Dell Announces Several Updates to XPS M1710 Gaming Notebook

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Dell has made some tweaks to its high end gaming notebook, the XPS M1710. The blazing fast and newly announced Nvidia GeForce Go 7950GTX graphics card will be included in the M1710. In addition, gamers will now be able to overclock the Core 2 Duo Merom processor in the M1710 -- something Dell had prevented on this machine in the past.

Nvidia 7950GTX

With the inclusion of the Nvidia Go 7950GTX graphics card in the M1710 it will be at the head of the pack for 3D gaming performance. The Nvidia 7950GTX is an update to the current 7900GTX from Nvidia. According to Nvidia numbers, a Dell XPS m1710 configured with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7600 processor and 2GB of memory and the 7950GTx would score a 9,763 in 3DMark05.

 

Notebook	3DMark 05 Results
Dell XPS M1710 (2.16 GHz Core Duo, nVidia 7900 GTX 512MB)	8,524 3D Marks
Dell XPS M1710 (2.33GHz Core 2 Duo, Nvidia 7950 GTX 512MB)	9,763 3D Marks *
Alienware M7700 (AMD Athlon FX-60 Nvidia GeForce Go7800 GTX)	7,078 3DMarks
IBM ThinkPad T43 (1.86GHz, ATI X300 64MB graphics)	727 3DMarks
Asus V6Va (2.13 GHz Pentium M, ATI Radeon Mobility x700 128 MB)	2,530 3D Marks

* Estimated 3DMark05 result as provided by Nvidia

 

Dell to allow Overclocking

For all of those overclocking enthusiasts out there that refused to buy a Dell due to the fact Dell disabled the ability to overclock a processor, you might be able to reconsider Dell now. Dell says that with the update to the M1710 they will now allow users to overclock the Merom Core 2 Duo processors and nothing will be done to the notebook to prevent this.

Dell XPS M1710 (view large image)

 

New Blinking Lights -- XPS LightFX

The M1710 has always been well know for its light show. It has configurable color lights on the lid, speakers, vents and on the mousepad. Now the lights will pulsate to sound! That's right, you can play your music like a DJ and have a light show like a disco because the lights will pulse with the music if you choose. Certain game companies will also work with Dell to make game action control pulsing of lights. Dell is calling this technology XPS LightFX.

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MediaDirect Technology Update

The XPS has always had MediaDirect technologies that allows you to view video, pictures and listen to music directly from the hard drive or a CD without fulling booting the notebook into Windows. Dell has added the ability to view Word documents, PowerPoint and see Outlook contacts using &quot;instant office&quot; capabilities within MediaDirect. This technology will be integrated into all Inspiron and XPS notebooks that offer MediaDirect.

 

View the NotebookReview.com XPS M1710 review here

 

 

I'm hoping that they will allow OCing that does NOT void the warranty. Core 2 is pretty powerful as it is...I can't imagine needing to OC the CPU. OCing the GPU would be another matter though.

 

I wonder if us current M1710 owners will be able to overclock with a bios update.

 

probably not...if I'm reading the Dell website correctly (in which there is a T7600 & T7600 G) I'm going to guess you'll need the T7600G to overclock. As of 10/12/2006 1:00PM that is a $669 upgrade from a T7200 (and a $244 upgrade from T7600). Dell wouldn't want to lose that (small) cash flow.

 

meh, some guy wrote a better program for messing with the LEDs

http://www.notebookforums.com/thread151270.html

i wonder how long it will take for those to be on the outlet, heh

 

Thanks for this great news abaxter!

But I have a few questions: Is the 7950GTX a DX 10 videocard? And if not, why would this be an interesting notebook for gamers if DX 10 is coming up (Q1 2007)?

Does overclocking void guarantee? And why does Dell not deliver already overclocked models? Just like the Dell Renegade or XPS 700.

And have the notebook gamers finally broke the 10.000 3dmark05 points? Man, this notebook is 4x mine notebook. Incredible!

Charlie

 

Overclocking the Core 2 Duo . . I suppose Dell is offering it as an option but probably will not cover any damage associated with it under warranty. It's interesting though.

You can see this thread for more specific info on the Go7950GTX.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3266

 

wow, that's pretty cool. well, for what it's worth, here's some video of the LightFX that Dell has -- hard to get the full effect in a fully lit room though.

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notebooks are taking over the entire personal computer spectrum

 

Thanks for the link Chaz... but one more question: Why would you buy this premium machine if you are a die-hard gamer? I mean, Vista and DX10 are just a couple months away, why not wait for DX10 Santa Rosa?

Charlie

 

That would be cool if Dell extended the overclocking features to their other notebooks, although I don't see that happening.

 

How much for turning the **** lights completly off ?

If I was DELL I'd sell it as an upgrade .