Future Purchase

[Alientrepreneur]

How does this looking? I'd like this to last for about three years.

M18x
Processor: 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM (6MB Cache, Overclocked up to 3.4 GHz)
RAM: 8GB (2 X 4GB) Dual Channel DDR3 at 1600MHz
HDD: 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA 3Gb/s
Video Card: 2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 675M

Also, I look forward to being a part of this community.

 

[wilbymilstone]

That looks like a great set up. It should easily last you three years or even longer.

 

[AeonSoul]

Welcome, and yes that sound like a solid purchase. I might also want to consider a double GPU, so it can last even longer than that, and put an SSD inside later.

 

[Alientrepreneur]

I'd go SLI but I'm trying to keep cost down. Would you go SLI 660/670 or a single 675/680 GPU? What if I went with M17x and built it up to save a little money? I'd like to stay under $2,300 but I'll consider $2,500. However, I want this to last at least three years without it suffering to play games in the future at max settings. Also, I'm not a competitive, overclocking gamer.

 

[yikes81]

that might be difficult as we do not know how future games will develop.
building a machine to last 3 years is easy, but building one that will play games at max settings for 3 years is a different story.
what is the best now, will definetly not be the best in 1yr or 2yrs or 3yrs. and most new games at max settings are designed to be played on the best.
your best bet is to build a decent machine and get upgradeability.

 

[Alientrepreneur]

that might be difficult as we do not know how future games will develop.
building a machine to last 3 years is easy, but building one that will play games at max settings for 3 years is a different story.
what is the best now, will definetly not be the best in 1yr or 2yrs or 3yrs. and most new games at max settings are designed to be played on the best.
your best bet is to build a decent machine and get upgradeability.

How can one update a laptop? I thought it wasn't really possible. I guess I should go M18x with SLI 680s.

 

[yikes81]

there is a small amount that you can do with alienware. that why these machines are so wonderful. but it is possible.
i think you can upgrade the basics, ram, video card/s, cpu.

 

[Alientrepreneur]

So, I could update RAM and GPU in the future? Would I do this on my own?

Also, if I go SLI, can I do one card at a time?

 

[yikes81]

you should be able to do this on your own. there are a number of youtube instructions out there.
in regards to SLI, i think the only requirements that you have to abide by, is that the chipsets need to be the same. so usually that means the cards need to be the same model.