Alienware M14x R1 Vs Alienware M14x R2

All knew this was coming...but is it all in the R2's favour?

Compare here...

 

It would be cool if the mobo fits in the R1, so when it burns you can upgrade the mobo, chipset and GPU all at once and be ready for ivy bridge!

 

That would be excellent.
I just hope the motherboard is able to be exchanged because thats the 'only' piece we would really need to upgrade as I am happy with my Hard drive, Ram, etc for the moment.

Im mainly curious as to the Gt 650m vs Gt 555m (Which in my eyes is still a very capable card and an excellent overclocker.)

 

R2 is better in about every way so far, unless we find out theyre using a crappier display or something, or it overheats. I dont think its worth it to upgrade but you shouldnt purposely buy an R1 (like people who buy an M17x R2 over R3 for the RGB LED display)

 

The gt650 is a good step up from the gt555m. Essentially, the gt640 is on par with the gt555m. So the gt650 that is in the new m14x will be a quite better. I knew it wasn't going to get a fully fledged mxm style gtx card, but the gt650 should be all you'd need in a 14 inch laptop. But the gt650 is about equivalent in performance to a gtx 560m anyway. So that hopefully stops people from complaining on here why the m14x should have a dedicated mxm graphics card

Still loving my r1 though. I don't think id ever been inclined to sell to get the r2. I dont think anyone should buy a laptop just to sell it in a year when the better version comes out, because that will inevitably happen. Unless you're lucky enough to exchange it from dell. But its awesome that dell didnt use the gt640 which is a slightly better gt555m, they used a much better card.

 

Basically from what little info there is on the 650m is that it's at least on par with the 560m probably better seeing the r2 uses gddr5 ram.

However no one can confirm this until benchmarks come out.

To me this big because while the 555m was good it just wasn't able to play all games on high. The 650m looks like it will do that. Plus the 650m should run a lot cooler which is a significant win with the m14x's cooling problem

My only concern is when ivy bridge is added they might bump the price up to a point where the m14x isn't cheap anymore.

*facepalm* I was writing this when niko2021 posted...

 

I'm not sure I'll exchange after all.
My Gt 555m overclocks well and temps are good - Especially with the i5.
I can play all my games on suitable settings anyway.
At the moment I'm now actually considering exchanging for an M11x R3 seeing as there will be no R4. I'm after as much power in as little form factor as possible.

Or maybe the M14x R3 later on...

 

650m is faster than 560m we already have data

MSI Global ? News

"The powerful MSI GE60 and GE70 come locked and loaded with the Nvidia GeForce GT 650M discrete graphics card which boasts 2GB GDDR5 of display memory to give it the most advanced hardware. These machines boast over 10,000 points on 3D Mark Vantage (P Score)"

That is higher than 560m results ~

Nvidia official benchmarks also confirm it

 

So far, it appears it outspecs the R1 by far.
Gt650 GPU
The capacity to hold up to 16Gb of RAM.
A good improvement.

I admit, I am jealous

 

Vantage is far from an accurate measure of real gaming performance. And I wouldn't trust nVidia official benchmarks. Of course they will boast their latest GPU. Let's see real gaming results before making any claims or conclusions. If you have a 555m that overclocks well, you might be within 10% of GT 650m performance.

 

Yeah... that's not possible

We already have Benchmarks/reviews from multiple websites out for 640m which is not even DDR5 and perform better than 555m

650m = not only faster clocks but also DDR5 with the same 128bit for the 640m

 

Also bluray
Anti-glare screen
SSD+HD combo
Ivy bridge motherboard

 

Can someone post benches here when they've done them?
So p*ssed off. Just bought an R1 3 weeks ago because all the supposed experts here suggested the R2 was at least 2 months away...

 

There's always that risk. Nobody knows but the manufacturers. If it's been 3 weeks, plead your case to Dell. Just tell them you want to order the M14x R2 instead and they may cut you a break, especially if you order from them over the phone.

 

Where do you see anti-glare screen?

 

If you ordered with American express, I think you have a 60 day satisfaction guarantee. Maybe you can plea with your cc company for a refund.

