M18x Pre-Order Configuration Questions... Ask HERE

thats awesome i wish i could get 20% off ;(
not that far from your price that im looking at

 

Okay, I have a question about my future purchase from HID. Money is tight, yet I want to buy an M18x. I plan to us it for:

Internet use--lots of torrenting ;
Photoshop work--I run a graphics design company; and,
The most intense gaming imaginable.

I'd like to keep it around $4500--told bro' that's how much he had to co-sign for. So far I have:

Processor: Intel i7-2820QM. (From what I've heard the 2920XM isn't worth it.)
Thermal Paste: Stock. (I'll thermal it myself; any recommendations on what to use?)
Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium. (I won't need anything more than what comes with Home Premium unless I'm doing network/server work.)
Video Card: nVIDIA GTX 580M SLI.
Memory: Kingston HyperX 8GB 1600MHz.
Hard Drive: Intel 510 250GB SSD.
Internal Optical Drive: Blu-Ray Reader. (I'm never going to burn anything for anybody, not even myself; though, I will watch a butt-load of BD's.)
Wireless Card: Intel Advanced-N 6200. (I'm curious as to what the more expensive wireless cards get you. I'm within 20 ft. of my router at all times so I don't know if I'd need anything more powerful. Could someone fill me in?)
Wireless HD: None. (Wireless HD won't ever be used.)
Sound Options: Stock. (The Sound Blaster sound option I hear is crap and interferes with other programs.)
Warranty And Service: None.
Office Software: None. (As for the MSO, I'll deal with that myself .)
Security Software: None. (I'll use Microsoft's AntiVirus. I hear it's pretty good considering it's free.)

Total: 4,599.00.

Not bad. Should I lower anything else?

 

i think you want to hold off and save some money
6990's are releasing if you want amd, for price they selling it doesnt look to bad

 

vampirfuerzt- Before you purchase from HIDevolution you should PM Aikimox from Fortnax as he will give you personalized service: http://forum.notebookreview.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=235434, Canada Gaming Notebook | Alienware Gaming Notebook | Canada Gaming Laptop | Canada Alienware |. Let me know how it goes as I will be ordering towards the end of the year (still building the bank). Good luck

 

This is the price that rang up for me. I ordered it asap. looked good with new 6990 cards.



Quantity Item Number Description

1 225-0887 Alienware M18x Space Black Anodized Aluminum
1 317-6855 Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
1 317-6849 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
1 331-2428 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
1 320-2269 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
1 320-2796 Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
1 342-2628 750GB 7,200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
1 421-5789 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
1 318-0842 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner, DVD+-RW, CD-RW
1 421-1305 Roxio Creator Starter
1 318-0770 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
1 320-2320 Intel Advanced-N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology
1 469-0549 Bluetooth 3.0
1 953-9080 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
1 953-9100 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 950-3337 1 Year Limited Warranty
1 950-9797 No Warranty, Year 2 and 3
1 421-1723 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
1 994-3730 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed


Order Subtotal: $2,249.30
Shipping and Handling Total: $9.00
Shipping Discount: -$9.00
Tax Total: $185.57
Total Amount: $2,434.8

 

Great price! PM sent.

 

I wanna go with nVIDIA on this one. Even if it's going to cost me a hurt-load more. Today I just miraculously started working full-time, so money issues just went outa' the window (right after I just made that long post, too).

Curiouser and curiouser. What do you mean by "personalized service?"

 

Aikimox will be the one doing the repaste himself. For $60 he will repaste both the CPU and GPU.

 

I guess it's good to know exactly who is doing the job. I'll give him a try.

 

You should get the minimum RAM and buy 16M of RAM aftermarket. Aftermarket RAM is cheaper and Photoshop is a RAM hog.

 

Finally my time to order has arrived

But...

i am from mexico, but im planning to buy it from Dell US
I want them to deliver to a friend that lives in Seattle
But here s the thing, he will leave the 1 Aug

my preliminary ship date is Jul 28 2011
I will buy the Next Business Day

So my questions are these:

-Do you think the m18x will be delivered in time to my friend in Seattle?
-Can i upgrade the warranty later?




