MSI GT780DX vs Alienware M17x (..I know)

[adantesuds]

MSI GT780DX vs Other Options

I've recently been looking into upgrading my laptop to the MSI GT780DXR here in the UK, but I'm eagerly awaiting the backlit keyboard, so I have been backing off buying one as the UK version apparently "rushed for christmas" did not get this keyboard. I know it's a bit of a trinket but MSI also promised when the backlit keyboard did come to the UK it would ship with the latest version of their currently used processor/GFX card etc, which I believe is the i7-26XX and nVidia GT 570M (assuming may go up to 580/590M?).
I bought my current laptop 16 months ago, and the only reason I did not go for MSI back then was their keyboard flex issues - which has been resolved with the collaberation with SteelSeries.
MSI have not given an ETA on this arrival in the new year, and I have come across a deal with Dell/Alienware, which saves a bit of money on their M17x, so much so that when same-specced to the current iteration of MSI's GT780DX it actually came out around £50 cheaper.

My question is, as garish and instant thought "that dude got robbed" that alienware gives, would you consider getting the Alienware M17x over the MSI GT780DXR?

I've looked around extensively online and MSI seem to have hit the money, getting top spec reviews and high marks in benchmark tests for their laptop. If anyone has any other suggestions for a 16.4"-17.3" size laptop with 1080p, feel free to comment.

Cheers in advance,
Dan

EDIT: I'd link to the MSI GT780DXR here on Overclockers, but it seems to have been withdrawn. This is the i5 version they are offering. I am looking to purchase this laptop for gaming, general use, and light casual/hobby photoshopping, so if you guys suggest only an i5 is needed, I am following your train of thought! I'd just like to get myself something that will last a while.

 

[adantesuds]

After searching for forums a bit more specifically for gaming laptop suggestions I have also specced up a Vortex II 17.3" chassis on ************ to a similar standard. Going with a friend's reccomendation and further googling I have come to the conclusion that if I were to go for an i5 processor, it'd have to go for the i5-2500K range. This isn't the case with either the Alienware or MSI, as they either carry an i7-2600K (Which I don't mind.. just more expensive) or the i5-2400K (not preferred).

I've never been a fan of Alienware, but looking at the price comparison, even with the saving, it is still looking expensive. So I think that may not be the avenue to go down.

Has anyone here had previous experience with ************ builds? Or any other recommendations of where to buy?
The same goes with MSI, would it be worth holding out for their updated UK release? (Whenever that will be... there is no ETA)

 

[Meaker]

The highest offering by MSI just now is the GT685R and GT783 both kitted out with the GTX580M (no such thing as a 590M) both will be very expensive and the GT685R might not hit the US/UK.

Have you looked into the PowerPro R 12:17? From the US for $1685 + VAT + shipping (no duty on notebooks, just VAT) you can get a 2630QM, 8GB of ram, steelseries keyboard, 640GB HDD and GTX580M.

No such thing as a K series CPU in notebooks. The only unlocked and overclockable ones are the 2920XM and 2960XM (Read NOT CHEAP). Plus the only machines that can overclock the CPU are the M18X and I THINK the M17X maybe able to as well. Any other machine is locked.

Once you tweak the 570M it does become a beast.

 

[adantesuds]

Ah, cheers for the insight, I've not been looking into laptop specifics that is a fair point! Would the i5-2520M not be in the same league as the i5-2500K? Or is it just the "boiled down" laptop version? Seemed to have mixed myself up a bit there. I thought the K represented the general 2500 series, that is a silly mistake!

As for the 590M, I was speculating future release my bad.

I'm looking to try not exceed £1500-ish, would prefer around the £1300 mark.

And I am looking into PowerPro now, this seems like a great alternative to customising via ************!

I'm looking for something that will last a long time along these kind of specs.

Case: 16.4"-17.3" 1080p - high preference to backlit keyboard - solid quality design (no flex or weakness)
CPU: i5-2520M or i7-2670M, or better if budget allows
GPU: nVidia GTX 570M 1.5GB (budget reasons, no need for 580M)
RAM: 6GB+ 1333MHz (no need for any more, but 8GB offerings won't be brushed away)
Storage: 750GB+ HDD 7200RPM, or 120GB SSD + 500GB HDD if budget allows
Disc Drive: DVD, Blu-ray non essential, only if cheap to upgrade within budget


What is the deal with getting a laptop from the states, figure out the price in £ then add 20% for import tax?

Also, only difference with US keyboard is " and @ are swapped am I correct?
And what would be the deal with the AC adapter? Would I be able to get a hold of UK specific or just have to use a US-UK plug converter?

Cheers,
Dan

 

[Meaker]

Yeah price + 20% vat + shipping (no vat on shipping cost IIRC).

Model list of notebook CPUs here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandy_bridge (scroll down)

Yeah the US keyboard has a few swapped, but if you tell windows to use a UK layout you can ignore what's printed on the keys

The power adaptor will be universal, you might just need a 3pin (not kettle they will be round) to UK plug (or US to UK adaptor).

