PCTech Forums

Hello! I am here out of near desperation. Ive looked up and down the internet trying to figure out whats best and its overwhelming. I am picking out a gaming laptop and I would like to know which of these builds is best, if there is even a real difference between some/all of them. Thanks!

17” XPS-17 3D $2500
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (Quad, 3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics



(Alternate) 17” XPS-17 3D $2200
Intel® Core™ i7-2620M processor 2.70 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.40 GHz
8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 550M 1GB graphics



17” Alienware M17x 3D $2600
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (Quad, 3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M



17” CyberPower: 3D? Xplorer Xtreme S1 Notebook $2800
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
12 GB Triple-Channel DDR3
NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5 GB (X2 in SLI Mode)



17” Batallion 101 3D X7200 $2800
Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
12GB [4GB x 3] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 3D Video [X7200]

ok first let me say WOW, what setups.

now that thats out the way, it dont matter which one you pick because they all will play anything you want. The last 2 in the list have a little more power than the others but the CyberPower might do a slight bit more with SLI. However for power consumption and heat i'd choose the last one over it because the single card wont be as demanding to run.

Again though, the first one on the list is actually the weakest and its far from weak. You wont be disappointed with any of them.

Thanks for that it makes me feel more secure with buying any of these. I want the Alienware really because of its flashy exterior and name brand value. However it concerns me with having only a single graphics card compared to the rest, and just the 8gb of dual channel ram compared to the 12 triple channel the others have. Its rumored that the upcomming Alienware M18x will have dual graphics and all that, but I am worried about 18 inches being too much. This is a laptop I am going to be carying to my college classes (for a video game design major) and I wonder if 18 will even fit on a desk! 17 is already pushing it! haha. But could I cream through games on the highest graphics for the next couple years with the Alienware? Thanks so much! I posted an updated version of the 4 leading models.


Alienware M17x $2855

Intel® Core™ i7 2720QM 2.2GHz (Quad, 3.3GHz Turbo Mode, 6MB Cache)
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
1.5GB GDDR5 Nvidia GeForce GTX 460M
256 SSD

CyberPower: Xplorer Xtreme $2696

Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
12 GB Triple-Channel DDR3
NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5 GB (X2 in SLI Mode)
128 gb SSD

Batallion 101 X7200 $2836

Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
12GB [4GB x 3] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
AMD Radeon HD 6970 2GB GDDR5 3D Video [X7200]
OR
NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5 GB (X2 in SLI Mode) (-$29)
160 gb SSD

Sager NP7280 $2931

Intel® Core™ i7 960 Processor (4x 3.20GHz/8MB L3 Cache)
12GB [4GB x 3] 1333MHz DDR3 SDRAM
NVIDIA GTX 460M 1.5 GB (X2 in SLI Mode)
120 gb SSD

That Alienware will hold you with no problem. 8 gigs of ram is more than enough to not only play but to do a pretty good job of rendering. Think about this, Crysis is still today used as a benchmark game to see just how good your pc runs. It was released in 07, developed in 06 when i7 cpus, DDR3 memory and GTX series cards didnt exist. Much the same for most everything used to check framerates.

I dont know what to say about the 18" models other than when you buy yours, buy me one too : ) Thats no doubt alot of machine! Might be a pain in the ass to pack around a campus but would look awesome when you whip it out in class and load up COD Black Ops.

Also a little side note, ive never heard of any of the mentioned brands other than Alienware of course. They do have an excellent reputation for a good reason.

yeah ive only heard of Alienware too thats why this time around when picking a computer (this will be my 4th Alienware), I am doing a lot of research into others. This has made me stumble upon better laptop specs but without the name brand and the fancy lights. Which, I don't understand why noone else can build flashy looking laptops. How come Alienware is the only one who can do it?

Thinking about whipping out an 18 inch Alienware in class and playing Black Ops made me smile I just hope they do another revision on the M17 because I'd really like dual graphics!

I dont think there the only one that can but they for whatever reason are the only one that really does. Myself, i dont think i would want dual graphics in a notebook. I just imagine a 15-20 min battery drain or heat problems but i could be wrong.