Processor:
Intel® Core™ i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (3.3GHz w/Turbo Boost, 6MB Cache)
Operating System:
Genuine Windows® 7 Professional, 64bit
Memory:
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
Video Card:
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX D6990M
Hard Drive:
320GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Display Panel:
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Wireless and Bluetooth:
Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 3.0
Optical Drive:
Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound:
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
System Color:
Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Hardware Support Services:
1 Year Advanced Plan

 

DCr ,,, I would say yes ...

I was originally given a ship date like 25 days out, but got my system in 10 days.

Dell seems to build in considerable delay into their ship/delivery dates.

however ... there is no way to be SURE ... it will be a nail biter

 

Upgrading your warranty later is silly, they'll mark up the price something like 300%?

 

YEAH, get the warranty at purchase time to save money (you can haggle it down as well).
If you buy it after... the price really increases (ie.. I was quoted a ~$500 price to extend a warranty with cc, nbd etc.. for 2 more years)

D.

 

How the bloody hell did you get it that cheap?
I try that same config and it come out to around 3,000.

 

I am finally ready to place my order. I have exactly 2600 dollars to spend. This computer’s only purpose in life will be to play the latest games on the go. Here is the configuration I have come up with:

System Color Space Black Anodized Aluminum
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Processor Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
Memory 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
A/C Adapter Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
Display Panel 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
Video Card Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
Hard Drive 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Nameplate Personalized Plate (XXXXXXX)
AlienFX Mars Red
Adobe Reader Acrobat SW Adobe Acrobat X Reader
Optical Drive Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner (DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Sound Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
Wireless and Bluetooth Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video and Bluetooth 3.0
Hardware Support Services 1 Year Basic Plan
Your Tech Team 1 Year North American Phone Support by Your Tech Team
Pre-Installed Software Steam and Portal™ Factory Installed
Pre-Installed Software World of Warcraft Preinstall Edition
Pre-Installed Software Eve Online, Factory Installed
OS Customization Alienhead Chrome Blue
Standard Nameplate Trigger Thank you for Purchasing Alienware
TOTAL AFTER TAXES: $2,599.50

I do plan on adding an SSD and my own memory later. I also hope Dell will extend a deal on warranty so I can get four years for what they would charge me initially. Please let me know what you think and if I should change anything while staying under budget.

 

Well. I bit the bullet. Thanks to everyone that helped out with the "how to get the discounts".

Confit is in my sig. It came up to 3237 cause I got a new headset and the 3 year advanced. The did misspell my nameplate and I did call.

I do have the nameplate of my M15x that I can use. Should I cancel or take it and try and get free stuff - greedy I know ^_^ ?

 

I have a M18x being built with if interested contact me I would sell for 4700(need a car)
1 225-0887 Alienware M18x Space Black Anodized Aluminum
1 317-6853 Intel Core i7 2920XM, Quad Core Extreme, 2.5GHz(3.5GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
1 317-6849 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
1 331-2428 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
1 320-2269 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
1 320-2318 Dual 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M NVIDIA SLI Enabled
1 342-2626 320GB 7,200RPM HDD
1 330-6106 Personalized Nameplate Trigger
1 331-2426 Custom Nameplate
1 313-8792 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
1 421-5099 Alienware Command Center, M18X
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 420-9956 PC Restore
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-5789 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
1 410-0548 Adobe Acrobat Reader
1 318-0842 Slot-Load Dual Layer DVD Burner, DVD+-RW, CD-RW
1 421-1305 Roxio Creator Starter
1 318-0770 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
1 320-2320 Intel Advanced-N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology
1 469-0549 Bluetooth 3.0
1 953-9090 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Extended Year(s)
1 953-9080 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
1 953-9150 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 3 Year Extended
1 953-9100 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 950-7447 4 Year Limited Warranty
1 990-4653 Accidental Damage Service, 4 Years
1 421-1719 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
1 421-1724 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
1 990-4683 Warranty Support, 3 Year Extended
1 994-3730 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
1 421-2965 EVE-Online, English, German, Russian
1 421-1585 Alien Schematic
1 421-1595 Alien Schematic
1 430-4141 Internal 60GHz WirelessHD Transmitter

 

You should post this in the market place Just make sure you follow the rules or it will get removed instantly.

