Custom Alienware 18

Hey guys. I'm gonna be purchasing the alienware 18 from powernotebooks.com soon here. I thought I would list the specs for my system and see what everyone thinks, Bare in mind that I won't actually have the funds necassary to buy this machine until october of this year. Lol.

Alienware 18 specs:
Dual Nvidia GeForce GTX 780m's 256bit w/4.0GB GDDR5 in SLi
Intel Core i7-4930MX (Overclocked up to 4.3GHz) w/8M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
32GB (4x8GB) Kingston HyperX DDR3L/1866 Dual Channel Memory - CL1
256GB mSATA III Solid-State Drive
1TB SATA III 6GB/s at 7,200 RPM Hard Drive~ In Raid 0
1TB SATA III 6GB/s at 7,200RPM Hard Drive~ In Raid 0
Slot Load Panasonic UJ-265 6x Blu-Ray Read-Write/8x Super Multi Combo Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW CD-R/RW Drive (100GB Capacity)
Intel Wireless-AC 7260 802.11 ac/a/b/g/n + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band)

Apearently they buy the base model from alienware and then fit the upgrades I've selected. Hopefully it should go as planned. Let me know what you guys think. I'll be using this machine for gaming and it's also going to be with me through college (I'm going for game design and computer science or some crap like that. I just know I want to design games.) I'm also curious as to the website I'll be purchasing it from. If you have purchased an alienware laptop from them I'd like to know if everything worked. I know they are a trusted company I'd just like some reassurance as this is a huge investment.

 

Those specs are insane for a laptop, really you will have no issues whatsoever getting anything to run on that. However, if you are going to be using this in college are you sure you want something that big? It's going to be a nightmare to carry that beast around, especially with books and such on top of that. I have brought my M17X to school a few times, but only for gaming sessions with a few buddies there, but I would never consider bringing it to school every day, it's just way to huge and heavy - and the 18 is even larger than mine.

As for powernotebooks, I have no idea about them, maybe it would be best to ask in the actual Alienware section of the forums here: Alienware Forums, Alienware Laptop Forum and Discussion

 

The Alienware 18 is one of the WORSE laptops you can buy for college. And if it's gonna stay in your dorm 24/7, get a desktop.

For the price of your Alienware 18, i suggest getting an Alienware 14 with GTX 765M (1500$). Then spend the rest on a proper gaming desktop.

 

Looks insanely overpowered however a nice little monster I hope you happy with it

 

Holy crap... I mean... damn. I'd stay away from something like that (m18x) for the given usage. Anyway, depending on the software you'll be using for game design, you might be better off with a Quadro/FirePro anyway.

But seriously, no matter how much you say that you can do it, you won't be able to carry that m18x around with you on campus. Let alone find a spot to use it in class (seriously, good luck). I'd go with some sort of laptop (either a basic note-taker or something like the m14x if you must) and spend the rest on a decent DIY gaming desktop. Anyway, CS doesn't require you to have any particular hardware other than a high-res display (everything else is "nice-to-have").

Anyway, student to student talk here: you mention you won't be able to afford this until October. For the love of your diety, don't ever think of using a loan (even a subsidized one) to purchase a laptop, as that's probably the worst way to use that money. If you'll eventually have that money via your own means, great, but if you're depending on financial aid to finance this, stay within your means.

 

This.

I had a 14" Compaq Presario back in college and it still felt clunky to lug around at times, especially if I'm in a rush to get to my next class. An 18" laptop will just make your life absolutely miserable. (if nothing else, you're looking at close to 15 pounds of weight for the laptop + power brick) Besides, do you really want to be lugging around a $5k laptop all the time every single day?

 

Not sure about this, some people in my CS class use netbooks with 1024x600 resolution...

 

you can, though it's a painful experience. That, or they haven't used a decent display yet.

 

I asked one, he has a desktop with WQHD IPS. He doesn't seem bothered by using a netbook at all. I myself do not find coding on 14" 900p as "painful" and this is coming from X2 FHD IPS on my primary.

 

To each their own, I suppose. Personally, I like to have as much information up on the display as possible, and in fact I'm slightly annoyed that my X61t only has 1400 horizontal pixels, limiting my side-by-side windowing. At least i have a decent amount of vertical space; I've had to use Su -900p resolutions every so often (broken display drivers on lab machines, borrowing a laptop, etc) and every single time I find myself wanting to quickly switch over to something better asap.

 

I still use the occasional 13'' MBP 1280x800 from time to time, and the screen is the least of my complaints. The Apple keyboard on the other hand...

/derailed

Similar to Goodwin's law, Jobine's law states that every tech thread ends up into a platform war, whether Mac vs Pc, or PS vs Xbox.

 

Oh gheez, the keyboard... Something we can agree on lol.

 

Back on topic (sorta), as long as the colors are not washed out, i don't mind using lower resolution screens. I found out that one of my friend's laptop has a 15 inch 1366x768 screen, however it is both matte and it has amazing colors on it, better than some FHD screens i've seen.

