Alienware M17x R4 Compared to R3

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thomasf94

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What are the major differences? can the R3 support 600 series of Nvidia Kepler gpus?

Also, anybody have any experience with the m17x? I have heard both good and bad, and I am well aware that they can be overpriced, right now i own a desktop with a 680 in nvidia surround with 3 monitors, so this will be quite the downgrade for me, haha.

I am getting a laptop because I now travel alot, and I figure I want a laptop that will last me a long time, also I am suckered into the alienware look, personally I think its amazing! Love the customization with the alienwareFX, and they have slot loading cd drives... :D

so anyway, back to my questions, major difference between R3 and R4? and also, I am looking for good deals on one... very difficult finding one under $1500 with a 1080p screen, so if anybody has seen a good deal, that would be awesome!
 
thomasf94 said:
What are the major differences? can the R3 support 600 series of Nvidia Kepler gpus?

Also, anybody have any experience with the m17x? I have heard both good and bad, and I am well aware that they can be overpriced, right now i own a desktop with a 680 in nvidia surround with 3 monitors, so this will be quite the downgrade for me, haha.

I am getting a laptop because I now travel alot, and I figure I want a laptop that will last me a long time, also I am suckered into the alienware look, personally I think its amazing! Love the customization with the alienwareFX, and they have slot loading cd drives... :D

so anyway, back to my questions, major difference between R3 and R4? and also, I am looking for good deals on one... very difficult finding one under $1500 with a 1080p screen, so if anybody has seen a good deal, that would be awesome!
Click to expand...

Sucks no one replied to you until now.

I bought the R4 right when it came out, with the Ivy Bridge upgrade, and the 7970M (more specs. in my sig.). I have to say, it's by far one of the fastest laptops I've ever had the pleasure of using on a day to day basis. I like the look of the new Alienwares, so that was also a selling point for me.

That being said, it's a pricey ordeal, but can be alleviated by calling in and haggling. You can get free shipping, and faster shipping, accessories, and a lot more by just calling in and doing it the old fashioned way.

Now you've got the option of 680M's, which, unless stated otherwise, offer a little bit more power, but with buggier GPU switching graphics. You can also opt to grab yourself 2 of these, but then again, you pay for it. I'd recommend grabbing a 7970M and as little RAM as possible (do the upgrade yourself for MUCH cheaper).

Differences between the R3 and R4 are huge. You get a brand new processor that eats the R3's up, and a GPU that demolishes previous laptop GPU's inside Alienwares. It's overall very much worth it, but that depends on how much power you really need to be honest.
 
thomasf94 said:
What are the major differences? can the R3 support 600 series of Nvidia Kepler gpus?

Also, anybody have any experience with the m17x? I have heard both good and bad, and I am well aware that they can be overpriced, right now i own a desktop with a 680 in nvidia surround with 3 monitors, so this will be quite the downgrade for me, haha.

I am getting a laptop because I now travel alot, and I figure I want a laptop that will last me a long time, also I am suckered into the alienware look, personally I think its amazing! Love the customization with the alienwareFX, and they have slot loading cd drives... :D

so anyway, back to my questions, major difference between R3 and R4? and also, I am looking for good deals on one... very difficult finding one under $1500 with a 1080p screen, so if anybody has seen a good deal, that would be awesome!
Click to expand...

I wouldn't say they're overpriced, you get a lot for the money with them, as an R4 owner I put a lot of work into studying the differences between the laptops that supported the high end graphics cards. I ended up going with an R4 with a 7970m. If you're going with the 680m you're going to spend a LOT more money for a very small increase in performance (considering the new 12.11 beta drivers, it might not even be an increase in performance anymore to be honest). That being said the R3 to R4 gives ivy bridge over sandy bridge which is a little faster and supposedly less power, though I don't think it's a huge difference. And yes, you will have trouble finding a laptop at that price with a 1080 screen if it actually has one of the good graphics cards in it, if you're just looking for one that you're going to replace the card in I'd say you're better off just buying a new one, for the warranty support and because those cards are very, very expensive, so even if you do buy a laptop for 1500 you're still looking at a large amount of money for a 680m
 
Agree with the above. Between the R3 and R4, the only big difference is the GPUs. 7970m/680m is quite a bit faster than the 580m/6990m!

I've looked into upgrading to the current cards and the cheapest I've found is $480 for the 7970m and $750 for the 4gb 680m. The Dell 680m's are 2gb.
 
The whole point of the alienware 17inch is the "3d scree" for 120hz, you only had 2 options last time I looked in this space. Samsung series 7 gamer, or alienware. The alienware price is very high though, sometimes you can get deals, I actually tried to buy the m17x r4 but the sales guys just would not give me crap for prices and I ended up going with the series 7 gamer. I took a gpu down grade to 675m and a 1 step down cpu, saved over $1000. If you are in the laptop space forget about buying for long term switched to a fast turnover model where you sell your laptop used before the value is too low.
 
rudy said:
The whole point of the alienware 17inch is the "3d scree" for 120hz, you only had 2 options last time I looked in this space. Samsung series 7 gamer, or alienware. The alienware price is very high though, sometimes you can get deals, I actually tried to buy the m17x r4 but the sales guys just would not give me crap for prices and I ended up going with the series 7 gamer. I took a gpu down grade to 675m and a 1 step down cpu, saved over $1000. If you are in the laptop space forget about buying for long term switched to a fast turnover model where you sell your laptop used before the value is too low.
Click to expand...

What? You can get an M17x with either a 3D screen or not. However to utilize 3D you need an Nvidia gpu. The 680m is nearly twice as fast as the 675m so it's not just a "step down". The 675m is a renamed 580m.
 
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