MSI,CLEVO, SAGER?

[V762 Cas]

Hi, im new here to the forums and i need help with what would be the best choice with buying a new gaming laptop. personaly ive always liked Alienware and i just got a used M18r2 its a base model i guess because it has the one gtx660m and  a 3720qm. and since Alienware will retire the 18 platform,what is the best laptop out there to buy from the likes of MSI CLEVO or SAGER ? or a brand that i havent heard of. i want to be able to move up to the GTX 10xxseries cards and this R2 is not capable. any pro/con suggestions would be most appreciated  thanks.

Edited June 15, 2017 by V762 Cas
run on

[runix18]

It depends on you fanboy-ism, top end Clevo and MSI laptops comes with upgradable graphics.(they'r own proprietary form factors of course)

Ps: Clevo and Sager are one and the same thing, Sager beeing a Clevo resseler.

My best advice for you, upgrade your current laptop to a I7 3940xm cpu, and 2X Gtx 980m in SLI instead of you 660m's and youre good to go, still good for more than couple of years on FHD. (will still be cheaper than a new top end Clevo or MSI) but this is only my advice do as you see fit.

Cheers.

Edited June 15, 2017 by runix18

[V762 Cas]

thanks for your advice Runix18,that would give me upto 3,8 ghz and wow 16gb of video ram?? thats 2 8gb cards in SLI . only concern is would they run properly or constant staggering throttle issues as ive come to learn from other members  posts regarding this issue im scared of damaging my M18 R2 if i do a bios update .right now its showing A11 bios also what is UEFI and LEGACY ? im not really into overclocking as i wouldnt really know what the hell im doing just end up damaging something  just happy being able to upgrade thats all.

[runix18]

1. Bios update on the alienware mx18 r2 is preety straight forward and safe. You can read more about it here. The ideea with the unlocked bios is not for overclocking (in your case), is for aditional hardware (CPU and GPU) support and stability tweaks. It just need to be instaled, nobody forces u to mess with it and/or overclock anything.

2. Unified Extensible Firmware Interface(UEFI) is the successor to BIOS. You can read more about it here. https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-difference-between-UEFI-and-Legacy-Mode-which-we-need-to-choose-while-installing-the-OS

 

3. Do not wory about throttling issues, the MX18 cooling sistem was designed for 680m wich is roughly the same TDP as 980m, as for the cpu,you more than sure have the 3 heatpipe cooler so you'l be fine if you use a good thermal paste (ICD7 / Grizly Kryonaut)

 

PS: 2x 8GB VRAM GPU in Sli is not 16GB VRAM, is still 8, because SLI (more exactly AFR work by mirroring the VRAM content from 1 gpu to the other, the advantage is that they actualy process that information almost 2 times faster) but as I said in the post before, 8GB VRAM is more than enough for FHD for years to come.

Edited June 16, 2017 by runix18

[V762 Cas]

thanks Runix18,so i guess i will defenately upgrade to 3940xm and 980m's my goal is to get as many years out of this M18x r2 as i can before its time to buy another laptop,that said il keep an eye out for (Clevos) in the future. in the mean time il also woodshed as much as i can in the tech forums.

[runix18]

All good m8, you'l be fine, just assimilate as much information as you can on bios flashing, mx18 r2 upgrading, thermal paste, setting windows to boot on uefi. As always formus like this and youtube tutorials are a good place to start.

[Thelargechic]

Straight answer for you would be Clevo. No laptop company goes above and beyond like they do. I first purchased the Clevo D900F ( A 2009 laptop) had an i7 920 and a GTX 280m. That very laptop was still upgradeable to a 6 core xeon (X56X0) or i7 6 core. Also upgraded from the GTX 280m to a GTX 680m and from 6gb ram to 24gb. Goes to show they continue supporting laptops long after they stop selling them. Currently on my new laptop (Clevo P570WM).