GPU is only thing in the laptop that you CANT change.CPU, Wirelles card, Display ssd hdd Ram all this you can buy aftermarcet but the gpu is soldered to the board,and you must change the whole system.When i buy my laptop i knowing that i wll use it for more than 3 years,and the most important thing for me was the gpu.Few mont after that i have the money and buying ssd,then new hdd and now i am looking for ram .you say you play SC2 on medium on 11 inch laptop but on what resolution,on 14-15 inch laptop you will play at least on 1280-720 or 1600-900 and that take his part of the gpu.525 is good gpu xps 15 is good laptop but it will go bottleneck much faster then 14m.

 

I'm playing it on max resolution, 1280-720 dude, screen is just small that's all, due to the size though it can only run 720p not full HD lol... TBH it's not a bad little laptop for the size!

 

the m14x is miles better, the RAM's faster, the 555m is twice as good as the 525m imo plus it's supremely overclockable... I have the 555m in the l702x overclocked and run crysis2 in dx11 mode at 702p with the high res texture pack at "extreme" settings at 40fps+... BF:BC2 at 1600*900 with everything on high (apart from hbao/vsync off) and 2x FSAA at 50fps+ (it even runs OK at 1080p if FSAA is off) along with multiple other steam games maxed out at 1600*900... on top of that you mentioned the 15z processor was better as it was 2.7ghz rather than the 2ghz in the m14x... the alienware processor is quad core compared to the dual core of the 15z iirc... meaning each core is running at that speed, the quad in the m14x is better.

ultimately it comes down to what you're using it for and how long you want it to last... the 15z will have a score around 7500 in 3dmark06 whereas, overclocked you'll be pushing 13500-14k on the m14x (am approximating the m14x score based on my experience with the l702x) the m14x will have the grunt to play newer games coming out like skyrim, bf3, mw3 etc whereas the 15z will struggle massively and likely have cooling issues...

not sure how much an XPS15 (l502x) is nowadays though, and as an alternative you could spec up one of those with a gt540m which is quite overclockable but still not on par with the 555m. Seems like a decent laptop with excellent 1080p screen and soundsystem

 

Hm nice.I never had such small laptop,my brother has 11z but i never use it.Nice resolution.Then you have something little and stylish to cary around,now it is time for something bigger and little ugly with wayy more power

 

I would REALLY recommend it TBH, it's got an HD 6310 512mb graphics card, 4gb RAM and a nice little AMD Vision Dual Core processor, running about 1.7GHz,

Does the job,but it's only for Uni...

TBH I was hoping someone out there would say that the XPS15Z would do the job of the M14X, just not quite as well, whereas every slates it, the only people to give it a good review are hardware heaven.

I have looked at a Vortex II but it's ugly, doesn't have the Dell warranty, Alienware "cool" factor, but IS higher spec for the money...

Chassis & Display
Vortex II: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2760QM (2.40GHz) 6MB
Memory (RAM)
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M - DirectX® 11 (15.6" Vortex II)
Free Item
FREE Batman Arkham City with any Nvidia® GeForce GTX560 or above!
Memory - Hard Disk
500GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 3 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC COOLING MX-3 HIGH THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS 802.11N - IDEAL FOR ONLINE GAMING
USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD
Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (3,800 mAh)
Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 180W AC Adaptor
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2010 (Incl Disc & 1 License for 3 devices) (£89)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE
Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

Total Price £1350... But it literally looks like a giant plastic brick from the 1980's....... slightly better processor, slightly better graphics card....

 

If you're referring to the 15z you can't upgrade the CPU either.

 

You really can't compare the XPS 15z to the alienware, and usually you can only compare the top tier XPS system with maybe the lowest end alienware. The XPS 15z is meant to be a portable powerhouse while the alienwares are just intended to be gaming/desktop replacement rigs. They're gaudy, bulky and heavy and some might say ugly. If you're a heavy gamer and intend to play a lot of games especially over the next 3-4 years Alienware is the way to go, but if you're looking to only play games casually but still have a computer that has some punch to it I'd say XPS. Also if you're going to be carrying it around a lot the XPS 15z might be a good choice for you. I have a Studio XPS 1645 currently and I thought the weight was no big deal, but I end up carrying it every single day back and forth to school and te weight has been a bit of burden so I'm trading it in for a 15z.

 

That's exactly my issue, I sit with my laptop on my knee and I don't want a brick, equally I want good gaming performance and was hoping the top of the line 15Z would do the job, but EVERYONE has slated it, so I find myself second guessing and looking at the Alienware more...

 

The 15z will play most games at probably mid-high settings. I have a 1645 with an ATI 4670 and I play almost all my games on mid-high at my native resolution (1920x1080) and since before I got this laptop I was coming from console gaming 60fps wasn't a priority to me and at those settings I get anywhere from 30-45 FPS. Which is perfectly playable in my opinion. At 720P it's even better and most games even at max settings I get 50-60FPS. It also depends on the games you play. I play a variety of games Like Dragon Age Origins, Deus Ex Human Revolution, Supreme Commander/Forged Alliance, Assassin's Creed, Portal 2, Dragon Age 2, Splinter Cell. Those are just some of the titles I play at 1920x1080 with max settings or close to max (no AA) Other more demanding titles like Devil May Cry 4, GTA 4, Crysis, I turn down to 720p and mid settings and its still satisfying. This is all with the DX 10 Radeon Mobility 4670 1GB in my 1645. I looked at the benchmarks for the GPU in the 15z and it does perform slightly better than my current GPU and it also is overclockable from what I hear. So make of that what you will. A lot of the people pushing alienware might be more serious gamers than you who demand 60FPS in Crysis 2 on ultra settings in DX11.

 

Thanks for that matey, much appreciated, however I have seen a couple of Youtube videos and TBH the poor build quality for that amount of cash, scares me, having looked at the AW, everything is exceptional and there isn't 1 person with a bad thing to say about it. Lastly and I know it's sad, for me it's the Ferrari of PCs, Macs and Laptops and I have always wanted one

Thanks for all your help and advice though, I have given rep

 

No Problem, if weight and design weren't such big deals to me (also price) I'd have an AW myself

 

See I LOVE the design, I think it's sheer geek cool, combined with retro/future styling it's cool by any standard, even my friends that are into their designer clothes, say it looks cool

Just weight for me, but hey, it's my early Xmas pressie, so sod it lol

 

I should've phrased my comment better I like some of the AW designs, but in a personal/home setting. When I'm sitting in my lectures and taking notes in class it's a bit too showy. Nice X-mas gift enjoy.

 

Yeah I can understand exactly what you mean, I have a Sony Vaio VPCYB2M1E, so Y series for Uni, it's a cracking little laptop, although struggles with games once you get a lot of units on the screen and I have to have almost all settings on a combo of Low/Medium lol...

But it does the job, got to be honest though, I'd still take the Alienware into a business meeting, I'd just turn all the FX off lol