NGX 737 with ALIENWARE m18x

[Pascal 0]

Hi Folks,I am coming up to you because I am seriously to buy a new laptop.The laptop I am interested in is the ALIENWARE m18x. First of all I would like to know if somebody has such a system while runningFSX with the NGX on it. If so please send me infos about its performance .If I am buying this laptop then I would like to choose the Intel Core i7 2920XM 2.5 GHz @ 4.2 GHz.This is currently the most powerful cpu and my hope is now that this cpu will now run FSX and the NGX as smooth as possible. what do you think about this ? has anybody some experiences with this CPU ?My question is also what kind of graphic card I should use. NVIDIA or ATI ?Now I have an ATI card and it seems that NVIDIA is obviously more stronger and powerful for the AA as ATI cards. On the other hands ATI has the option for the mini display ports....I mean this is very useful if you want to connect multiple displays without any drop of frames per second for my understanding.With NVIDIA cards you have just the option with the matrox triple head to go and this module will create more loss for fps, Maybe someone can correct me if I am wrong.Also the maximum of RAM should be 8 GB. Please let me know your thougts on this and maybe you can give me support in my decissionn making.cheersPascal

[Anders_Weber 2]

I would not recommend running fsx on a laptop.I am guessing for that money you would throw in that laptop you could get your self a much better and more reliable desktop :)

[Renzo 0]

If you don't really need a Laptop I also suggest to get a PC. PC's with this kind of equipment are huge for a reason, this is for the airflow that keeps stuff cool. In a laptop you don't got this room for ventilation, so running FSX on it (FSX will STILL run that new-gen SandyBridge CPU to the max) will make it extremely hot, (apparantly this emoticon appears with 8 0 ) 8 0°C on a laptop isn't a one off!

Edited February 13, 2012 by Renzo

[readyfortakeoff 11]

The money your about to spend on that laptop, you could build your self one kick a** PC with all the latest goodies and some $$ left over for a nice cold six pack. I would rethink this endeavor

[mikea76 184]

i suggest you pile up a couple of thousand dollars and light it on fire, may not do much for fsx but it would make one good youtube video and it might just be a better value for your money

[ajpongress 467]

Ever since Dell bought Alienware, it's been overpriced and not worth the money.For a thousand dollars you can build something twice as nice in a desktop that runs FSX even better.

[dmncnpilot 39]

Hello Pascal,I've been running FSX on my Toshiba Qosmio X505 for about a good year now with no complaints what so ever! I do need to run FSX on a laptop because I deploy to not so very friendly places and just don't have the space for a desktop.I haven't had any overheating issues, Thank God! And my laptop has been with me to very rugged environments like Iraq and Afghanistasn. I have almost every LatinVfr and TropicalSim caribbean scenery, FsDreamteam, flyTampa Tampa, Boston and St Maarten. Various Aerosoft Euro sceneries. I mainly fly the NGX, PMDG J41, Qualitywings 757, and Level-D 767. Like I said I have no problems running FSX, if I fly to NY it does run a bit slow like 10 fps but I dont fly there that often :) I'm mainly a caribbean guy. on avg I get about 20 fps on the ground and about 30-40 sometimes more in the air. I have no complaints with this performance. I do run FSX Booster, Game booster and I've done some CFG tweaks.My system specs are the following;Windows 7 Home Premium (Service Pack 1)i7 Q740 @ 1.73 GHz (with the super boost it goes higher but I don't remember to what)6 Gigs RamNvidia GeForce GTX 460MI hope this helps.

[shamrockflyer 647]

I have an Alienware Computer, Its a beast of a thing!! Bought it back in early 2008, But for what was in the computer I thought was a total rip off for what I paid!! ( It was past the 2,000 mark!!) Anyhow, I wouldn't recommend any Alienware product to anyone!! They're good for gaming like Battlefield 3 and all those sort of games!! Plus I wouldn't buy the m18X in a million years!! way too much for what you get!! Have you looked at Razer?? They have a new laptop coming out designed and built for gaming I would say FSX would run pretty well on it too!! Here's a link... http://store.razerzone.com/store/razerusa/en_US/pd/productID.243119900/categoryId.56404900 Ok the price might be a bit over budget but for what I see there and for what Iv'e read, Im pretty impressed!! Plus its roughly the same size as Apple's Mac Book Pro. Good look with your choice but if you really want to have a super duper computer for FSX, Build your own computer!! That way you can - Save money, Have as much Ram CPU power as you want choose what case you want put lights in it!! etc etc...

