Alienware or a Dell

[caponewgp]

Basically i am having a hard time choosing between the dell m1710 and the aurora m9700
dell m1710 with these specs -Intel® Core™ Duo Processor T2500
-2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ
-100GB 7200rpm
-8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW)
-512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7900 GTX comes to about 3600 dollars then the alienware with these specs
-AMD Turion™ 64 Mobile ML44 2.4GHz 800MHz
-2GB Dual Channel DDR SO-DIMM at 400MHz
-100GB Serial ATA 7200rpm
-8X Dual Layer DVD+/-RW / 24X
-Dual 256MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7900 GS - SLI Enabled comes to 3600
Now the thing is neither of these notebooks really offer everything i want but u never really no when the next best thing is gonna come out. I would really like dual core, SLI, and 64bit built into one machine so i dont know if i should wait for AMD X2 to start coming more to gaming machines or what. Does anybody know when that is expected to happen. And i was wondering how the dual 7900 GS would compare to one 7900 gtx 512mb if anybody knows of any tests on these that would help. Thanks

 

[killernotebooks]

The 7900GS is a cut down version of the GTX. I would get the single 7900 GTX 512 MB. There's a couple graphs and charts on there.
Go to my Mobile GPU Comparison Page, there are some graphs there you may find helpful.

While you're at my site, take a look at the Executioner. I think that is what you are looking for. It now has a 512 MB 7900 GTX in it.

 

[3Ball]

Well first off, the core duo is a dual core processor, but like u said it isnt 64 bit.

I personally just saw that exact laptop demo'd last night at the Intel Summer Championships world series of gaming and I have to say I was pretty impressed.

The 7900GTX wipes the floor with the 7900gs (they did a comparison at the seminar) and also, the DDR2 ram from the Intel uses less power than that of the DDR from the Alienware so that is also a plus.

When buying a laptop it is good to remember that there are only a few difference is the barebones that are used and the quality is all very similar so if you buy a dell and reinstall your own OS then it should be good to go. (unlike the case with a custom built computer vs a branded one)

Also, with that dell you can flash the bios when the update comes out for the Intel Merom chip and it will work in the laptop. Its an easy upgrade though probably not very cheap, but it will give you the 64 bit that you want use later down the road.

Believe be, if you want to game. The Core Duo and 7900GTX are going to be significantly better than the Turion and the 7800GS in the side by side comparison that I saw it gave on averatge 25 - 40fps more in games with higher settings and won in the timed demos by about 20%!

Good luck with whatever you decide!

Best,

3Ball

Antec Neo HE 550w PS
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Sandy @ 2.65ghz (Arctic Freezer 64 Pro)
ASUS A8N-E 939 Motherboard
Sapphire X1900XTX 512mb (668mhz/775mhz) (Arctic Accelro X2)
(2x1024mb) DDR400 Patriot Performance Mem (2.5-3-2-5) @ 432mhz

 

[3Ball]

I didnt even notice that KillerNotebooks had posted. If you want a quaility build, I would not go with alienware or dell! I would suggest them over most if not all companies that I have seen or used. The covering that Alienware uses is a cheap feeling and looking plastic that you cant tell on the website. Also they tend to overheat pretty easily (personal experiance of a friends).

I have been looking at some notebooks at Killernotebooks.com and actually just convinced my friend to buy from there in the next couple of months. He really wanted an alienware for the name, but they really are not all they crack up to be and are really more of a joke than anything, especially since they are now own'd by dell.

Yes I did say that what you get in notbooks is relative in the BAREBONE since, but you have to take into account the other components such as: (ram, HD, etc..) and then the quality and care of the build.

Check out Killernotebooks.com (IMO)

Best,

3Ball

Antec Neo HE 550w PS
AMD Athlon 64 3700+ Sandy @ 2.65ghz(Arctic Freezer 64 Pro)
ASUS A8N-E 939 Motherboard
Sapphire X1900XTX 512mb (668mhz/775mhz) (Arctic Accelro X2)
(2x1024mb) DDR400 Patriot Performance Mem (2.5-3-2-5) @ 432mhz

 

[caponewgp]

thank you guys for the help im gonna go for the dell i looked at killernotebooks and there are a lot of good machines on there but im just not sure of the quality since i have never seen one in person.

 

[killernotebooks]

From the preliminary pricing I have seen the Core 2 Duo is going to be pretty reasonable. The desktop pricing looks near the same as what the core duo is now. I can't see the notebook chip being much more, but I did just find out about the $499 OS so, we'll have to wait and see.