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My laptop build; Overkill or future proof?

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Wraith

Member
Joined
Jun 4, 2002
Location
Fussa Japan
I'm about to check out with my new laptop, but I'm hesitating at how much I've put in it. I'm in the military so I wanted something portable that I can still game on. Battery life isnt an issue since this will be going from desk to desk as I deploy. Let me know what you guys think. I've bolded the important parts

Sager NP9280 (Built on Clevo D900F) Ultimate Custom Laptop
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- 0 Dead Pixel Policy (30 Day)
- Intel Core i7 Quad Extreme (Nehalem) 975 3.33GHz 8MB Cache 130W- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)- ~
6,144MB DDR3 1333MHz Memory (3 SODIMMS) (w/ i7 975 CPU Only)-
~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 80GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA II)
- ~ 80GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA II)~
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)~
- Raid 0 Stripe Enabled (Requires 2 or 3 Hard Drives. Combines Hard Drives for performance)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (12 Cell)
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
 
holy **** that is a monster of a laptop are you sure that things going to be portable??? lol

everything looks good except for the cpu bro why get a extreme version when your not going to be able to oc it anyways.. i would get a 920 or what ever is comparable to it in the mobile market and oc it to 3.3 or above... it would save you a lot of money

btw how much is this going to cost you?
 
It's going to run just below 4k.

The issue with getting a 920 is simply heat. It's going to be extremely hot, and I dont want to risk overclocking the processor. I just opted for the fastest possible processor to put in there. Is it worth 800 dollars? I doubt it, but I'm hoping this thing will last me a few years of gaming especially with an upgradable video card.
 
the 975 is basically a overclocked 920 bro their just rebranded... im sure you can do 3.3 or higher with stock clocks...

and as for the memory you can get 1066 and overclock it to 1333 too..

just tryin to save you some cash bro

oh and im not sure how much they are charging you for hard drives but you should check the prices on newegg im pretty sure you can get them cheaper from there so i would order it with out hdd's and just buy them separately
 
Battery life may not be a concern but heat definitely is. I'd feel sorry for any hard drive that gets stuck sharing a case with the oven you're building.
 
It's going to run just below 4k.

The issue with getting a 920 is simply heat. It's going to be extremely hot, and I dont want to risk overclocking the processor. I just opted for the fastest possible processor to put in there. Is it worth 800 dollars? I doubt it, but I'm hoping this thing will last me a few years of gaming especially with an upgradable video card.

You'd be much better off bumping the processor down and using the savings to add a second GTX 280M in there.

Also, strictly a matter of taste, I really hate those glossy screens. It's funny how they even call it "glare type" cause that's exactly what you'll see from it.
 
If you know it's not going to be portable, I don't really see the logic in spending 2x as much (at least) for the same hardware you could put in a desktop.

My vote is for overkill.

If you do go for it... +1 on the glossy screen, I absolutely HATE those things.
 
You'd be much better off bumping the processor down and using the savings to add a second GTX 280M in there.

Also, strictly a matter of taste, I really hate those glossy screens. It's funny how they even call it "glare type" cause that's exactly what you'll see from it.

Sadly I cant get another 280M, it's single card only. The laptop model is the Sager NP9280 (Built on Clevo D900F) and I'm building it from xotic PC. The HDDs and other components seem to fall in line with market prices, and by ordering it as a whole I'll get it all under the 3 year waranty.

So the 975 is just an overclocked 920? Doesnt that figure, I though I had read it had something like 2x the cache, I guess I need to do more research.

If I OC the 920 to 975 speeds, will the heat output be the same? I'd have to assume the amswer is yes, but I just want to make sure.

By going with the 920 and stepping down the RAM I save myself over 1k, so that already makes the systems pricetag easier to swallow and I'll get the same speed if I can OC that 920.

as far as heat is concerned I will order the best laptop cooling stand money can buy to keep this thing cold.

In reality this laptop is going to sit on my desk connected to my 2 monitors keyboard and mouse 60% of the time. Then when I deploy for 6 months at a time I can pack up and leave with it and bring all the comforts of having my desktop with me while I'm mucking about in some ****ty FOB.

EDIT: As far as building a desktop instead, I'd really love to do that, but it's just not possible. It would never survive the amount of travel I do and the space savings of the laptop make up for it. I looked at a small shuttle pc and a few other micro atx boards, but I want to use this as my main PC and my laptop since I'm selling my current laptop and desktop to get this.

