Advice on new laptop

Dan.M.H

Hey all, got my eye on two gaming laptops, would prefer a desktop but i'll be moving around a lot so a high spec laptop will have to do.

Anyways this is the spec for the XPS im looking at:
Components
Intel® Core™ 2 Extreme Processor X9000 (2.80GHz, 800MHz FSB, 6MB L2-cache)
17.0" UltraSharp™ WUXGA (1920x1200) TFT with TrueLife™ with Integrated 2.0MP web cam
Crimson Red with White LED Backlights
4096MB 667MHz Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM [2x2048]
320GB Free Fall Sensor Raid 0 Stripe - 2 X 160GB (7200RPM) Hard Drive
DUAL SLI 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800GTX card
Fixed 8x DVD+/-RW (DVD read/write) drive, including SW
Primary 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery (85 WHr)
Intel® Next-Gen Wireless-N Mini-PCI Card, EUR

Comes in around 3k euro with the top range processor, less if I go for the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T9500(2.60 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 6 MB L2 cache)

Now the XPS rated as one of the best in the world but i've found a site called Rock-direct and it seems a higher spec than anything i've ever seen before comercially:

X780-X9100 standard features:
Intel core 2 duo X9100 3.06Ghz, 6MBcache,1066Mhz
NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX 1GB DDR3 Graphics
Hi-res WUXGA+ X-Glass rock logo
4GB DDR3 1066Mhz
320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
Blu-ray ROM / +/- DVD Writer
Windows Vista Home Premium
Standard Carry Case
Roxio, BullGuard

This comes in 2200 pounds and seems better all round, the speed on the processor and RAM is higher and the card is 1g and faster than the dual cards.

Opinions, criticisms, suggestions welcome
Thanks

AlmightyCushion

I'd go with the rock laptop. Faster processor, ddr3 ram, bluray drive. The graphics card might will be a little bit weaker in games that support sli though.

Dan.M.H

I dont know if it'd be much weaker if at all, they're both factory overclocked cards and the Rock one is a newer series, i think

Only problem I have with the rock one is it doesnt give the screen dimensions, but I think the screen is 15" and id prefer a 17 =/

Voodu Child

The Rock is a rebadged Clevo M570TU 17" (think i have the model number right:pac:), so if you google that, you should find plenty of info. It seems like a very good laptop.

As AC said, you'll lose out a little at high-res gaming due to the single GPU, but in most other respects the spec is higher, and its based on a newer architecture. You should find plenty of reviews and benchmarks on both machines, so I would make up your mind based on those; they're both extremely powerful machines so you cant go wrong either way.

Kobalt Computers (also in the UK) sell the same machine as the Rock under the name 'Mojave' and its an adjustable spec, so maybe compare the two and see which is better value.

Dan.M.H

Wow, excellent info kudos lads!

Think im gonna go with the Rock/Kobalt lappy, anyway I can avoid giving Dell anymore money I will

One more thing, whats the point of turbo memory?
Is it a backup/overflow?

AlmightyCushion

It's useless, don't waste any money on it.

Dan.M.H

A mate of mine commented on the native resolution of both laptops and that it'd put enormous pressure on the cards, would this make high resolutions in game more taxing?
Also he said SLI causes major problems in laptops?

Any more comments on these from your laptop guru's?

Voodu Child

Dan.M.H wrote: »

A mate of mine commented on the native resolution of both laptops and that it'd put enormous pressure on the cards, would this make high resolutions in game more taxing?
Also he said SLI causes major problems in laptops?

Any more comments on these from your laptop guru's?

The guys in the graphics subforum would be able to give you the most accurate info here.

Gaming in high-res is definitely more taxing than low, depending on the card and the game of course. You can set the screen at a lower res, but this usually looks pretty fuzzy and unsatisfactory (to some).

Basically Sli has the most benefits at high-res anyway, if you were gaming at that res, thats where you would see the biggest performance difference between one and two cards.

SLI shouldn't cause 'problems' in laptops, but its not a guaranteed benefit, it depends in a big way on drivers, and also if games utilize it well. It (Sli support) was pretty patchy in the old days, but I think the 8800m drivers are pretty mature at this stage...again, the graphics forum guys would have much better info on this.

AlmightyCushion

The higher the resolution the lower the frames per second you'll get. E.G. Two similarly specced laptops, one with a 1440x900 resolution the other with a 1920x1200 resolution. If you were to run the same game at the same settings the one with the higher resolution would have less frames per second. The one with the higher resolution would look better and wouldn't need any aa though so it's a bit of a trade off. I wouldn't really worry about it though. If needs be you can play the game at a lower resolution but I would use this as a last resort.

8800 sli will run very hot which is never a good thing especially in such an enclosed environment. In some games sli will give very little if any increase over a single card and it can also decrease performance. That's why I'd go with the rock xp with it's 9800.

Edit: What voodoo said.

Dan.M.H

One more question....

Found another Rock model with a slightly different spec, basicly this one has a quad core, but the ram is DDR2 and lower speed and higher noise rating by far; heres the workup:

XSL8-Q9300 standard features:
Q9300 Quad core 2.5Ghz, 6Mb, 1333Mhz / 1 x Nvidia GeForce Go 9800M GTX 1GB / Hi-res 17" WUXGA X-Glass (1920x1200) / 4GB DDR2 800Mhz / 250GB 7200rpm SATA HDD / No RAID / 8x +/- Dual Layer DVD Writer


Versus the one im planning on getting:

X780-X9100 standard features:
Intel core 2 duo X9100 3.06Ghz, 6MBcache,1066Mhz / NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTX 1GB DDR3 Graphics / Hi-res WUXGA+ X-Glass rock logo / 4GB DDR3 1066Mhz / 320GB 7200rpm SATA HDD / Blu-ray ROM / +/- DVD Writer

Both are relatively the same price when the Blu Ray is taken off the X780, since I already have a PS3

Once again any help is muchly appreciated

Voodu Child

The Rock XSL8 is based on the Clevo D901/Sager NP9262.

Its the size of a small house, uses desktop processors, has 3 hard-drive bays, etc. Its very big and very powerful :pac:

There is a Sager/Clevo sub-forum on notebookreview.com, im pretty sure you'd be able to find the performance differences between the two machines there.

I think the Dell M1730 is nearing its end-of-life, ive seen some very good deals with ebay re-sellers, so you might pick a bargain up if you're still looking at that model.

Dan.M.H

haha im useless at finding reviews for anything, the processor def seems more powerful but the X780's processor isnt without its charm to....gah indecisions

Also cant seem to find anything about wireless network cards anywhere...

Dan.M.H

The Rock laptop model is no longer on their site...not a good sign =/