 

I ordered by Visa and have received the laptop already in Vietnam (brought over by a friend).. so Dunno how they would let me do that..
Just annoying because I've spent the last month on these forums trying to get a good fix on whether this would be out before the end of April and even the Dell Rep kept getting it wrong.
Oh well, I guess I could sell the laptop and buy the new one if there's a huge leap in performance between the 555m and the 650m?

 

I'm waiting for the new invybridges and possibly nvidia's (secret announcement)

 

Damn that sucks, well if there is any consolation Alienware has one of the best resale value out of any laptop. Also so what if you have to turn detail from high to med, if you enjoy your system then I would suggest you stick to it. We don't know what to expect with the R2, heck we are testing out the waters for people who buy later and the first version of anything new usually has bugs and all sorts of problems. You might just be saving yourself a lot of grief.

 

Well I enjoy it but I love the best.
I just made a post in another thread ing about how the TDP of Kepler isn't what they promised... but now reading the specs on Wikipedia I could be wrong..
I was told the 650m would be 10-15% better than the 555m, but looking at the numbers it appears to be TWICE as good in virtually every department. Do you think we'll see massive improvements in performance between these two chips?

 

The only reason I bought the R2 was because I've read the reviews and benchmark, the GT 650m is 15% faster than the GT 560m which according to benchmarks is 75% faster than the GT 555m. However if you are enjoying your system then I would suggest your keep it.

 

Yeh when the R2's start arriving after the long EDD given from dell we can start the tests and comparisons ourselves
My EDD is may the 16th :S

Whether they add the ivy bridge processor or not, the dell rep told me they wont be out for the alienware line until june, again he could be wrong and ill be giving dell a call back lolz

 

i have 16gb ram in my r1

 

I doubt I'd ever need or want to be able use 16GB in this system.
So that's not an improvement as the current 8GB is more than adequate and was something that came with my system.

As for the Gt 650m - Yes - it will provide performance gains but when an overclocked Gt555m is giving me 50-60 Fps on all major titles at max settings combined with the hassle of selling my R1 along with the additional cost of it all - it quickly becomes something less appealling.

The Gt 650m is an underwhelming card from what I was expecting.
So I disagree with the thread.

 

According to the UK and the US website, the R2 still using the 2nd Gen Sandy Bridge which is still a 32mn architecture, I dont think the newly release R2 come with the Ivy Bridge motherboard though, plus the Ivy Bridge release date is not until 29th of Apr (according to Wikipedia).

 

Far from underwhelming. Kepler is a significant improvement over Fermi. Every year the next generation of laptop gets faster, that's the whole point. That aside though, like you said if your current laptop works for you, then that's all that matters. Otherwise you'll be chasing technology all the time. In three months maybe they'll have an optional 660m, then you'll want that. Then following that in the fall maybe a 665m with faster GPU and GDDR5... ad nauseum.

I personally don't think if I owned an R1, the R2 isn't worthy of an upgrade unless you want the blu-ray, or if you could get 95% of your money back from your R1. But for new buyers, the M14x R2 offers a great overall package.

 

Personally, I find that upgrading each revision is a waste of money.

Rule of thumb is always skip the revision following yours.

Wait until R3, then it'll be a worthy upgrade

 

Looks like R3 for me

We'll see, if costco refunds me the money fully I'll grab this 1 its about the same price!

 

If an R3 ever comes to fruition

 

I'm praying it won't have the same fate as the beloved M11X .. RIP (I still can't believe they killed it - I loved that laptop series!)

I plan on moving to an R3, so they better make it - it's my favourite laptop series ever

 

the 560M is def not 75% faster than the 555M, its around 30% faster. Read Specs .

 

I just received my m14x a week ago and was able to get a return authorization. I'm still not sure if I want to let it go either. The biggie for me is no 3x3 killer card. I have an external blue ray but it would be nice to cut the cords and have it integrated if I needed it (used it twice in 2 years). Would like the new CPU and gpu though.

 

I hope that we R1 owners can upgrade our current GPUs to GT 650m..:|

 

Here is one of the comparison.

M14x R2 vs. M14x | The Verge

 

camera is worse? and there aren't 2 headphone ports .

Not a big deal but the 2 headphone ports I loved! me and my gf could watch movies/tv shows when on trips.

