what are the general thoughts on 3820tg vs 3830tg?

From what I've gathered:

3820tg
+with its overclock ability faster than 3830tg
+cooler due to no optical drive and extra cooling instead
+about €100 cheaper

-a bit slower at stock both cpu and gpu

3830tg
+newer and faster hardware
+is build quality better? looks slightly improved from pictures, at least thought it had a lil bit better overall looks, though both seem fine
+usb 3.0

-worse overclock ability (no oc on cpu right?)
-worse cooling
-throttling issues?


Which is actually the preferred choice for most?

 

I have a 3820TG and as most others would agree, the 3830 will not be making me sell my 3820.

 

Same here.

The 3820 is well built, I don't know about the 3830, though one of the videos showed a noticebale flex on the 3830's chassis around the palmrest area.

You might add wieght comparsion, OK, I know it's not that big of a difference, still, the 3830 is heavier.

 

Yeah the weight is definitely another pro, no optical drive... If you hadnt invested in the 3820tg already but could choose either one, would that change your choice?

I'm guessing these wont be in stock for all that much longer considering their successor has been released. Is anyone aware of any great deals on these ones? The best I can find around here is about €780 for the i5 480m model with a 500gb hdd. Are there even better deals around? (anywhere within EU that ships to all of EU)

 

I won't be upgrading to 3830TG as Nvidia Optimus is not compatible with Linux at the moment and requires a lot of tinkering with to get it to work. I will stick with 3820TG, since it covers all of my humble needs. I would rather save the money and get Asus Transformer to complement my 3820TG.

In my opinion, the only possible thing worth upgrading for is USB3.

 

Thanks, keep the opinions coming please.

Even if you didnt already have the 3820tg, wouldnt it be the better choice as long as you plan on overclocking?

 

Personally, I think you should wait to see if the 3830TG's CPU throttling problem is fixed before you start purchasing either laptop. Then the choice gets tougher between the two.

It is tempting to go with the 3820TG because of the dual-fan cooling system, but if the one-fan cooling solution on the 3830TG is as sufficient at cooling the laptop then I see no reason not to go with the newer system with updated components.

 

What about the overclockability? Havent read too much about the 3830tg but if I got it right its cpu isnt overclockable? And the gpu not to the same extent (due to the cooling?)? Wouldnt a max OCed 3820tg blow the 3830tg away every day?

I may be forced to buy soon as it appears as if my current lappy's fan is dying and I cant seem to get ahold of a new one. Another thing, wouldnt the 3820tg be faced out pretty soon considering its successor has been released so was hoping to find some super deal on it that would make it a no brainer to pick over the 3830tg, but maybe that wont happen since it seems quite popular still.

If I wasnt in this situation I would definitely hold off since my current lappy's performance is enough for now, and I also dont feel the 3830tg is a quite worthy successor, while being a good laptop for sure, the upgrades seem quite marginal. Are the lack of OC abilities due to intel putting limitations in place?

 

The 1st generation Core i mobile processors in the TimelineX laptops didn't obtain stable overclocks until the author for SetFSB added support for it. Same thing applied to older processors in the past.

Nobody knows 100% if the 2nd generation Core i mobile processors are overclockable or not. It's still too early to tell.

Overclocking the 1st generation Core i processor doesn't always mean more performance; in some scenarios it performed worse or did nothing at all. You can find user comments somewhere in this forum. Also, not every laptop can be overclocked. It depends on what chip the motherboard has.

Overclocking wouldn't be my main priority for choosing a laptop.

 

It is absolutely clear that the current 2nd generation (Sandy Bridge) mobile CPU can't be overclocked, it's very well known!

Overclocking WILL give more performance, a higher frequency WILL give higher performance...simple physics. The ATI cards also are much more power efficient, and will give more performance at a lower heat output once we start OC.

Overclocking ability was the factor that got me to choose the 3820TG over the 3830TG + that awesome cooling. I get more performance any day over the 3830 when OC'ed moderately...and with lower temps/noise.