[SRAces 76]

Pascal,If you need to do other computing tasks and the laptop is a necessity, then I can understand the requirement and the investment. I have run Battlefield and Call of Duty programs on a high end laptop with no issue. But those games do not depend as much on the CPU like FSX. Erik makes a good point about getting slower frame rates on his laptop when getting near large cities. I'm sure anyone could run FSX and the NGX on any high end laptop if you reduced your scenery sliders to a point where you had no stutters or lower framerates.The key to a smooth FSX experience seems to be the processor followed by the RAM/video card. I agree with the comments above regarding investing in a PC. It depends on what your priorities are. FSX makes a great PC bench test software because it will tax your system and especially the processor. I built a system where I could get a 7.8 average on the Windows Performance scale. But even with that, I can still get slow frames with all the sliders maxed and running into a high scenery area. The addon airport sceneries like UK2000 Gatewick (for example) are great eye candy, but they can put a load on the framerates if you have it all cranked up. The more addons you add...the more the processor has to do calculations and scenery generation for. I'm running an nVidia GTX 570 video card.Bottom line is...to get a laptop with the same CPU that you can get/build in a high end desktop is a lot more money. Good luck with your decision.

[killkenny1 22]

I'm "flying" on laptop. But I wouldn't recommend it to you. Get a PC, unless you are a university student and live in a dorm. You will get a really neat machine + normal big screen for the cost of that lappy.

[FS737Pilot 12]

Pascal,I know a lot of these people keep suggesting to get a desktop but, if you're like me you need a laptop. In my case it was for school so buying a desktop doesn't make sense. And im certainly not going to buy a laptop for school and a desktop for FSX, so i got a laptop that runs fsx. I have the m14x with specs not as good as yours and mine runs FSX amazingly!! I get 24fps over vegas with all of my sliders maxed out. the ngx is amazing on this computer!!! I hope you enjoy it!!Mitch Bowman

[Pascal 0]

Hi ,Thank you vey much for call your comments above. Well i have an outsite job and I am traveling a lot. Therefore I need a DTR (Desktop Replacment) Laptop. The price for this setup is of course very hugh but I would also invest a little bit in the future.As I can see from the AOA Videos the smoothness of the flightsim is unbeliveable and I would like to have the same system.I have currently have the Asus G73 with the i7 720 QM, ATI 5780 with 1 GB DDR5 RAM and 8 GB of RAM.Honestly I have a good performance at all but if I am trying to land on huge Airports like the DX9 airports from aerosoft e.g. EHAM the performance goes completly down to5-10 fps.These are my intensions why I need a very powerfull Laptop. also from my point of view and reading a lot of hardware testings, it is always the situationt thatn a laptop or gaming laptop you must use more money to get the same performance as a compareable desktop system ... and therefore I am looking for a dtr or gaming laptop.I found my currently Laptop with help of notebookcheck.com. Here are 2 testings with the ati or nvidia cards.They are recommending this laptop from alienwarealso from the haptic and the quality.It is not easy to find the correct system....Cheers Pascal

[Pascal 0]

Pascal,I know a lot of these people keep suggesting to get a desktop but, if you're like me you need a laptop. In my case it was for school so buying a desktop doesn't make sense. And im certainly not going to buy a laptop for school and a desktop for FSX, so i got a laptop that runs fsx. I have the m14x with specs not as good as yours and mine runs FSX amazingly!! I get 24fps over vegas with all of my sliders maxed out. the ngx is amazing on this computer!!! I hope you enjoy it!!Mitch Bowman

Hi Mitch,This is indeed very interesting.What kind of CPU do you have in your m14x and what kind of graphic card , memory etc ?Thanks Pascal

[wingsoffire 1]

