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Should we be guessing what video cards are offered, or were you going to give us a list of choices? Alienware is overpriced for what you get and I'm surprised someone who is considered a "tech wiz" would recommend them.

Also, the midweek bundle is a pile of hot garbage and at least two of the titles have bene in bundles. I'd wait until Stalker and anything else you'd want it for go on individual sale.

Originally Posted by KaOTiK Just trying to save you a ton of cash for nearly the same thing by a very reputable company that has been doing this for quite sometime now. The other thing you always hear when you hear Alienwares are good is that they are also a total ripoff as well.

Oh of course, I get where you're coming from. Like I said, I may not necessarily go with AW in the end, but I'm going to have enough money on my hands to actually splurge and buy a nice, quality machine that shouldn't just randomly break like my previous ones have here and there. I mean, it's still Windows, but I'm willing to spend more for quality construction, a strong reputation, and good support. For example, Dell has great support, but their machines blow chunks. Alienware is really high end Dell, so ironically that's a plus in my book as far as the support angle goes.

This has gotten derailed though, so I'll ask my original question in a simpler way:

What would the smartest choice for a VIDEO CARD in a brand new, sparkly laptop be?

Originally Posted by Genocidal Alienware is overpriced for what you get and I'm surprised someone who is considered a "tech wiz" would recommend them.

My thoughts exactly.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I've never heard of them, and one of the reasons I'm probably going with Alienware is because I only hear good things about them (especially from a tech wiz friend of mine), and I think they offer pretty good support. They're expensive, but they're supposed to be quality machines. I hear good about Asus too, so I'm not totally set on AW. My question was what VIDEO CARD would be good in an Alienware M18, not what other brand I should buy instead. >.>

Looking at it as if I couldn't care less about money, for a mere $550 more, the 7970m alone provides more than double the performance of the 660m, let alone dual in xfire mode. We understand you want to be mobile, but the cost of what you are looking at has no justification.

Originally Posted by Genocidal Should we be guessing what video cards are offered, or were you going to give us a list of choices? Alienware is overpriced for what you get and I'm surprised someone who is considered a "tech wiz" would recommend them.

He didn't recommend them due to price. He's been a tech for PCs as well as worked for Apple, and he has both Apples and PCs. He swears by Apples, just for OS reasons, but if he had to choose any PC to have, he'd go with an Alienware for quality (not price).

Originally Posted by Idiotekque He didn't recommend them due to price. He's been a tech for PCs as well as worked for Apple, and he has both Apples and PCs. He swears by Apples, just for OS reasons, but if he had to choose any PC to have, he'd go with an Alienware for quality (not price).

Ah, it all makes sense now.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I've never heard of them, and one of the reasons I'm probably going with Alienware is because I only hear good things about them (especially from a tech wiz friend of mine), and I think they offer pretty good support. They're expensive, but they're supposed to be quality machines. I hear good about Asus too, so I'm not totally set on AW. My question was what VIDEO CARD would be good in an Alienware M18, not what other brand I should buy instead. >.>

I have a dell XPS (since dell bought alienware, M series its basically a super/flashy XPS) and it has been .rock solid reliable for 16 months.

I looked again at the indie face kick bundle just now - mainly out of curiosity. 26 bundles sold since yesterday, with 38+ days left. OOOOFFFH. What do you all think the chances of them adding something/dropping the minimum price on it?

Originally Posted by VanillaCena Ah, it all makes sense now.

Yeah, he's not exactly frugal, lol.

That said, awhile ago I was looking at a REFURBISHED M18 for around $2000 with and Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz processor and Crossfire 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970Ms.

It seemed like a nice setup in my price range, but there's so much negativity about AMD cards. The refurbished thing turns me off anyways.

Originally Posted by pROvIs Its not really that one is better than another as they go back and forth. It just depends on what gives you better bang for your buck at that price point. Nvidia for me is kind of a tried and true and I have generally had less issues with their cards. They also for many years had much much better linux support. Nowaday I don't know if ATI/AMD are any better.

For whatever it's worth (just quoted your post for a point of reference, not trying to call you out or anything) AMD has "finally" committed to adopting Nvidia's driver release format (not that they put it this way) after years of forced monthly releases which almost always came way too late for day 0 game purchases and went a long way towards fostering the "AMD drivers suck" mentality. I'm not sure how quick they've been getting out "application profiles" and/or beta drivers for specific AAA games since like a true CAG I never buy a PC game the day it comes out (anyone that's curious should keep an eye on Darksiders II since it appears to be a tad titchy for AMD owners so far), but for games that aren't borked at the high end in favor of one company or another's GPUs from the start this should help AMD's performance parity. Unfortunately the immediate benefits for AMD owners is more or less restricted to Windows as Linux has turned into an even weirder ballgame for everybody (Linus hates Nvidia? WTF!?) lately... Crossfire is also going to continue to suck worse than SLI outside of multi-monitor setups (where Nvidia is at least making progress) for the foreseeable future even though the hardware is there for AMD this round.

Also, even though "out of box" performance is solidly in favor of Nvidia's new line at each price point their prices aren't coming down any time soon due to supply constraints (which have finally improved to the point that you don't have to overpay for a 680) whereas AMDkeeps dropping their MSRPs (alas not for the 7970 this round!) each time a new Nvidia card comes out.

