I heard a m11x could handle GW2. I'm getting a m18x soon to play GW2, and I need a little help chosing the component. My budget is $4,500. I'm looking to play GW2 on High/Max setting.

Originally posted by GreenJustice

I heard a m11x could handle GW2. I'm getting a m18x soon to play GW2, and I need a little help chosing the component. My budget is $4,500. I'm looking to play GW2 on High/Max setting.

Scrap the alienware idea and go with something like Cyber Power.  I was going to spend 4300 on an Alienware desktop and through some trials and tribulations, I ended up going with Cyber Power for 3400.  Plus, I ended up getting a better computer because of it.  With Alienware, you will get two things.  One, you'll get to deal with Dell's horrendous customer service.  Two, you get to pay about 1000 on the brand name alone.

It's not worth it.

You could build something youself for $1000 or so that would run GW2 at max most likely.

If you use the search function for "gaming laptop" you will find all of the threads that people already have posted in about how you are spending so much money for little performance by going with Alienware. If you want flashing lights,click the on and off button of an LED flash light over your head.

Use the search function or wait a bit. People will tell you how bad of an idea it is to go with Alienware for the most part.

Have fun!

Also, you don't have to spend $4,500 but I do admire your willingness to spend money.

wow.....just imagining the kind of rig I could build on that budget.

I mean, $1000 is kinda over-kill really....$4000 would be madness.

Wow....lol....think about it...you're paying probably 3k for a NAME.

I remember when owning an Alienware was actually a good thing.

i got my alienware m11x to play while traveling... it costed me 800 bucks ( i believe its to much since its just the R1 with a core 2 duo)... anyways, i can play games on high settings such as dead space 2, age of conan, rift, and many more... im sure it will handle GW2...

i also bought a cyber power gaming desktop for about 900 bucks and all i had to upgrade was the PSU and the video card.... now im ready to play GW2 on ultra max settings for a low budget....

i cant see myself paying over 1.5k for an alienware.... (i dont buy macbook because of the same price, much less will spend over taht price on alienware).....

$4.5k is insane for a computer that will most likely not run on high settings the games that will be developed with the new unreal engine taht its coming out in the near future... just too much money to re-upgrade 1-2 year after

$4500 dollar budget? Wow, i'd build a pimp ass desktop with the $2500 then buy a 'middle of the road' laptop with the leftdover $2000. I just have a bias towards laptops for gaming. It really is not the practical choice. Unless you are constantly traveling. But if you just sit in your room 90% of the time playing, there is on reason to get a laptop.

They said 6+ months ago that the computers and video cards that GW2 is being developed for / tested on haven't been on the market for over a year+.

4.5k on an alienware is definitely a waste of cash when you can make the same thing for yourself (or pay someone to make one for you) for 2-3k or less (desktop). Also, Dell support is garbage. They treat you like trash.

That said, I'm sure a used desktop for $400 will play the game at near max settings. I'd rather spend any extra money on a larger monitor.

Spending your money on an overpriced Alienware is usually more wasteful than an overpriced Mac.

Here's a handy guide for you, OP.

Alienware = Overpriced rebranded Dells that only the utterly stupid buy.

for 1000$ you can make yourself a PC that will overkill GW2 requirements on the highest

On previous gamescom they run GW2 in 1920x1200 maxed out setting on a little worse computer than mine and it was crazy smooth. And i gave for my PC [excluding HDD, DVD rom, LCD] 1200$.

Alienware = overpriced, you just pay for brand and e-peen.

I believe they ran GW2 on GC2010 on GTX460, i5-750 and 4gb ram,  mine is HD6850 OC, i5-760 and 4gb ram and will also run on 1920x1200.

Don't waste money if you got better cheaper alternatives. If i find i don't get the results i want i will just get 2nd 6850 and more ram ^^.

From personal experience, it is not worth it.

Originally posted by karmath

Alienware = Overpriced rebranded Dells that only the utterly stupid buy.

bit harsh, but true

Originally posted by wojtekpl

for 1000$ you can make yourself a PC that will overkill GW2 requirements on the highest

 

On previous gamescom they run GW2 in 1920x1200 maxed out setting on a little worse computer than mine and it was crazy smooth. And i gave for my PC [excluding HDD, DVD rom, LCD] 1200$.

 

Alienware = overpriced, you just pay for brand and e-peen.

 

I believe they ran GW2 on GC2010 on GTX460, i5-750 and 4gb ram,  mine is HD6850 OC, i5-760 and 4gb ram and will also run on 1920x1200.

 

Don't waste money if you got better cheaper alternatives. If i find i don't get the results i want i will just get 2nd 6850 and more ram ^^.

how long ago if I may ask?

Only want to know because I got a rig that costed me 1350 euros, about 2 years ago, wondering if I should get a new gfx card, got a Nvidia GTX 280 atm.

