Guest bifnewman Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I never really looked into the M14x that much and I really regret that now. After watching videos, this thing can max out pretty much everything, especially with the 720p screen. I want to play games at very high settings. With a laptop this portable, this system is awesome and it runs cool too. Do you think I should get it? What specs should I get? Is the 3GB VRAM really useless? I am at a debate between the 720p and 900p screen. If I go for the M14x, I will probably go through the Dell Outlet since it's cheaper and I won't have to wait for system to be built. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 (edited) BTW, to give you guys an idea about the performance of my M17x, its running Battlefield Bad Company 2 not even maxed out at barely 30 fps.EDIT: just ran another game: GTA IV. it runs about 25 fps average at 1600x1200 on max settings on the benchmark. real game performance sits around 20fps at that resolution. Dell is ignoring my emails. I hate talking to the reps because they never know what they are doing and it is hard to understand them.... wtf? Edited July 16, 2011 by bifnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreybaks Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 (edited) m14x is surly one of my favorite laptops out right now. There are some things to consider though. The 13.3-14 inch segment is saturated with great laptops as it stands right now. IF your looking for the fastest 14 inch laptop then the m14x would suit you well. The drawback to that is that it weighs 6 pounds, more then all the other 14 inch laptops out there and is a good deal thicker to boot. My current favorite laptop is of course the new sony vaio Z laptop, that thing is pure madness in the design, but the S series by sony is also a great buy. Alot of things people looking at alienwares forget to think about is odd ball trinkets that you might not think you need but is fun to use weather or not you need them. Alot of the 14 inch laptops have things like esata+usb ports, ambient light sensors for adjusting your screen brightness to better suit your eyes while in differently lighting condictions, media controls, switches for graphics and wireless, bluethooth, HD web cameras, there are alot of different things to look for when buying a new laptop. For me I like having everything imaginable, cause on some cold dark night I will find that some how I need esata for some reason and use it or need the bluethooth for some new device. One of the premium packed with all the trinkets laptops right now is the sony vaio s series laptops, they got it all literally. There are plenty more though to look at, Lenovo edge e420s, my laptop the ideapad Y460/470, asus makes a k42 series I think that has a sweet 14 inch laptop, envy 14, mac/air 13, samsung series 9. Most all can game well enough, just finding what you like.I owned one of the first alienwares back when they were there own company, it was a iteration of there 5500 series which was there series that brought them stardum and started laptop gaming as we know it. Myn was the 776, first laptop with 128 megabyte graphics card in it. It still plays aion decent enough. As much as I love the design and was glad to see such great build in there new design Im hoping they can move away from the automotive looks as alienware signature is sci fi, and not cars as such I think they should make it more alienwareish per se. Even so, I would still get a new alienware in the right situation but there is to many crazy sweet laptops that are out there to look past if you have a $ dollars. Sony has really pushed forward with there new laptops and Lenovo is rock solid, don't pass them up by any means. Edited July 16, 2011 by jeffreybaks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 m14x is surly one of my favorite laptops out right now. There are some things to consider though. The 13.3-14 inch segment is saturated with great laptops as it stands right now. IF your looking for the fastest 14 inch laptop then the m14x would suit you well. The drawback to that is that it weighs 6 pounds, more then all the other 14 inch laptops out there and is a good deal thicker to boot. My current favorite laptop is of course the new sony vaio Z laptop, that thing is pure madness in the design, but the S series by sony is also a great buy. Alot of things people looking at alienwares forget to think about is odd ball trinkets that you might not think you need but is fun to use weather or not you need them. Alot of the 14 inch laptops have things like esata+usb ports, ambient light sensors for adjusting your screen brightness to better suit your eyes while in differently lighting condictions, media controls, switches for graphics and wireless, bluethooth, HD web cameras, there are alot of different things to look for when buying a new laptop. For me I like having everything imaginable, cause on some cold dark night I will find that some how I need esata for some reason and use it or need the bluethooth for some new device. One of the premium packed with all the