**OFFICIAL** Dell XPS M1730 Owner's Lounge, *Part 4*

[evolbyte]

Hello guys, i wanted to ask you 1 question if you have some time for me

I currently have an M1730 with following specs:
X7900 @ 2.8, 9800M GTX SLI, 4gb ram @667 mhz, 2 * 200 RAID 0, 1200P screen + BD-RE

I wanted to upgrade to a 2nd hand M17X-R2 with these specs:
Intel Core i7-840QM
8GB (8192MB) DDR3 1333MHz
2 * 500GB Serial (SATA) 7200 RPM
17.0" 1920x1200 (WUXGA) RGB LED
Blu-Ray Combo
2 x 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5870

I can get this sytem for about 1500 euro's ( I'm thinking of putting 1 crucial C300 64gb ssd disk in it)

I wanted to ask your opinions or advise if i should buy this laptop knowing that i already have a pretty good m1730 that runs most things on high/very high. How big of an upgrade would the m17x r2 with those specs be compared to mine? Would you buy it ?
Any advise or tips are welcome!

Thx for your time and effort
EDIT: I forgot to say that I really like the looks of the m17x r2, it looks so fancy and alienoid ! and i really like alienz

[xps_m1710]

It really depends on whether you're prepared to spend the money or not, but I would say that m17x is still a bit upgrade and would be a lot more futureproofed, you also have the bonus if you sell the m1730 now, whilst it's working of getting a decent amount of money for it, if you leave it a while, as unreliable as the xps m1730 is you runt he risk of the gpu's dieing, then you won't get much towards the alienware if you were to sell it then. Also I know what you mean about the looks, I love the look of the m17x, I'd like one too but really can't afford one right now haha! That's just my opinion anyway lol.

[eleron911]

Originally Posted by Consi Pit

I have got similar problem ( Alpha Protocol , Rise of the Argonauts )

Originally Posted by Magnus72

Starcraft 2 runs great at Ultra settings for me 1920x1200.

So I'm not the only one. Magnus, are you experiencing the same issue with Unreal 3 engine based games?

Like stuttered turns when moving the mouse? even Bioshock pissed me off now, when I turn, it turns in movements not fluent, but like it skips frames or something...

[DDT5]

Originally Posted by evolbyte

Hello guys, i wanted to ask you 1 question if you have some time for me

I currently have an M1730 with following specs:
X7900 @ 2.8, 9800M GTX SLI, 4gb ram @667 mhz, 2 * 200 RAID 0, 1200P screen + BD-RE

I wanted to upgrade to a 2nd hand M17X-R2 with these specs:
Intel Core i7-840QM
8GB (8192MB) DDR3 1333MHz
2 * 500GB Serial (SATA) 7200 RPM
17.0" 1920x1200 (WUXGA) RGB LED
Blu-Ray Combo
2 x 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5870

I can get this sytem for about 1500 euro's ( I'm thinking of putting 1 crucial C300 64gb ssd disk in it)

I wanted to ask your opinions or advise if i should buy this laptop knowing that i already have a pretty good m1730 that runs most things on high/very high. How big of an upgrade would the m17x r2 with those specs be compared to mine? Would you buy it ?
Any advise or tips are welcome!

Thx for your time and effort
EDIT: I forgot to say that I really like the looks of the m17x r2, it looks so fancy and alienoid ! and i really like alienz

You are probably better off asking this question in the official m17x thread in this forum. A lot of people there used to have M1730, so they'll know better what kind of performance boost you will get.
Personally, I'm holding off to upgrade until next gen cards based on 28nm manufacturing process will come out, so we'll finally get some noticeable boost in performance. That won't happen for another year, year and a half though.

[Magnus72]

eleron for me 99% of the UE3 engine games is stutter free. Bioshock is stutter free as is Bulletstorm.

[Mr. Fox]

Originally Posted by evolbyte

Hello guys, i wanted to ask you 1 question if you have some time for me

I currently have an M1730 with following specs:
X7900 @ 2.8, 9800M GTX SLI, 4gb ram @667 mhz, 2 * 200 RAID 0, 1200P screen + BD-RE

I wanted to upgrade to a 2nd hand M17X-R2 with these specs:
Intel Core i7-840QM
8GB (8192MB) DDR3 1333MHz
2 * 500GB Serial (SATA) 7200 RPM
17.0" 1920x1200 (WUXGA) RGB LED
Blu-Ray Combo
2 x 1024MB ATI Radeon HD 5870

I can get this sytem for about 1500 euro's ( I'm thinking of putting 1 crucial C300 64gb ssd disk in it)

I wanted to ask your opinions or advise if i should buy this laptop knowing that i already have a pretty good m1730 that runs most things on high/very high. How big of an upgrade would the m17x r2 with those specs be compared to mine? Would you buy it ?
Any advise or tips are welcome!