Meanwhile even though AMD might have done something funny with their stock clocks in retrospect overclocking is great from the 7700 series on up so long as you (have your PC in a different room while gaming like CheapyD is wont to) don't mind the increased heat/noise/power draw, but due to the aforementioned supply constraints (or bad engineering if you believe Charlie) Nvidia has locked down the voltage on their cards so what you buy is pretty much what you get. That's without going into the disappearing act that CUDA has done since GPUcompute is about the last thing any of us care about.

All that said (people should just buy a GTX 670 and worry about the rest in a couple years), the best price/performance ratio at the moment is still in last gen cards like the HD 6950 that can be OCed/flashed into a 6970 but those will presumably come off the market eventually... Just like the black edition Phenom II CPUs did.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque Yeah, he's not exactly frugal, lol. That said, awhile ago I was looking at a REFURBISHED M18 for around $2000 with and Intel Core i7 2720QM 2.2GHz processor and Crossfire 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6970Ms. It seemed like a nice setup in my price range, but there's so much negativity about AMD cards. The refurbished thing turns me off anyways.

At least with Dell refurbs (Alienware is probably the same) a bunch of them are machines ordered and built and then canceled. I've picked up a few Dell refurb laptops from the outlet and none of them have had issues. If you're wary, just grab the warranty which for Dell is actually worth it.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque This has gotten derailed though, so I'll ask my original question in a simpler way: What would the smartest choice for a VIDEO CARD in a brand new, sparkly laptop be?

Originally Posted by Genocidal Should we be guessing what video cards are offered, or were you going to give us a list of choices?

.

Originally Posted by plft At least with Dell refurbs (Alienware is probably the same) a bunch of them are machines ordered and built and then canceled. I've picked up a few Dell refurb laptops from the outlet and none of them have had issues. If you're wary, just grab the warranty which for Dell is actually worth it.

I've just had REALLY bad luck with Dells. I mean, Alienware is Dell, but apparently they just don't have the same issues Dell has.

I'd riff on Dell, but I won't... The list of complaints I have is just way too long. Suffice to say, I'm not buying a Dell. >_<

Originally Posted by Genocidal Should we be guessing what video cards are offered, or were you going to give us a list of choices?

I don't have a list on hand; I have to do more shopping around. I was just wondering what is considered the best cost + quality video card (or cards) around right now. It seems like you can get an Alienware in it with pretty much anything in it.

Originally Posted by Rerujnoc Wow. Din's Curse was finally released on Steam. http://store.steampowered.com/app/217290/

Thanks for pointing this out! I bought it elsewhere on a really good sale but it kind of got lost in the shuffle when the next Steam sale hit and I've yet to play it.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I've just had REALLY bad luck with Dells. I mean, Alienware is Dell, but apparently they just don't have the same issues Dell has. I'd riff on Dell, but I won't... The list of complaints I have is just way too long. Suffice to say, I'm not buying a Dell. >_<

A few.years ago something big changed in their manufacturing process and or parts. Their quality shot waayy up in just a short time. Id explain it but I can't seem to remember

Originally Posted by 6er A few.years ago something big changed in their manufacturing process and or parts. Their quality shot waayy up in just a short time. Id explain it but I can't seem to remember

Hmm... Well the plastic beneath my laptop's screen just split from opening the screen. Normally I'd understand that to happen at some point, but I treat my electronics with a ridiculous amount of care, and I really haven't had the machine for that long. When I open and close the screen, I could always tell that there was a noticeable "tug" against the swivel components that would eventually spell disaster.

Not a huge deal, but it's just shown me (yet again) how shoddy the construction of Dells are. If they're better now, I don't know, but I feel it's high time to give a new company/division a try. Dell has gotten too much of me and my family's money, lol.

Originally Posted by Idiotekque I don't have a list on hand; I have to do more shopping around. I was just wondering what is considered the best cost + quality video card (or cards) around right now. It seems like you can get an Alienware in it with pretty much anything in it.

My advice: none.

A laptop is meant to be portable; everything is designed to be more compact at the cost of power and performance. A gaming laptop will be a burden to lug around due to its size (at least if you want something decent) and will cost a lot more than its desktop equivalent. And you will blaze through battery power if you game without an outlet nearby.

I can guarantee that you'll get a much better desktop PC for what your laptop will cost, and installing upgrades down the road will be so much easier. You can even upgrade to a 27" glasses-less 3D desktop monitor, but when's the last time you saw people upgrading the size of their laptop screens? The choice for gaming should be obvious. I highly doubt you'll be away from home often enough to need a mobile gaming center, anyway.

Originally Posted by Blade My advice: none. A laptop is meant to be portable; everything is designed to be more compact at the cost of power and performance. A gaming laptop will be a burden to lug around due to its size (at least if you want something decent) and will cost a lot more than its desktop equivalent. And you will blaze through battery power if you game without an outlet nearby. I can guarantee that you'll get a much better desktop PC for what your laptop will cost, and installing upgrades down the road will be so much easier. You can even upgrade to a 27" desktop monitor when glasses-less 3D becomes affordable, but when's the last time you saw people upgrading the size of their laptop screens? And finally, I highly doubt you'll be away from home often enough to need a mobile gaming center.

I understand, but I'm not planning on staying in a single location. Not only am I really set on having the ability to move my computer around through out the day, I will probably be moving around in the near future. I may end up flying to another state to stay with some family friends for an untold amount of time, etc. Moving around with a desktop PC just isn't going to work for me.

I don't mind a laptop being "big", needing too much power, etc. I just really need a mobile all-in-one machine, even if it's clunky-mobile. That's a dealbreaker for me, even though I know how much smarter it would be to build a desktop PC.

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