Alienware's M17x: Mobility Radeon HD 5870 CrossFire Is A Go

Features
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

The second incarnation of Alienware’s M17x is creating lots of excitement amongst mobile gaming enthusiasts, but does it really beat a field of premium models? We put it up against solutions from Eurocom and AVADirect to find out what CrossFire can do.

Benchmark Results: DiRT 2 And S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat

We’ve noticed Alienware’s better use of CPU performance potential and Eurocom’s slightly newer graphics driver before, but DiRT 2 is the first game to show a significant deficit due to the older driver. Both systems are completely playable at 1920x1080, fortunately.

Crank up the visuals, add anti-aliasing, and watch as both notebooks continue to push smooth frame rates at 1080p.

Eurocom’s improved driver doesn’t appear to make much difference in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat. A frame rate minimum (from our test notes) of 17-18 FPS for both Alienware and Eurocom at our highest test setting would prompt us to drop AA in order to keep the super-high details.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
63 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Hmmm. Overpriced.
    Reply
  • wintermint
    wasabiman123I smell a comeback hehe
    Fixed... wtf is wrong with you..
    Reply
  • unclewebb
    When you review a product like this, why not go over to the Notebook Review forums and ask the experts there about the M17x R2? The Core i7 Extreme mobile processors are absolute beasts when they have been unlocked and fully overclocked. The turbo throttling that is common to the Core i7 mobile CPUs when loaded can easily be corrected by raising the turbo TDP/TDC values for a simple yet significant increase in performance. Do your readers a favor and show everyone what the M17x is really capable of. With the help of a program called ThrottleStop, you can completely transform the performance of these CPUs.
    Reply
  • gorillateets
    It'd be nice if Tom's would review some of the more midrange gaming laptops from around $750-$1000. I got a great deal on an Asus G60 with respectable specs and can run any modern game at decent settings. Who here can really throw down that much cash on a laptop? Either way, nice review.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    gorillateetsIt'd be nice if Tom's would review some of the more midrange gaming laptops from around $750-$1000. I got a great deal on an Asus G60 with respectable specs and can run any modern game at decent settings. Who here can really throw down that much cash on a laptop? Either way, nice review.It's a tough problem because I wouldn't game on a weak GPU. Since I can't afford any notebook over $2000, I wouldn't game on a notebook. Since I wouldn't game on a notebook, I went in the opposite direction with a notebook that has integrated graphics and around eight hours of battery life. Of course, I also have desktops...
    Reply
  • duk3
    Bang for buck at $4000? Not so much.
    The problem with big heavy expensive laptops is that a desktop does everything they do and better at a third of the price.
    How much are you really going to be taking a $4000 laptop out of your house?
    Reply
  • braneman
    I like my m11x (i7 r2) sturdy plays most games except for the absolute bleeding edge of cpu throttled applications.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    build kickass desktop for 3k and spend 1 k on this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152207

    and laugh at people who bought this.
    Reply
  • TheStealthyOne
    Alienware? No thanks.

    Although you definitely are paying a superflous price premium, you're at least getting power (the same can't be said for MACs.)
    Reply
  • cinergy
    GTX 480M looks like a big whimper compared to those Radeon dualies.
    Reply