Whatever anybody tells you, there is nothing inhernetly wrong with running FSX upon a laptop but there are however pros and cons which you need to consider carefully.Pros are1) you have limited space2) you want to use FSX on the moveCons are1) It may not have the 'grunt' - this is certainly true of netbooks but an Alienware overclocked i7 should be OK. I don't think that overheating is an issue as t Alienware systems are bult for it. It will be is desgned to run with overclocked i7 and they have beefy ventilation and cooling fans to cope (althoughthe kit might be noisy.|). THats what you are paying a huge premium for.2) The screen may be too small - particularly at higher resolutions. If you wnat a bigger screen your only option is free standing monitor (which kinda defeats the point of having a laptop) ditto for addons like Joysticks/Yokes/ruddser pedals etc.3) Cost - generally a suitably specified laptop is a lot more expensive than a similarly specced desktop machine.4) Upgrading is a nightmare. About the only thing you upgrade on a laptop are the batteries, the HDD and the RAM unless you are particulrly handy with a soldering iron and don't mind blowing your warrenty because everything else is likely to soldered to the motherboard (which will inavariably be propriatary). - but if you don't regularly tear your systems apart and upgarde them (like I do) it won't be a problem.5) Anything that goes wrong outside the warranty period will cost an arm and a leg to fix (unlike a desktop where you may be able to swap out standard components). The motherbord in my tower went recently and I swapped it out in an afternoon..As far as Graphic cards are concerned Nvidia always used to be the recommended option for FSX and this was largely due to the architecture being more suited to the way FSX works, but nowadays graphics cards are so fast it doesn't really matter.The one advantage you will have with Nvidia is something called Nvidia Inspector (downloaded for free) which enables you to tweak settings and optimise graphics in FSX - I believe Ryan over on the PMDG general Forum has listed the optimal settings. ATI has something similar but I never seen settings for the ATI version posted on any forum. I am not sure ATI recognises the existence of FSX because its an old piece of software but the card will work with FSX and I have used ATI in the past.The one thing you DO have to remember is don't, for the love of God, opt for any card with more than 1GB of video memory. There are very good reasons for this concerned with the way that FSX handles its Vitual Address Space. FSX is a CPU bound 32 bit application which means that can only ever handle 4GB of memory even if you stuff your laptop to the gunnels with RAM. Critically, any Video RAM you have is incluided within this. limit. The net result of this is the more video RAM you have the less VAS is availkable for FSX and you are heading into Blue screen of death territory. Many people are shocked to find out that despite having spend huge sums of money on systems with top of the range graphic cards, FSX runs like a dog with three legs and CTDs every two seconds. The culprit is often a card with huige amounts of vido memory - A BIG card with BIG memory is good for a BIG ego and possiblely SKYRIM but it will be lousy for FSX. There is a tweak youi can put in the config file to limit the vido ram used in VAS but its a faff and I am not convinced it works.With a fast processor and a fast graphic card with modest video RAM you should be able to switch off the buiffer setting in the FSX config file and it will give you smooth framrates with next to no microstutters.If you have 8gb of RAM the laptop will come with64bit WIN7. When you install FSX don't under any circumstances install it on the C Drive under programes86. This is the default location where windows wants to put all 32 bit applications. You don't want to do that because you don't want to create a world pain for yourself with the infamous User Account Control that M$ thouight was a good idea. Put it anywahere else - under the root of the C drive for example. It will run smoother, better and you wont have UAC issues with every single add-on you buy. .When you have installed it also remember to put the 32bit VISTA version of the UIAUTOMATIONCORE.DLL into the FSX root directory. This will stop random crashes. Ignore any rubbish you read on the Internet about 'registering' this dll or removing the version of it in the Windows sytem directory as 'advised' in countless forums If anybody tells you to do this, ask them whether they are a Microsoft Certified Engineer. It isn't necessary and it is downright dangerous. Such advice displays nothing but a deep and profound ignorance of the way Windows actually works.Have fun

[Avroboeing 3]

I use a laptop to fly, and get better performance than some people report in these forums. I travel quite a lot, so it made sense for me to buy a laptop instead of a awesome performing PC that i'd only get to play once or twice a week. I am pro fsx+laptop, if it suits you. Yes, of course, nothing compares to a PC, but PC's are great for those who spend most of their time at home.Ash Frew.

Edited February 13, 2012 by Avroboeing