Advice on R1 vs R2?

I'm an R1 owner and my friend is thinking of buying an M11x, but wants to go with an i5 instead of a C2D. I remember reading that the R2 processor & optimus optimization on the R2 caused a lot of problems, leaving some games running worse than the R1 w/ C2D and some unplayable (Starcraft 2 etc.).

It's been awhile since I've done any research on the M11x R2, so I'm wondering - have Dell / Intel / Nvidia released any drivers or updates since the R2's release that have improved performance or anything? Is the R1 still the more reliable choice or is the R2 finally showing strengths over the R1? What advice would you give to someone interested in an M11x who is deciding between C2D and i5?

 

either get r1 with su7300 or get r2 with i7. Optimus is no longer and issue just set it up correctly and update to the latest drivers and update your whitelist and you are all done. I have a r2 and have no issues with the games that i play on it.

 

My advice, get the m15x with the 5850.. With even the base I3 processor its going to beat us by a mile. Try to get a discount and you might be able to get it around the 1199-1249 area.

Best wishes, StevenX

 

My personal opinion: I don't see much advantage in getting the R2. They (R1 and R2) are basically the same machine, except that R2 doesn't come with a vga port and has a slightly better cpu, which doesn't justify the bigger price. That is, R2 is not more "future proofing" than the R1 and will not deliver that much more processing power. And I still think that manual switching between gpus is a better solution than automatic switching. Anymay, it is only my personal conclusions.

 

Since I bought it in June, I've used my R1 every day. I actually prefer the discrete graphics switching; I'm sure Optimus is nice if it worked flawlessly across all games, but I like having the control.

Also, I haven't found a game that this thing doesn't run on medium/high settings. Just a fantastic machine.

 

Yes we have new R2 drivers from Dell and also NVIDIA (with the in hack).

 

There are still issues using optimus with any drivers so far. Check the PB threads.

 

Have they at least fixed it so you R2 guys can switch graphics manually if you want?

 

You can set it so Windows Explorer engages the nvidia to force it always on.

The main future proofing in the r2 comes from the fact that it can take nvidia drivers straight, whereas the r1 drivers have to be combined by Dell to work with the switching feature.

This means the r2 driver support is much more responsive and adaptable. For example FF11 (not 14) has had a terrible problem due to its old DX7 architecture with the 335m. Nvidia driver support has been poor, 5~ months without a fix, but the fix is slated to come out this week. r1 users have to also wait until Dell incorporates this fix into a hybrid driver.

 

@Gredival - Or for the R1 owners you can set your Display to Discrete and use almost ANY nvidia driver with a modified INI file. This includes dell, windows (ms) updated, WHQL, HP, Acer, Asus, Emachine, etc.. etc... etc... A lot of drivers now just have the 335mGT included in the support list and you dont even have to modify them anymore. Example 258.96 (native from nvidia)

Bw, StevenX

 

No such thing as future proof in computers But I know what you're saying, I just happen to disagree. i7 model is marginally better then c2d, they both have the same GPU's. A year from now neither will be considered to be competitive for modern gaming (year and a half tops) Don't get me wrong, both are very nice machines. I really miss the aesthetics of the R-2 soft touch model, but performance wise I really don't notice any difference (I had the R-2 model before returning and buying the R-1). This whole future proofing thing that keeps coming up drives me bonkers, both are almost the same machines in terms of performance (25% for R-2 cpu at best, and I can count on one hand the times I've used my laptop anywhere near 100% CPU usage). If you like Optimus get the R-2, if you like manually controlling your switching (and better battery) get R-1. Neither is what I would consider future proof machines atm. I'd consider it future proof if it could last 3 years playing games (even at low settings), I know my desktop will last that long or longer, that's future proof, a year from now there will be games that will not run on a M11x (to playable levels on low settings)

 

Those of you who think i7 is roughly the same as C2D obviously have never tried PS2 emulation on the M11x. With the SU7300, I was getting 30-40fps in Persona 4, while with the i7, I was getting 50-60fps, which is basically stutter-free. Even my Thinkpad X200 with P8400 was having problems with running the game at full speed, and settles for around 45fps. I also work with large summations in matlab (think summations with 100,000 terms, each term involves an array of 1000 values), and my i7 was blazing through it in just 5 minutes.
I had both at one point, but decided to keep the R2 for above reasons.
So basically, if you do CPU intensive tasks often, there's no better option than the Core i series, otherwise go with the Core 2 Duo.

 

Completely agree with what you are saying there. That said generally speaking the differences even with CPU intensive tasks are not what I would call huge. If you're doing anything that requires alot of CPU power you aren't going to be using the m11x.

But like you said it definitely is the better option for such tasks.

To be honest I would have the R-2 any day if I had the option to manually switch. But for me the CON (optimus) outweighs the PRO (increased CPU, Terrific look/feel of the soft touch black). But that's a personal choice (that a lot of people agree with, and a lot disagree with). It comes down to what's most important to you. Usually I'm all about the latest greatest technologies, but for some reason the Optimus thing annoys me too much

 

Doesn't that kill integrated graphics? Could be a big issue from some users -- part of the point of this laptop is the portability, which I assume sometimes is used for things other than intensive gaming.

 

@Gredival - yes, it removes integrated graphics (hd 4500) when you switch to discrete graphics.

StevenX

 

You guys could always get an actual gaming desktop or an x15-17 if you want a real gaming computer. I'm completely ok that I can't play games at super high but it'll run (mostly) everything on medium. It's a beast of a laptop but it's still a laptop.

 

Agree with you, i've got R1 for portability(up to 8hours battery life) and some games like SC2 that runs great.
I choose R1 because:
- price
- battery life
- manual switching

No need for heavy CPU usage, i had a netbook with Intel atom and the c2d is so much better.