Alienware Aurora m9700

Introduction

 

With the advent of NVIDIA's SLI technology in 2004, gaming performance on the desktop was dramatically increased which allowed users to run games at higher resolutions with more image quality enhancements. Unfortunately for mobile users, the notebook platform was left behind with no immediate solution made available beyond a single flagship GPU. Fast forward two years and we find ourselves looking at a brand new mobile platform that features NVIDIA's proven nForce4 SLI chipset as well as two discrete graphics cards. The Alienware Aurora m9700 is the world's first 17" SLI capable notebook to hit the market and it promises to provide unrivaled levels of performance in the latest and greatest games.

Alienware Aurora m9700
Specifications
Processor
.
_AMD Turion64 ML-44 processor
(2.4GHz)

Chipset
.
_NVIDIA nForce4 SLI

Memory
.
_Two SODIMM sockets
.
_2x1GB DDR 400 Unbuffered Non-ECC memory
.
_Supports maximum memory capacity up to 2GB

Graphics
.
_Dual NVIDIA GeForce Go 7900 GS 256MB (MXM)

ATA
.
_2 x SATA/66
.
_Dual 100GB Hitachi 7200rpm SATA HDD
.
_8x Dual-Layer DVD+/-RW

Communications
.
_10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet
.
_Realtek 802.11b/geWireless LAN
.
_56K v.90 Fax/modem

Display
.
_17" WUXGA TFT LCD (native 1920 x 1200)

Audio
.
_Stereo speakers with integrated subwoofer
.
_Intel High-Definition Audio

External I/O Connectors
.
_1 x Power port
.
_1 x Lock jack
.
_1 x Ethernet port
.
_1 x Modem port
.
_1 x Headphone jack
.
_1 x Microphone jack
.
_1 x SPDIF jack
.
_1 x PCMCIA slot
.
_1 x TV-out port (S-Video)
.
_1 x TV-in port (S-Video)
.
_3 x USB 2.0/1.1 ports
.
_1 x VGA-out port
.
_1 x DVI-out port
.
_1 x 4-pin mini IEEE1394 port
.
_1 x Multimedia (MMC/SD/MS/MS Pro) Card Reader

Dimension and Weight
.
_1.85" x 15.65" x 11.75"
.
_Starting at 8.5 lbs.

Software
.
_Microsoft Media Center OS

Armed with a glossy 17" UWUXGA LCD with a native resolution of 1920x1200, the Aurora m9700 is able to fully take advantage of the ability to run higher resolutions in today's latest games. Although still managing to weigh less than 10lbs in the most standard configurations, the system is far from being considered compact or easily portable. Then again, when one considers the fact that this desktop replacement houses and effectively cools two graphics cards as well as two hard drives the weight and size seem surprisingly small.


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