M15X Questions....

Been looking at the M17X, but the size, delays in shipping, price, make it a lot to handle. Therefore been checking out the M15X...

1) Does the extreme processor compare to the sandy bridge i7s? How about the i7 740QM?

2) Is the 9 cell required battery huge and sticking out of the back of the M15x?

3) How heavy is the M15x?

4) Is the video card enough for gaming? Is it Dx10? Dx11? 1024 MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5730

5) How are ship times? Can I expect it in a week if I use overnight shipping?

6) I may skip SSD...can I add one later and how easy or hard is it? (better than the Dell version)

7) With the 1080P screen, how do owners like it?

8) Any hope of discounts since its been out a while?

9) Is a NEW M15x update coming soon?

 

I will answer what I can...

Not sure about questions 1 or 2...as for #3, the m15x is hefty..around 10 or 11 pounds depending on battery size. For question 4, You won't want the 5730 for any real gaming. I have the 5850 and it easily clocks up to 5870 speed although not an exact match as far as abilities, but I play everything at high detail at native resolution. No real experience with Dx11 titles. As for question 5, you'll have to ask Dell/Alienware. I would expect a 2 week wait (at least) for any new custom Alienware system. For the new rev 3 m17x systems, you'll wait more than a month. Haven't added a SSD, but can't imagine that it would be any harder than it would be for any other system. For question 7, I have a beautiful 1080p LG screen in mine and it's the nicest screen I've ever owned. Good luck with question 8 as far as a discount. If anything, the m15x seems to be more expensive when coming from Dell. No new m15x from what I've heard. Appears the m14x and m18x will be the new Alienware offerings this year.

 

1) If you overclock an i7 Extreme, then you will be able to get on par with the new sandy bridge processors or even beat them.

2) Not really but good for cooling since it tilts your laptop a bit.

3) It is heavy but its movable. I would say around 9-10 LBS

4)I have a 5850 which is more powerful than 5730. Its really good for gaming and it is overclockable too. It is DX11.

5) Depends on your location (Country, City etc)

6) Its so easy that even a monkey can do it .

7) I have 900p but 1080p will give you more screen real estate, will bring down a few FPS during gaming if you select 1920x1080.

8) They always have $100-$250 on Dell Canada and the US site. Not sure about other countries. Better to order on phone to get a better deal (may not always work though).

9) M17x-R3 is the M15x successor and the M15x will be discontinued soon so no new updates. Any new updates will be the newer hardware like a GPU (possibly) or SSD or RAM you install yourself. Other than that, nothing.

 

1) In benchmarks an overclocked 920xm (3.2 GHz on all cores) is about the same as a 2720QM (as far as I remember) The 920/40xm are great processors, but don't get them from Dell, unless you money isn't an issue. Most of the users here got it from ebay or similar.

2)Yeah it's sticking out, but that also gives you a better airflow beneath the laptop which leads to cooler temps. (You can achieve the same effect when lifting the system a bit with a book or similar)

3) Hmm, about 4.5 kg I guess.

4) 5730 is the only one available at the US site atm, afaik, but the card isn't really great, it's the weakest (or second weakest card) which the M15x ever had as option. I'd recommend upgrading it yourself to a 5850m, or even a 6970m (inofficial, but that would be the most powerful option atm) or a Nvidia 460m if you're more the nvidia type.

5)No idea, where are you located?

6)It's really easy to add one later.

7)GREAT!!! Best 15.6 inch screen I've ever seen in a notebook.

8)Order by phone and talk to the rep... they usually give you rebate if you haggle a bit. (Hope that's the word^^)

9)No, it seems the M15x is at the end of it's life... I guess the M17x r3 is the successor... The M14x (a bit weaker as the M15x as it seems) and the M18x (a real beast) are just about to be released.


- However, the M15x is still a great system imo, and highly upgradable!! And there's a great community

 

From what I've heard here on the forum, the 740qm is a decent processor, if you are just gaming you should be more than fine since most games are gpu-dependant. This brings me to the hd5730, which is a pretty ty card compared to the other cards offered (hd5850 and gtx460). If you are going to play heavy dx11 games like metro2033 that card will not suffice(my 5850 ran it decently on almost highest settings). The 9-cell sticks out a bit, about 2 cm. It sticks out of the bottom, not the back.
Shiptimes vary, ask the sales rep.
The 1080 screen is nice. Im really loving it.
You can always haggle to get discounts, but it all comes down to the sales-rep working for you.
You can skip the ssd, its pretty easy to install a new hdd.

I would go for the m17x r3 with the HD6970 and sandy bridge, or wait for the m18x.