Thx for your time and effort
EDIT: I forgot to say that I really like the looks of the m17x r2, it looks so fancy and alienoid ! and i really like alienz

I think you would be smart to take the advice of xps_m1710 and sell your still functional M1730 before it dies and get something better to replace it. The R2 is a good choice if it fits into your budget. The XPS M1730 and M17x R1 were selling for about the same price, concurrently, as competing products before Dell made Alienware its flagship high-performance product and degraded the XPS product line to second-fiddle in performance.

I received an M17x R2 as a warranty replacement for my XPS M1730. In every way the Alienware was an improvement... performance, reliability, looks, and build quality.

The R2 has a few known issues, but they are primarily annoyances that are nowhere nearly as problematic as the M1730 with the GPU issues, debilitating charging system problems and spastic RAID controller. I have no regrets whatsoever on the exchange Dell provided. I have also found Alienware's tech support to be a cut above Dell's XPS support unit. The AW reps seem to be more knowledgeable and there is far less drama and incompetence when you call for assistance.

The only thing I have identified that I can say I dislike about the R2 is its touchpad. It works OK, but the buttons are a single bar that is not comfortable to use. Sometimes cursor movement is erratic with the touchpad. That's not a deal breaker to me because a touchpad is worthless for gaming anyway... at least to me, a mouse is the only way to go in gaming.

The R2 is end-of-life and no longer sold by Alienware except as a refurb through Dell Outlet. The R2 has been replaced by the M18x, which is an incredible machine and a very worthy successor to the R2.

The M17x R3 is a current product, yet it is inferior to the R2 and the M18x most notably in build quality. It is also a single GPU system with no ability to accommodate SLi or CFX. The R2 and M18x are both equipped with an anodized aluminum chassis (base and lid). The R3 has lots of plastic, a spongy keyboard with too much flex, poorly fitting panels and a rubberized finish that is not nearly as durable.

The R3 comes with a second-gen i7 on Sandy Bridge and it's single HD 6970 GPU performs almost as well as the dual-GPU HD 5870 CFX in the R2. It's not confirmed yet, but the NVIDIA 580m option that is coming out may do even better. It's a very strong performer with compromises on fit and finish that are contrary to Alienware's reputation for selling solidly built machines. But, it's also less expensive than the R2 was and the M18x is.

I hope this helps with your decision making.
------------------------------
On another note, it's great to see so many familiar people still posting on what is now Part 4 of this Owner's Lounge thread. I haven't stopped by for many months and I am glad I did. I had nothing but problems with my M1730, but I am very glad to see that there are still a fair number of these beasts alive and kicking booty.

[m1730owner]

Originally Posted by Magnus72

Starcraft 2 runs great at Ultra settings for me 1920x1200.

Originally Posted by eleron911

So I'm not the only one. Magnus, are you experiencing the same issue with Unreal 3 engine based games?
.

What? How come?? What driver version are u guys using (I assume it's from laptopvideo2go obv) ? Do you set any special settings in Nvidia Control Panel? I've got 14.5k points in 3dmark06 FWIW (@3.4GHz).

[eleron911]

Originally Posted by Magnus72

eleron for me 99% of the UE3 engine games is stutter free. Bioshock is stutter free as is Bulletstorm.

Wow, I am shocked. I simply don't get it. I will post a Duke Nukem video later on, and show you what I mean.

You must tell me your secrets when it comes to max setup, I'm at 3.6 Ghz, and the GPUs are at 600/1500/900, and no way in hell are the UT3 games smooth. Ok, UT3, but when turning, Duke Nukem and many more seem like I`m running a 7th series card

Originally Posted by m1730owner

What? How come?? What driver version are u guys using (I assume it's from laptopvideo2go obv) ? Do you set any special settings in Nvidia Control Panel? I've got 14.5k points in 3dmark06 FWIW (@3.4GHz).

Starcraft 2 runs great even on a 2.6 Ghz CPU with max details.

No special settings for me.


***************


What is the latest chipset you guys are using and from where?

[DDT5]

@eleron
I played just the demo version of Duke Nukem Forever, but I didn't notice any stuttering at all.
Could it be that you pushed your system too far? I mean I have the same GPUs as you and I can't OC them over 5% without running into all sorts of stability issues. Granted, every GPU is different, but still... Try returning CPU and GPU to the stock speeds, see if it reduces the stutter.

[eleron911]

CPU's fine at 3.6.

Returned the GPUs at stock frequencies, same thing.

I'll post a video later on, it's kinda hard to explain.