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Purchasing a new M15x, specs?

post #1 of 20
9/27/09 at 3:35pm
Thread Starter 
Hey guys,

I'm new to this forum but I've been looking around and you guys seem to really know what you're talking about when it comes to laptops, so I've got a question here for you.

I'm currently a college student, with a budget of about $1,800. I really like the draw of Alienware's new M15x. I believe I've built a pretty solid laptop, but I am wondering if there is any specs you would change, while keeping it right around that $1,800 mark.

Here is what I have built / upgraded:

Intel Core i7 720QM 1.6gHz, 6mb cache (standard)
Windows Vista Home Premium (64-bit)
1GB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 260M (upgrade from 512 mb)
3gb DDR3 RAM @ 1333 mHz (upgrade from 1066 mHz)
250gb SATAII 7,200 rpm HD (standard)

Everything else I have left standard. The total for this piece of machinery is $1,799 on the nose. Is there anything you guys would consider upgrading instead of the vid card / ram while keeping it around the same price?

Thanks,

Mac

P.S. This isn't just a college laptop, I plan to be gaming quite a bit on it, so I am hoping to get specs for optimal gaming performance for this price.
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post #2 of 20
9/27/09 at 6:33pm
Looking good. Don't forget the extra warranty. You'll need it.

cheers ...
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post #3 of 20
9/28/09 at 3:16am
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
Looking good. Don't forget the extra warranty. You'll need it.

cheers ...
i second that.
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post #4 of 20
9/28/09 at 10:43am
Definitely extend the warranty. Other than that, it looks like a solid build.
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post #5 of 20
9/28/09 at 11:41am
fourthed! I always get 3 year warranties on every notebook I've ever bought. ESP gaming notebooks for it seems all video cards fail on the third year. If you get it replaced on the third year, it will last another 3 years. so it turns out to be a 6 year notebook!
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post #6 of 20
9/28/09 at 1:34pm
Thread Starter 
Great, thanks guys. Other than that, as far as bang for the buck, would you sub out any of my upgrades for different ones or do I pretty have the right build down for my price range?

Thanks again,

Mac
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post #7 of 20
9/28/09 at 1:39pm
Larger drive eventually, but I don't see it as a must.

cheers ...
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post #8 of 20
9/29/09 at 9:27am
You can always replace the drives later if you run out of space. I also get the respawn kit. It's so easy to wipe your system clean and bring it back to factory settings.
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post #9 of 20
9/29/09 at 9:44am
just wanted to say hi, iv read the forums here alot but i finaly made an account. This laptop rocks, if you havent seen the review on driverheaven maca you might wana check there witch may give you some additional thoughts on it, there review is about the best review iv ever read on a laptop, or any peace of hardware for that matter. wheres 3 gigabytes of memory coming from, no one gets that?? i say go for the cheapest amount of memery, you can always upgrade that without much hassel. Everyone seems to like the dell warrentys so id let 2 gigabytes of memory go and add a year to your warrenty.
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post #10 of 20
9/29/09 at 9:50am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffreybaks View Post
just wanted to say hi, iv read the forums here alot but i finaly made an account. This laptop rocks, if you havent seen the review on driverheaven maca you might wana check there witch may give you some additional thoughts on it, there review is about the best review iv ever read on a laptop, or any peace of hardware for that matter. wheres 3 gigabytes of memory coming from, no one gets that?? i say go for the cheapest amount of memery, you can always upgrade that without much hassel. Everyone seems to like the dell warrentys so id let 2 gigabytes of memory go and add a year to your warrenty.
Getting less memory out of the box is an option, but a lot of people want that raw power immediately. Yes you can order more off newegg, i suppose it would be up to the buyer.
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post #11 of 20
9/29/09 at 10:59am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffreybaks View Post
just wanted to say hi, iv read the forums here alot but i finaly made an account. This laptop rocks, if you havent seen the review on driverheaven maca you might wana check there witch may give you some additional thoughts on it, there review is about the best review iv ever read on a laptop, or any peace of hardware for that matter. wheres 3 gigabytes of memory coming from, no one gets that?? i say go for the cheapest amount of memery, you can always upgrade that without much hassel. Everyone seems to like the dell warrentys so id let 2 gigabytes of memory go and add a year to your warrenty.
3gb RAM is the least amount of memory offered on the build, actually. I merely upgraded the MHz to 1333 over 1067.
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post #12 of 20
9/29/09 at 5:42pm
That's a 2 gb dimm and a 1 gb dimm right? I'm ordering pretty much the same laptop but with the i7 820 QM for the greater cache size
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post #13 of 20
9/30/09 at 5:55am
the amount they want for the 820 is too much for the little you gain from it. I say keep the ram at default anf spend 60 from newegg or such and geta pair of 1333 2gb sticks. keep CPU at default and Video upgraded to the 260 then as with everyone else recommends warranty at 3years.
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post #14 of 20
9/30/09 at 10:33pm
Hey I', looking to get one also. Anyone know what the performance increase from the corei7 720qm- corei7 820qm would be? I'm stuck deciding between the two cpus.
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post #15 of 20
10/1/09 at 4:37am
Corei7 720qm = 1.6GHz (with a 1,333MHz FSB and 6MB of L3 cache),

Corei7 820qm = 1.73GHz

circa $200 difference.

cheers ...
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post #16 of 20
10/1/09 at 10:44am
Yeh that jump for that price isn't worth it IMO
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post #17 of 20
10/1/09 at 4:45pm
I know the specs lol. The bump up from a 720 to an 820 is a whopping $350 through dell on the m15x O_O. I think when buying with sager on the np8690 it is a $200 difference.

The only thing I am concerned about is if the corei7 720 will be equal to my current x9100 at 3.54ghz. It is four cores over 2 but I am a big gamer and not being able to overclock without the fsb is saddening.

I would go with the sager but I plan on doing the monthly loan with dell.
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post #18 of 20
10/2/09 at 12:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by motok View Post
I know the specs lol. The bump up from a 720 to an 820 is a whopping $350 through dell on the m15x O_O. I think when buying with sager on the np8690 it is a $200 difference.

The only thing I am concerned about is if the corei7 720 will be equal to my current x9100 at 3.54ghz. It is four cores over 2 but I am a big gamer and not being able to overclock without the fsb is saddening.

I would go with the sager but I plan on doing the monthly loan with dell.
I thought the core i7's could be overclocked...
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post #19 of 20
10/2/09 at 2:21am
No fsb on them. They situate from a set speed like say the 820 is 1.73 it can go up to 3.02 when under stress. It can't be overclocked or set to stay at 3.02 permamently. Only the 920qm can be set to 3.2 at al times.
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post #20 of 20
10/10/09 at 4:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by qhn View Post
Looking good. Don't forget the extra warranty. You'll need it.

cheers ...
Yes, get the extended warranty, its worth the extra money. I would say get AT LEAST the 3 year, go for the 4 if you can, and make sure its the Complete Care with Accidental Coverage (since you are in college and the likley hood of getting beer spilled on it is high).
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