alienware vs q6600 + gtx260

T

the lone gunman

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 30, 2005
Messages
418
Ok im looking to replace my desktop PC. i have been building my own PC's for... well along time but as of recently i have been considering replacing my desktop with an, all out top of the line laptop (space is at a premium im my house =])
so currently i have a q6600, p5q, 4gb ram, gtx260.... ok its old but its still does the job. i use Adobe CS6 after effects and play a few games (modern ones at low res)

I was looking at a i7-3630 CPU, 8gb ram, HD7970 based laptop. they are not the full specs but on this comparison how do you think this laptop would compare to my current setup? i can only assume alot better?
 
Yes.

Though, do keep in mind that the 7970M is basically a downclocked 7870.

Also, I'd really suggest looking into a desktop unless you consistantly move from one place to another.
 
well its 13 places down from the best class 1 cards on NotebookCheck and that includes SLI and Xfire so i guess its not to bad a card? bear in mind im not a milionare =]

just want to know if its gonna beat my current set up =]
 
It'd blow it out of the water. :D Notebookreview says the 7970M performs in between a 7870 and a 7850.

That's like what, uhm... that's as good as 260 Tri-SLi lol.

And well, IDK why you're considering such notebook if you're not all that rich. That sounds like a top notch notebook.

If you really do need a notebook, then I'd just opt for an older (maybe second hand) notebook with 5870M CrossFire or something. That'd still beat your 260 and in turn, you'd end up with a much faster i5 or i7 chip and a portable, capable machine.
 
Last time I checked (August) CS6 did not support OpenCL in windows. Only Cuda.

So you may lose some CS6 performance moving from nvidia to amd.

But then it may be made up going from a q6600 to core i7.

Just throwing that into the pile. You may want to look into that, or some more helpful hardocp guy may know more.
 
Aye, just missed that.

I was thinking of solely the gaming performance.

If Adobe is your concern, then go with an nVidia card as they hardware accelerate it from CUDA.

A GTX 675M would come in sigficantly faster than your 260. It's a downclocked 470.

Man I hate these silly, overexaggerated notebook card naming schemes.
 
for a lot less you can have a gtx 660m. Love mine in my asus
 
Thanks for all the replies, I was concerned about the AMD card when using cs6, so would prolly go for an nvidia based system. I did consider an older model but you really restricted to eBay, and I hate buying and selling electronics on there as I have had problems in the past.
Anyway guys you have give me something to think about...

Thanks again :)
 
675M = GTX560 GTX desktop chip
675MX = GTX660ti chip with GTX660 number of shaders
680M = GTX670 desktop chip

675MX or 680M depending on which you can afford really for the best performance.
 
You can get the video card in the Alienware system in an SLI or CFX configuration.

A bit pricey if you deck out one of the Alienware laptops though.. around 4k if I remember correctly.

Remember to order it with the least amount of RAM as well as the cheapest HDD they offer as well.

Then buy the RAM and an SSD seperately from another online store like newegg, amozaon, or tigerdirect. You will save around $350+ when doing it this way as well as get better parts.
 
I agree, why bother with an Alienware notebook at all?

They do indeed look pretty nice. But are shit expensive.

Get a Toshiba with a GTX675M. One of those with the red shroud. They're significantly more affordable than Alienware.

And like I said before and I'll say it again, unless you MUST need a notebook, go desktop. Open up space in your room for a desktop if spacing is an issue. Don't buy a gaming notebook just because they're sleek and lovely.
 
the reason i was thinking about alienware is because of the great reviews they have had with regards to the build quality. i know i can kit out a high end laptop online for about £300 cheaper but im concerned about being sent a bit of cheap plastic with high end kit inside.

as for the ram and hdd mentioned, thats good advice.. with regards to the laptop vs desktop well my love for building a new system will never go away, i would like to build a new system but i do need more space and the way tech seams these days high end laptops seam so much better that they were 5 years ago (by comparison)

like i said one of my main concerns i build quality. if anyone can reccomend a build-your-own laptop website then by all means give me a link...

BTW im in the uk. you guys in the US are very lucky you have new egg, great website:D
 
I went through a pair of Toshiba notebooks, one was a lowly ass L10 and the other was a Qosmio with a Pentium M 2.13 and a X700 card and a 17 inch screen, which was a high-end notebook for it's time. They were both very well built and done.

And Toshiba has giant service centers in most countries. Their support is top-notch.

I really don't think you can go wrong with a Qosmio.

Alienware is really a rip-off. You aren't getting all your money back. A good amount of that money goes to Alienware's pocket and not into your hardware.