Hope this clears things up for you

 

I wouldn't let the waiting time put you off get the m17X.the M15x is great but old tech now.
1:The extreme proc is slower than the sandy bridge at stock clocks but with throttle stop can run faster.
2:the battery lifts the laptop up at the back and actually helps air get to the fans (the reason i got 9 cell).
3: was answered in above post
4:the 5730 isnt a great card though the 5850 is really good,can max crysis 2 with a few tweaks and over clocks great.you can get more power from a M17X.
5:Not sure about ship times.
6:you can add a SSD later and easy to find,and it would depend what SSD you bought if it was to be better than the dell one or not.
7:The 1080p screen is really nice imo haven't seen the 900p screen to compare though.
8:not sure about discounts.
9:the update to the M15X is the M17Xr3

LOL there was only one post when i started to type my answer

 

thanks for all the info...It sounds like the new M17X is actually lighter than the M15x...which is a selling point. I'm going to price them both out again.

Seems like you guys are all pointing to the M17X R3...My issue there was 3D or not to 3D.

 

Did you ever play with 3D? I'm definitely not going into 3D until there's a glasses free option... and this will take at least 1-2 more years, probably more.

 

I think 3D in a laptop with a single GPU is just asking for poor frame rates Also you would need the 460m nvidia card for the 3D where you could get the non 3D ati 6970m which is more powerfull.

 

Alienware M15x, Cosmic Black
Genuine Windows® 7 Ultimate, 64bit, Englis
Intel® Core™ i7 740QM Quad Core Processor, 1.73GHz (2.93GHz Turbo Mode, 6M Cache
6GB Memory (1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DDR3)
15.6-inch WideFHD 1920x1080 (1080p) WLED
1024 MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5730
500GB SATAII 7,200RPM
Blu Ray reader etc
Internal Bluetooth 2.1 Mini-Card - 2.1 Enhanced Data Rate

How does that look? I don't ever think I'll "game" on a laptop, but for a good fast system for everything else...This would be great for movies, music, video editing...etc

Its replacing a macbook pro 15" core 2 duo, 256gb geforce ard, 5400 rpm drive,1440x 900 screen...would be a monster compared to that and that mac runs fast.

 

i know Alienware is cool looks great and is great but why a gaming laptop you wont game on...and the card really is weak but i guess if your not gaming it wont matter ...What are you using it for btw?

 

General use really..but I like power laptops.

M15X
M17X R3
Macbook Pro 17"

down to three

 

If you care about the video card I'd say don't get an Apple... the M15x is offcially available with the AMD 5850m and Nvidia 460m, both better than what Apple offers, and if you wanna go big, put a 6970m in the system

That's the great thing about the M15x, it's actually pretty upgradable.

But you really need to know for what task you really need the notebook... Alienware isn't necessarily the best choice... neither is Apple, it really depends on what you plan to do with it.

 

Erm well, I am one of those non gamers (I studiy in the U, unfortunately I lack time for gaming) who bought an alienware
I did overkill with CF 5870 for websurfing, but the machine have been great and I have never regretted it.

If you like the design, get the alienware

 

the design is what I like about the AW, more than the apple.

 

When I went over the 2299 mark on the M15x with extreme proc it keyed in the 15% off...so I can LOAD it for 2600.

 

Order by phone and you should probably be able to get more off.

 

3k delivered overnight...possible option.

940XM extreme edition
Win 7 Ultimate
6GB DDR3
1080P WLED
500gb 7200rpm
ATI 5730 1 GB gfx
blu ray
upgraded wifi card
blu tooth
1 year warranty

not terrible tax and delivery included...loaded up.

What do you guys think? Also this thing should ship fairly quick on overnight...and its an M15x and I doubt many people order the EE i7.

 

Nice, expect the GPU... you really want to have a 5850 or 460m in such a high-end system.

If it's not available on the Dell site atm try calling them, or call them after you get your system. Or upgrade it yourself afterwards, it's pretty easy.

 

Its $2600 delivered if I take out the extreme proc and add the 256 SSD drive...


I doubt they would add a higher end card if its not on the website..


The 1GB ATI card isn't shabby at all...Im sure it would game.

 

It's not shabby. It's a piece of crap. It's kind of like converting your Ferrari to run on electricity or putting blanks in your Desert Eagle .50

 

Ah it is never about video memory. I for one have never seen my GPU memory usage go any higher than 500mb. You should definitely call them up, Dell have been known to withhold options from their website. Might be worth it, and you can haggle to get your price down.