I don't game that much, but like to have the power under my finger tips once the urge comes. When doing normal work I get lower temps/noise with the 3820TG due to the superior cooling.

I can also add an extra pci-e slot and plug in a 3G card on my 3820TG, which you can not do in the 3830TG.

The battery is built in in the 3830TG, which I really don't like. It WILL cost you more to swap that out in a year.

Only thing that could have got me to buy the 3830 was if they dropped in a better panel, but that they obviously did not do.

A no brainer, for me at least.

 

It's not absolutely clear that the current 2nd generation mobile Core i can't be overclocked. This exact statement was said about the 1st generation mobile Core i for several months and looked what happened now; it's overclockable. People started to create software to overclock.

It's logic sense that overclocking will provide more performance, but it has to be stable too; overdoing it will decrease performance. Read user reviews in this forum and you'll see what I mean.

Overclocking also causes the GPU to be hotter. I don't know where you got the idea that overclocking an ATI card would produce less heat. Why do you think some manufacturers lower the core and memory speed of the GPU in the first place?

 

I'm sorry but you are wrong, you can't change the base clock on the Sandy Bridge based systems more than a couple of MHz. Until we get multiplier unlocked Mobile CPU's you can't OC the second generation CPU's. Read up on the matter.

So, a definition of "overdoing it" perhaps? (quantitative)

ATI is more performane/power efficient than NVIDIA gpu's. Once you start OC them both it's an exponential scale, and NOT to NVIDIA's advantage.


I will not go into further discussions regarding this, but I suggest you do a bit of the good ol' read-up on the matters.

 

You clearly went off topic on everything I said... especially with the ATI response. I didn't even talk about NVIDIA...

Just because Sandy Bridge is barely overclockable now; doesn't mean it's impossible for someone to discover a new way to improve overclocking in the future. You're only stating some facts that you just read online, but that could change since Sandy Bridge just recently came out. Stable overclocking on the 3820TG wasn't possible when the laptop came out in June 2010. Recently, the author for setFSB added support for it. You obviously did not read the earlier overclocking posts in the first 3820TG thread.

Next time, stick to the original topic and do more research before you criticize someone in a forum.

 

I'm not leaning on "statements read online", I have been into the OC business since some 20 years back and use my own knowledge gathered during these years to evaluate. I do not intent to diminish the knowledge here, but I do not search this forum for these matters. It's impossible to OC the present SB mobile CPU's in the 3830. OC on the 3820 is supported by the clockgen, not SetFSB. SetFSB merely read the generator, which a few other software can do as well. OC with manipulating the clock generator has been supported for years. You will NOT be able to OC with the clock generator on the SB platform, due to it has moved into the CPU itself in parts. Fact.


3820 = ATI (TDP 26W)
3830 = NVIDIA (TDP 35W)

...hence the comparison between the vga's.

I would like to believe that my contribution to this discussion actually is focusing on the facts, not beliefs.

Thats all from me in the matter.

 

These are some very interesting posts, please keep your thoughts coming.

Wasnt aware of the built in battery part, that definitely isnt a good.

 

@ Lennong & aylafan

You both have a point. First generation of Core i CPUs have had different way of managing frequency compared to Core 2 Duo and aylafan is right in saying that it was said to be impossible to OC them because the CPU supposedly had too much control over it. Now Lennong is saying the same thing about SB.
So Lennong while you may be right aylafan's point is- just because it has not been done yet doesn't mean it can't be done (possibly in a completely different way to what setFSB is doing).
Let's wait and see.

As for ATI and its thermal efficiency there was clearly a misunderstanding between you two- you both are talking about two different things in regards to GPU OC. That said- TDP of ATI 5650 is between 15W and 19W (depending on a stock clock) but it was said that ATI does count only the core while nVidia also adds memory to the equation so there are doubts to whether these can be directly compared.

 

I'm sorry, but you both are not informed enough. You must realize that this forum does not represent the knowledge front. You will NEVER be able to OC the CPUs in the 3830's, period. Please read up on the difference in architecture and the implications of moving the clock generator into the cpu itself.

