Soon to be M1730 owner has a few questions

I just recently pulled the trigger on a new Dell XPS M1730. The prices were too good to pass up. System specs are:

Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme X9000(2.8GHz/800Mhz FSB/6M L2 Cache)
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz
17 inch UltraSharp TrueLife Wide-screen WUXGA
NVIDIA SLI™ Dual GeForce® 9800M GT 1GB GDDR3
AGEIA PhysX™ 100M Processor
128GB Solid State Drive plus 250GB SATA HD (7200RPM w/ FFS)
Vista Home Premium 64 bit
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965a/g/n Mini Card
Built-in Bluetooth capability (2.0 EDR)
Dell Bluetooth Travel mouse

A few questions. Whats a good laptop cooler that fits this behemoth? Also, does the 3D Mark software come with this laptop by default?

In my browsing of this forum, people seem to be confused by what SLI is or how it works or I am. Each of the 2 cards in this laptop have 1gb each correct? Thanks for any help, tips or advice. Long time lurker just never registered until now.

 

Just make sure to get a good warranty. It's worth it.

 

WOW, nice setup buddy.

You'd have to download 3Dmark, there is a free version.

As for GPU, I think each card have 512mb of memory.

 

Each GPU has 512MB of memory to combine to a total of 1GB of memory.
And 3DMark Software doesn't come with it.
Go to www.futuremark.com and download 3DMark06 or 3DMark Vantage for free. I am guessing you will score near 14,000-15,000 if you overclock your CPU to 3.4Ghz and overclock your GPU's. For GPU overclocking, get Nvidia System Tools 6.03. Make sure you have the latest Ageia drivers as well as video drivers, then run the program.
And for a notebook cooler, hands down the NZXT Cryo LX is the best cooler there is. It has 3 120MM fans and nice brushed aluminum.

 

If I understand SLI technology right (and I may not), each card has 1gb of memory and it functions in paralell kind of like raid does for HDD right? I mean when you raid 2 250 gig hard drives together you dont have 500 gigs of space, you have the same 250 but it stores and pulls data from each drive resulting in faster performance. Do I have that wrong?

 

The SLI has 512 each, totaling 1gb.

 

You're talking about Raid 1 which is mirroring, where you have 2 250GB drives but only 250GB of space, as each drive is an exact copy. Striping, or Raid 0 gives you the full 500GB of space is for speed and performance.
A 9800M GT has 512MB itself, and with SLI it combines for a total of 1GB.

 

Ok. Thanks for that info. And that makes sense.

 

Another question: Is the bag that comes with this system adequate or should I look for another one?

 

How does this laptop compare to the alienware with the 3870s in crossfire?

 

If you mean the XPS M1730 backpack... it is. I tried to find an off-the-shelf bag to fit it, and had serious troubles. The M1730's backpack fits it like a glove, and leaves plenty of room for other peripherals/gaming stuff/other notebooks. Here's my review on the XPS Wiki: http://www.xps-wiki.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1383

 

The 9800GT's in SLI are slightly better than the 3870's in Xfire. The only different with that laptop might be overall system performance due to 1066mhz FSB and 1066mhz DDR3 memory, and faster CPU's. So you should score pretty close to the M17.

 

Great write up. Very detailed and descriptive. That really settled the bag issue for me. Thanks a lot.

 

Is it wrong to have buyers remorse already lol. I saw that OCZ DIY 17" notebook and can build the same alienware m17 laptop for about 2k and it made me pause. The one I ordered from dell was about 2.6k after discounts. Choices, choices. Part of me thinks the warranty and no hassle is worth the extra 600 bucks.

 

Mate it's IT. As soon as you put down your $'s there's something better available. Also what's that law of IT ; next year it'll be twice as fast, twice as much memory etc. So don't stress. LOL

As you said for the warranty and number of units already out in the market makes it a no brainer for me. If you have an issue with the 1730 then someones already solved it or a group is already working on it. I could've had a much faster unit built cheaper but then who else has one? I'm left to sort it out on my lonesome.....

 

Off topic a bit, but how often have you seen another M1730 in the wild? Everytime I swing by a Starbucks and take out the lappie - it always draws looks. I have yet to see another...

 

I am in the wild the only other computers here are Dell Optiplex 620's. Nearest proper shop is 450km's........

 

Could it possibly be the fact that it ways up to 13/14 pounds? :tongue:

 

To me, the weight really isn't the problem. It's the battery life. If I need to be a bit away from an outlet, I'll take my T41. I have several batteries for it, versus one for the 1730... Five hour and a half batteries and one three-hour(T41) versus one that lasts 45 minutes(M1730). With all the batteries and accessories I carry with the notebook, both setups are about the same as weight goes... even though the Thinkpad is a far smaller and lighter rig.

 

Just out of curiousity, where does one buy the mobile versions of the processors seperately? I see some listed on ebay but I am leary of buying from some random guy in China.