lorcan32
http://www.dell.com/us/p/alienware-m18x/pd.aspx
I am planning to buy one of these really soon, with max specs
in a nutshell
32 GB ram
i7 6 cores 4GHz each
4GB graphics
The rest is in the link
18.4 inch display
it is about 2500$
before people tell me to build custom i will be building my own custom PC next with similar specs :)
What do you guys think ?
Is it good?
xterm
Scary, mabrouk.
Beej
So far so good, i would say OVERKILL ram but hey i dont mind if you do :P.
Also remember even if the name of the specs is the same, the difference between pc and laptop is HUGE.
For example gtx580m is actually an underclocked gtx 560 Ti with more memory. This applies to the cpus as well.
So though you have the same "name" in both laptop and desktop, the latter wipes the floor with the laptop- mobility of course :P.
Grats anyways...
babum
I agree with Beej, unless totally necessary i'd say go for PC. The main problems with having gaming laptops is that they are slower than pc, more expensive and there is the heat problem.
at least for my laptop every time I play some hardcore game I need to be using a good cooler or else it starts lagging due to the heat (the components downgrade in order to protect the pc from damages)
though it is quite a great laptop
lorcan32
The thing is i want something i can move around :/ , but also the cooling shouldn't be an issue because the alienware has like a ton of fans, and the CPU is OVER clocked to 4GHz . but as for the graphics card , i really dont need the entire thing, as i should be able to max graphics almost any game on the market right now and for some time . Correct me if im wrong.
Beej
Forget about the heat for a second. Honestly will you play games for less than 30 min? 1hr? The battery will become empty when you play, especially on the specs you orderd/have/ will have :P. So in theory your laptop should be plugged in to a power cord, hence your mobility is gone. A laptop connected to a power source is no longer a laptop, its a small/slow/overheating desktop...
Also there are NO 6/8 cores of sandy bridge. So your cpu is actually 4cores/8threads with increased turbo boost of 2.
lorcan32
Well thank you for the info but the battery life of the M18x is more than that , it has 12 cell battery, and when using it normally it can last for up 5 hours, when doing extreme gaming yes it can last for about an hour , which i don't really mind if i am going to play a big game on full graphics there no harm in plugging it into a wall, as the reason for buying this laptop is not just for gaming it will be my normal laptop which i can use daily wherever i am without suffering from any lags with any software :), as it has both intel and crossfire.
vengeance666
WOOO!! really amazing !! congratulations my friend !!!
babum
did you take into consideration the weight that the 18" laptop will have? it does make it harder to carry. Regardless of that, if you are happy with it, then go for it.
lorcan32
i am gonna get a back back with it , so weight shouldn't really be an BIG issue but, do you think it is worth the money?
Beej
Its primary weight is ~6kgs :P. Your getting 32g rams and xfire card with highest cpu (needs more heatsink), oh its gona wiegh about 7kgs (so much for a laptop).
Aslo id get the 580m Sli, though the 6990 might be a little faster, the support of sli is better than xfire, support =/= scaling, for example crysis 2 still has bugs with xfire, whereas it works good with sli.
Also for applications like cad, maya, 3dmax ...etc all of these LOVE nvidia as they support cuda.
Get the 6mb cache cpu and 8g of ram 2x 5880m, you dont need that much. Save a few $s here and there and put them ALL on your desktop.
Fot the money your paying you can have the BEST gaming desktop/experience in lebanon (that i have yet to see). And if you need any help at all am here.
The-MMMs
i would never support gaming laptops; if your serious about the money you can yourself one hefty full tower loaded with a load of goodies .. then again everyone has their own needs i suppose
Leonedes
As an Alienware owner, I really recommend you consider its weight. If you don't have a car, dont buy an Alienware ! :P Other than that the laptop is amazing, but seriously consider the weight.
By the way, benchmark it the day you get it and watch its temperature, when I bought it last year, there were lots of faulty ones being shipped, I was lucky mine is still in perfect condition.
Beej
Sadly my friend alienware was a standalone company with quality laptops, then it was bought by dell and well... :(
As MMMs said i dont support gaming laptops. I hate laptops in general :P. giv me a 15" nettop and am good. You want gaming laptop get a desktop, you will pay less than 1/2 the price for better specs or same price for specs miles ahead. And the most important thing is that YOU control the pc not the other way.
yasamoka
Ok...he's getting an alienware laptop...these things are awesome! Great performance, looks, build quality...expensive yet you get what you pay for...I advise you to SLI 580m in your laptop (you can run hefty games much better and it will allow you to go 3D later on since 3D requires double the processing power)...good luck building a desktop too...mabrook!
Although I do prefer desktops, for various reasons, he likes having a laptop. Fine! Congrats! Just consider weight and you're good to go.
babum
I dont think 3D is an option unless he can get a 120 refresh rate screen
Georges
Get an SSD. Never go with normal HDDs.
As for the price, you might be mistaken my friend.
The Intel® Core™ i7 2920XM Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz (8MB Cache) costs an additional $625.00 from the default one. Not to mention the 32GB rams, the graphic card and the rest of the features.
babum
for the price of a ssd? I think it would be an overkill
yasamoka
babum wroteI dont think 3D is an option unless he can get a 120 refresh rate screen
Of course. If he gets a 3DTV or a 3D monitor then he's already all good to go.
Get an SSD. Never go with normal HDDs.
Is that a rule? What about storage? Where is he going to store games, media, etc...? I think if he wants to go for an SSD, he should plump for an SSD for boot and games that benefit (Crysis 2 and World of Warcraft) and an HDD for general storage.
@lorcan32: The 6990M is faster than the 580M and, if I'm not mistaken, is cheaper. Why don't you check reviews for the 6990M xfire performance and report back? Do you prefer Nvidia or AMD? Don't forget that AMD's drivers are getting better and Nvidia's drivers are becoming much crappier (I have an Nvidia card).
Georges
babum wrotefor the price of a ssd? I think it would be an overkill
Yea right, -_- and 32 GB of RAMs ain't a total waste of money ?
i.e: What can you do with 32GB of memory and you can't do with 16. OR 8!
And SSDs are definitely better. For storage, get a 140$ 1TB Seagate Expansion external HDD.
Save on RAMs, Invest in SSDs.
If you didn't, it'd be like buying a Bugatti, with a mini cooper's transmission system :) (Not engine, since it would be the CPU :P)
