- The Area-51® m9750 VS. Sager NP9260 Battle - & - 8700M GT, untapped DX10 beast or 7950GTX muppet? -

Aloha guys,

I'm planning a purchase of a new laptop within the next month, and boy do I have questions!

First of all, after being on both recommended gaming laptop websites and with a budget of around 2700$, here's what I could pull!

Area-51® m9750
Video/Graphics Card: 512MB NVidia® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7400 2.16GHz 4MB Cache 667MHz FSB
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz - 2 x 1024MB
Display: 17" WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD

or

Sager NP9260
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6700 / 4MB L2 Cache, 2.66GHz, 1066MHz FS
Video & Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GO 7950 GTX
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 X 1024MB
Display: 17" WSXGA+ LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1680 x 1050)

From what it seems, and for the same price, the Sager seems better no?
Although the specs say otherwise, which processor is best in terms of gaming? T7200 or the E6700?
All in all, which laptop would you recommend?

The other question now:
In Fall of 2008, I will be hopefully purchasing a proper gaming desktop for the future in DX10 and videogames, however I need laptop untill then as I will be abroad! I'm planning to use it for the current games (HL2, C&C3, LOTR Online, Oblivion, FSX and such...) and for newer ones like BioShock, Crysis etc...

Here's where it gets tricky, although I know the 7950GTX outperforms the 8700M GT, do you think it's better to get the 8700M GT for what I need?
I'm worried that the 8700M GT will explode into an awesome card when proper DX10 drivers and such come out...

Keep in mind that I'll only be using the laptop for gaming for a bit more than year only, since afterwards, I'll be using it for office/work and a little MMOing when away, and that as we know, doesn't need a mad performance/graphic workhorse!

I'd love the feedback and help, any way you could!

Thanks a lot, in advance!
Aloha.

 

get the Sager with Dual 7950GTXs and forget buying a desktop! Oh and btw, im pretty shure that it might be able to upgrade to dual 8800 cards in the near future!

 

Well, unless you get SLI, neither is worth it.
If you can't get the SLI with your budget, then get the Sager 5790. If you want SLI, then get the 9260, because it gets up to 2-3k higher in 3dm06, and of course a desktop processor is going to be faster.

As for battery life, all three laptops have suck-o battery life. The 5790 has the best of the three, however.

For the uses you have for it, I'd definitely recommend the 5790. Also, the 5790 is confirmed swappable between the 7950gtx and the 8700. That being said, a 7950gtx owns the 8700 right now, and it is unlikely that the 8700 will make some stunning comeback after DX10 takes off. Its still just a beefed up mid-end part.


Oblivion SLI, as a sidenote, in my rig I get between 30-50fps outdoors with every slider all the way up + HDR + extra detail mods at 1600x1200. Indoors, its capped at 60, I believe, because its pinned at it all the time.
Average HL:2/CS:S video stress test fps with 4xAA/16xAF/1920x1200 was 208.13. (The power of 2x7950's is a sight to behold.)

 

Depends if you want a bit more portability or not. If you want more portability but less power go for the m9750.

If your not planning on getting SLI then neither of these laptops is ideal for you.

I would recommend for a $2700 budget getting the M570RU laptop.

From powernotebooks I can configure it with:
2.4Ghz processor 800Mhz FSB
Single 7950Gtx GPU
160 GB 7200 RPM HDD
2GB 800Mhz Memory (2 Dimms)
DVD writer/biometic fingerprint reader/multi card reader etc

For $2700....if your not going SLI it's more of an ideal choice for you.

 

I would say go with the 5790 if you are going to get a proper gaming desktop rig ~Q4 of 2008. You don't need a 2.4Ghz C2D. Stick with 2Gigs of ram and just run XP. Forget Vista.

 

First of all, I would like to thank all those who have answered!
And to think that a few days ago, I was just about to buy a HP Pavillion DV9000 series with a Go 7600, 2GB RAM and 2.2Ghz Santa Rosa C2D for about $2100! It would have been gaming suicide!

I've checked it out, and yeah, definately looks like a much wiser/cheaper and all-around better choice for what I'm looking for.
However, I'm just a little afraid that it might not run the games I wish to play: HL2, C&C3, LOTR Online, Oblivion, FSX and such... with good FPS at high settings in 1280X1024 resolution.

This is the system I think I would pick:

Sager NP5790:
Display: 17" WSXGA+ LCD with Matte Finish Surface (1680X1050)
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7700 / 4MB L2 Cache, 2.40GHz, 800MHz FSB
Video & Graphics Card: Nvidia GeForce GO 7950 GTX Graphics
Memory: 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHz - 2 X 1024MB

You guys reckon it's enough? I'm being sceptical as this is the first time i'm buying a laptop for gaming, and my old one scored 673 on 3DMark06!

Also,

Why forget Vista? It looks cool, and unlike a lot of people who complain about OS' in general when they come out, I love hype, and love how it looks!
I'm tired of XP, will Vista really affect me that bad? What does it do in terms of my game performance and grpahics etc....?

Thanks for your help!

Cheers.

 

Well the 7950 GTX is pretty much the best card you can get in a laptop right now. It'll run all those games you want. Its fairly powerful. You can try getting an SLI version of the laptop if you are really worried. It'll be a little bit pricier.

 

Lets just say that my desktop (pentiumD 3.0ghz, nv 6800) runs oblivion near-max at 1280x1024. A 7950gtx will run it beautifully. Its the most powerful non-sli laptop in existence. There is not any better unless you buy two gfx cards, period, and even then, its just two of the same 7950's.

HL2 & FFX I can guarantee to max out with that card- my old desktop could. New & upcoming games, probably on high to max, depending on resolution. Nowadays, 1280x1024 is almost considered low-res, so it shouldnt have a problem at all.

 

Awesome!
Thanks for your help dudes.

One last thing, although off-topic, i'm wondering:
What brand makes the best out of the CLEVO M570RU?
From what I've found, Sager seems to be the most trustworthy/famous one out there as everyone recommends it!

 

Yea I would recommend to check out these two places first:
- www.xoticpc.com
- www.powernotebooks.com

The are extremely reputable and have legendary service/support.

The other Clevo resellers are great as well, look into the Clevo Guide for more info.

 

I got my 9260 from powernotebooks.
Works great (read: fast as fark), even if the hard drive setup is wonky.

 

As far as sites, I've pointed some people to PC Microworks.They have some nice options. I think you'd most be interested in their Blackhawk model.

Same deal...it allows for all the fancy stuff. SLI setup, Blu Ray player, 17 inch 1920x1200 screen, etc I think they'll be offering the 8700m as an option very soon. They have an upgrade program too.