New laptop

[glenfiddichwhisky]

New laptop

I am considering buying a new laptop next spring. The one I have is four years old. I can actually still run the majority of games released now, but the system is obviously outdated. I have the Gateway Gears of War edition with a 2.27ghz DualCore Intel Core2 Duo processor, 4gb RAM, and contains a NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS graphics card with 512mb of memory.

Now, I spent $1300 for this four years ago and $1700 after the black tie warranty. I've actually been pretty satisfied with it overall and it ran the original Witcher really well on fairly high settings. My thought now is whether or not I should go all out and shell out $3,000-$4,000 for an ultimate machine or just do what I did the first two times and limit myself to around $1500.

I was looking at the Digital Storm x17E. The biggest complaint a reviewer site had was that it's a boring looking device. Eh, that's not that big of a deal to me. I don't need to spend an extra $500 bucks just to get a neat design like an Alienware. Do most of you think it's worth shelling out the money for something ultimate now? Maybe I could then get five or six years out of my system rather than the realistic 2.5 that I got with this one (before games really started being too much for it)? I also have some individual questions:

1) The Digital Storm website often puts a 180gb SSD hard drive as a default with a larger 7200RPM hard drive as a secondary. I am so out of the loop that the last I knew, the 7200RPM hard drives were the better drives. What does SSD do and is it worth shelling out the extra money for one? Though I probably wouldn't have two hard drives. Rather, I'd probably just go with a larger SSD drive if I decided it was a superior option.

2) They have a wireless card by default, but there is an option for a Bigfoot Networks Killer wireless card that is $20 more. 90% of the time, my laptop is wired, but when I go home for a holiday or something, I do run it wirelessly. Is there really any benefit to that?

3) Perhaps the most important question is the graphics card. I see that they are now sometimes using dual graphics cards in new laptops. When selecting their best model, the default is a 2x SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680M 4GB with NVIDIA Optimus Technology). However, for $533 less, you can get a 2x CrossFire (AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB) or for $748 less, you can get a 2x SLI (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670MX 3GB with NVIDIA Optimus Technology). Surprisingly the website actually lists the cheaper GeForce GTX as being a better performer than the Radeon cards. Perhaps this is due to the extra gb each one offers. My guess would be that the GeForce is cheaper simply because it's an older model. Anyways, is it really worth spending the extra $750 on the 4gb cards?

4) The Warranty. They were listed as having one of the best warranties by that laptop review website. Yet, it doesn't appear they have option accident protection. Is anyone familiar with Digital Storm as I'd be hesitant buying a $4000 laptop without accident protection. This is what their warrant says: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty

Anyways, those are the questions I have. The one I priced out costs $4210. I don't know if I could get myself to shell out that much, but if the long term value is actually worth it over buying a cheaper $1500 or $2000 one (say I can get double the years out of it), then it may be worth it. The one I priced out also has 32gb of 1600mhz DDR RAM. Sounds like overkill, but probably would increase the life of the laptop by quite a bit.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions as to what laptop maker has the most valuable gaming laptops, I would be open to them as well. And no, I will not buy a desktop even though I can get more for less. Desktops just don't do it for me when I do travel a fair amount.

Thanks for your time.

 

[GuyNwah]

The SSD is a big win if you deploy stuff effectively. Read speed on SSDs is many times that of mechanical disks. Write speed isn't. Not only is writing slow, it fragments the SSD and requires TRIM to run periodically and fix the disk up. So you want to put stuff on the SSD that is read-mostly and you want read very fast. Not Windows. Windows scribbles all over its system disk and wastes a big chunk of it on pagefile. You want applications installed to the SSD. Especially games with big resource files. So my ideal notebook would have a big low-power mechanical disk for Windows and scratch space and an SSD for applications that need to load fast, like TW2 and other games.

Bigfoot Killer is a good wireless card despite the silly name and a good value at a $20 premium. (Bigfoot is Atheros is Qualcomm. But Qualcomm threw some R&D into Bigfoot when they acquired the line. It handily outperforms the widely used Intel cards, especially on marginal connections, which are usually what you end up with when you actually take that monster on the road.)

In raw processing power, the 7970M blows the magic smoke off anything but the 680M. If you are going high-end, there are these two and then everybody else. Some workloads will probably run faster on one, and some on the other. PhysX-dependent workloads work better on the nVidia card, and DirectX 11-dependent workloads work better on the AMD card. Most games do better on the 680M, but it's your call whether they do $533 better />/>

The 670MX is a cut-down 680M. Make sure you are getting the 670MX if you choose it; there is also a 670M (nVidia alphabet soup is delicious) that is not a Kepler at all but a relabeled 500-series Fermi.

