My Budget was 3k.I wanted to go with a better processor but just couldnt afford it.

Intel Core2 Duo T9600 2.8GHz (6MB Cache, 1066MHz FSB)
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1066MHz 2 x 2048MB
17.0in, WUXGA,LCD,ANW,M17X(1200p)
CrossFireX - Dual 1GB GDDR5 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870
250GB 7,200RPM (xMB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
Slot-Load Dual Layer Blu-ray Combo (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)

Thats the basic set-up.I was wondering...I was going to go with the GTX 280M's but they wouldnt let me change my order.
Are they better and the ATI's are just over priced?
Or do they both have pro's and con's.

A 4870 is more powerful than a gtx 280m but not by too much plus nvidia has way better drivers especially tweaked onces. A good driver backing up the 280ms will outperform the 4870s for sure.
I'm stuck myself between an m15x and an m17x myself. The corei7 cpus on the m15x are big step ahead of the old m17x cpu architecture but the 260m in the m15x will be outdated by the time I end up paying it off throughout 3 years haha.

If you don't mind me asking, are you paying it one shot or doing a monthly payment plan?

i plan on paying it of in 1yrs time...but none the less,you wouldnt probably see a differance in gameing between the 280 and the 4870's huh?

The difference is little, not worth the upgrade price going from sli 280m's to crossfire 4870's

Get the 3 year warranty.

Ugh the $300 upgrade to it pushes me away. After a few months are up I'll probbably add the next 3 years to it.

so you can add a warranty at a later date?

ATI crossfire make me think of the Asus W90 I hope AlienWare does better.

And do get the warranty many need it.

LOL Asus experimented with the W90 and failed horribly. Asus engineers just cant seem to find a proper way to cool off their systems. Anyways yea as long as you are within your 1 year warranty, you can upgrade it anytime from what I have heard.

The ATi cards Asus used were more or less phony cards with GDDR3 memory. The ATi cards for the Alienware M17x is the real 4870 GDDR5 GPUs. The memory bandwidth should provide a large improvement over the 280s. Driver support is still unknown.

GDDR3 or GDDR5 is of little concern when the fundamental issue is driver related? So if you feel lucky? Yea go for it.

I mean I am not one to say Alienware has sold notebooks with thermal issues or bad drivers. And with these issues they offered the best tech support and jumped on warranty issues. I mean if you know a different AlienWare great. Go For it.

If not GDDR5 has nothing to do with any prior issues. If you have faith great. I wish you the best, but post back when you get and sadly I think not good?

Dell will support their systems with proper drivers. Will they be the best drivers for gaming or benchmarking? Who knows. The 3870s received proper driver support so I will expect the 4870s to get the same support. This is not Asus and I believe Dell will do this correctly. If the driver support is there GDDR5 does come into play when deciding between the 280s or the 4870s.

GDDR3 vs GDDR5 is normally small issue wise but on a card with limited bandwidth for its class means that extra kick will make a huge difference in game vs on paper. No doubt a mobile GTX300 and RADEON5800 will take the place of the GTX260 but for now im pretty damned happy especially since im rockin i7 for the first time.

Your system should be able to handle both the 280M and the 4870 I was referring to. If you like to benchmark the GDDR5 should be a big improvement. For gaming it comes down to the drivers.