 

I wanted to order this

1. Intel 2720QM
2. 8GB DDR3 1333
3. 500 GB Hybrid SSD x 2
4. AMD 6990M Crossfire

Rest all default. Will this setup last for atleast the next three years for gaming on atleast 1680 x 1050

I am planning on getting it today.

 

Buy the RAM and hard drives after market. I would recommend 1 pure SSD for OS, games and frequently used apps, and a larger regular hard drive for media files and extra storage. The cost will be similar with much better performance.

 

are those hybrid drives easy to get or are they unique only made by 1 manufacturer ?
think im gonna place a SSD and 1 hybrid in my m18x at some given point when i got the money

 

Great info in the thread, I actually called my rep back in the two hour window to make a couple of changes to my configuration based on recommendations here.

Final config:

1 225-0888 Alienware M18x - Nebula Red Anodized Aluminum
1 317-6852 Intel Core i7 2920XM Overclocked Turbo Boost to 4.0GHz (8MB Cache)
1 317-6850 6GB DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
1 331-2428 Alienware M18x 330W A/C Adapter
1 320-2269 18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
1 320-2796 Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
1 342-2628 750GB 7,200RPM SATA 3Gb/s
1 330-6106 Personalized Nameplate Trigger
1 331-2426 Custom Nameplate
1 313-8792 AlienFX Color, Quasar Blue
1 421-5099 Alienware Command Center, M18X
1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp
1 420-9956 PC Restore
1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG
1 421-5789 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit Service Pack 1, English, w/Media
1 410-0548 Adobe Acrobat Reader
1 421-4838 Roxio Creator 2011, Upsell
1 318-0843 Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader, BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW
1 318-0770 Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio
1 430-4332 Killer Wireless-N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming and Video
1 469-0549 Bluetooth 3.0
1 953-9090 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Extended Year(s)
1 953-9080 Dell Hardware Warranty Plus On-Site Service, Initial Year
1 953-9140 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, 2 Year Extended
1 953-9100 Third Party At Home Service, 24x7 Technical Support, Initial Year
1 950-3339 3 Year Limited Warranty
1 993-8552 Accidental Damage Service, 3 Years
1 421-1719 Soft Contracts Consumer Accidental Damage Agreement for Alienware
1 421-1723 Soft Contracts Dell In-Home Hardware Agreement for Alienware
1 993-8582 Warranty Support, 2 Year Extended
1 994-3730 Warranty Support, Initial Year
1 430-4141 Internal 60GHz WirelessHD Transmitter
1 421-1360 Steam and Portal Factory Installed
1 330-5090 Thank You for Purchasing AlienWare

 

Prodigal- Great specs on your M18. Hope the 25% helped. I know I would not have been able to get the max config without it. Good Luck

 

Hey, just to be sure, is there any advantage to having Microsoft Office pre-installed on the M18x rather than buying and installing it myself for $40 less? Other than the reduced risk of paper cuts, of course.

 

No advantage at all ...

 

Going to be asking for a loan on Friday for an awesomely decked-out M18x, wish me luck.

 

Hey man..
New to this site..

Live all the way on the other side of the world in Dubai.. Gonna be getting an m18x through a friend of mine in Canada and i got alot of questions before i get that gorgeous machine..

This is the configuration i was considering.. tell me if you guys i shud change something .

Core i7 2920 factory overclocked
8 GB RAm
320 GB 7200
Dual 2 GB AMD Radeon 6990 AMD crossfire

For the mind boggling questions that keep up late in the night..
1) Will the Factory overclocked processor reduce the life of my laptop? what are the cons?
2) does it matter that im choosing such a small hard drive like 320 gb, dont want bigger cos i have loads of externals.
3) Is the Ram ive chosen enough, 8 Gb to let our three powerhouses work at best performance.. ( core i7 + 2 AMD cards )

THanks alot man..

