Alienware Decision

[Yandr]

m17 vs m17x

[M17]
Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ EnabledIntel® Core™2 Extreme Quad QX9300 2.53GHz (12MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
17-Inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition) with Service Pack 1 (difference vs ultimate? ><)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1066MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW )
Single HDD configuration vs extreme performance Raid 0 (not sure which to pick, not sure what raid 0 offers that makes it more $$$
All= $3,699.00

[M17X]
Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT – SLI Enabled
17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology
Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme X9000 2.8GHz (6MB Cache 800MHz FSB)

4GB† Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
Dual Layer Blu-ray Disc Reader (BD-ROM, DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed (only available with single HDD configurations, vs raid 0 (still not sure what it does ><)
same OS
All=$4,999.00


So basically, i'm not sure which one of these to buy, i have been out of the PC gaming scene for a while and am not sure which CPU,GPU, or HDD setup is better, everything else in both these setups is pretty much the same. I have no idea what Raid 0 is and if it is worth the upgrade and im unsure if vista ultimate is worth it either. If you guys can, let me know what you think of each setup and some good ideas of stuff to change,remove,add w/e. let me know what these things will and wont be capable of, thanks a lot ^^

[EXreaction]

Ya right. For the price you are paying for those, you could build two of them.

[Telos]

peripheral wise the m17x is easily the better system hands down, but then you could build a better system cheaper.

Here's some parts that would work

Motherboard:
Newegg.com - ASUS P5Q DELUXE & XONAR DX BUNDLE LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Intel Motherboards
Processor:
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz 6MB L2 Cache LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
and if you want a quad
Newegg.com - Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz 2 x 4MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor - Processors - Desktops
Heatsink:
I can't remember what everyone keeps suggesting so you'll have to ask them
Graphics Card:
If you like nVidia
Newegg.com - EVGA 512-P3-N873-AR GeForce 9800 GTX+ 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
or ATi
Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100225L Radeon HD 3870 512MB 256-bit GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards (I never used it myself so I can't really tell you much about it)
Sound:
motherboard come with onboard sound so you don't really need a sound card
Memory (RAM):
Newegg.com - OCZ Platinum 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory - Desktop Memory
PSU:
Newegg.com - SILVERSTONE ELEMENT ST60EF 600W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply - Power Supplies
Case... go ahead pick one, just avoid the really cheap ones and I'll leave the rest to everyone else who looks at this thread.
Newegg.com - ATX Mid Tower, Computer Cases, Computer Cases, Computer Hardware=


That should get you started at something, but I believe that is a little better than eith of those alienwares, and if you never built a PC before you could buy the parts and find an online guide, or you could go to a local PC builder (if one exist wherever you are).

[RicheemxX]

Telos none of that info helps him with buying a laptop I tthink both you guys missed that this was in the Mobile Computing forum. LOL

[Telos]

oh they're laptops, I thought they were desktops. I just looked at what he had posted.

Sorry bout that Yandr, I just don't really pay attention to alienware that much so I didn't bother checking into it that much.

[EXreaction]

Crossfire 3870's or SLI 9800 GT's and a C2Q extreme in a laptop?

I'd be surprised if those got 30 minutes of battery life even with the largest battery you can get for it.

Honestly, gaming laptops suck. They get horrible battery life and are very uncomfortable to use. I'd buy a SFF desktop for gaming if it needs to be portable and a regular non-gaming laptop for mobile use.

[TimeDeatH]

DUDE TRUST ME BUILD YOUR OWN COMPUTER!!!!!
i have the m17x and its a 10 lb peice of crap that has sli but cant even run crysis on high settings. for 2600 i got 2.1 ghz processor 2 8600 gts and 2 gb ddr2 ram there is nothing special about these, for 1000 less i could be building my dream pc with a 2.66 ghz processor (OCable) hd 4870, and 4 gb ddr3 ram with a screen 5" bigger

but if you really want a mobile computer get something cheaper like an asus
oh yeah and exreaction, m17x's actually have quite the battery life, i got about 2.5 hrs out of crysis

[gsracer170]

Check out Maingear. I just received my eX-L. I'll post some pics when I get a chance.

Maingear PC | Advanced PC Engineering.

It's basically the same notebook as the Alienware.

[KarmaKiller]

^ 2x 3870's in crossfire, for $2200+..

That is insanely high priced. I think even Alienware is cheaper then that..

(Not to mention, this post is a month old.)

[gsracer170]

I ended up going w/ MG because they offer the X9100 overclocked to 3.3GHz.