9600m gt vs 9600m gs.

Still banging my head against the "what laptop to get" question, decided against the g50vt-x5 due to its ugly and bulky nature.

now i'm looking at the sager np2096(xoticpc) and the asus X83Vm-X2 (via best buy).

the sager would have a "Montevina" p8600, the asus a p7450.

I know that on paper the sager would be faster. I want to know if it is really worth the extra dough.

I would be playing mostly cs source and tf2.
possibly cod4 and possibly (but probably not) crysis.

not too worried about having high settings.
portability and battery life are important to me, both seam to be good in that category.

anyone have experience with these two options?

would love to hear some opinions.

 

Well, what's the difference in price?

 

the asus is 800. the sager with windows installed is 960 (+ 37 dollar shipping)

 

check out the msi gt627

 

I looked at the msi but i have heard that the build quality isn't great. and it's more expensive. i only looked at it on newegg though. I want to buy from a place with a good return policy newegg doesn't have one.

 

The CPU difference isn't major.

The 9600M GT is the same exact chip as the 9600M GS, except it has higher clockspeeds. Both of the video cards in those notebooks are fitted with DDR2 memory, which is disappointing; they would be much faster if they had DDR3 memory.
The 9600M GS isn't the fastest card; if you're looking to play the latest games, I would look for something faster. You can see my review here of the Asus M50VM, which has a 9600M GS, to see how well it games:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4573

You should honestly reconsider the G50Vt at Best Buy; for $900 it is one hell of a laptop. The 9800M GS is a beastly video card.
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9050279&type=product&id=1218012519873
That one isn't as flashy as this one is:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=9173262&type=product&id=1218044029168

 

I don't need to play the latest games really, just the ones I mentioned before. and i don't mind turning down the graphics at all. but portability and battery life are important to me. and I am going to do a fare amount of coding and design work as well. The g50 is (from what i have heard) significantly heavier with its power brick than the other options. and it wont have as good battery life. though I have to admit the gpu does make it tempting.

if the 9600m gs is the same chip as the gt then could i potentially overclock it to the same performance as the gt or higher? and would that significantly reduce reliability?

if I can just tweak the asus a bit when I want to game, than i might have to go with that.

 

I remember that there is an asus with ATI HD4560 wich is better than 9600gt, I guess N8p1 or just N8 or something, its 14". But it has a higher price, but I guess that is the kind of laptop you are looking for.

Edit: its called: N81Vp.

 

yea i like the n81 but its more than i want to spend.

 

Urmmm ok then , how much are you willing to spend?

 

1000 is my cap. thats why it's pretty much down to the sager or asus.
just realized the asus has 1gig ddr2 vram the sager 512mb ddr2 vram.
dont know if that really matters though.

 

now i find out that msi has a gx620 for 999 with a 9600m gt 512 gdr3
this just keeps getting harder and harder.

 

9600M GT GDDR3 is better than 9600M GT DDR2 (doesn't matter the memory amount) and all variants of 9600M GS. So if you want the best GPU under $1000, choose the MSI. Easy, no?

 

I would definately go for the MSI, but dont buy immediately, check out some of the Forum sections for each of the notebooks, just to check if there are any reported build problems etc, because i know the the 627 has had a few minor setbacks (but i think there working to fix it and replace the 9600gt with 9800gs) however i definately know MSI products as reliable (think i have two 7 year old rebranded pc's with there mainboards and components) and i have recently aquired the MSI 1722 (GT725 or Advent 6555) and there are no problems at all except from mouse pad wear, but im fine with that because its not a strong gloss that pulls through anyway.

Also the memory, different memories (DDR*) can affect voltage and performance, if im right GDDR3 runs a higher voltage then DDR3 but i think a lower memory clock then DDR3 so in actual fact the Nvidia 9600m GT DDR3 in the MSI will eat the others, another important object with GPU's to be aware about is video memory, you will only need about 1GB if your operating within the region of 1080p res? 19**by**** or whatever it is, i'd say 512 should handle 720p and 480p fine, just dont get memories like 256mb for a big hd screen, only for smaller sized notebooks if you get me.

In my oppinion, you should try and look for something with either a)a 8800m gts (because the memory bus width is 256bit and this does affect performance alot) or b)a 9700gts which is the low side of high end cards however it does feature a 256bit interface and is basically that 8800mgts updated on a new core

I hope i've helped clear things up a bit, sometimes toshiba release very nice priced laptops with the 9700gts card in, so keep a look out

 

yea that helps a good amount. my only gripe with msi is the keyboard flex and lack of sturdiness i keep hearing about. this rig will probably spend a good deal of time in my backpack so i want it to be pretty solid.

 

They keyboard flex can suprisingly always be fixed with double sided tape hehe, and no voidance of warrenty either as you just have to pop up the hood

As for the travelling, only the 627 had screen problems because of moving around but only two of them, soon i will begin travelling with my 1722 and hopefully keeping it safe, i will look into a padded and bumped/textured shock bag.

 

One thing to consider with any notebook you get is the screen resolution . . . if you get one with 1280x800 or 1366x768, you're going to have a tough time coding and doing design work. I think the MSI is available with a higher-resolution screen (1680x1050), and that would definitely seal the deal for me if I were in your shoes. There is nothing that will hamper productivity more than a low resolution.

 

Has a 9-cell battery available, I think (Model: 90-NQY1B2000Y), for extended time away from power and the 9650M GT. Also has the more powerful CPU P8600.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220518

 

QFT, I bought an ASUS G50 w/a 1366x768 res and its not very user friendly when it comes to using ps and dw.

 

I think I might grab the msi gx260 from frostycomputers.com.

•Display: 15.4" WXGA (1280 x 800) TFT display ACV(Amazing Crystal Vision) Display
•Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium / Windows XP
•CPU: Intel® 45nm Montevina Core™ 2 Duo Processors P8400 - 1066MHz FSB
•GPU: NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M-GT 512MB DDR3 + Turbo Cache-With Support For Microsoft® DirectX® 10
•System Memory: Up to 4GB DDR2-800MHz Dual Channel Memory
•Hard Drive: SATA Hardrive support up to 320GB
•Optical Drive: DVD Super Multi (DVD+-RW/ CD+-RW)
•Communications:
Intel® WiMAX / WiFi Link Ready
Built-in Gigabit Ethernet LAN and Modem Module
Built-in 802.11a/g/N WLAN Card / Bluetooth
•Analog Line Out / Digital 5.1 Channel S/PDIF Output Recognized and Approved by the Highest standards of Dolby®
•E-SATA connector
•HDMI connector (1080p supported)
•Built In 2.0 Mega Pixel Camera

950 minus shipping.

anyone have any info about this vendor? like how reputable are they and how well do they handle return policies?
also is there really a big difference with the penryn vs the montevida?

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152086

Newegg model fo $849, same specs as the one you just posted.

 

I don't like NewEgg's return policy, I am willing to spend a bit more from a vendor that will treat me right.