Great news for Intel if the benchmark reflects real-world performance. I can't wait to see the comparison between Sandy Bridge and AMD's upcoming Fusion APU.
According to all evidence from other benchmarks and common sense, the 16k score was from a model with Optimus and a Discrete GPU (probably a GTX 460). Optimus tricks 3dmark into thinking it's dealing with an integrated GPU, then when the benchmark starts, the discrete card kicks in. Please Tom's, don't spread silly rumors
The sandybridge is neat , but I would definitely choose a GTX285 over an integrated graphics accelerator ,even if it differs slightly in 3dmark score. And also a GTX480 or GTX570 would make an excellent upgrade to the M17x lineup.
I LOVE Alienware but their products are too overpriced.
I'm not sure I buy the whole Intel graphics catching up thing. I'll believe it when I see a full battery of benchmarks and real world tests. Until then I will continue to laugh whenever I see Intel and integrated graphics in the same sentence.