RAM i should defi get 4 more  gigs soon

Originally posted by Fir3line

Originally posted by wojtekpl

for 1000$ you can make yourself a PC that will overkill GW2 requirements on the highest

 

On previous gamescom they run GW2 in 1920x1200 maxed out setting on a little worse computer than mine and it was crazy smooth. And i gave for my PC [excluding HDD, DVD rom, LCD] 1200$.

 

Alienware = overpriced, you just pay for brand and e-peen.

 

I believe they ran GW2 on GC2010 on GTX460, i5-750 and 4gb ram,  mine is HD6850 OC, i5-760 and 4gb ram and will also run on 1920x1200.

 

Don't waste money if you got better cheaper alternatives. If i find i don't get the results i want i will just get 2nd 6850 and more ram ^^.

how long ago if I may ask?

 

Only want to know because I got a rig that costed me 1350 euros, about 2 years ago, wondering if I should get a new gfx card, got a Nvidia GTX 280 atm.

 

RAM i should defi get 4 more  gigs soon

December 2010.

GTX 280 will most likely run game without any problems at high.

Don't get an Alienware M11x.  Now that Llano is out, the M11x is pointless.  The Core 2 Duo version of an M11x is too slow to run a lot of games.  The newer Sandy Bridge one is a lot more expensive, and the video card is barely faster than Radeon HD 6620G integrated graphics.  I wouldn't be surprised if Alienware makes a Llano version of the M11x, as it's low enough power to fit the form factor, and not needing a discrete video card would be a huge deal in that form factor.

If you want to go with a super high performance gaming laptop, then the Alienware M18x is probably the best option available.  It's the only way to get a Sandy Bridge processor together with a CrossFire or SLI setup.  Get a Core i7-2720QM together with a pair of Radeon HD 6990Ms in CrossFire and you'll have performance that would be pretty good for a modern gaming desktop, even.

Of course, you'll also have a machine that could pull 250 W or more from the wall, and that's an awful lot of heat for a laptop.  I'd sooner give up some performance in exchange for losing a lot of that heat, and going with a single card.  If you want to go that route, Clevo's P170HM will get the job done.  You can actually get it configured right, too, rather than having to choose from Alienware's meager configuration options or modifying it yourself.  Try here:

http://www.avadirect.com/gaming-laptop-configurator.asp?PRID=19611

Core i7-2720QM, Radeon HD 6990M, 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) of 1333 MHz or better DDR3 memory, a good SSD (say, Mushkin Callisto Deluxe 115 GB or Crucial M4 128 GB), and if you need more storage, a 500 GB Western Digital Scorpio Black.  That will get you a really nice gaming laptop for a little over $2000.

Do note that at the high end, Barts is a lot better than GF114.  A Radeon HD 6990M will probably tend to outperform a GeForce GTX 580M, while using a lot less power and costing a lot less.  The performance between the two cards is actually pretty close, but it's the power consumption difference that makes the 6990M a clearly better card even if you ignore the price tag.  That's it's also much cheaper is a bonus.

If you want to go with an Alienware M18x, then the right way to configure it is a Core i7-2720QM or better, two Radeon HD 6990Ms in CrossFire, and 8 GB of 1333 MHz DDR3 memory.  You can save a lot of money on the memory if you buy 4 GB from Alienware, pull it out and toss it when it comes, and install your own memory instead.  Look what it costs to get 8 GB of 1333 MHz memory yourself:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145281

Alienware will charge you $120 to upgrade from 4 GB to something that you could buy yourself elsewhere for $50 before a rebate.  If you want 1600 MHz memory (which is pointless, really), that isn't much more expensive:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231472

Alienware will charge you $300 for it, though.  You could do that upgrade yourself.

Storage is the tricky thing, as Alienware doesn't offer an SSD+hard drive combo, which is what most enthusiasts would get on a huge budget.  If you want a nice computer from Alienware, you'll have to modify the storage yourself.  Add your own SSD, do a clean install of Windows, and have a hard drive for the other drive bay.  Or if you don't need that much storage space, then just get an SSD and no hard drive.

Originally posted by mazut

Originally posted by karmath

Alienware = Overpriced rebranded Dells that only the utterly stupid buy.

bit harsh, but true

Eh, I have a friend who works for Microsoft and pays chump change for Dell/Alienware products.

Don't waste your money buying desktops from brands. The only thing you should buy from brands is notebooks, but desktops are so easy to build yourself with componentes more powerful and cheaper than any brand, you should try that. With the budget you have, you can build a liquid cooled, 580GTX SLI setup that would play GW2 on full max settings without a problem.

Originally posted by rykim86

Originally posted by mazut

Originally posted by karmath

Alienware = Overpriced rebranded Dells that only the utterly stupid buy.

bit harsh, but true

Eh, I have a friend who works for Microsoft and pays chump change for Dell/Alienware products.

wow...!