 

Wow. Thanks for getting back to me you guys. You're right about carrying around a 5 k plus machine every day. Maybe not such a good idea. However I did have my heart set on this machine and I'm planning on getting lojack or whatever it's called. As for the weight issue. I know it's heavy.. But it will be good training for my current job refurbishing cable boxes as I have to stack 4 of them on top of each other and then lift said stack and carry it to a production line. It's pretty intense LOL. Anywho, I appreciate the comments. I'll figure everything out that may pose a problem with the size issue and if it's a real problem I can't solve well then that's my karma for spending 6 gs on a laptop LOL, I'm excited to purchase this machine. I know it's expensive and heavy but I have my heart set on it. On a side note I'll post picture once I actually have it and whatnot.

 

LoJack won't actually help you that much, regardless of what laptop you end up getting. You lock up your laptop to something with a Kingston lock cable, but the theft either yanks the laptop out with brute force (damaging the laptop in the process) or simply uses bolt cutters on the wire. LoJack will tell you where the laptop is, though by the time you report the laptop gone, the theft has probably already ripped out your hard drive and other valuables and sold the stuff. I wouldn't worry about the laptop being stolen so much as your data being stolen. As for protecting the laptop, just don't let the thing out of your sight! Going to the bathroom? Put the laptop in your bag and take it to the bathroom with you. Rule of thumb: Don't trust anybody, even your friends. Better safe than sorry...

Anyway, if that's what you really want to do, best of luck to you. Just note that the desks/lecture halls/labs in most colleges won't be able to accommodate anything larger than a 15.6" laptop, so I suggest you bring plenty of pens/paper.

 

If your budget is 6K, you could get a desktop with 4960X (hex core unlocked) + 3x Titan or 4x 780Ti and have the ultimate gaming machine that will easily last the next 5 years. Plus if you're waiting until October Maxwell and Broadwell might be out by then, further increasing performance.

By contrast, the same amount of money spent on a maxed out Alienware 18 will "only" get you 4930M + 780M SLI. The 4930MX has roughly 70% of the performance of the 4960X at stock clocks, and 2x 780M is roughly equivalent to a desktop Titan. And since most games are GPU bound, you can do the math.

I know your heart is set on the machine, but I still think the previous suggestion makes the most sense -- a portable laptop for class needs, and an ultra high-end desktop that will meet all your gaming needs for the foreseeable future.

 

Another option would be to buy a $$ gaming machine now and replace it with another (future, better) $$ gaming machine in a few years, as opposed to dumping all that $$$$ on today's gaming machine.

There's no such thing as future-proofing in the gaming industry, no matter how much money you pour into it. Actually, you're making yourself worse off by dumping all that money into upgrades that have massive marginal cost yet tiny marginal gain (in performance).

 

If you are scared of having your laptop stolen, at least encrypt the hard drive, so if the thief rips it out, he/she won't be able to do anything with your data unless he/she knows your password.

At 6.6lbs the Alienware 14 isn't featherweight either, you will lose a lot less if it gets stolen (optimal config for AW 14 is around 1600$) and it will be more portable. And you will have the desktop for the gaming needs.

Plus, you are underestimating the weaker mobile GPU's. My overclocked 755M can play Battlefield 4 on Ultra at 720p, that just as good as what you would get on an Xbox one.

 

Nice rig... excellent gaming machine if you are planning to run it more or less stock. You can save between 10-20% by ordering it directly from Alienware (by negotiating a better price by phone, not through the web shopping cart). There are not any real customization benefits available from resellers. You can do the paste and memory yourself for less money. IC Diamond is awesome paste, but it's not effective enough to cool a 4930MX with a moderate overclock of like 4.3GHz. Haswell CPUs run way too hot and the only thing I have found that works well enough with my 4930MX is Liquid Ultra. See if the reseller is willing to use that paste instead of IC Diamond and apply it to the die and copper part of the heat sink for the best results. It will keep your 4930MX between 15-20°C cooler under load than IC Diamond or Noctua NT-H1 paste are able to.

If you plan to do much serious overclocking you would be better off with an M18xR2 with 3920/3940XM and a 780M SLI or 880M SLI upgrade, along with my dual 330W AC adapter mod. The Alienware 18 can't use that mod and 4930MX is a HUGE power hog that draws 130W-140W at 4.5GHz, so it needs substantially more power than the M18xR2 does... otherwise, you cannot overclock/overvolt the GPUs far enough to make it worthwhile. The 4930MX is also a hit or miss product because loose binning standards for Haswell leaves room for a pretty good chance you will end up with a dud that does not overclock worth a darn. If extreme performance is more important than battery life you could also opt for the P570MW with 4930K and 780M SLI for about $1,000 less than the new Alienware 18. That machine has horrible battery life compared to the 3 hours available on the 18 or 5 hours available on the M18xR2, and build quality is not nearly as good. But, it runs circles around both machines thanks to that delicious Ivy-E hex core desktop CPU if that's what excites you the most.