trinkets laptops right now is the sony vaio s series laptops, they got it all literally. There are plenty more though to look at, Lenovo edge e420s, my laptop the ideapad Y460/470, asus makes a k42 series I think that has a sweet 14 inch laptop, envy 14, mac/air 13, samsung series 9. Most all can game well enough, just finding what you like.I owned one of the first alienwares back when they were there own company, it was a iteration of there 5500 series which was there series that brought them stardum and started laptop gaming as we know it. Myn was the 776, first laptop with 128 megabyte graphics card in it. It still plays aion decent enough. As much as I love the design and was glad to see such great build in there new design Im hoping they can move away from the automotive looks as alienware signature is sci fi, and not cars as such I think they should make it more alienwareish per se. Even so, I would still get a new alienware in the right situation but there is to many crazy sweet laptops that are out there to look past if you have a $ dollars. Sony has really pushed forward with there new laptops and Lenovo is rock solid, don't pass them up by any means.I would be looking for the most powerful 14" notebook as I want to use it for gaming. As far as I know, this thing has the best specs around for it's form factor. I love the Thinkpad's and I am looking at them but I can't justify buying one since they aren't oriented towards gaming. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearsguy Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I have the m14x and I have to say it is indeed quite powerful. I get around 80fps maxed on BFBC2 (1600x900, 2X aa, HBAO off, and all the rest maxed) with an overclock of 750/1080. If you just want a 14 inch laptop that can game decently, Id go for a specced out HP Envy 14 Beats Edition. You can get a completely specced out one w/ 8gb of ram, 750gb HDD, and i7 2630QM (same cpu as the m14x) for the price of the stock m14x. You just lose the powerful GPU.If you want this as your main gaming computer, then definitely the m14x. I have the 3GB upgrade but only got it as I have a theory that it helps with intense video rendering, but for gaming 1.5gb is enough. Definitly go for the 900p screen. I turn the resolution down to 1366x768 and 1280x800 for intense games like Crysis and Metro 2033, and it doesnt look blurry at all. Just awesome. Im thinking it may be because the pixel densitiy is higher? The 1600x900 screen makes games like Mass Effect and BFBC2 look amazing (meaning games that aren't has highly intensive to handle 900p if that makes sense).Sorry if this doesnt make snese, i got up like 15 minutes ago lol. For a main gaming rig, the m14x will definitly suffice, but you do pay a pretty penny for the privilege. If you just want something decently priced, has goodies like Beats sound and a red backlit keyboard, and can game well with a very fast cpu and ram, go for the HP Envy 14 Beats Edition. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevenxowens792 Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 @Bif - how in the world can you not max out BFBC2 on dual 5870s? I am completely confused here. I had 1x5850 in the m15x with a much less powerful i7-720qm and it ran fine at high settings (minus HBAO). So I must ask... Is this post for real? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 @Bif - how in the world can you not max out BFBC2 on dual 5870s? I am completely confused here. I had 1x5850 in the m15x with a much less powerful i7-720qm and it ran fine at high settings (minus HBAO). So I must ask... Is this post for real?Yep. I am pushing dell hard for a full refund. If I really get a full refund, I might just go with the X7200 + Dell XT2 Tablet. The M14x looked interesting though, since it can handle Metro 2033 maxed out at pretty much stock res. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTWingNut Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Yep. I am pushing dell hard for a full refund. If I really get a full refund, I might just go with the X7200 + Dell XT2 Tablet. The M14x looked interesting though, since it can handle Metro 2033 maxed out at pretty much stock res.Well, something isn't configured properly. There's no reason it shouldn't handle it at mostly high at 50+ fps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreybaks Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Could just be something your overlooking, more often then not it is the users fault for improperly diagnosing a laptop that isnt giving them what they want. You dont give enough information though besides to say that its not giving you the performance that you require. Alot of peoples expectations are to high also when it comes to mobilie computers, then when they get them they are heart broken. Iv folowed the x7200 from when it was just a concept though, it is an amazing laptop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 I can't figure it out. I have the latest AMD drivers and nothing is overclocked. Subpar performance in all games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreybaks Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 well first thing you would want to do is to make sure both your cards are being used. A lot of the time in CF machines only one card is being used either because of software conflicts, some setting or bad CF cable connecting the two or also the cable has been disloged. Sometimes it helps to reseat everything and reconnect the cable just to make sure. Then download some benchies like 3Dmark Vantage, 3DMark11/06, and from there we can determine if your getting the right frames per second. Also reverting your system back from its factory image might help in case you installed some type of trojan that is robbing your system of its power. