Solved! Alienware m17x10

[reaversedge]

hi...soon im going to buy a gaming laptop, alienware m17x10 with intel i7 720m, 4gb ram, 500gb HD and dual ati radeon 5870 with 1400x900 res, im just wondering if the updates for ati are consisted compared to nvidia, so far i havent heard of a gaming laptop with a nvidia gtx 480m (i heard only 460m), im a hardcore gamer and wants good performance regardless of price, also another choice of mine is the asus G73, with intel i7 720m, 8gb ram, 1T HD and single ati 5870 but with a 1920x1080 resolution...both of them 17 inches size...please help me about the pros and cons about the two, and your own opinion of which is the best one, dont mention the price difference because it doesnt matter, its about the performance of these two laptops that is in between my choices. Thanks in advance!

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
First of all,definitely consider the Full HD display if you are going CF,because 2 5870s are wasted on a resolution like 1440x900.
And as for comparison,GTX 480M is faster than HD 5870M for about 20%;whereas,5870M is faster than GTX 460 for about 10%.

 

[reaversedge]

thanks for the reply, but the thing is im down to these two laptop choices, i like hd also, will a single ati 5870 can handle games like crysis and metro 2033 (or other DX11 games) in full hd resolution and in the highest settings at good fps?

 

[Maziar]

On 1440x900 yes.(You may need to disable AA in some games though in order to maintain a smooth performance)

 

[reaversedge]

i have seen alot of reviews for asus g73, but in the sole type of alienware m17x10 i cant find any...is there a link you know of reviews of m17x10 so i can see the benchies and feedbacks? thanks alot Maziar...

 

[Maziar]

Here is a great review of AW M17x with 2 5870s
http/www.tomshardware.com/reviews/m17x-mobility-radeon-hd-5870-crossfire,2744.html

 

[reaversedge]

Maziar, i also heard about some delay on updates about ati gpu in dell, im somewhat confused as they say you cant update the ati drivers, you should go to the dell website and all that...is this true?

 

[Maziar]

No,always update the drivers from AMD's site, because companies don't update their sites as usual as AMD does.

 

[reaversedge]

ok, so judging by the specs i illustrated for alienware m17x10, what's your opinion in gaming? i think im giving it a go for alienware m17x10 since its the only available pre order in my country...

 

[Maziar]

Like i said its a great laptop.
Another alternative would be Clevo X8100
http/www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8120-built-clevo-x8100-gaming-laptop-p-2768.html
XoticPC ships internationally.

 

[reaversedge]

one more thing, are the updates for m17x10 are similar to the m17x R2 version?

 

[Tesaga]

Its a mobility Radeon,I'm pretty sure the mobility 5870 is a tad worse compared to the regular 5870,by how much I'm not sure,but defenitely something to consider.

 

[Maziar]

to OP
What do you exactly mean ? you mean the drivers ?
to Tesaga
Yes its indeed less powerful than desktop 5870.It's performance is between a desktop 5750 and 5770.

 

[reaversedge]

yes the drivers, i saw a link somewhere (cant remember) on how to optimize and speed up the alienware m17x R2, i just hope that it is also applicable to the m17x10 version...

 

[Maziar]

It should be the same.