How about this?

http://www.toshiba.co.uk/laptops/qosmio/x870/qosmio-x870-143/

That thing is WAY more affordible than an Alienware.

Hell, you might even have some money left in the pocket for a big and nice IPS monitor or a new desktop or something...
 
johnnydoe said:
I went through a pair of Toshiba notebooks, one was a lowly ass L10 and the other was a Qosmio with a Pentium M 2.13 and a X700 card and a 17 inch screen, which was a high-end notebook for it's time. They were both very well built and done.

And Toshiba has giant service centers in most countries. Their support is top-notch.

I really don't think you can go wrong with a Qosmio.

Alienware is really a rip-off. You aren't getting all your money back. A good amount of that money goes to Alienware's pocket and not into your hardware.

How about this?

http://www.toshiba.co.uk/laptops/qosmio/x870/qosmio-x870-143/

That thing is WAY more affordible than an Alienware.

Hell, you might even have some money left in the pocket for a big and nice IPS monitor or a new desktop or something...
Click to expand...

That only has the 670m as well as only an i5. Even the higher end model still only has a 670m. And there is absolutely no customization available at all.. they offer a single configuration and that is it.

I am sure it helps in cutting down costs, but that configuration kinda sucks as-is.
 
That's spensive.

I payed 1260 shipped with 6 months no interest for an MSI GT70 0NC-494US.
 
The Lurker said:
That's spensive.

I payed 1260 shipped with 6 months no interest for an MSI GT70 0NC-494US.
Click to expand...

That's an UK site.

cyclone3d said:
That only has the 670m as well as only an i5. Even the higher end model still only has a 670m. And there is absolutely no customization available at all.. they offer a single configuration and that is it.

I am sure it helps in cutting down costs, but that configuration kinda sucks as-is
Click to expand...

670M carries the exact same GPU as the 675M, just underclocked. And yes, he might want to opt for an i7 for Adobe but even the i5 Ivy will be miles ahead of his Q6600 and that card is also much faster than his old ass 260.

There's no need to customize a Qosmio. They look pretty sick as they already are.

It's not a sucky notebook. It's a pretty good laptop for the money.
 
Please note that:

670M = fermi
670MX = kepler
675M = fermi
675MX = kepler

The 670M has less shaders and is lower clocked than the 675M.

The 670MX has the same shaders and same clocks as the 675MX but has a memory unit disabled and looses 8 rops (256bit, 32 ROPS vs 192bit, 24 ROPS).
 
Those Kepler based MX's are so watered down they make the Fermi based mobile cards a better price/performance choice.

So many silly cost cuttings done on the notebook end.
 
johnnydoe said:
Those Kepler based MX's are so watered down they make the Fermi based mobile cards a better price/performance choice.

So many silly cost cuttings done on the notebook end.
Click to expand...

Has nothing to do with Fermi vs Kepler, you can get all the same cards in the new chip now which runs cooler, overclocks better and is more stable. If you compare the Kepler cards to the Fermi cards of the same tier, the kepler cards are on average 10% faster than the equivalent Fermi.

Its not cost cutting either. You really think enabling or disabling some bits on the core saves them money? Its a shitty way to force people to buy into your higher end machines. I couldn't get a 675MX without the SSD in the package. But I didnt want to spend 600 dollars more on the machine.
 
The Lurker said:
Has nothing to do with Fermi vs Kepler, you can get all the same cards in the new chip now which runs cooler, overclocks better and is more stable.

Its not cost cutting either. You really think enabling or disabling some bits on the core saves them money? Its a shitty way to force people to buy into your higher end machines. I couldn't get a 675MX without the SSD in the package. But I didnt want to spend 600 dollars more on the machine.
Click to expand...

The Fermi based 675M is less cut down when compared on "GPU cutting down level" to the 675MX. The 675MX has more stuff disabled and is more underclocked, which is just pointless because it's a more efficient GPU.

It's some sort of cutting down and watering down the product when it has the potential to be faster, even in a notebook.

And yes, more disabled cores cost less to be put on, and easier to be cooled and such.
 
Well Nvidia only have a limited number of these cores but they do bring the GK104 to a wider audience while offering all of the advantages of fermi that it does.

Also all the GK104 parts have HUGE overclocking headroom and are measurably faster than their fermi counterparts so the naming scheme is not misleading either.
 
I have owned and still own alienware laptops. Hands down the best and easiest to maintain and upgrade laptop I have ever used.
 
With the amount of community support they get to they tend to have a lot of options opened up on them too (and from the factory compared to most other brands too).
 
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