***OFFICIAL*** M1730 news thread - Page 12

For anyone intersted. I picked up a copy of crysis. On XP with all settings on High, 8xAA, resolution set to 1650x1050 the game plays at approx 25-40 FPS.
Truly amazing graphics on this game. I also tried hacking the .cfg files for the dx10 eye candy (very high), but was acceptible only at 1400x900.
Still no temps though...sorry. Time is tight. I'll post them as soon as I can.

Is there any word on when Dell will be offering the X9000 with the 1730?

Neverwinter Nights 2 actually shows your focused adventurer's stats; that is whatever person you're controlling, it will show STR, DEX, INT, WIS, CON, CHR, Armor Class, and Hit Points...! The first time I saw that, I almost shit my pants...how do they make it DO that? It can't be the NWN2 team, so it must somehow be the Dell engineers hacking into the game config and ripping out the stats, eh? Now that I think of it, I didn't try pressing any of the buttons, so for all I know, other screens could show equipment, spells, or whatever. While it is *neat-o-keen*, and a very Cool Hack (tm), I will admit that it's not THAT useful, since the pause feature in-game allows you to open all your stats sheets and stuff, but has a supplement you'll use every so often, it's pretty cool. Oh, also I'm pretty sure that it shows changes in your stats, too, like increases from a +1 Ring of Dexterity or something, so that actually WOULD be useful, since you can switch outfits/objects on the fly with a hotkey, and instantly see which setup would be more practical for a given encounter, instead of digging through the stats screen...COOL!! I didn't play it for very long, since I'm too busy playing Witcher.

Oh, grats on a cherry freaking system...I should be getting an 8800 upgrade sometime soon...

lcdstudio lets you customize the lcd. I've downloaded it, but haven't had a chance to play around with it....seems very straight forward though.

Question about the 8800 Sli card

is this dx10.1 or still a 10.o card?

The X9000 is now available for the 1730.


Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Extreme X9000(2.8GHz/800Mhz FSB/6M L2 Cache)

dunno if its my imagination,but these penryn cpu's seem to run a lot cooler than the previous c2d........like 10 deg C cooler!,I only have a lowly T8300 2.4......still quite a diff though

Any performance improvement in games? Can you still overclock it the same degree/steps or are there different settings from the earlier 2.8Ghz chip?

hello all,
v close to placing an order for one of these but just waiting for the x9000 to come out in the uk. Spoke to sales today and got the standard 'we have no information' response. Does anyone have any clues??
Also is it worth just getting 2 gb of mem and then investing in 4gb of 800mhz mem instead of buying 4 gb with the machine? Can it run the mem at 800? will it mess the warranty. Is it worth it?

Any help and advice would be appreciated.

Buy as little memory as possible, then replace it with something from here:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...e=4GB+(2+x+2GB)

4GB of DDR2 200pin SODIMM average around $80, and it's a snap to install. Sometimes Dell charges outrageous fees to go from 2GB to 4GB, so anything more than ~$100 means you should just go get your own. The warranty remains solid if you replace RAM; of course, if the RAM itself turns out to be problematic, the Warranty for the RAM would cover that---Dell still covers the rest of the machine, though, no problem.

I don't believe this BIOS/Chipset will run memory at anything other than 667Mhz, regardless of what speed is advertised...? Someone should confirm this, though, cause I don't know for sure; I'm sure Dell would have sold the things with 800Mhz RAM if it were possible, simply because it's so freaking cheap (see above)!

These computers are incredible...definitely go buy one! If you DO end up waiting for the x9000, please run some benchmarks and start a thread about it when it arrives, since no one seems exactly sure what the difference will be in terms of gaming framerate/overclocking ability/etc. etc.

mark

PS. CRYSIS absolutely shines on these machines, especially with the CPU cranked to 3.4Ghz...you can't hear the fans AT ALL, either (at least, not over the gunfire and explosions, lol)! Whoa, boy, does it get HOT, though, heh...the keyboard and palmrest aren't any warmer than normal, thank goodness...just the rear underside part that touches the lapboard I use...also, you could literally fry a bloody egg on that monstrous powerbrick...seriously, you can't TOUCH it without wincing!! Gotta hold it by the cords to pack up, heh. Totally worth it, though, when you're stuck overnight alone in a hotel room for the 14th time in a month.

PPS. This one claims to have CAS Latency of 4 (as opposed to every other DIMM on that page)...can anyone comment on this particular company/RAM/legitimacy of CAS4? Does one CAS stepping make any real difference this high up already?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820231154

thanks hammer. soon as the x9000 comes out over here thats what i'll do

The M1730 can not run the memory at 800 but i would still buy the 800 memory cause once it downclocks to 667 it will also run at cas4.

cheers mcfly thats good to know too. No x9000 yet as of this morning. However spoke to a dell rep yesterday and he offered me 10% off. Even more tempting now!!!

By the way is it worth getting the physics card? I didn't think you could spec it without, but managed to yesterday.

Cheers all

by the way (and yes I guess I should know this by now) but is the keyboard backlit?
Anyone got any pics?

Cheers

Yes it is. I dont have pics of it right now but I can post some tonite if anyone hasnt by then.

mcfly, have you got any pics?
Not been able to find any decent ones.

Cheers

For a limited time, Dell's now offering a free Logitech G9 mouse with any M1730 purchase.

Yeah mine came today. I figured it was a $5 mouse and didn't think anything of it, but when I opened it up, WOW! Different shells, weights, custom color LED, memory, adjustable DPI on the fly, plus the split box lid came with a couple really strong magnets that I've had fun playing with. I mean strong enough to move the other one through my hand!

here's one of mine, i dont have better quality because i'm out of town but it gives a good idea of it.

The Logitech G9 is about 15x more expensive than a $5 mouse.