Help with my alienware M15x

[wwjd0723]

hey please give me your imput on the specs i've picked so far. i'm looking into getting an alienware laptop for college and for playing games. the things i'm mainly stuck on are mainly the graphics card, ati 5850 vs nvidia gtx 260. i'm little worried about the 5850 because i read if your laptop vender uses ddr3 memory for the card it will run slow, which confuses me. also i'm a little unsure on which processor. but i've done a lot of research and here's what i've picked so far:

processor: i7 620
os: windows 7 home premium 64 bit

video card (this is what i'm stuck on the most): 1 of these 3 which are all 1gig (ati 5730, ati 5850, or nvidia gtx 260m) the ati's have directx 11 support which will be good for future games, but i'm still confused about this "The memory interface of the Mobility 5850 is composed out of two 64 bit wide controllers leading to a 128 bit memory bus that can access up to 1024 MB of DDR3 or GDDR5 memory (512 MB GDDR3). If (G)DDR3 is used by the laptop vendor the performance clearly suffers noticable." - that's from

(http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5850.23069.0.html)

ram: 4g's dual channel ddr3 at 1066mhz
hard drive: 500 gig SATAll 7,200 rpm

 

[pojih]

buy a netbook.

build a desktop.

 

[MAZWANTGUN]

"If (G)DDR3 is used by the laptop vendor the performance clearly suffers noticable."
Alright, here goes nothing. GDDR5 and GDDR3 are types of memory that graphics cards use. What that statement says that if your 5850 is using GDDR3 memory, then the card will run slowly.

I read the website, and it says that if the card is using GDDR5 memory, it will outperform a GTX260m. So you should contact Dell and ask them if the 5850 they are putting in the M15x has GDDR5 or GDDR3 memory.

P.S. I would not bother buying an Alienware product. They are all show and over expensive. The only thing good about then is the looks. No performance, no value for your money.

 

[wwjd0723]

thanks for the responses guys, and the build a pc solution works for most people but i want a laptop that i can bring from house to house and use for school and run games on it really well, and i've been researching alot and looking around a lot and it looks like the alienware will perform really well and they are pretty expensive for the brand name, but if you look behind that, it's a very nice laptop. but if you disagree please let me know cuz i'm taking any advice right now maybe i'm wrong.

also if not alienware what would you recommend?

and yeah still stuck on the video card question (and i'll try to contact dell)

and is the i7 620 a good enough processor? i can't really afford the extra 1000 dollars for the 920x

 

[welshmousepk]

whats your budget?

http://www.ibuypower.com/Store/Battalion_101_W870CU_Gaming_Notebook

that could solve the problem.

they have others too, and are much better value than dell/alienware.

 

[MAZWANTGUN]

thanks for the responses guys, and the build a pc solution works for most people but i want a laptop that i can bring from house to house and use for school and run games on it really well, and i've been researching alot and looking around a lot and it looks like the alienware will perform really well and they are pretty expensive for the brand name, but if you look behind that, it's a very nice laptop. but if you disagree please let me know cuz i'm taking any advice right now maybe i'm wrong.

also if not alienware what would you recommend?

and yeah still stuck on the video card question (and i'll try to contact dell)

and is the i7 620 a good enough processor? i can't really afford the extra 1000 dollars for the 920x

Try the ibuypower.com website that welshmousepk recommended. Those laptops look sick as.

If you are not doing anything to intensive, then the i7 620 should be perfect for your needs.

Video card...contact dell first, then get back to us.

Again, unless you have fallen in love with the outer design of the M15x, don't buy it. Waste of your money.

And no, don't be fooled. Alienware does not perform as well as people say. Go on to welshmousepk's link and compare both the laptops specs. I can guarantee you will be surprised.

 

[wwjd0723]

i looked at the ibuypower and your right it looked pretty sick. and yeah i know you can some laptops with same specs for cheaper. i compared the ibuypower battalian 101 W870CU gaming notebook with the alienware M15x with the same settings, and the battalian came out only about 200 dollars cheaper. the battalian does come stock with a 5870 which is better (i think) than the 5850 the alienware comes with but i think the alienware comes stock some other little thigns better.

and my budget, well i'm getting a laptop for graduation, my parents are willing to chip in about 1400 or so for it, and i have to cover the rest, so i was just gonna use my own money and some graduation gift money from my dad and family. so i can do the 2 grand for the alienware. even though it's hard.

and is the i7 620 good enough to play upcoming games and current ones, cuz it has 2.66 ghz (3.33 ghz turbo mode with 4mb cache) and it's a dual core. so it's seems pretty good. or is that too much power that will lead to power consumtion?

and yeah the ibuypowers look nice. i might look into them, and yeah lol i am in love with the alienware's sick design.

 

[wwjd0723]

ok and update i just contacted dell and the said it runs on ddr3 memory which is disappointing. maybe i should go with the gtx 260m? or should i look at a different laptop? is running directx11 that big of a deal?

 

[welshmousepk]

Personally i would want Dx11, but thats your choice to make.

if you get the laptop with the 5870 you should do very well. since its performance is equal to a desktop 5770.

 

[MAZWANTGUN]

To have a future proof purchase, you should try and get DX11(if you can). The gtx260m is not a future proof purchase, but it performs okay with today's games. But I can't say the same in a few months, as most of them will be in DX11.

The i7 620 should be fine for your needs.

Can't really stop you if you love alienware's design. However, I ask you to reconsider.