 

[Vojtas]

I am considering buying a new laptop next spring.

It's much better and cheaper to buy desktop PC. Gaming laptops (LOL) are terribly overpriced.

 

[Aver]

So my ideal notebook would have a big low-power mechanical disk for Windows and scratch space and an SSD for applications that need to load fast, like TW2 and other games.

Could you say how exactly does it improve performance? Only load times? FPS may also improve? May it help to rid off eventual stuttering?

BTW. you can change location to different disk, but I assume that you know it.

 

[GuyNwah]

Could you say how exactly does it improve performance? Only load times? FPS may also improve? May it help to rid off eventual stuttering?

BTW. you can change location to different disk, but I assume that you know it. />/>/>/>

Loading times are the big thing. Especially if you have stutter crossing cell boundaries, which TW2 has to an unfortunate extent. It'll increase the minimum FPS you see, or decrease the time a game spends at minimum FPS, if these are caused by the need to read the disk.

It won't affect sustained FPS or general stutter problems; the disk isn't doing anything most of the time.

It's much better and cheaper to buy desktop PC. Gaming laptops (LOL) are terribly overpriced.

Well, yeah, but just try taking your tower and monitor and mouse and keyboard and speakers to your friend's house and finding counter space and three outlets to set them up.

I am considering buying a new laptop next spring. The one I have is four years old.

Lucky you /> My laptop's so old it says "Core" and not "Core 2". I like your screen name -- and 15-year-old Glenfiddich. Welcome, and enjoy the forums.

 

[Vojtas]

Well, yeah, but just try taking your tower and monitor and mouse and keyboard and speakers to your friend's house and finding counter space and three outlets to set them up.

Of course. People, who travel a lot, prefer laptops, but IMO it's still waste of money. Mobile feature just isn't important for me. I play games at home.

 

[Glaroug.531]

Feel free to skip over this post. It could be as helpful as a banana in a hostage situation. This thread caught my eye, as we are in a similar situation.

I lug my laptop with me every. As a student, its no surprise a desktop is easier to drag to the library or lab than a desktop. TW2 proved my ststem was near its end (low specs @ 1024x600 and 800x480 in heavy combat. O YEAH! . I'll keep this bad boy as its proven itself to be a great stystem for me. If you need something for mobility, why not keep your old trusty and chose a new desktop instead? Unless you want to sell it or on the go alot, a desktop could mean more power for less and its much easier to upgrade (or so they tell me ).

Hope you new system is a beauty. Good luck

 

[daddy300]

I suggest you check Sager/Clevo notebooks.
If you live in US;
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP9370
or
http://www.xoticpc.com/index.html

-GTX 680m or 7970m for graphic card. both are almost the same in performance but GTX 680m cost around +200$ but its more stable.
-8GB RAM is more then enough, you wont see difference in performance at all. Rather use those 100$ on better CPU.
-SSD 120GB for OS, and 500GB to 1tb as 2nd drive is the best solution.

I am currently using Sager/Clevo for almost 2 years originally came with GTX 485m which was fast enough to run TW2 on almost highest settings but now I have upgraded my GPU to 7970m. I move around often and take/use my laptop at work.
I can sell you my 485m GTX if you want

I had them all from Vaio's, HP's and even XPS 1710. Buy a desktop PC if you are going to stay at home.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

It's much better and cheaper to buy desktop PC. Gaming laptops (LOL) are terribly overpriced.

Exactly the point. Before buying any laptop one needs to evaluate if laptop is really needed, since laptop automatically raises the price for mobility factor. Do you need to travel and carry your computer with you? If not - you can simply save money and even get better specs on a desktop computer.

 

[Vojtas]

Do you need to travel and carry your computer with you? If not - you can simply save money and even get better specs on a desktop computer.

Agreed. I would prefer to buy gaming desktop and much cheaper laptop for travel/mobile work, but this is just me. Even low specs laptop can run great games like FTL - I'm in love with this little gem at the moment.

 

[glenfiddichwhisky]

In raw processing power, the 7970M blows the magic smoke off anything but the 680M. If you are going high-end, there are these two and then everybody else. Some workloads will probably run faster on one, and some on the other. PhysX-dependent workloads work better on the nVidia card, and DirectX 11-dependent workloads work better on the AMD card. Most games do better on the 680M, but it's your call whether they do $533 better />/>/>/>

The 670MX is a cut-down 680M. Make sure you are getting the 670MX if you choose it; there is also a 670M (nVidia alphabet soup is delicious) that is not a Kepler at all but a relabeled 500-series Fermi.

