To SLI or not to SLI, that is my question...

First of all, Hello to everyone as this is my first post here. After lurking for a couple of days I decided maybe I had read enough so that I could enlist some help without asking totally lame questions .

The reason I'm here in the first place is my beloved XPS 1710 was stolen a few weeks ago and I'm seriously considering the M17x as a replacement.
As you can see by my username I like simulation software and in particular FSX (FlightSimX). That and some photoshop stuff was 90% of what I used the XPS for. It actually did a pretty darn good job of running FSX . So now I start searching for a replacement and the M17x looks to be a fantastic choice.
I don't know if any of you all are even interested in FSX but I do know by reading a LOT of your posts that you definitely know your laptops . So I have a couple of questions on the configuration of the M17x that I order. Maybe I need to back up just a little to give you a better idea of the specs of my XPS so you know where I'm starting from and where I want to go.

XPS specs:

Core 2 Duo T7600 (2.33GHz,667MHz,4MB )
512 Nvidia GeForce Go 7900 GTX
2 GB DDR2

So, not nearly the machine as the M17x but still did what I wanted pretty well. Since this will be used primarily for FSX my two primary concerns are the CPU and the GPU, yeah I know...duh. To be more specific the number of Cores and whether to SLI the GPUs. There is a debate over in the FSX community as to whether there is any benefit to SLI as FSX does not support SLI. Some say that SLI actually slows frame rates in FSX. I'm sure FSX will run fine on just one GPU but looking at the future I probably want the SLI. Here's my first question (finally ) Since I have zero experience with SLI I was wondering if this can be disabled if need be through settings or software???. Right now I'm looking to go with the SLI 280Ms (I wish they offered a single 280M).
My other question is yet another debate on the FSX forum on Core usage by FSX and I won't bore you any further with that other than to say it looks like it does use Core 0 for the game engine and uses other cores for stuff like scenery loading. I THINK I would be better off with the faster 2Duo(2.93) since FSX is really CPU dependent.
That's about it other than to say thanks for suffering thru this and I hope I too one day can be a proud M17x owner .

Steve

 

if you are going to get an AW you might as well get it maxedout for the overhead you have to pay.
oh and on the cpu not a quad core will kill a dual in a game or program that can use more than on core. so the qx9300 is the fastest in a cpu intensive environment.

 

Yes you can disable SLI, you can even pick P8600 and you will be fine since you can overclock it to 3.0ghz pretty easy.

TBH i would go with 2x GTX260m since the difference between GTX260m and GTX280m is around 10%.

 

Welcome to the forums, Steve. Sorry to hear your laptop was stolen; stealing is the crime I have the least tolerance for.

If you give us a budget, we'll help you configure an M17x best suited to gaming. I would go for the dual 260Ms; I assume you're going to move on from FSX at some point to the next installment, which might very well take advantage of SLI. Put it this way - SLI can't hurt; you can always disable one card if it causes problems (it is doubtful that it will).

 

I am just going to copy and paste something I wrote elsewhere.

Now, my theory on SLI was I didn't need it this year, or next. Why not wait? You can buy a second graphics card in two years, and put it in. At that time, a 280 to add will be half the cost it is now, or maybe even less. You could even get the next generation card, possibly still for less. It's a little annoying you have to go with a single 260, but it's only 10-15% performance difference, you can manage.

 

260's in SLI is the way to go as far as GPU's and your Call on the cPU just keep in mind you can overclock so you don't need the Absolute best because the t9600 can overclock up to 3.33 Ghz

 

I would not go below SLI 260 with todays game at WUXGA...

In two years the second card will be absolutely useless for future games.

Also a SLI value notebook is still good after a year. 2 years is a WHOLE different stroy.

 

So you'd tolerate murder compared to theft, would you?

Anyway, yes, I think SLI is the way to go. However you really don't need 280Ms unless you have the money to waste. They will only give you a 10%-15% performance boost in games.

Yes, you can turn SLI off very easily so it shouldn't be any worry.

If the simulator uses quad cores well (you'll need to check that) then you'll be much better off with a quad core. You could also probably overclock even the cheap Q9000 from 2.0GHz to 2.4GHz in nearly all cases (I can run mine at 2.45GHz) and obviously if you don't know how to do so, we're ready to give you guidance on that. The good thing about the M17x is unlike nearly all laptops it has overclocking features built into the BIOS, meaning you don't need to mess with any software, and it doesn't void your warranty unless you do any damage in the process which you won't as long as you pay attention to your temperatures.

