About to buy an Alienware m9750...

[caffeinedreamer]

Hi all! I'm hoping you can help me. I'm about to purchase an m9750 with all this:

- Dual 512MB Nvidia® GeForce™ Go 8700M GT - SLI Enabled

- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7400 2.16GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB

- 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 2048MB

- 32GB SATA Solid State Drive + 200GB 7200 RPM SATA Storage Drive

- Creative SoundBlaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio

- Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card

My main question is: is it worth me buying this with the release of the 8800M GTXs just around the corner? Also, when are they even out? Will Dual 8700M GTs not be more powerful than one 8800M GTX? Will it be possible to have Dual 8800M GTXs? Roughly what'll the difference in price be between an 8700M and a 8800M?

For anyone with an m9750 set up in a similar fashion to the one I've detailed above: just how hot and noisy are they? I'm currently using a 3.5 year old Vaio that's ridiculously noisy and hot. Will my option of going for a solid state drive help in terms of the heat / noise aspect?

Thanks! Sorry for all the questions! :)

D.

[Guyver1]

if your serious about gaming and want to enjoy Crysis then dont even touch a laptop.

I know that after bitter experience with a SLI m9750.

I sen mine back and built a brand new SLI desktop and its just SOOOO much better than any laptop you'll find.

You'll also have massive driver issues with alienware. they dont update their drivers, there are issues with a piece of hardware on the laptop that allows SLI to work on the Intel chipset which means alot of people cant update drivers (i was one of them)

Seriously, if you have this much money, for the love of god go out and get a SLI desktop rig.

your not going to be able to play Crysis anywhere near to a playable framerate. Plus your not gonna be able to enjoy it on high detail as it should be played.

I had 5 months of hell with Alienware regarding SLI, drivers and the n100 chip that enables SLI on these machines.

Gaming = Desktops plain and simple.

ONLY buy a laptop for gaming if your seriously out of space, you travel ALOT. cause they just aint worth the money.

My m9750 cost £2336

my SLI desktop rig (in my sig) cost me £2230

m9750 with 8800M GTX parts if your lucky, around 9800 in 3DMark06

my rig running 2x 8800 Ultra's in SLI 16000+

no competition

[Bill]

Except for Crysis dual 8700M GTs will run anything out right now at WUXGA. Crysis + future patch + SLI 8800M GTX might run with high or very high settings smoothly at WUXGA resolution.

You should probably buy from Sager or some other custom builder though.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/forumdisplay.php?f=1017

There is a topic there that lists almost all of the Clevo resellers. You shouldn't have any bad SLI issues with the D901C.

[caffeinedreamer]

Guyver1: A laptop would really be ideal for me as I plan to live in Japan later this year. It would really be too much effort to transport a desktop tower, monitor, etc. all the way over there. I just want the closest thing I can get to something that'll take everything I throw at it and still be transportable.

Bill: Thanks, I'm reading up on that now. Haven't found any info on the D901C yet though...

Edited January 3, 2008 by caffeinedreamer

[Bill]

The D901C goes by MANY different names. I don't know even half of them.

You should ask around there for advice. I am loving my D901C that I purchased from xtremenotebooks.

http://www.xtremenotebooks.com/index.php?s...p;model_id=1266

As it says on the configuration page, the drivers for SLI 8800M GTX aren't expected to be officially available until February, but we have some here that might work.

[shinji257]

I beg to differ about crysis not being playable on a laptop. I have a 7900GS in my laptop and it is definately playable. It actually plays better than my friends desktop who is running dual ATI Radeon HD X1600 configured in Crossfire mode. :)

[Bill]

I meant playable with all settings set to high or very high, with consistent framerates above 20.

Medium quality graphics just don't cut it.

[shinji257]

I meant playable with all settings set to high or very high, with consistent framerates above 20.

Medium quality graphics just don't cut it.

Yea. I kinda figured that :)

Anyways my comparison between my laptop capability and my friends desktop.... Well we were both default set at Medium. Figure that one out sometime. He should be the one out-doing me. I think there is something wrong with one of his cards though so...