Thanks for all the information. In regards to the graphics card, I'd have to double check to see if that one brand was offering the 670MX or the 670M. One thing you didn't mention is how I pointed out that the 7970M has only 2gb whereas the 680M had 4gb. How much of a difference does that make for the card or is just a difference in brand more than anything (similar to how AMD processors used to run faster than equivalent Intel processors).

Lucky you />/>/> My laptop's so old it says "Core" and not "Core 2". I like your screen name -- and 15-year-old Glenfiddich. Welcome, and enjoy the forums.

I'm still undecided on whether I will upgrade or not. I want to, but as a student, it's not always easy to justify. Thanks for the welcome and yes, Glenfiddich 15 year is amazing. It's got a great taste and isn't horribly expensive for Scotch.

I suggest you check Sager/Clevo notebooks.
If you live in US;
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP9370
or
http://www.xoticpc.com/index.html

-GTX 680m or 7970m for graphic card. both are almost the same in performance but GTX 680m cost around +200$ but its more stable.
-8GB RAM is more then enough, you wont see difference in performance at all. Rather use those 100$ on better CPU.
-SSD 120GB for OS, and 500GB to 1tb as 2nd drive is the best solution.

I am currently using Sager/Clevo for almost 2 years originally came with GTX 485m which was fast enough to run TW2 on almost highest settings but now I have upgraded my GPU to 7970m. I move around often and take/use my laptop at work.
I can sell you my 485m GTX if you want />/>

I had them all from Vaio's, HP's and even XPS 1710. Buy a desktop PC if you are going to stay at home.

Thanks. I will glance at those links provided. I realize that those with a ton of RAM won't have much effect as games aren't created to take advantage of it yet. What I am curious though is if in the long run it's cheaper to buy a large amount of RAM now and keep my system relevant for another couple years than to upgrade computers every three or four years.

-------------------------

To all those saying just to get a desktop. I mentioned in my original post that I will not. I don't have the room for it and too often I am out of town. I don't always play games when I am gone, but oftentimes it's nice to have everything with me during Christmas break and what not.

 

[Gilrond-i-Virdan]

Just note that those heavy Sagers and etc. are weak on the battery life, they are mostly desktop replacement which are intended not to be used on the road, but stationary, however they give you a comfort of transporting them with relative ease, in comparison with transporting a heavy desktop.

 

[glenfiddichwhisky]

Just note that those heavy Sagers and etc. are weak on the battery life, they are mostly desktop replacement which are intended not to be used on the road, but stationary, however they give you a comfort of transporting them with relative ease, in comparison with transporting a heavy desktop.

Thanks for the heads up. Weight doesn't bother me so long as it's a 17" laptop. I don't care for bigger and I don't care for smaller. I won't be stuffing it in my backpack or anything. Also, weak battery life isn't a big deal. I keep my laptop plugged in 99.9% of the time.

 

[daddy300]

I own 17,4 Sager. Battery last for about 60-90 minutes if you are just using typical windows apps like Excel or word perhaps browsing internet. Although I never really had to use the battery.

Not sure if you know this but at least when I bought it 2 years ago I received 24 months warranty on parts and labor.. Company told me that I can change the parts inside without breaking and losing the warranty as longest I know what I am doing.

You can upgrade almost every part in the laptop these days its not like 5 years ago almost every part was integrated into motherboard.

Said that dont worry about RAM right now, dont buy more then 8gb 1600mHz why? because you can get another 8 or 16GB yourself way cheaper on eBay or amazon and just replace it whenever you feel like it. Btw 2GB GPU cards are the best 4GB is a joke. Dont even think about buying those total rip off.

Also if you really want to save a lot of money! buy your laptop without any hard drive.

Get SSD 120GB and 500GB 2.5 inch drives on eBay and you will save 100-200$ company would charge your extra for those parts. You could do the same thing with RAM just tell them you have your own from your old laptop if they ask.

Just look at the parts they are listing on the website and compare the prices on Amazon or Ebay (used) you can even upgrade your CPU and GPU as longest your Bios supports it. This way you should be able to save enough and get SLI 680m or crossfire 7970m for the same amount of money.

That's my beast. I ran everything for past 2 years on ultra. Crysis 3 will have to be run on Extreme only I guess to get smooth fps