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    M14x/GT 555M 1.5 GB vs. M15x/Radeion 5850 3DMark 11 Scores

    Discussion in 'Alienware 14 and M14x' started by blackweb, Oct 3, 2011.

  1. blackweb

    blackweb Notebook Guru

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    Alienware M14x

    Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor
    NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M

    P1325 3DMarks

    NVIDIA GeForce GT 555M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-2760QM Processor,Alienware M14xR1 score: P1325 3DMarks

    Alienware M15x

    Intel Core i7-940 Processor
    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850

    P2000 3DMarks

    ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5850 video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-940 Processor,Alienware score: P2000 3DMarks

    Basically, the M15x with a 1 GB Radeon 5850 and a 940XM CPU smoked the M14x with a 1.5 GB GT 555M and a 2760QM CPU. I am glad I got my M15x when I did. I got the M14x as a business laptop, gaming is secondary on it. I can see no issues with the 1.5 GB of ram on the GT 555. It runs Mass Effect fine at default settings and 1600x900. I didnt see any point in spending the extra $$ for 3 GB of VRAM. The SSD however, was a VERY good investment. I am a software developer and I have never seen a laptop load windows so fast or run Visual Studio 2010 so smoothly.
     
    blackweb, Oct 3, 2011
    #1
  2. circuit

    circuit Notebook Evangelist

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    If you overclock the 5850 and processor, you could get 2300 with M15x. I have got that before.
     
    circuit, Oct 3, 2011
    #2
  3. dekka007

    dekka007 Notebook Guru

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    is the extra performance worth the extra size and weight? Or at the end of a day the portability with a overclocked M14x will give similar results to a non over clocked m15
     
    dekka007, Oct 3, 2011
    #3
  4. blackweb

    blackweb Notebook Guru

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    Unfortunately, Dell no longer sellls the M15x. I would be careful with overclocking either one of them. The M14x is much smaller and lighter than the M15x. The M15x is in many ways a desktop replacement.
     
    blackweb, Oct 3, 2011
    #4
  5. killbeagle

    killbeagle Notebook Geek

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    Don't really think so.
    There's a VoltMod Bios around for the M14x where you can basically overclock up to slightly over 2000 points in 3DMark11.
    However, that's really the absolute top without adding a lot of additional cooling support (Notebook Cooler, oben up bottom cover of NB, etc. kinda screwing the portability).
    Also for gaming the Voltmod is not a stable setup anyway (Tryied it and got bluescreens after 5 to 15 minutes in all games I tryed, even with moderate overclocking settings).
    For the M14Xit's limited capacity to get the heat out of it, really is it's ultimate limitation.

    That said, the GPU used in it is still a very decent upper middleclass card playing all new games fluently on medium to high settings, while remaining portible :)
     
    killbeagle, Oct 3, 2011
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  6. blackweb

    blackweb Notebook Guru

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    I still see no reason to go with the GT 555M 3.0 GB over the 1.5 GB other than to pay Dell an extra $100. The 5850 does fine with 1 GB at 1080p. This leads me to believe that the extra 1.5 GB on the GT 555 M is just extra heat-generating, power-sucking fluff.
     
    blackweb, Oct 3, 2011
    #6
  7. killbeagle

    killbeagle Notebook Geek

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    In most cases it is, but there are some exepctions.

    1. At least here in Germany there where quite some Alienware deals that just came with the 3GB version only and where cheaper then a normally configured M14x with the 1,5GB version (That's how and why I got mine). Assumption would be that DEll can't get rid of the 3GB version and hence throws it more likely into deals, in order to get rid of the stock.

    2. There are some games (even older ones) with huge texture packs developed by players aftermarket (e.g. Oblivion). There, 3GB could help as well.

    3. Maybe also for video editing and that kind of stuff. (But then you'd probably go for a totally different GPU solution anyway)
     
    killbeagle, Oct 3, 2011
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  8. blackweb

    blackweb Notebook Guru

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    Like I said, I got my M14x for business/software development use, not gaming. I like that it is good for gaming but its not essential for me. The GT 555M model that would be best would be the GDDR5 version

    GeForce GT 555M

    it provides a significant boost in GPU performance over the DDR3 version.
     
    blackweb, Oct 3, 2011
    #8
  9. blackweb

    blackweb Notebook Guru

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    blackweb, Oct 3, 2011
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