After a short teaser campaign, Alienware has revealed an upgrade to its M17 desktop replacement notebook that boosts its all-around performance. The 17-inch system can now go quad-core and has the option of a 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme for those gamers who would prefer multi-thread performance over sheer clock speed; a 2.26GHz Core 2 Quad is also an option for less demanding tasks.

The Dell sub-brand has also added CrossFireX support to its portables for the first time and now lets owners double up on the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 for more desktop-like 3D performance; Alienware estimates as much as an 80 percent boost.

A base M17 continues to cost $1,399, but adding the Core 2 Extreme boosts the price by $1,200 above stock. The second graphics chipset itself adds $250. Custom orders have the option of up to 4GB of DDR3 memory, 1TB of hard drive space split across two drives, and a Blu-ray combo drive.