Alienware m17x: i7 740QM or i7 840QM??

I planning to buy a m17x mainly for gaming.
the config iam getting is 8GB ram, ATI Crossfirex 5870 1GB & 1.28TB HDD

there is a difference of NZ$ 550 between the i7 740QM and i7 840QM. is the 840QM worth the money ?? will it have noticeable effect on the performance of the games when run on full settings??

Please Advise. Thanks

 

In a word : no. BTW, The M17x is being refreshed (new case, sandy bridge CPUs etc) in about two weeks so I would consider waiting an option, although maybe you've already given it some thought.

 

I recommend getting the 740QM and then buy a 920XM or 940XM on ebay and replace it (I got my 920XM for 380 incl. shipping and it's really a beast).
However, as Botsu mentioned, the M17x will get a great refresh very soon, so best option is still waiting for 2-3 weeks (unless you already considered this) 5870 cf is a beast configuration anyway.

 

well..i didnt not know alienware is gonna refresh the m17x. thanks alot. will wait for he new processors

sv17: how did you install your 920XM into the notebook?

 

You'll find all the steps needed in the service manual (it's not necessary to remove the HDD and memory module as written in the manual ^^) also this video from Alienware is really helpful. It's actually not as hard as it seems. However, ESD-protection is really important, as well as a clean applying of the thermal paste.

 

This is a warning not to cross post on these forums. Posting the same question in multiple threads is very poor forum etiquette and against our forum rules. Don't do it again. I deleted your other post.

 

If you are comfortable doing your own upgrade get the base i5 that comes with the machine and get a 920xm off eBay. They are much cheaper since a 940xm is available and the speed difference is basically nothing between them they can both overclock to about the same speed. The multiplier is unlocked in both so you can do a nice overclock on the 920xm and get it to probably the same speed the 940xm would go to. These processors are basically identical except the 940xm comes higher clocked from the factory, but the actual parts inside the processors are identical they charge you extra for a higher factory clock.

Option 2: If you are not comfortable doing a processor upgrade yourself then the 740qm is your best bet. The slightly higher clock of the 840qm is not worth 550 dollars. You don't get 550 dollars worth of performance out of the 840qm over the 740qm.

If I were you I'd also get the smallest hdd and then get a 9mm 750GB hdd or a 12mm 1TB hdd if that height fits in the m17x. Then with the money you save getting an i5 and upgrading your own processor or getting the 740qm and the money you save sticking with the 320gb hdd put that money together and buy a 12mm 1tb or 9mm 750gb as your secondary data/media drive and then get a 160gb or 320gb gen 3 Intel ssd that will be released soon on the 24nm process and yous that as your OS/boot/app/game drive.

A self upgraded 920xm for 380 saves 245 off getting a pre installed 840qm,
A self upgraded 750/1tb + 160gb gen 3 Intel ssd should cost around 400 and you save 250 taking the smallest hdd on your configuration over 2x 640gb. So that storage combo will cost you an extra 150 over the pre installed one you chose meaning you've saved 95 dollars total over a pre installed i7-840qm + 2x 640GB hdd vs user upgraded i7-920xm + 750gb/1tb hdd and 160gb gen 3 Intel ssd.

The performance difference of an i7-840qm + RAID 0 640GB HDD is vastly different than an i7-920xm + 750GB/1TB and gen 3 Intel ssd. The 920xm processor will overclock much nicer and shave time off every processor intense use and help load every program you click on faster as well as the OS and the 1tb storage + 160GB Intel ssd keeps all your vast storage space of the raid 640gb combo but adds incredible ssd snappiness and speed and cuts your boot time by more then half as well as all your app and game load times especially paired with the time savings of the faster processor.

You should also upgrade to 8GB ram yourself. Dell charges 350 dollars to upgrade to 2x4GB ram config and dells ram is 9-9-9-24 1333mhz no name. On newegg you can get high quality OCZ 2x4gb 9-9-9 20 1333mhz lifetime warranty ram for only 95 dollars. Another 255 dollars saved and 4ms faster latency on the last value.

So in conclusion you can have an i7-920xm, 1TB hdd + 160GB (or 300GB for more $ if you want the increased SSD space) gen 3 Intel SSD, 2x4GB high quality OCZ ram with lower latency and all the other specs the same for 350 less dollars. That's a no brainer much higher performance for 350 dollars less.

 

I would vote wait 2 weeks for the refresh.

But if you need one now, get the i7 740QM. The 840QM in no way is worth $550 more.

 

Buying a 920 or a 940xm is all good but in a 2 weeks time frame (1 month tops I'd say) you'd be able to order a sleeker laptop while even the lowest quad-core Sandy Bridge will likely tear the 940xm apart, at least on stock clocks. Sure they might charge a premium for a while but I think it's more straightforward and you should be more than even in the end.

 

I don't think that the lowest sandybridge will beat the 940xm. The 920/940xm really are beasts. With throttlestop you can easily run them at 3.2Ghz and even more across all four cores without any issues.
Considering the price you pay for an 920xm on ebay (you'll be able to find deals for less than 390$) there's no need to wait imo, at least not for the processors. For gaming the limiting factor is still the GPU and when you do a lot of rendering a high-end Nvidia card with CUDA will be a lot more useful than a new Sandybrige processor.

 

Yea now that I think about it. The new sandybridge processors are much better to wait for. The quads will be under the 32nm process which means much less heat should be produced from these processors. With the lower heat comming from the processors the m17x should be able to handle high end nvidias in sli I fairly certain 2x GTX480's will destroy 2x 5870's then you get all the extra cuda and physx stuff

 

Might want to wait for the next refresh of Nvidia cards, I haven't been able to find any UK custom laptops with GTX 480s so i'm guessing they've been pulled from the market ^^

 

Most brands prefer 470m now instead of 480m, the performance seems to be better and the card is cheaper and uses less power.