Alienware's M18x, Part 1: NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 580M in SLI
by Dustin Sklavos on October 3, 2011 11:50 AM ESTContinuing the Case for 1080p
A pair of NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580Ms may seem a bit excessive for a 1080p screen, but at least the screen itself in the M18x is a fine entrant. Unfortunately specific details about the panel type are hard to get; Alienware and Dell have a tendency to obscure the panel model number in the system in ways we can't really get through. Thankfully the only screen option available for the 18.4" M18x is a good one.
It's not taking the prize for "best notebook screen" away from a monster like HP's DreamColor IPS panel, but for a 1080p TN panel the M18x's screen gets the job done and is at least able to handle the lion's share of the sRGB gamut as well. The panel seems to be performing fairly well if closer to the middle of the pack in our comparison here, but keep in mind that the panels we're testing are largely the best of the best, with only the mediocre 1600x900 screen on the Toshiba Qosmio X775 being a real offender.
Viewing angles aren't spectacular, but they're still more than adequate for a TN panel. 1080p really is the way to go for a notebook screen if you can get it and thankfully, with the M18x, you can.
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JarredWalton - Monday, October 3, 2011 - link
There's a reason Crysis 2 didn't make our list of games to benchmark, and it won't be on the updated list at the end of the year either.yelped - Monday, October 3, 2011 - link
Thanks for the quick and honest reply.Filiprino - Monday, October 3, 2011 - link
Truth be told, apart from brick walls and some other things, I had a hard time finding big differences between DX11 and DX9 versions, but my GTX460 took the hit.NikolaPublicola - Monday, October 3, 2011 - link
Seriously Sli on a mobile platform is not viable, I feel sorry for people spending this much money, and despite having solid FPS getting a jerky gaming experience.Anand can you please add Micro stutter benchmarks.
Even a desktop card such as a 6990, struggles with enough memory bandwidth top avoid micro-stutter, I therefore can't see how a mobile solution could be anything but worse, of course I could be wrong which is why I would really like to see a benchmark analysis.
Dustin Sklavos - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
Micro-stutter is next to impossible to actually benchmark; the entire industry struggles with it at pretty much every level.Evil_Sheep - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
The reviewer talks about the M18x like there is such a thing as too much power. Well nobody lusts after a 1000hp V12 Ferrari because they actually need to get 0-60 in 3.2s. Practicality and sensibility are thrown out the window in the market's stratosphere: that is, frankly, the main draw.slacr - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
The first page mentioned it would rival many a desktop, yet the closest thing to a desktop found in the benchmarks is the desktop CPU in the Clevo. How does it stack up to an i7-2600k with say a 6950 or 560Ti?JarredWalton - Tuesday, October 4, 2011 - link
You'll have to compile the scores yourself if you want to see a chart, but we use the same benchmarks for desktops as on laptops (only at 1080p standardized). Here's the latest system review, with some very high-end systems, but there are also some lower spec GPU configs:http://www.anandtech.com/show/4864/3
It generally places just below the SLI GTX 470 setup Dustin tested, and slightly lower than the SLI GTX 560 Ti config as well. A few games score lower than expected, but the M18x is faster than most single GPU desktops -- at least until you add the GTX 580.
Bolas - Thursday, October 6, 2011 - link
When can we see the continuation of this article, part 2?I would love to read about the Radeon 6990m Crossfire performance.
Blibbax - Friday, October 7, 2011 - link
A lot of people are talking about CPU and GPU overclocking as one of the benefits of this laptop. Is the power supply and cooling system up to the challenge?