Alienware M17x now shipping with dual 1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 GPUs
By Darren Murph 
posted April 26th 2010 12:22PM
posted April 26th 2010 12:22PM
Tossing a pair of GPUs into a single, beastly laptop ain't nothing new -- in fact, Alienware's own M17x has been offered in such a way since last year -- but having said machine arrive at your doorstep with a pair of ATI's world-beating Mobility Radeon HD 5870s has been downright impossible until now. The earliest of adopters are now reporting (with ear-to-ear grins, to boot) that their dual 1GB HD 5870-equipped M17x machines are finally shipping, and we suspect it'll only be a matter of time before those CrossFire assisted benchmarks surface to make our existing lappies look patently pathetic. So, hit that inbox once more and tell us if you've seen a shipping notification of your own -- and if you've already got your unit in hand, why not expound with a few opinions on how things are running? [Thanks, Max]
Epic hardware!
@Almo If you thought the Macbook Pro was cooking your balls, wait until you catch a load of this.
That said, theres no reason they can't keep it down to a nice heat as they aren't so slim.
@David Bailey I entirely regret that comment actually, they're lower spec in the first place. No reason to overheat.
and FUGLY
@David Bailey Twice as thick as the MB Pro with lots more room inside for lovely fans.
I actually saw the whole Alienware laptop range at a show I went to the other week and have to say I found all of them damn ugly, including the area 51 but I kinda fell in love with the Aurora ALX... mmmm, If only I could justify a desktop PC with top end specs... oh and I had the money too lol.
@apolloa Yeah, they are deeply ugly. I never understood the point of a gaming laptop, and an ugly one too?
@David Bailey
Hmm, 'ugly' is subjective. I find the macbook pro ugly.
@doutorpiranha With the same hardware this thing is still cheaper with then the MacBook Pro 17"
@TheOne
but I would bet a million bucks you can't get 9 hours useful battery life on the alienware piece of shit. Guess what. I can with my MacBook pro. And who really needs dual 1gig graphics cards in a fucking laptop. I mean come on! Plus, the MBP ships with osx, which is better and more intuitive than any version of windows. That in itself is worth the extra $.
@Almo The m17x is already sweet, seeing it now go with 5870 makes it even sweeter. Reactions to m11x. http://bit.ly/alienware-m11x-gamers-dream-opinions
@apolloa
McM Expo?
ATI is so full of win, of late. I'm so pleased!
impressive *most* impressive
@Lord Vader
if even lord vader acknowledges then this must be damn incredible
@Lord Vader
How come you are not Darth Vader? You are an imposter, your name is lord vader, which means you could not use the name darth vader, you are an imposter!
@Darth Vadar The screenname Darth Vader was taken.
@Darth Vadar
No; he isn't an imposter. Firstly; unlike you, he managed to spell Vader correctly. Also Darth Vader is his name as said by his equals or enemies, Lord Vader is used by his minions who he is superior to (He is our superior because Cyborg Emperor > Engadget commenter). Also, If I was to guess who the imposter was I would choose you, and not the person with over 300 comments.
Um. You can only get one 5870 if you get two they put in 4870s. which is absolute crap anyway. Check the website engadget before you post please.
@thesmileman
A few days ago it stated dual HD5870 on their configuration list, guess they made a mistake? Aliens these days...
@thesmileman
Indeed, just double checked. Dell website is NOT shipping the M17x with dual HD 5870's, just Dual 4870's. I think I was told that they won't be shipping them till May 5th, but I could be wrong. However, Engadget.. a little off on your story?
@maxenar
That is a huge mistake. The mobile 4870 is 10.1 and the mobile 5870 is dx11.
@thesmileman It is possible, but only configurable in some countries. Read the article
@maxenar
May 5th. Confirmed date for Dual HD 5870's being released in the USA. Certain European countries have this option already. USA might have just had a glitch when they were putting it on.
All I can say is: "Holy Shit!"
Engadget: You're welcome. ;)
Now Alienware has done dominating the 17-inch market, let's see some i-Core CPUs in the netbook market please. Or an M13x? *fingers crossed*
"and if you've already got your unit in hand, why not expound with a few opinions on how things are running? "
I'm going to go out on a limb here and say, "hot enough to burn my peepee off".
In the art of studying pure genius, Apple's i7-MacBook department recently bought a M17x to figure out how to not fry a laptop.
@EliteOfficer
Not surprising. Intel's i-Core CPUs have been running hot, and if you don't have a cooling system like Alienware's, you're cooking your eggs.
Anyone remember what HP's crisis is with Envy + Core i7?
Nice computer but battery life seems like a joke.
@Kaze9 well. What do you expect? This is a portable computer, not really a "lap"top. It isn't like you will game off your batteries anyway.
@Kaze9
I get almost 4 hours with my m17x how is this any where near a joke?!?!? It switches to a built in nvidia 9400 when on battery!
@cornezy I think that's because you an I have R1 M17x's. The new ones don't have the ability to switch between integrated and dedicated. How the hell are you getting 4 hours though? I get 1:45 to 2 hours on power saving mode....
Still better than the 40 minutes I'd get with my m1730 though.
@Raziel66
Screen res low, change the clock speeds, now I am not talking about gaming with it though. I'm just saying messing around on youtube, and somewhat normal task constant use on battery I get about 4 hours. Why did they take the 9400m out of the newer ones!?!!!?!? That losing the great buying point for me because thats what most people complain about even though they know they should be plugged in when playing anyway!
spec of mine-
quad core 2.56 QX9300, 8gb ddre @ 1333Mhz, bluray drive, 1920x1200, dualati 4870's 256GB SSD and so on. This puppy can work!
BEAST!
Can't wait to see all of the Gray Screen of Death complaints roll in for this, given the Mobility 5870's less-than-spectacular early showing in the Asus G73jh.
I love my baby alien ... the m11x ... the Nvidia 335m chip in it really chugs along ... it really gives the baby core duo 1.3 a boost. A 13" alienware lappy would be a nice addition to their line up as where i think some (not me) would think my 11.6" screen is too small.
@darthgault Did you overclock? You'll bring it up to 1.6Ghz. Makes a big difference IMO. Some of them will not overclock though. I've done 3, one of which didn't boot into windows.
But can it boils water?
Great for a desktop replacement. But i stick to gaming on my PC, loathe gaming on laptops - regardless of the specs.
They are not shipping duel 5870's!!1 only duel 4870's
JFC.
If you need me to translate I will.
@KingLozzer
Reading through the linked forum seems to make be believe they were incorrectly selling dual 5870s and are correcting the issue.
So nice!
I'm fighting with myself not to get the M11x, but I am almost just taking the plunge. Such a beauty!
@akarol If you havent got the m11x yet, then wait. The R2 is gunna be out in a few months with the Ci5/7um CPUs. I got my m11x the first week they came out and I was on the fence about waiting for R2, I wasn't willing to wait 6 months, but at this point its only a few months off and worth the wait. pre-order the R2 as soon as its available and hope you dont get stuck in production stage hell like alot of R1s did ;)
Just pointing out that, while yes this is totally awesome, you'll be giving up DX11 support in favor of dual graphics chips on a laptop.
@futurerheza The battery lasting about 45 seconds is also epic.
My Alien-Ware m-17x with cross fire 4870s is WORTHLESS :( This is the love hate relationship I have my Hardware.
How does this compare to the ASUS G73? pretty much the same?
If that's not overkill, I don't now what is.
and for only 3500$ it can be yours! I think I'll wait for Asus to come up with the same specs at half the price.