I would recommend finding paladin44 (who works for the company you are looking at) at notebookreview.com (find a post and use his email for the quickest response) tell him that Meaker sent you and he might be able to get you a discount, at the least he can advise you of everything.

At my current clocks I score over 4000 in 3dmark 11, thats faster than a stock gtx580M. Not all 570Ms clock this high, but 800mhz should be easy enough to attain (bios flashing a higher voltage is required).

Also remember this is the barebone unit, so no silly lights or red trim or turbo button. However there are easy ways round this.

 

[adantesuds]

The Custom builds that show most of my preferences thus far:

PC Specialist @£1,248.00:

Chassis & Display
Vortex II:17.3" Matte Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080) (£69)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-2670QM (2.20GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
1.5GB nVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M - DirectX® 11 (17.3" Vortex II)

Memory - Hard Disk
750GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD7500BPKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Memory Card Reader
Internal 9 in 1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD: Mini, XC & HC/MS: Pro & Duo)

Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)

Sound Card
Intel 5.1 Channel High Definition Audio + SPDIF/MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD INC. BLUETOOTH 3.0

USB Options
2 x USB 3.0 PORTS + 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD

Battery
Vortex Series 8 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,200 mAh/76.96WH)

Power Lead & Adaptor
1 x UK Power Lead & 220W AC Adaptor

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Keyboard Language
INTEGRATED UK KEYBOARD WITH NUMBER PAD

Notebook Mouse
INTEGRATED 2 BUTTON TOUCHPAD MOUSE

Webcam
INTEGRATED 2.0 MEGAPIXEL WEBCAM

PowerPro 12:17 @$1593.00/£1034.00(+20%=£1241.00):

Display
17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) MATTE LED backlit Widescreen LCD Standard

Video Card - GPU
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M 192bit w/1.5GB GDDR5 Standard

Backlit Steelseries Keyboard + Kinzu Gaming Mouse
Built-in Steelseries Backlit Keyboard - 24 Programmable Color Variations + Kinzu Gaming Mouse

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM (2.2~3.1GHz, 45W) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads

Thermal Compound
FREE IC Diamond to CPU + GPU w/CPU Upgrade ONLY Standard

System Memory
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3/1333 Dual Channel Memory

Hard Drive

750GB SATA II 3GB/s 7,200 RPM Hard Drive

Optical Drive Bay
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive

Memory Card Reader
Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader: SD/SDHC/SDXC/XD/MSPRO/MS/MM

Wireless Networking
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 130 Wireless Card + Bluetooth 3.0+HS

Battery
Smart Li-ion Battery 9-Cell

Operating System
Windows 7 Premium - 64-Bit w/Full Version OEM + Drivers & Utilities Disks

Only downside is the ************ Vortex choices are limited to 560M or 580M, no 570M is available. Other than that I think they are relatively identical.

The $120 dollar option for the PowerPro for the backlit SteelSeries Keyboard and gaming mouse that I have selected, does anyone know if the "Standard" option is infact the SteelSeries anyway? As it is unclear, and I already have a sufficient gaming mouse.

Backlit Steelseries Keyboard + Kinzu Gaming Mouse
- None Standard
- Built-in Steelseries Backlit Keyboard - 24 Programmable Color Variations + Kinzu Gaming Mouse$120.00

Also, for $20 I could upgrade to 8GB 1600MHz instead of 8GB 1333Mhz, would this be worth the money?

 

[adantesuds]

Yeah the US keyboard has a few swapped, but if you tell windows to use a UK layout you can ignore what's printed on the keys

Yeah cool, that's what I imagined, no big trouble really.

The power adaptor will be universal, you might just need a 3pin (not kettle they will be round) to UK plug (or US to UK adaptor).

Just the answer I was looking for!

I would recommend finding paladin44 (who works for the company you are looking at) at notebookreview.com (find a post and use his email for the quickest response) tell him that Meaker sent you and he might be able to get you a discount, at the least he can advise you of everything.

That's excellent, I will keep that in mind, hopefully he won't mind my asking!

At my current clocks I score over 4000 in 3dmark 11, thats faster than a stock gtx580M. Not all 570Ms clock this high, but 800mhz should be easy enough to attain (bios flashing a higher voltage is required).

Also remember this is the barebone unit, so no silly lights or red trim or turbo button. However there are easy ways round this.

That sounds excellent, it looks like if anything PowerPro will be the way to go for me then. Aye, the garish additives only put me off, and the Turbo button I understand is just a software addition to be able to remotely overclock without having to go through BIOS. Which doing manually, I would only need the help of OCuK anyway! I think overall I'd be more than happy with standard performance!

Thanks a lot for your help, much appreciated.

 

[Meaker]

Just so you know it's paladin's job so no he wont mind in the slightest lol. Mention me and he should hopefully get you at least the notebookreview member discount.

************ is supposed to be reliable btw, but the 570M destroys the 560M.

Ram speed makes no difference and the standard keyboard is not steelseries on the barebone.

 

[adantesuds]

Just so you know it's paladin's job so no he wont mind in the slightest lol. Mention me and he should hopefully get you at least the notebookreview member discount.

