AW 15 or 17 +amplifier vs AW 18

About to pull the trigger on my first AW. I had a chance to buy a 18 for $1300 but seller sold it already. Now my local frys has a AW 18 with sli 860m for $1400 should I get that or hop on the 15 or 17 with amplifier. I travel for work 4 months out of the year and game in the hotel. What do you guys think? Upgradable 18 or amplifier w 15 or 17

 

Mh...hard question...if you travel a lot you need portability, but the 18" is cool cause it's upgradable. But i cast my vote: try to buy the new 15" with best GPU, so you can keep it a more long time. With 15" you'll have the best compromise performace/portability.

 

Thanks for your response I have til this weekend to pick.

 

The gpu is upgradable for the 15 right? Just not cpu

 

Internal GPU is not upgradeable.

 

I have had basically every model they have come out with, 11, 14, 15,17,18, and last year i had a Aw18 and found it to big to lug along , while it was nice at home taking it with me was a pain. i reverted back to the 17 r2 which i find the perfect size with G/A that i plan to throw a titan x into here shortly If there is no bandwidth bottleneck issues with the interface it should be what i need to play any games, and have the portability for me to take half of it with me, the 17 is a 4980hq,980m combo making it great on the road, and at home the titan x with the 4980hq should suffice for my 4k monitor at home. Its a bit more budget for me as my alternative was a $10,000 water cooled monster desktop and then i would still need a laptop $2600. When i build something i like to make it the best of the best, but cannot justify that for now my wallet is thinner then usual haha. My present setup is at 4600ish including the AW17 4980hq/980, G/A, 28" 4k acer monitor, and Titan x.

I find upgrading these units are expensive and a pain in the ass, like after 2 years why spend 1200+ no warranty to upgrade a worn out case? "Insert ex wife joke".

If u have lots of money, space, single, or have a understanding wife, get both a desktop and a laptop.

If neither, get a new unit u can afford, keep in mind these units are not upgradeable so get the best 17 u can afford, then get a G/A and a titan x , monitor, keyboard. Alternatively you can get a 15 with uhd , but my opinion if you are going uhd 15" is to small.

lots of options for people with money haha

 

I'm looking forward to some GA titan-X results.

 

So am i haha when the wallet lets me

 

I'll admit that the amplifier is intriguing, but I wouldn't travel with it. If your laptop was always going to be sitting in a stationary location, then sure, do the whole amplifier thing. That's not the point of a DTR laptop though. While all my buddies are hauling their towers, monitors, keyboards, etc into a LAN party, I just bust out my laptop and power brick, and I'm basically ready to go. Again, that's the point. If you're going to do the laptop/amplifier combo, then why not build a desktop computer instead? I personally would go with the 18. Actually, I'd go with an M18x-R2 with 980M SLI...but I digress.

Long story short, since you're going to be traveling with the bugger, just get the 18.

 

I can't wait to get mine under water, it's just taking time to get everything just so.

 

Just be aware of the upgrade costs, and make sure it fits in your budget.

 

I'd go with the new AW15 with 980m and try that first before getting the amplifier. You might not even feel the need for that extra push.
Sure, you can upgrade the 18. But upgrading laptop gpu can get very pricey and tricky.

 

Alienware 18 for sure! Don't go near those crippled BGA crap laptops

 

I would get the AW18 but personally be warned that even though 980M SLI will work now properly with no throttling, there are some issues with the fan... You need to use HWinfo64 to control it... auto fans won't work.. @Scanner can elaborate more on this..

 

It all depends on how good you are with laptops. I'd personally go with the new line because it's a full refresh of components. However, I also like being able to change components separately. At the end, it's a personal decision.

 

The 98om is a beast of a mobile gpu no complaints here. Only gpu i would bother putting in G/A is a TITAN X

 

Pretty much, the 980 desktop is just not worth the investment for the increase in performance.

 

absolutely love my 17 with the titan x. I can max out witcher 3 and get 60fps (I lower a few settings to keep it at a constant 60)