- One step closer to the dream

-Alienware obsessed motherf****r

 

Buy your own hard drive(s) and memory from elsewhere... it's soooo much cheaper. If you're tech savvy enough you can get the basic cpu and grab an ES 2920xm off of ebay in the $300 range. I understand wanting to have something like that covered under the factory warranty tho. Those 6990's should do you well for quite some time to come.
Crucial M4 256gb SSD
Crucial M4 128gb SSD
Intel 510 120gb SSD
Intel 510 250gb SSD
Kingston HyperX 1866mhz DDR3 8GB kit

 

I agree with Rossi for the most part.

But your CPU will not affect the life of your system, or it shouldn't anyway. Although you should get the advanced warrenty while yur at it, its international so you shuldn't have a problem.

Get aftermarket RAM, and an SSD to put in that system and you are running the best of the best ...

 

Okay, I'm finally ready to order my M18x. One last question for you guys though.

What's better:

*2820qm CPU with a 256GB SSD (Crucial M4) and 16GB of 1866MHz HyperX RAM

or

*2920xm CPU with a 128GB SSD and 8GB of 1866MHz RAM

They work out to about the same. I know this is a ton of RAM, but I'd like to future-proof this system for at least a couple of years. Also, because I'm looking for longevity, I probably won't be doing that much OC'ing.

Thanks.

 

yeah, man) that's what everybody say about OC'ing, you'll do it later on. may be in a few months or in a year and love it! I'd prefer 2nd config!

1. xtreme CPU is more future proof, after OC (which is very easy, there are tons of guides) the performnce will be similar to next gen Ivy bridge CPU's (stated to be 20% faster than Sandy Bridge).

2. 128Gb SSD is enough for OS + main programs + games, buy 750Gb HDD for storage.

3. Also, no need for 16Gb Super speed RAM, unless you make money dealing with photo/video editing or running several virtual machines on one laptop. I, personally, own 8Gb 1866Mhz ram and couldn't be happier)

By 2013, you could opt for 2960xm CPU + 8Gb of 2133 RAM + 2x256Gb SSD's Raid 0 + 2xNvidia/AMD 28nm GPU's which lasts for another few years!!!

 

Nice, thanks!

Now all I need to do is de-code the chatter in the benchmark forum.

Late last night it looked like the 580m's had pulled ahead, but now it seems the 6990m CF config is 10% better on the mark11 and the 580m SLI is 8% better on vantage, although there's only one 580m SLI benchmark in that sample so far. Still no in-game FPS benchmarks, unfortunately. Which of these tests is more representative of actual gameplay performance?

 

you know, you have to mainly check the GPU score and for the record:

6990M - Vantage "23000"
3dmark11 "6500"

580M - Vantage "24500"
3dmark11 "6100"

But the thing is, that benchmarks do not show the actual gameplay, there will be games that run better on AMD or Nvidia cards. You can't go wrong with either choice for the next 6 months... According to OC potential, 6990M can make up to 20% more speed and 580M while it has more optimized core - 25-30% increase)

I personally never used SLI/CF setups on notebooks before, this is the first time. But according to the feedbacks i'd go for 580M sli setup if money isn't an issue. Of course, there's no denying the fact that 6990M CF is the BEST price/performance choice for now, but i don't want my idle tems to reach 60C on lite load and have other minor bugs such as windows aero problems, no full screen windows etc... not on a $3K+ laptop.

 

Check out this Crysis 2 OC session for single 580M running on a Sager NP8150!

 

awesome, thanks! how do you rep +1? i'm still relatively new to this. [edit: I figured it out]

also, is wireless HD good for anything other than watching Netflix on your TV without a cord?

 

I see this laptop comes with up to 32 GB or RAM.

I would like to ask, if you do a lot of Full HD video editing with very large file sizes, would getting 32GB RAM over the higher clocking 16GB RAM make a massive difference?

Also there is a massive difference in price between the two video cards ATI and Nvidia but I am at a loss about the difference and whether it is worth paying so much extra for the Nvidia considering my main goal of this would be to drastically cut the rendering time of HD videos I do.

Thanks.