************ is supposed to be reliable btw, but the 570M destroys the 560M.

Ram speed makes no difference and the standard keyboard is not steelseries on the barebone.

Awesome, cheers, so I've specced the PowerPro right at least. Definitely looks like the avenue to take.

I've had a gander at the MSI GT783, it looks very nice, but also very expensive, haha, which will be out of my league. PowerPro looks like a dead certainty comparing to all others.

Just to confirm, paladin is a representative for PowerPro? I've signed up to notebook reviews now, just going to look for him and give him a PM/email regarding all of this!

EDIT: Seen it all now, thank you very much for all the help. Midway through emailing him.

Cheers again, very helpful.

 

[Meaker]

Meh, you listened to my advice, did some of the research yourself, asked reasonable questions. If most people I helped were more like you I would not face palm so often

 

[Too Tall]

I've just bought a vortex 2 and am awaiting delivery. Similar spec as yours but I went for the 6990m. I'm expecting it here at the start of next week.

 

[adantesuds]

Meh, you listened to my advice, did some of the research yourself, asked reasonable questions. If most people I helped were more like you I would not face palm so often

Well I'm glad! I have emailed paladin44, through his email in the signature which pointed to Donald? I'm hoping that's the correct guy, instead of pming him, as I noticed the support tickets on the website show paladin44 and Donald as separate options to contact!

I've just bought a vortex 2 and am awaiting delivery. Similar spec as yours but I went for the 6990m. I'm expecting it here at the start of next week.

Ahh, cool. Let me know how you get on! Pretty sure I'll be going PowerPro but insight to ************ is definitely welcome!

 

[Too Tall]

Which laptop are you getting from Powerpro?

 

[adantesuds]

Which laptop are you getting from Powerpro?

I've gone for the 12:17 chassis, same case that MSI use (and reskin) for the GT783 if I am to believe paladin44's posts on notebookreview.com's forums. The spec I'm going for is above (roughly). Not ordered yet but will be shortly, have to wait for student loan/bursary to come through to go towards the rest of it!

 

[adantesuds]

I can't decide between 2 of the processors...

Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM (2.2~3.1GHz, 45W) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads

Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM (2.4~3.5GHz) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads

Originally I was thinking of going for the lower 2670, but I have realised as a student I can get Windows 7 Professional for free through university, and so I can save $115 on the laptop without operating system.
The difference between the processors is $195, so that would only leave me with $80/£52 to add to the price of the laptop when saving on the OS...

Anyone else to say they would be tempted by that?

Display
17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) MATTE LED backlit Widescreen LCD

Video Card - GPU
nVIDIA GeForce GTX 570M 192bit w/1.5GB GDDR5

Backlit Steelseries Keyboard + Kinzu Gaming Mouse
Built-in Steelseries Backlit Keyboard - 24 Programmable Color Variations + Kinzu Gaming Mouse

Processor
Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM (2.2~3.1GHz, 45W) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads $75.00
or
Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM (2.4~3.5GHz) w/6M L3 Cache - 4 Cores - 8 Threads $270.00

Thermal Compound
Stock Thermal Compound - FREE IC Diamond to CPU + GPU w/CPU Upgrade ONLY (Applied)
IC Diamond Thermal Compound applied to CPU + GPU

System Memory
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3/1333 Dual Channel Memory $29.00
or
8GB (2x 4GB) DDR3/1600 Dual Channel Memory $49.00
or
EDIT: 8GB (2x 4GB) Kingston HyperX DDR3/1600 Dual Channel Memory - CL9 $89.00

Hard Drive
750GB SATA II 3GB/s 7,200 RPM Hard Drive

Second Hard Drive
None

Hard Drives in RAID
RAID Disabled

Optical Drive Bay
Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive

Memory Card Reader
Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader: SD/SDHC/SDXC/XD/MSPRO/MS/MM

Wireless Networking
Intel® Centrino® Wireless-N 130 Wireless Card + Bluetooth 3.0+HS Standard

Battery
Smart Li-ion Battery 9-Cell

Operating System
None
(Originally Windows 7 Premium - 64-Bit w/Full Version OEM + Drivers & Utilities Disks $115.00)

On looking at the Sandy Bridge wiki as well I noticed support for the 1600MHz RAM on the i7-2760QM, would it be worth the $20 to switch up from 8GB 1333MHz to 8GB 1600Mhz?

EDIT: I have also noticed that many people with gaming laptops have opted for Kingston HyperX RAM, that would make the 1600MHz upgrade $60, pushing the total price of the laptop to £1308 total w/out shipping. Do you reckon this is worth it at all?

Cheers

 

[Meaker]

Drop to the 2630QM and grab the GTX580M. Ram speed is not really that important.

A graphics upgrade will have a bigger impact in games than the CPU or RAM.

 

[adantesuds]

I'm still looking for general fast performance for normal applications too.. I know I should probably have gone for an SSD for loading times but I can't justify the price, so a 7200rpm will have to do!

Also dropping down and configuring to GT780M would push me even further over budget and i'm walking the line as it is! Probably keeping it in the config I have now, best option within budget!

Cheers again.