M14x R2 Passes SWTOR Torture Test

I got my fully loaded M14x R2 on saturday.  I also own a nice Aurora R3 that I do most of my gaming on.   With dual GTX 560 ti (s) and a 4.1 GHz liquid cooled 2700k, the Aurora R3 is a tough act to follow when it comes to gaming perormance.   I finally pried myself away from my R3 long enough to put my R2 through its paces.

The reason that I chose SWTOR for my torture test is that its graphics engine can bring the most powerful GPUs and gaming PCs to their knees in sustained gameplay for several hours.  SWTOR can literally fry a GPU that is not sufficiently cooled or properly configured.  I want to thank the Empire guild and my own guild, of which I am the leader on the Jung Ma RP-PvP server for making this test possible. 

Test machine:

M14x R2, 1600x900 display, 16 GB 1600 MHz RAM, Intel 3820QM CPU, Nvidia 650M 2GB Video, 512 MB SSD.  Killer NIC WIFI

Test conditions:

Connection: AT&T U-Verse fiber optic with Killer NIC WIFI
Game: SWTOR v 1.3
Faction: Republic
Guild: Phoenix Battalion\
Character, level and class: Lyriata level 50, Jedi Consular Sage Seer (healer)
Game settings: 1600x900 Very High
Scenes: Carrick Station, Tattooine
Gameplay: World PvP involving 20-30+ characters

I started in Carrick Station with 100+ characters present.   There was no perceptible 3D lag.  I hit ctrl-alt-f to see my frame rates in real time.   The M14x held a steady 35-40 fps in a very crowded Carrick Station with 100+ characters present, no small feat.   I then went to Tatooine to lend my healing skills to my guild against the Empire.   We started with 8 characters in our ops, the empire about 6-7.   I noticed no 3D lag during the speeder ride to Thorazan outpost, the M14x held about 45-60 fps during the speeder ride.   Combat started almost immediately upon arrival.  I noticed no 3D, CPU or net lag during heavy combat.

As more players arrived to join the battle on both sides, I could hear the fan on the M14x pick up speed.  Fan noise was acceptable.    I held my left hand on the fan/heatsink exhaust to see just how hot the R2 was getting with 30-40 characters involved in heavy pvp combat.   The R2 did get hot but seemed to dissapate the extra heat without overheating.   The GPU never overheated to the point where frame rate dropped.   Frame rates stayed at a steady 30-50 FPS, the game was playable with no perceptible 3D, CPU or net lag.   I have seen 2-3 hours on carrick station and large scale world pvp on high settings reduce the most powerful deskop to a whimpering pile of silicon if it did not have the cooling to handle it but not the M14x R2.

To be honest, I did not think the R2 could handle SWTOR world pvp on high settings.  I know my R1 and loaded M15x did not pass the same test.   I expected the R2 to overheat after about 20-30 mins and either clock back the GPU to where I would be getting abouyt 5-10 fps, got a driver error and CTD or throw a BSOD.   I am pleasantly surprised that did not happen.  Well done Alienware, that is no small feat for a 14 inch laptop!:D