Alienware 13 or 17?

So I am looking to buy a laptop that I can game on and so my school work on.
Option 1:
$500
Alienware 13
i5 6500u
8gb ram
960m 2gb
Or
$625
Alienware 17
i7 4710mq
8gb ram
R9 m290x 4gb

Which in your guys opinion do you think would be best? Found the 13 for $500 (i7 model is 7-800) or the 17 for $625. Pros and cons please and also is the 17 model able to fit a second 290x or swap out to 970m? I was leaning towards the 13 since it's a lot thinner and lighter, the graphics amplifier caught my eye in case If I needed more power. I heard the 13 CPU bottle necks ..so if you guys can give me some more info on them that would be great ! I heard the new 1060/1080model is coming out soon but that's going to be really pricey ..as I found these good deals..not wanting to pay 800+

 

Thats a pretty large size difference. I would recommend you settle on a size first then look at specs

 

I've had a m11x,m14x and m17x before in the past so I know how it would be size wise..but just curious which one would be the overall best ? M17x I know you can upgrade the components..but not sure how far you can go... Would a 1060/1080m be a option in the old 17 as a upgrade ?

 

I know the 13 has the 960m which I heard is far better then the r9 m290x..but the 13 has a i5.. is the i5 6500U that bad ? People say you can over clock them to make more power ..

 

I have both the AW 13 (OLED with GTX 965m) and older AW 17 with GTX 780m

I haven't even used my AW 17 despite its more powerful CPU. (graphics cards are about equal).

AW 13 pros (your version):
Size and weight are great for school.

Comparatively much better battery life

1080P gaming is fine in ultra settings for every AAA game up to 2014 and high for 20015 games (I don't own any 2016 AAA titles to tell you more)

AW amplifier compatible:
$125 on Ebay picked up a AW graphics Amp and stuck in an overclocked EVGA GTX 1070 ($390); clicked the little box in to make the GPU run all Physics; now plays any game at highest settings @ 3K when parked at desk

USB 3.0


AW 13 cons (your verion):

without AMP, physics heavy games and newest games can struggle to reach high settings

No SD card slot (what the hell)

1 HDD slot that needs a special adapter if you want to turn it into 2 SSD card slot (cant have both HDD and SSD)


AW 17 Pros:

Expand-ability (many more storage options)

up-gradable GPU (More money than AMP + Desktop card in many cases though)

Better CPU


AW 17 cons:

No USB 3.0

BIG and heavy

Older hardware all around

I don't think the one you are looking at has AW Amplifier port?

 

Thank you I appreciate all the info !! I meant the aw13 r2 has the amplify port. Hmm leaning towards the aw13.. this one for $500 has a i5 6500u do you think that would be fine? I heard it bottle necks with the amplify thing.. is the 960m 2gb better then the aw17 with the "r9 m290x 4gb" ? The guy with the aw17 says he can do better then 625 too but they are pretty bulky...sounds like you like your aw13 better ? Is the 960m a big difference vs 965m? The amplify thing sounds better on the 13 then being limited to the pricey 980m upgrade option on the aw 17..I don't think I could even out a 1060/1080m card in the older aw17 when they release those cards huh?

 

If you were me would you spend $700-800 for a i7 aw13 or is the aw13 for $500 fine with the i5?

I know the aw17 has older hardware but just to get a idea how is the 4710mq i7 vs the i5 6500u?

 

The GTX 10xx Cards will never be compatible with MXM as far as I heard. They are a new format of Desktop card or something along those lines.

Full benchmarks of the GTX 960m
http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-960M.138006.0.html

Full benchmarks of the r9 m290x
http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-R9-M290X.108643.0.html

They seem to be close with the R9 m290x taking a %10 lead

Is the 960m a big difference vs 965m? yes, like 20%

how is the 4710mq i7 vs the i5 6500u? Depends on what you are doing, Most gaming I do is not processor heavy. But the difference with processor centric tasks is pretty big

Personally I would get the i5 AW 13 for $500. IT a huge deal assuming there are no major problems with it. Use the money you saved and get the AW amplifier. The "u" processors are a bottle-neck for the AMP... but mostly for synthetic bench-marking and gaming @ 4k.


BUT before you do anything. Get the details about the screen on each laptop. A crap screen panel will make any great computer useless.

 

The 13 has a 1366x768 while the 17 has a WLED HD+ 1600 x 900

I heard the aw13 LCD can be upgraded the QHD ? Also I made a mistake it's a i5 6200u* not a 6500. When you say bottleneck from CPU what is the exact symptoms? Dropped fps? I would be playing call of duty series , battlefield , Minecraft and Forza horizon 3..highest graphics as possible.

This is the 17: Look at this on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/322276345502

13:
http://seattle.craigslist.org/oly/ele/5806025520.html

 

On the 17 is it possible to add a second GPU so I can crossfire x2 r9 m290x cards ? Not exactly sure if this model supports it..it's a 2014. I would assume if I ran them in crossfire it would perform up to a 980m ?

 

Jeez, hate to say it, but save your money for something else. Both screens are garbage unfortunately.

It isn't easy to "upgrade a screen". you would either have to buy the correct screen and dissemble it yourself or pay someone $$$ to do it for you.

For $780 you can get an AW 13 R2 with 13.3 inch FHD (1920 x 1080) IPS factory refurbished.

Shop around for something with an IPS pannel with at least 1080P for gaming.

 

No, the 2014 model does not do 2 GPUS

and it doesn't have the AW Amplifier port for external GPU

 

Okay thanks for letting me know that! I totally forgot about checking the resolution..I remember I had a older m14x I believe it was and the screen was horrible ! If I found a deal on a Alienware 13 QHD screen I'd consider it still but I think I am going to hold off then. I'm assuming they added dual GPUs and amplifier port on the next revision(2015+)

 

I did find another 13 for $559 with that 1920x1080 sceen but it has a 860m and i5 4510 .. guess I just gotta wait for a deal to pop up with HD screen

 

The whole screen assembly is $130 on eBay for 1080p or $200 for QHD. I think I may pull the trigger on the $500 unit as I have experience fixing laptops in the past. Whole screen assembly would be easy to change. I guess the only thing I am curious about now if the CPU will bottle neck? Especially with a desktop GPU?