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kynlore Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 If you are between the 720 and 900 screens, definitely go with the 900. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevenxowens792 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 @bif - does that model have the stealth mode crap? If so, hit that button and see if it makes a difference. OMG... I just remembered.. damn.. in power properties for your video cards.. Their is an option for ATI powerplay or something like that. It has to be enabled and set to max performance. It can not be disabled. Doing so critically kills your clocks. Please enable it immediately and post back to let us know if it changes the whole performance of your machine! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 @bif - does that model have the stealth mode crap? If so, hit that button and see if it makes a difference. OMG... I just remembered.. damn.. in power properties for your video cards.. Their is an option for ATI powerplay or something like that. It has to be enabled and set to max performance. It can not be disabled. Doing so critically kills your clocks. Please enable it immediately and post back to let us know if it changes the whole performance of your machine! ATI PowerPlay is enabled on mine. I thought Stealth mode decreased the performance and it has no effect on battery. I have never turned it on. When I press it, it says press Yes to turn it on and press No to cancel. I just Canceled it. Should I press yes? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stevenxowens792 Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Ok.. Stealth impacts gaming on power (not battery). To this day I dont understand why they created it. But here is how you can check if its on... Boot up, start throttlestop, hit the stealth button. if you notice the multiplier way down on the cpu like x8 or x9 then its enabled. If the multiplier is like x20 or so then stealth is not enabled. My bet is that IT IS enabled. Its a serious pain in the @ss. It's the one feature that I absolutely hated on my m15x. Good luck, StevenX Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 @Stevenxowens792 - The multiplier was topped at 16 because I had Turbo Mode off. I just set it to enabled and the multipliers are at 25. I still don't think 2.2GHz would be that detrimental to performance. I'm gonna run some more tests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 (edited) Okay... BFBC2 is running around 60 fps now. It's not maxed though.UPDATE: If I max out the AA and AF, turn on VSYNC, and HBAO on I get around 25 or 30 fps, this can't be normal? Edited July 17, 2011 by bifnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearsguy Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Turn off VSYNC and HBAO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Turn off VSYNC and HBAOEven on the M17x? BTW, do you like that Viliv N5? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearsguy Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 Yeah, VSYNC just limits the FPS to get rid of tearing and is pretty much useless unless the game is running butter smooth (like 100fps or more). HBAO doesnt make a difference at all, and just hits fps badly.And yeah why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 Yeah, VSYNC just limits the FPS to get rid of tearing and is pretty much useless unless the game is running butter smooth (like 100fps or more). HBAO doesnt make a difference at all, and just hits fps badly.And yeah why?I am looking at tablets. I found a pretty good deal on a X201 Tablet at CDW and am contemplating buying it. I haven't run the fraps counter in the background yet, but it seems to have helped a little bit. I have to do more tests to make sure the computer is running normally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gearsguy Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 N5 isnt really a tablet. 4.8 inch clamshell device is quite a bit different Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bifnewman Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 (edited) N5 isnt really a tablet. 4.8 inch clamshell device is quite a bit different I was just making sure that their products aren't crap. I'm probably gonna go for a device from eBay (not Viliv). Edited July 19, 2011 by bifnewman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.