 

It still has two. The 2nd one is a combo headphone/mic like the MacBook.

I don't understand why they're using a lower mp webcam though. That's weird.

 

If you said that the GT555M is a underwhelming card then I'll 100% agree with you, but for the GT650M, no, it is not, as compare the the 500 series, there are BIG improvement for both speed and power consumption.

QFT

 

i think the m14x will have an r3. the m11x didn't since the 14x took its place in the lineup. who really wanted an 11 incher which was that chunky and couldn't crank up the settings on any titles

 

It is an underwhelming card when the cost & effort of selling the R1, taking a probable loss to then purchase an even more expensive model with a better GPU is all taken into consideration.

 

Why on earth would they downgrade the camera? That's lame.

 

It gives them something to upgrade next time of course

 

They also downgraded the M17x webcam from 3.0MP to 2.1MP

I really hope they use better 900p panel for R2. Current R1 LCD is has above average brightness, contrast and viewing angle but the gamut is low 45%.

Even if Dell/Alienware give 60% gamut panel is already okay for me.

 

Curious to see what the Anti-Glare looks like for the screen. Thats my only issue with this machine. That and the heat on the right side palm rest.

Can live with the 60% gamut as I have a monitor for color accurateness

 

The GPU is soldered to the mainboard, so only way would be through a motherboard swap which would likely cost more than the difference of just selling your M14x R1 and buying an R2.

 

I paid 1184 EUR for my M14X (Bought it June 2011) and have a chance to sell it for 600 EUR cash payment (stock 500 Gb, stock 4 GB memory, battery never used). Have already responded to potential buyers. Someone stop me!!! There is still time!! lol

To the topic: M14X R1 had the SATA 6 Gbps issues with my SSD (however, not with 500 GB HDD), I have to start-up my laptop 3-4 times until Win7 loads. I hope R2 will have this solved.
The 650 GT and GDDR5 got me and it can be OC to GTX levels, its Kepler and has plenty shaders.


***********SOLD********** for 600 EUR.

edit: *********900 EUR, sorry*************

 

I sold my m11x about 4 and a half months ago 800.00 when it cost me a little over 1200.00, and it was a year old (just ordered an m14xr2 the other day). still to this day feel like I sold a child or something lol!

 

600 EUR is too low (imo). Alienware laptops have great resale value at the 75%+ mark if still in warranty.

600.00 EUR = 786.981 CAD

Used M14X are selling between 1-1.1k CAD/USD with warranty (i7/1600x900 on the higher end; i5/1366x768 on the lower end).

(1,000.00 CAD = 762.437 EUR to 1,100.00 CAD = 838.681 EUR)

Just make sure to open the sale on an international level.

You'll have better chances of selling it to people living in countries where AW laptops are nearly double in price on the official website.

 

Exchanging motherboards wouldn't be impossible as far as I'm aware.
I was initially very excited by the R2 but I'm now prepared to wait for the possible R3 instead as the difference there would be exponential.

I don't believe the loss incurred by selling the R1 to then purchase an R2 is at all worth the finance nor effort.
I've seen some individuals sell their R1 for half what they purchased it for in preparation for the R2.

All games run at Max settings with the exception of Battlefield 3 on my R1.
However the graphical difference between Medium & Ultra isn't noticeable at 720p which the M14x handles very well (~50fps).

 

My friend works in the product testing department for Dell and gave me some info on the R2.. Supposedly the R2 will perform at a definite 30-40 % boost in graphics fps with the new 650m over the R1's 555m.

 

@chaddy, if you think about it this way, Gaming clocks on my R1 are 750/1080. (thats a 27 percent increase in clock). Now we know that clock DOES NOT necessary equal a 1 to 1 increase in FPS. Meaning 27 percent higher clock =\ 27 percent higher FPS. However, in games like BF3 when I get 42 fps (on auto) at stock clock and then get 53fps (on auto) at gaming clocks that is almost a 27 percent increase. Comparing to a card thats "supposed" to be a 30-40 percent increase, now is more like a 3 to 13 percent increase. And until a person gets the new machine in front of them and does some quality testing this is all speculation. What I know for fact is that I can game all day at 750/1080 without issue or overheating.