Solved! Best config for Alienware M17X

[striker007]

I am looking into the M17x to pickup and was wondering if anyone can give me the best direct config for performance regardless of price? I was also curious as to what the best performance setup would be in relation to price as I know that some components tend to jack up the cost without a real performance boost. Thanks.

 

[lostandwandering]

Just so you know, the Clevo X7200 that Maziar linked in your other thread is a better performer.

On to your question. What I would get if money were no obstacle, and yet I was being realistic:
Core i7-740QM (at least, I would debate pretty heavily about the 840QM)
Windows 7 Home Prm 64-bit
CrossfireX 5870s (best price/performance compared to the 460's)
17'' WUXGA 1920x1200 (no point in having the dual cards otherwise)
4gb DDR3 RAM
HDD (completely dependent on you. Might toy with getting the 128gb SSD)
DVD-RW (again the Blu-ray is personal)
And then software and personalization is all up to you.

All that comes to $2749.

 

[striker007]

So the differences between the 840 and the 940 are not worth the price point, performance wise. It looks like it's just a way overpriced tweak for most setups and seems to be the most expensive component.

 

[lostandwandering]

So the differences between the 840 and the 940 are not worth the price point, performance wise. It looks like it's just a way overpriced tweak for most setups and seems to be the most expensive component.

You get a small increase in speed with the 940 and then also the ability to really overclock it since the 940 has an unlocked multiplier. However, I don't feel that either of those features are worth the $1250 that they want for the upgrade.

 

[striker007]

So the Clevo is pretty bad ass, think I'm going that route. Thanks guys. These specs, any components not worth the price?

Sager NP7280 Custom Laptop (Built on the Clevo X7200)
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080)-
- Intel® Core™ i7-980X Exreme Edition (3.33-3.6GHz) 12MB L3 Cache, 6.4GT/sec QPI, LGA 1366 6 Cores/12 Threads
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- SLi ENABLED DUAL (2) 1536MB PCI-Express nVIDIA GTX 460M's (3072MB Total) w/GDDR5 DX11 Video Cards (User Upgradeable)
- ~ 12,288MB DDR3 1333MHz Memory (3 SODIMMS) (w/ i7 980 CPU Only)
- ~ 6X Blue-Ray Burner/Reader / 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- ~ 160GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA II)
- ~ 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- Sager NP7280 Spare 78.44WH Polymer Smart Lithium-Ion Battery
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's
- 3 Year Parts/Labor Warranty 24/7 Tech Support w/ LCD Accidental Damage Protection

cost $4773.00

The alien ware M17X totally hooked up still doesn't compare and is way over priced.

M17X
PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ i7 940XM Quad Core Processor, 2.13GHz (3.33GHz Turbo Mode, 8M Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
VIDEO CARD CrossfireX™ 1GB GDDR5 ATI Radeon™ Mobility HD 5870
LCD PANEL 17-inch WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 RGB LED (1200p)
MEMORY 8GB Dual Channel Memory (2x 4GB DDR3)
HARD DRIVE 512GB Raid 0 (2x 256GB Samsung Solid State HDDs)
INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
WIRELESS CARDS Intel® Ultimate N WiFi Link 6300 a/g/n 3x3 MIMO Technology
WARRANTY AND SERVICE 3 Year Advanced Service Plan

and that's priced at $4823(with 15% discount)! Worse memory, lower CPU and GPU, and the HDD is not as potent. Woohoo Dell Alienware.

 

[lostandwandering]

Personally, I feel that the 980x is a waste of money. No game on the market can utilize all 6 cores. And I would probably back off of the 12gb of RAM. I don't really see any game needing that much memory in the near future.

Also, the xfire 5870's in the Alienware are actually better than the SLI GTX460s. Even though it's just by a small margin. It will still be a potent system though.

 

[Maziar]

+1^
There is no need to get i7 980x,the stock CPU(i7 950) suffices for every tasks.
BTW,please don't make multiple threads with similar subjects, you already made another thread asking the same question.