 

Has anyone ordered it with better cards direct from dell?

 

I think I have read a few customers have had parts not offered on the website. But it doesn't hurt to try and get the price down, save a few bucks then buy the better GPU else where.

 

Yes, of course... most people did so, but Dell recently removed the other cards from the site.

 

You're totally right!! (Expect for some poorly coded games like GTA IV which need more than 1.5 GB at maxed out settings, hahahaha, crazy!)

 

Actually, I have GTA4 and if you use the nomemrestrict and norestriction commands, you can select as high maxed out options as you like. Checking video memory usage, still not even near half, even with modded textures, so video memory accounts for nothing.

 

Don't know what inspired Dell to offer the M15x with that card. Some kind of practical joke gone wrong perhaps? It's like the 240M they were offering as an alternative to the 260M when the system was first released. Granted the 260M is a very weak card by todays standards but even so, at the time is was just a pointless downgrade.

 

Ok... nice to know. That's only what' I've seen at the G73 of a buddy... dunno, maybe it reported it wrong or something else was f'ed up... Whatever, you're totally right, 1 GB is more than enough for most games... and more vram is mostly marketing as people still tend to judge GPUs by the amount of vram... Haha, my 2GB GDDR5 6970m... way overkill regarding the vram.

 

Overkill in virtually every way, not just the vram! You lucky guy!!!

*WANT ONE!*

 

Well he's not the only lucky one. A user here by the name of ichime managed to acquire a ES 6970m with 1120 shaders instead of 960. Now that is lucky! Aaaargh I want it!

 

Well how the $%*& did that happen?! Does he have "friends in high places" or did ATI balls up and let it escape into the market?

 

Yeah as far as we know he is the only one. There has been a thread in the Sager forums in which Eurocom were shipping ES GPUs with their laptops but I'm not sure how he got his hands on one.

 

I didn't realise companies actually sold ES hardware. Thought it was only for prototype purposes. That's pretty freakin' cool. Now I want one.

*Sigh*

Everytime I set my sights on a nice upgrade something comes along and makes it seem inferior... Is there no end to this torture?

 

Welcome to the computing world. Actually manufactures aren't allowed to sell ES stuff that's why there was a big cerfuffle. Anyways we're going off point, @OP the point we are getting at is that you shouldn't settle with the 5730, it isn't up to the alienware standard I'm afraid.

 

Yup, that's it in a nutshell.

...Unless its an ES 5730!!!!!!

 

i got the nvidia gtx 460m 1.5gb with my m15x just before the option was taken off the site

 

I wonder if I'm better off loaded an XPS 15 to the max...

 

XPS 15
2720QM
6GB DDR3
backlit keyboard
1080P LCD B+RGLED TL
nvidia 2GB 540M
750gb 7200rpm
blu ray reader
JBL speakers plus xfi
mcafree 15 months
upgraded wireless wifi
2 year advanced warranty
recovery DVD
netgear push 2 TV reciever
1800 shipped overnight taxes included...

 

Unless I'm mistaken that GPU is even weaker than the 5730.

 

No, you're mistaken about that, Laxxi. The 2720 is a new Sandy Bridge processor capable of about the same speed as a heavily o/c'ed 920-940xm. It a bear of a CPU.

Edit: Sorry, I misread your post, thought you were talking about the CPU rather that the GPU. I know nothing about 540M? GPU.

 

For real, I think you'd be better off with the M17x R3 as it is the same size chassis with a bigger screen and it is upgradable. With the xps 15, you're basically stuck with that.

 

Yeah I mean the GT 540M.

I know you know I'm an idiot Rev, but even I know how much better those Sandy Bridge CPU's are.

 

I do know that. I need to pay closer attention to what I'm doing. Distracted by the Celtics game.

 

How about refurb M15x..seems to be a ton in the outlet... I had a refurb dell years ago it was perfect...

 

Just get the M15x with the specs you want minus the GPU upgrade and put the 5850 in yourself. It's the best solution to the dilemma you seem to be having.

 

i got the m15x with all options except ssd hardrive and 940xm as the prices didnt seem worth the upgrade and at time only gpu available was ati 5730 and nvidia gtx 460 so obvious which was better option

 

They all have the 5850 in them refurbs looks like...can get it with the 940 processor SSD blu ray etc for 2300...seems like a good 800-900 off if not more.

 

Yeah seems like a pretty decent deal but to be honest, with that money you can get a M17x R3 with a 6970 and SSD and an i7 the same speed as a 940 with half the power bill

 

They are also running 450 off coupon on the M15x over 1600....could get it for 1200 with good options.