 

I'm sure you realize that by using capital letters and words like "never" and "period" you'll not convince anyone.
Well- opinions have been exchanged, respective points of view are known- let's move on, shall we?

 

I agree, and I take the critisism to me. Sometimes I loose myself in that sense. Moving on.

 

The general concensus on the 3820TG owners thread is that the 3830TG is not worth the upgrade.

Contributing factors include a poor cooling system(in comparison), worse build quality, a non removable battery and the fact that overclocking is unlikely.

However if you REALLY want USB 3.0 then you should get the 3830TG

 

There are two factors two this- one is upgrading from 3820TG another is buying 3830TG as a replacement for another slower notebook.
Regardless of any issues 3830TG might have it's not a worthy successor of the old model mainly because GT540M is not a new card. It's nVidia playing catch-up and nVidia is doing so because ATI does not have a new range- HD6xxx is just a refresh.

So no laptop with older Core iX CPU +HD5650 is really worth upgrading to SB + GT540/HD6xxx series. While there may be some improvement in gaming it's not more than 15%. Upcoming series of cards from ATI is said to be completely new and that will bring some upgrade-worthiness (I made up this word- I admit ).

Part two is- whether or not 3830TG is an interesting notebook to buy in itself- pitted against 3820TG or any other 13" notebook on the market. That's the interesting part.

 

Is it likely that by the time the new ATI cards hit the market that Acer will release another successor in the 38xxtg series? I realize what I'm asking would be answered purely by speculation, but since some manufacturers have a pretty recurring pattern as to when and how they update their series and I'm not familiar with Acer at all I thought maybe someone could form an idea about it.

This is what I'm thinking about. I was hoping the 3820tg would be quite heavily discounted on sale somewhere since the 3830tg is out, dont suppose anyone of you guys are aware of any great deals on it within the EU? That would certainly make it a no brainer for me.

 

Downloads - I agree with everything you said. For current 3820TG owners, the 3830TG is not worth the upgrade. The choice is tougher for users who have older C2D/Pentium M/P4M/AMD64/Turion laptops. There are so many 13.3" laptops in the market right now.

To the OP, the 3820TG looks like the better buy right now since you can get it for cheaper and almost everyone seems to be satisfied with it.

 

And you know what sucks? Just when I choose the 3820TG (since its price dopped a little bit) it went completely out of stock in whole Czech Republic...so my advice is if you can buy and don´t need USB 3.0 go for 3820 before it´s too late

 

Exactly. Now that deals on the 3820TG see to be over, it's a more difficlt decision to make.

 

My guess is that we will see one more sale from NCIX as soon as they know that the 3830TG is inbound.

Bronsky

 

Anyone aware of any great EU deals on this one?

 

I live in Asia.. and I went to see if they had a bargain on 3820tg this week. I found out that they were either sold out, or if they had any in stock, it wasn't any cheaper than the 3830tg. The 3820tg was about $60 cheaper then the 3830tg(both are i3/low end model). I am guessing that since the demand for the 3820tg is still high, and there is a limited supply, it's causing the the 3820tg to be just as expensive as the newer model.

I am not sure if the same thing could be said about Europe, but at this point, I've given up on finding a good deal on 3820tg

 

It seems like the same goes for Europe. Havent seen any on sale by any significant ammount.

 

As I have actually touched the new 3830 in stores, you can really press down on the keyboard and feel it depressed by a few millimeters compared to the 3820.
But strangely enough this condition doesn't exhibit itself on the 5830 or the 4830?!
But if that doesn't bother you I think it is fine as it is.
One more thing to take note is that the pricing of 3830 is not very attractive since other OEMs have released similar competing models.

You guys might also want to check out the Acer Aspire 3750, the first 13" Aspire Series (Not TimelineX)
Acer seems to like cannibalising their own notebook models' marketshare.
Logically speaking it should be much cheaper than TimelineX.
Proof of its existence but I don't trust the review since they do not know that Acer Panels differ according to luck.