 

6990m and 580m are pretty close in performance. If money is not a factor then choose whatever company you personally favor. As far as ram goes, for the price that Alienware would charge for 32GB you could buy it off of newegg and have enough money leftover for an SSD as well

 

Thanks Nicholaus.rossi. I had considered buying the RAM from elsewhere, because as you say the amount Dell want is mindblowing. Would the performance difference with 32GB Ram when rendering HD video be worth the extra investment whether from newegg or elsewhere?

 

Finally ready to order. I've decided to go for a 2820qm, not going to be doing much overclocking (famous last words, I know ).

The configuration is below. I'm trying to figure out whether it's better to order from a) HiDevolution, b) Fortnax, c) Dell, and then just do the IC Diamond repaste, RAM and hard drive upgrades myself, though I do like the fact that re-sellers check to make sure everything's working before they send machine along to you.

The way the greenback's been trading against the Canadian dollar lately I imagine that Fortnax will end up being pricier, but I'm not sure.

I was hoping to pay no more than $4,500 (USD). Is this reasonable?


Here are all the non-zero $ items in the config:

M18x

Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)

Dual 2GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 580M GPU in SLI Mode

2 Year Advanced Service Plan

Killer™ Wireles s -N 1103 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO for Gaming & Video

Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader
(BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Crucial M4 256GB SATA III SSD

2nd Hard Drive 750GB 7200RPM SATA 3Gb/s drive

Kingston HyperX 16GB DDR3 1866MHz

IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU


Thanks!

 

I would say thats a pretty awesome rig, and you should be able to get it for that price or Under. I can't Speak for HID but Fortnax as represented here by Aikimox is top notch. Aikimox is one of the most outstanding contributors here on the forums and is a very honest and knowledgable guy, I would PM him or contact him through the Fortnax Website....

I know they do IC diamond as well for a good price, and they know what they are about.

 

He quoted me $4,800 CA, which comes to $5,024 USD. HiD's a bit lower but it looks like I'm going to take my chances with Dell...

 

How did you get a 25% off? That would really help me , since I am getting taxed alot sending it to my country after ordering it from the US.

 

There was a "Hot Summer Savings" promotion from Dell for certain Employee Purchase Program (EPP) members for 25% off, which ended Friday 7/29 From what I've read here only valid in the US.

I called the EPP line and was fortunate to get a CSR that knew what I was talking about and was very helpful.

 

Is 2 years of accidental damage protection worth it? It's my understanding that switching out the GPU or CPU voids the warranty, as does overclocking. At some point I can see myself doing all 3, and though I could always switch back the old GPU/CPU, would they still be able to tell if I'd OC'd my M18x, and if so, is the extra year of protection really worth it?

 

They won't know anything you don't tell them. As for warranty it's cheaper to get the most warranty possible at the time of purchase

 

I would definitely get the Crucial C-300 rather than the M4. I had both and the C-300 was faster read and wite times. Just upgrade firmware to 0007.

 

Hello all. New to these parts. Been looking at a M18x for a while now and I am ready to order. A few of noobish questions....

1. Any current discounts I should be aware of? I have a 2% EPP via work but are there any better options?
2. Should I order online or call a agent to order? Are there any benefits to either option?
3. Can I add a (oem) internal blue ray drive at a later date (after I take delivery that is)? (I assume "yes" but I am no expert in notebook internals.)
4. Are there any benchmarks comparing the 580 sli option vs the 6990m cf option?
5. Are Alienware systems qualified for the free Xbox 360 offer?

That is all. Thanks and hope this is the right thread for these questions.

 

1) and 2) Please go to the alienware thread and check the How to Save money thread within.
-I would say you should settle for nothing less than a 10% discount. You build a system online, then call an agent and negotiate. Read the thread, good stuff there.

3. Yes, there is a thread in this forum on this question already
4. Yes, again search the Benchmark thread. Currently its unclear which is best.
5. From what I understand yes they do, however if you negotiate a very good discount, you might not get the xbox from what I hear.


Good luck and best wishes on your order

 

This may already have been asked and answered, but does anyone know if/when the M18x will be available with a 120hz (3D-capable) screen?