If you have the money, by all means, go for the 280Ms. If you have the money I'd also go with the QX9300; easier to overclock as it has unlocked multipliers (I can explain what that means if you don't know) and 2.53GHz is plenty for most games anyway, particularly if they support quad cores.

 

First of all, thanks all who took the time to reply, I really appreciate your time and expertise.

That's really good news on the SLI thing. I still am leaning towards the 2X GTX280m though because FSX might like just one GPU and I want to squeeze every FPS out that I can.

Thanks, I really miss my XPS it was rock solid for the 2yrs I had it. As far as budget goes, I sent $3K on the XPS and that's about what I want to spend now. I filed a homeowners claim and I have a replacement cost in the policy so it's not like I'm shelling out the whole cost here. I just have to pay the deductible and hope they don't try and $crew me .
Sadly it looks as if there will be no next installment of FSX since M$ has cancelled it and let go all the ACES team that kept it going all these years.

At the moment I'm leaning in the direction of the T9600. It's already 2.8 GHz and, if I'm hearing others here right (the cow goes MOOoooo), it can be OC'd. Don't know if the multiplier is locked or not though. Maybe you can help clarify that if you don't mind. Since I'm not by definition a "gamer" and FSX seems to utilze really only the first 2 cores It might be my best compromise ($ vs. perf.)
I'll wait a little and see if I get any more feedback and then I'll spec out a system and post it here to see if you all think I "dun good".

Thanks again,
Steve

 

TBH is hard to justify the $300 but if you have the money and don't mind in spending it

You can overclock T9600 to somewhere around 3.3, it have mult locked but you can overclock it via FSB with no problems since M17x have FSB settings in BIOS.

 

For your situation, there is NO BENEFIT to buying SLi for Flight Simulator X. Go with a decent CPU and upgrade later will suite you fine.

 

^ +1. i7 will perform noticeably better in Photoshop than QC. Consider D900F/NP9280 - bigger CPU, no SLI.

Here's a good article about FSX, CPU and GPU, even though it's old.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-gpu-upgrade,1928-10.html

 

For $3,000 you can get a very nicely spec'd M17x.

I still think going for SLI is a good idea; it's only $300 for dual GTX 260Ms and you'll be punching yourself if another flight sim comes out in the next few years that supports multiple graphics cards.

My definition of 'stealing' applies to more than possessions; what is murder but stealing someone's life.

 

^ "...if another flight sim comes out in the next few years that supports multiple graphics cards..."

They will be obsolete.

For $3K you can get GTX 280M + i7-975 Extreme. Granted you're getting barebone D900F from RJtech + i7-975 for $.9K off eBay.

Choices... choices.....

 

Agree 100% as far as FSX is concerned.

Thanks for the link, that is a good article and makes me think I'm heading in the right direction. I'm a litlle lost on the D900F etc. , don't really know what that equates to. Is the T9600 an i7?

Right, since it has been said that I can disable SLI if I need to. If they offered the 280 by itself I would probably do that though. Thanks

Steve

 

T9600 is a CORE 2, i7 is more powerful (generally 20%-30% more powerful than a core 2 quad at the same clock) and i7's are quad cores with hyper threading (8 logicals cores).

But D900F have a DESKTOP i7 and this mean that it runs hotter, you will have something around 50mins of battery life (M17x have 3 hours) but you have a more powerful processor.

Ah... And D900F is like the ugliest notebook ever.

 

^ "... Ah... And D900F is like the ugliest notebook ever..."

Well... not the ugliest, but not a beauty queen for sure.

M17x is the most bad @s$ looking in the history of notebooks ever. IMHO.

But hey, chicks don't give a smack about what your laptop looks like.

 

TBH i prefer the M7700 blue lid

Well... For some guys look is a must (and thats why students buy macbooks lol) so is always better to make things clear

 

Right D900F isn't necessarily the ugliest notebook ever....there was the D900C, D900T, and D900K as well.

Now those were ugly as sin laptops.

 

OK then, so if I hear you right then none of the available processors for the M17x are i7s. Thanks for setting me straight on that.

Steve

 

Clevo definitely takes the cake with the biggest AND ugliest laptops

The M980 look pretty nice until you see a side shot and the thing is like 4 inches thick. I was LOL'd for a while when I saw it.

Anyway, back to the OP's question. You don't need an extreme gaming rig for FSX. Do you do anything else with your computers? Like video encoding, PS, etc?

If so then you'd be best served with a single 260 and add the QX9300. You could get the Clevo but I personally do not believe in cramming desktop parts into a notebook.

 

I hear you and I agree about FSX. I'm beginning to rethink some of this and I'll look how that combination prices out. Gotta think of the "Big Picture" after all. Thanks

Steve