XPS M170 - is it worth getting the 7800 instead of the 6800?

I am just about to buy a M170 but considering if it is worth actually getting it with the 7800 card instead of the 6800 card? My experience from 15 years of computer buying is that the latest technology is always priced to high and that buying the second best is usually a better deal. So, if you put all the technical benchmarking aside, is it really worth it to go with the 7800? What about power consumption, normaly, a more powerfull card would mean more power consumption, but I recall having read that this might not be true with the 7800?

/pJ

 

Power consumption is the same. It's definitely worth it if you're into gaming. I know many here will disagree and say that it's not worth the $350 extra, but put things in perspective. If you're going to be buying a top shelf system, why skimp out on what is IMO the foremost reason why you're buying an XPS in the first place? If you're buying an XPS, you're already paying a premium to begin with, so it makes little sense to not go for the best video card there is.

 

I'd hold off on the M170 and take a look at Sager's new 5720. It's got the same 7800/PM hardware as the M170, but is lighter, sleeker, and has a MUCH better screen than the XPS2 or XPS3. I'll bet the Sager is a lot more reasonably priced than the Dell, too.

 

I don't know about the other features, but the Dell pricing scheme will blow the Sager away by miles when the coupons return.

 

I'd say, that if you are going the whole nine yards, get the 7800GTX. The 6800 Ultra is a smoking card, but the 7800GTX will let you play at more extreme settings, and take advantage of that 1920x1200 resolution screen!!

Yeah, wait for the coupons! Trust me! Then you should be able to get it for like 25-35% less!

:centrino:

 

Unless the M140 comes along with something amazing (read: 7600 or X1700), I think I'll jump ship next time one of those coupons comes along... assuming that they ever come along again...

The Sager looks nice, but it lacks the glossy screen. And the other Sagers, while better specced (especially the AMD dual core one!), are 12.5 pounds. That's ridiculous.

 

Well, this is really the trick question, no matter what you get, it will always be outdated at some point, and, generally spekaing, they more you pay for something, the longer before you can upgrade. In other words, the more money you spend now, the longer you will have to wait, so if the extra performance you get is very expensive, it would be a better investment to buy new earlier. Of course, all of this depends on how much extra you would have to pay for the 7800. It is not yet available to order from Dell in sweden where I live, so I dont know, but the sales rep thought it might be something like $300 more expensive, you think this could be true? I noticed at the UK site, the difference was only about $120 or something like that, which would make it much more interesting.

Please correct me if I am wrong here, but my impression is that even the 6800 Ultra will run almost all games with full specs or almost full specs even today, so the extra power you get with the 7800 would really be for the future rather than today?

/pJ

 

The Sager 5720 has the glossy screen if you get the WSXGA+ resolution. That screen is on par with the best 17" screens available. Also, the 5720 weighs in at 8.5 pounds. It's a totally different form from those monstrous Sager 9880 beasts. Here's a link to pics of the 5720: http://www.notebookdiscussions.com/showthread.php?t=603

 

You are correct.

 

The upgrade is $350 USD. My argument is not as much about the actual performance increase as it is about principle. If you buy a gaming machine at this price point, you deserve to get the best. That's all I'm saying. What's another $350 going to hurt in a $3000 machine? Not a whole lot relatively speaking. But if we must go by numbers, consider that a coupon will chop off a significant amount of that extra $350 too.

 

The numbers also are that the newer card increases the cost by over 10%, for an improvement barely noticeable for most users and games. Any coupon that reduces the more expensive machine also reduces the price of the cheaper one. The advantage of the 7800 is that it has more redundancy, giving performance advantages at the very least for applications in the future, at no obvious performance disadvantages (eg heat and battry life). If one can afford the 7800 one would surely buy it. If due to the increased cost you have to then reduce other factors such as warranty, HD size and speed, ram, and processor speed to come within budget, the 7800 may not necessarily be the way to go. Depends on the specific use of the machine.

 

there is only one reason to get m170, it's the 7800. otherwise there's no reason.

with the way that dell wants to market the new xps series, a la alienware/voodooPC, high margin and low volume, plus the way the coupons are scaled way back, it will be awhile until the 40% are back...

also when u r logging around a 17in laptop, portability is outta of window... it's desktop replacement land and u want it as close to desktop performance as possible, i don't think extra 3lbs is gonna make much of a diff... especially not when 19in laptop is down the line...

 

i wouldn't get it...i'd just get an XPS gen 2 or a dell 9300 with a 6800 go or a 6800 ultra from someone if u can...or from dell get the 9300...it's a MUCH better choice than spending over $2700 on a laptop with a better graphics card....if u can wait..i'd say to wait

 

Get the 7800... it will help with DOD:S and BF2.

 

If you're going to be buying the M170 then you're basically buying it for the 7800 GTX. The XPS Gen 2 is practically the same exact thing as the M170, but it dont have the 7800 GTX.

That's my take on it.

 

If you have the money then the upgrade is worth it. Now the price to performance is not that great in my mind, to pay for the uprade. But that is just me.

 

Not sure if it's available in the US but on Dell Canada there is a 7800 upgrade for free.