Positive & Negatives of the M15x

Hey all,

As a non m15x owner i want to know what you guys would say are the cons and pros of the M15x as im trying to decide whether to buy/build one or not... so things like, Battery life, build quality, CPU quality in today's tasking needs etc...

Thanks all!

 

As much as I love mine, there's zero reason to buy one now. Grab a base P150EM instead.

 

Hmm, i see your point with the m15x's outdated CPU but the p150EM starts at £900 as a maxed spec m15x (7970, 920xm etc.) could be built ground up for cheaper.

Unless theres other laptops around...?

Thanks,

 

The power constraints on the m15x means you need to find a point of equalibrium with the 920xm and 7970m. Due to this, your 920xm won't quite be up to par as a higher-end SB or IB chip. Build quality is fantastic but with the age, unless you already own most of the parts I wouldn't recommend going for a m15x at this time and age.

 

Hmmm so does anyone recommend a laptop like the m15x? i.e: changeable GPU and CPU? thats all i need from a 15" laptop

 

And will be slower, with half the battery life.

This. Cards above the 5850m work, but not without tweaks, overrides and annoyances.

 

okay i understand, but i suppose in some ways its worth it rather than buying a new laptop, but are there any others that will support a different CPU and GPU, except with a newer socket, sandy or ivybridge im not fussed as sandy is still very good,

maybe an m17x r3?

recommendations?!?

 

Where are you looking to buy? E-Bay?

 

Anywhere possible and anywhere cheap, i live in the UK however and not many Sagers or Clevos are sold over here hence the reason they were so expensive for base models on ebay (All being shipped from US)

Thanks for the help btw

 

The m15x is still fine. A 920XM combined with something like a 7970m are great. Maybe with the 8000 series, there won't be as many annoyances.

The build quality of the m15x is great. I think the closest thing to the m15x that's modern would be a m17x-r4. It is bigger but not by too much.

To make a good m15x it would cost you around $1,100 total for a m15x with a 920xm , 8gb of ram, and a 7970m.

An m17x-r4 with the same specs (qm ivy processor, 8gb ram, 7970m) would probably be around $1800.

 

hmmm, currently finding m17x's for £900 (something like $1600) with lower specs but the newer cpu socket will last another 5 years when upgraded to the 3940xm (confirm this is possible?) so may build a m17x r4 ground up?

 

It all depends. The 3940XM should work fine but isn't officially support through alienware. Even the lowest end quad-core in the m17x should be fine. Just get a 680m with the m17x-r4 and you'll be set for awhile.

 

The M15x build quality and look is also superior to the M17x R4. Only the M18x R2 has better build quality this gen.

As for GPU power I can run 775/1350 so far tested with 920xm not causing throttling issues even when overclocked in FC3 (800 mhz ought to possible as well as up to 1400mhz memory, although that might be unnessary). Might not be stock core frequency however still much more powerful than the previous gen.

The next gen of cards will be more power efficient from both nvidia and amd. The M15x will therefore be able to run at least a stock clocked 8970M with memory OC and unlimited 920xm OCing ability.

A good setup methinks considering without even factoring in the probably unlimited memory OC like with 7970M said newer gen will already be around 30% faster.

Also think about the environment, a long serving M15x is waaay greener than a new machine.

Or you can buy the plasticky P150EM and throw it away in a year or so when it breaks. THe pic in my avatar is the W860cu the precursor to the P150EM and the competitor to the M15x. That was already a piece of trash in comparison in terms of build quality.

 

I wouldn't say unlimited overclocking on the m15x. If the cpu is using too much power it will cut the voltage supply to the gpu causing throttling. This even happens with a 260M. You can probably overclock a bit while running an 8970m hopefully.

 

my alienware m15x has been a great computer. I upgraded the gt 240m to a gtx 260m and the processor to an i7 and it's been great. i just bought an i7 920qxm and will be doing the upgrade soon. need to overhaul the computer altogether because there's a ton of cosmetic damage and she no longer looks pretty

 

If you're looking for chassis parts like bottom cover or LCD back cover to replace any cosmetically damaged parts you can contact me or any other alienware rep through a PM. We'll help you place an order for the parts you need.