Need help with some questions on 9250/9280

Hey guys, i had some questions for you i would appreate any help at all. I have a Alienware (In my signature are specs) Its been a nightmare right after the 3-4 week poped up. I am now trying to get this fixed though dell, its like talking to a wall. The issues are Sudden frame rate drops under 20 fps usually down to 10 or so. Audio stuttering is driving me BONKERS. (Mostly got this down) The DPC latancy is INSANE, its so high! Over 4,000 all the time. This thing still can't even play Dawn of War Soulstorm, Frycry 2 or anything at all without stuttering. I am sooooooo close to tell Dell to give me my money back. It is after 30 days, but i am sure i can come up with somthing. I am now looking at these two laptops the 9250, and 9280. I was originally looking at them and my gut said to go with one of them but i ignored my gut. (Never doing that again LOL)

Is Sli even worth it? I have heard its still buggy as hell and its better just to get one with a single GPU.

Can somone PLEASE post their DPC latancy. Just want to laugh at my very sad latancy that i have been trying to fix for 1-2 months now.

here is mine




Its sad even my parents know i am going nuts over this thing. Last question is is the i7 extreme worth it or not? I mean i have a QX9300 now and its fast, i7 920 is faster then mine and not even oced yet, I965 would be over kill huh?

Thanks for all your input and suggestings? I heard the new ATI cards are coming out very soon Jan-Feb i want to wait, Nvidia drivers have been Sucking IMHO latley.

 

Whell if its only for gaming, you like your sistem lit up with those blue lights, and you dont mind the wider screen (1920x1050) the 9850 is probably better for you (a bit more gpu power with sli, but not so much according to the benchmarks - also depends from game to game)..
But if youre doing any cpu intensive tasks as well, or like the simple, sturdy and tested chassis of 9280 and its screen resolution (1920x1200) take 9280 (the i7 helps for gaming in quiet a few games and the 280m can take whatever you throw at it and overclocks well).
I am a 9280 owner and a former aw owner and i can tell you this..
I used to own an AW M17, with a qx9300 (oced to 3.0 - 3,2ghz) and dual 3870 in crossfire, and i had the same problem as you now.. video/audio stuttering with huge latency spikes.. A loud stuttering brick to sum up.. I sold that system since it drove me crazy (though about throwing it out the window a few times).. i couldnt even play an old game like diablo 2 (old game but im a fan)..
Now that ive had my D900F for some time i can say im definetely sticking with Clevo..
The difference in cpu power going from qx9300 to i7-950 is definetely noticable.. the two cant even be compared.. a mobile core 2 vs a desktop i7.. no competition. Everything just works so fast and smooth (a little help from x25-m g2 too i guess). Every game can be played maxed out and its not half as loud as that freakin M17 at it.. Infact the cooling system is outstanding.. To think it can keep the hot desktop i7 at high 40s idle and under 67 at full load and the 280m at high 40s idle and under 65 at load without macking a racket (even at full blow (which it never does itself, but i sometimes activate it to keep it cooler) its not so loud to disturb the game sounds if youre on speakers)..
I mostly game, and dont really do many cpu intensive tasks (except for a little photoshop and encoding) but i took the 9280 anyway, since i see more benefits in having the desktop i7 with tripple channel memory than sli with a mobile core 2 cpu and dual channel.. (and you can upgrade the cpu later - to a six core i7-980X and the gpu to gtx 3x0m or ati 58x0 - which should than blow away the 9850 in every aspect..)

 

thanks so much for your input! Now i notced that i now have video stuttering again. OMFG Dell has NO idea how close i am to breaking down. I like working on computer but this is sad, and ridiculas. What it does now is plays normal then drops down the frams for no reason and goes BELOW my 9800 GTX quad desktop to 9-15 fps then goes up again have no idea it is or why its doing it. Its really wired because it will be playing fine, like its supposed to and is noticeablity faster then my 9800 GTX, then it will do the fps plunge. Don't know if its sli at fault, at this point to many issues anyways i pretty much given up. Two weeks now on and off talking to dell about it, still nothing.

I really like the i7 since as you said its a DESKTOP processor so its faster then a laptop processor. Plus i would love to upgrade it latter to the i7 980X looks frinkin sweet and fast as hell.

Today is my last day with dell, no resoultion i am demanding my money back due to a leamon laptop. (Have logs and emails to prove it) We will see what happends.