Oh, and I hate gloss screens too. I've been browsing around but it looks like the Clevo D900F only has a gloss screen available! I can always get a screen protector with a matte finish to even out the glare.

Thanks for all the input in this topic so far guys, I appreciate everyones opinions!
 
Couldn't you just build like a super small mATX computer? Or I think there is even smaller?

But then your stuck needed a monitor .. so idk :p

How mobile does this have to be? :)
 
It has to me mobile enough to fit in a back pack and travel with me to Iraq/Afghanistan.

SO can anyone confirm for me that the temperature of a 920 OCd to 975 speeds would produce the same temp as a 975 extreme?
 
Can't confirm it, but they would be pretty close. The 920 is 2.66GHz, and the 975 Extreme is 3.33GHz - that's not a huge clockspeed difference. What you benefit from here is the architecture. I would save the enormous amount of money and get the 920.

Another vote on getting your harddrives at Newegg as well. If you really want RAID 0 SSDs you can do it, but you should make sure you have a backup solution. If you're going to get a large storage drive in there, make it a 5400 RPM. It'll run cooler, and there's no point in sticking yet another source of heat in there with a 7200RPM drive.

And...I'm still voting overkill. You should tone it down.
 
The SSDs from xoticpc cost 20 dollars more than newegg, and shipping is included. Getting the drives shipped to hawaii is going to cost about 15 bucks each, so it's not even worth it.

Do 5400 rpm drives really run that much cooler? I was even considering getting another 80 gig ssd for the raid0 just for the extra space since I've been running on a 150 gig raptor for a while now.

Also, with a 920 and a bit slower RAM I'm down to about 2700 dollars with warranty and deap pixel policy. If I can sell my laptop and PC I should be able to cut that down to a total of 1700 dollars spent.
 
Here's what I would do:

ASUS G71GX-A1 - PRE ORDER
- FREE !! US UPS GROUND SHIPPING, Instant $30 OFF + ASUS $100 Mail In Rebate (Use Coupon code FREESHIP in Checkout for Free Shipping)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- ASUS Zero Bright Dot (ZBD) 30 Day Pixel Guarantee
- -Intel® P9700 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.8GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- nVidia GeForce GTX 260M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10
- - 6,144MB (6GB) DDR2 800MHz Dual Channel Memory (3x2GB)
- - 2X Blu-Ray Reader / 8X DVDRW/CDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- - 80GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD Serial-ATA II)
- - 500GB 5400RPM 8MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s)
- Built-in 802.11 Wireless A/B/G/N
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Asus G Series Gaming Mouse
- -Windows Vista Home Premium 64-Bit + Windows 7 Home Premium Upgrade Coupon w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's - Standard
- 3 Year ASUS GLOBAL Warranty, 24/7 Support, 1 Year Accidental Coverage & 2-Way Pre-Paid Overnight Shipping for Repairs (N.A. Accidental Requires Registration w/ ASUS)

It's pretty similar - the only difference is a Core 2 Duo instead of a Quad (25w vs 130w), no i7, and a GTX260M instead of the GTX280. Honestly, I think you'd see very similar performance between the two in real-world usage, and this costs $2800 before whatever military discount you may get.

I know it's blasphemy to suggest something lower end, but this is WAY less overkill.
 
Considering you'll be plugged in all the time, you might as well go for the extra performance. I didn't catch that they were so close when you went with the 920. Sweet.
 
25watt CPU vs 130watt CPU.

Speaking as someone who had a clevo d900t with a 89watt P4, you're almost certainly better off with the cooler running cpu. The desert is the last place you want to take a heat packed laptop.

On the other hand, the "260m" has nothing even close to the performance of a desktop 260. The 280m might be close to the 260 desktop, i'm not sure. I'd look into reviews.
 
25watt CPU vs 130watt CPU.

Speaking as someone who had a clevo d900t with a 89watt P4, you're almost certainly better off with the cooler running cpu. The desert is the last place you want to take a heat packed laptop.
I had forgotten about the desert component. The laptop with the 260M and the Core 2 Duo does have the advantage of MUCH cooler operation, and you'd be a lot less likely to get heat-related errors. Less fans furiously sucking dust into your system, less hard drives crashing, less lockups or thermal throttling...it's something to consider. Apparently the i7's run hot, and if the Pentium 4 days taught us anything, it's that desktop CPUs do NOT belong in laptops.
 
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