[Bill]

Weather your using single card, SLI, or crossfire Crysis is not fully optimized for it. They admitted this when they revealed that the first patch would increase performance on crossfire, SLI, and single card setups.

[Grey728]

Since you're serious about purchasing a gaming laptop and had to buy one today, there are only 3 types I would recommend.

1st. Sager 5792/ Clevo M570RU

Link: http://www.rjtech.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Sc...uct_Code=M570RU

Review: http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np5792-nvidia...eview-a-38.html

Pros:

- First laptop out with an 8800M GTX available

- Cheap and relatively light

- Rough estimate 3DMark06 Score just under 10,000.

- Price ~$3000.00 for a fully spec'd system

The only reason why 3dMark06 is important in single GPU setups is that it gives you a general idea of it's capability. My desktop system get's about 11,000 and has an E6600 (2.4gHz intel chip) paired with a single 8800 GTX and there's almost nothing out there it can't run at 1900x1200 with everything maxed out. This system would serve you well and the price is good at under $3000

Con:

- Not as portable/heavier than Alienware's m9750 at 10.6 lbs. This also does not include the weight of the brick which is most likely an extra 4 lbs.

- Known to have fan noise issues with it revving up and down at seemingly random intervals.

2nd. Clevo D901C

Link: http://www.rjtech.com/miva/merchant.mvc?Sc...duct_Code=D901C

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np9262-ultima...01c-p-2273.html

Relevant Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3783

- Note: review is NOT of the 8800 GTX in SLI. This is mainly to give you an idea of its size wieght, etc.

Pros:

- Dual SLi 8800 GTX Available

Cons:

- Heavy at >12lbs. Power Brick is larger than a coke can and I believe weighs 5 lbs.

- Expensive! Fully Spec'd with Dual 8800 GTX ~$4400.00

- Ugly but that's really just an oppinon

- SLi. It's a con because while it offers the promise of 2x gaming performance, the reality is more along the lines of 60%-75%. Also heavily driver dependent. Most new games don't fully support SLi yet.

3rd. Alienware 9750

Link: www.alienware.com

Relevant Review: http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3840

Pros:

- Slimmest & lightest 17" that is SLi capable.

- 7950 GTX SLi is cheaper and faster than 8700m Sli

- Price is pretty competitive at the moment

- Possible upgrade path to 8800 GTX SLi (not Confirmed)

Cons:

- SLi. same as the D901C, the 7950 GTX in SLi SOMETIMES nets you similar performance to a single 8800m GTX card. Very driver dependent.

- 8800m GTX as an upgrade is not official and might never actually come out.

- 7950m GTX in SLi is SLOWER than a single 8800m GTX with more headaches involved.

- 8700m are only good if you MUST HAVE dx10. So far, NO card, desktop or otherwise, can run DX10 well without a huge premium paid for in Frames per Second. It's much better to use these cards for DX9 than 10. What for the 9 series cards if you need DX10.

[Guyver1]

I meant playable with all settings set to high or very high, with consistent framerates above 20.

Medium quality graphics just don't cut it.

20 fps is playable!?!?!?!? what do you play .... WOW?? LOTRO???

20 fps in a fast twitch fps is totally unplayable!!!

for a fast twitch FPS game anything under 40 is just not worth buying.

I totally agree with you on detail settings tho, I feel cheated if i cant enjoy games at their full detail.

caffeinedreamer if the move to Japan is the reason, then consider 2 options.

1. Buy a shuttle with an 8800 Ultra in it.

2. save your money, wait till you actually move to Japan and then buy an awesome SLI desktop rig

At the end of the day it will all come down to how serious you are about gaming, about whether or not your happy to drop alot of texture/world detail in games to get a decent/playable framerate. Do you play compeitive games? are they fast twitch first person shooters or are they more fps friendly MMORPG's??? If you hate dropping detail in games and like to immerse yourself in games in full detail with playable framerates of 40+ MINIMUM (meaning your average framerate would have to be around the 70-80 mark) then buy a shuttle or wait and get a desktop once you've moved.

If your not that heavily into gaming to the point where detail settings and framerate are that important then take these fella's advice on laptop models.