Hey guys, been a lurker on the site for the last year, love it. Decided to sign up today. Love anything HL. Anyhow, went out and bought an AlienWare M15x. T8100, ATI MB 3870. 2GB RAM (lol). Was just curious if anybody had a similar setup, or at least the same video card? I’ve found nothing but comments about the 3870, no real benchmarks, and would love to know how this would fare playing HL2:ep2, or BM:S? Any input would be lovely. Thanks.
Please provide your full system specs and the price of the machine. I’m sorry but Alienware is SO overpriced.
Area-51® m15x
15.4" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
Windows Vista® Home Premium (64-bit Edition)
2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 1024MB
160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound
AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
$1400 CDN
you can actually build rig with similar and even greater spec for under 1000 canadian dollars
Forget about brand PCs. They are all overpriced and ultra bottlenecked. Just build a custom PC.
Built my rig for about $1200 USD (Which is about 1400 CAD):
Case: Coolermaster HAF 932
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 3.6ghz
CPU Cooler: Coolermaster V10
Motherboard: Asus P5E
GPU: Two HIS Radeon Turbo IceQ 4 1gb 4850s in CrossfireX
RAM: OCZ FATAL1TY Edition 8gb (Two 2gb x 2) DDR2 1066
Power Supply: HIPER Type R II 890w
Keyboard: Saitek Eclipse Blue LED Version
Mouse: Logitech MX518 Gaming Mouse
Sound Card: Supreme FX II
Screen: 22in 1680x1050 Dell SP2008WFP
Hard Drive: One Western Digital 500gb 7200rpm SATA II
Speakers: Cyber Acoustics Gaming Series 2.1 Speaker Set
Headset: Creative FATAL1TY Edition Circumural Gaming Headset
Out preforms a $3000 USD alienware
Forget about brand PCs, indeed. A coworker of mine built his own PC running on Windows 7 RC with an Intel Core 2 Quad Processor and an ATI Radeon graphics card. A friend of mine built his own computer that ran on Linux and the cooling system worked better than factory-made computers. It was also quieter than other computer fans that I’ve heard. Alienware’s and Mac’s are both overpriced. Hell, most computers are overpriced, the good ones at least are when it comes to quality. If you can build your own computer, do so. If not, stick with your Alienware and enjoy it while it lasts. 
Yes but that is not a laptop.
Okay see this laptop has better specs and it is cheaper too. I’m not saying that I would buy this one either because I wouldn’t, but I’m just illustrating a point. It’s a Gateway retailing at Best Buy for $1090.
Processor Brand
Intel®
Processor Platform
Intel® Centrino® 2
Processor
Intel® Core™2 Duo Mobile
Processor Speed
2.26GHz
Display Type
WXGA high-definition widescreen TFT-LCD with Ultrabright technology
Screen Size
17"
System Bus
1066MHz
Cache Memory
3MB on die Level 2
System Memory (RAM)
4GB
Type of Memory (RAM)
DDR3
Hard Drive Type
Serial ATA (7200 rpm)
Hard Drive Size
320GB
Optical Drive
Double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW
Optical Drive Speeds
2.4x DVD+R DL; 2x DVD-R DL; 8x8x8 DVD+RW; 8x6x8 DVD-RW; 5x DVD-RAM; 24x16x24 CD-R
Direct-Disc Labeling
Yes
Digital Media Reader or Slots
Yes, digital media card reader
Graphics
NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS
Video Memory
1GB GDDR3
Personal Video Recorder (PVR)
TV Tuner
No
MPEG
Yes
Built-in Webcam
Yes
Modem
56 Kbps* ITU V.92 *Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps.
Networking
Built-in 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
Wireless Networking
Wireless-A+B+G+N
Oh, I didn’t see that the 3870 was a mobility version.
Err…sorry. Back on topic. I don’t think you’ll have any problems playing Episode 2 or Black Mesa on max with that thing. Do make sure that it doesn’t overheat, laptops are delicate when you are running a powerful GPU.
Building computers are super easy. All the parts fit nicely together, no soldiering necessary, nothing like that. That’s why I’d recommend building your own system. You can get a good price, and everything you want in a system. There are guides all over the place on building a desktop system from scratch.
yea he’s right, 50% change that you will play 70-80 fps in medium details
100% chance you will play 100FPS and more at max details.
Thanks. Yeah, I’m going to build near the end of summer. Just needed something portable that can take on engineering and some gaming. Been watching order status sit at Phase 4 for the last week.
I would definitely buy this.
And probably will, once I collect the money.
Buying directly off the manufactures website generally gets you a better deal.
Also Mike, if you’re looking for mostly work, some gaming (like what your last post said), you’re better off going for a high performance laptop as opposed to a gaming system. Gaming laptops have a lot of power, but are big, bulky and expensive. You get a way better price getting slightly behind-the-times parts, and still solid gaming.
Or do this:
Build a kicking desktop for gaming
and
Buy a very cheap netbook for travel/school
and
spend about the same amount, maybe a little more.
go here https://www.newegg.com/, great deals to build your own pc, try to wait to order your parts on weekends because of their weekend deals, building your own is often cheaper and you often end up with a better pc
Just an update. Got the m15x a few days ago, runs HL2, EP1, EP2, TF2, CS:S on absolute maximum (1440x900, All details high, 8x msaa, 16x aa, full hdr, full fov, motion blur, multi-core rendering) at an unwavering 60fps. Incredibly smooth for what I’m used to. With stealth mode and integrated graphics, I get an average of 4, 4 1/2 hours of battery (without smartbay 6 cell). Illuminated keyboard: jizzed in my pants. I would highly recommend this laptop for anyone w/$1300 CDN to spend. Btw, contrary to what other people say, the touch sensitive buttons work excellent. The screen hinge does creak a little, but nothing at all to worry about.