Asus G73 vs Lotus P151HM1

Hey guys, looks like i'm getting the bestbuy version of G73 from my Dad for only $700 bucks.

I had been looking at the Lotus P151HM1 from Malibal before the offer, wanted to know if it's worth the difference in price of 600 bucks since it comes with a 2.3ghz i7 and 560m video.

My main concern is the Intel i7-720QM 1.6ghz processor 5870m keeping up with my games. If it can then I have no problems with it at all, just figured I would ask you experts

 

They perform almost identically. You can decide whether that is worth $600. The i720QM is just fine with keeping up on today's games. Spend the $600 on games and a nice headset.

 

Thnx Rschauby!

So some places say it can 8gig of ram, other vendors say 16gig. Can it do 16 or just 8, either way it's enough I was more curious than anything.

 

It has 4 memory slots (1 is hard to get to), so it can take 16gb if needed. Like you said, 8gb should be more than enough.

 

Thnx man, you explained all that was holding me back on the new laptop. I could spoil myself with games or headphones with the left over money

+1 Rep

 

do note however that the malibal is more upgradeable.
afaik the cpu and gpu on a g73 are almost virtually impossible to replace.

700usd is a great deal for a gaming laptop if your on a budget. however i think 1300usd is still a fair price to pay for a newer gen machine with much better upgradeability, customizability, portability, and a better screen.

 

Ya I could come up with the money for the Malibal, take a couple extra months.

The lack of ports and upgradeabity is weighing on my mind, got until the end of the month to make up my mind.

 

The Malibal will perform ~30% better in GPU limited games because the Best Buy version of the G73 has a gimped version of a GPU that was weaker to begin with.

I would still get the Asus though because it's a far better value. Not really worth paying double the price for the extra performance, imo.

edit: oops, thought you were talking about the 460m version.

 

No the best buy g73jh with the 5870 does not have a gimped GPU.

 

If you are on a budget the G73 is a great machine. The malibal you are eyeing sure is more upgradeable but it won't give you that much better performance from stock.

 

The ASUS is definitely a great deal for the price, but I'd suggest going in to BB and taking a look at it, if you haven't done so already. It is quite bulky, and may not be the best thing for you if you plan to use it in school or move it around often.

 

ive had both a 720qm and a 2630m and the 2630m feels almost like double the speed if the 720.
and even it is not rated to do so, ive seen guys upgrade their p151 to a 6970 which should be 150% faster than a 5870 and it may still be able to take the 6990 which is faster still. this could drastically increase the longevity of your machine. id suggest you check the sager forums for this.
also i personally know malibal as a great reseller. i doubt bb or asus can match their kind of service and dedication

 

@travelbug:.........huh?

It goes: 460M ==> 5870M ==> 560M ==> 6970M ==> 485M ==> 6990M/580M.

Each "==>" is equivalent to approximately 10-15% jump in performance.

Mr. Mysterious

 

lol ok i was comparing it more to the 485m since i always supposed the 6970 and 485 were quite evenly matched

 

It's my Dad's so I've gotten to check it out a little. Right now i'm testing it out, but the upgradeability of your malbal is really tempting in the long run. I have until the end of the month to decide.

Anyone know of any games where I can stress test the cpu? I just loaded up starcraft 2 so i'll see how it plays tonight.

 

Good luck finding a game that maxes out the G73's CPU. Civ V and SC2 MP games are the only thing that will come close. And the G73's CPU is upgradable, so you can take that $600 and spend it on a CPU if that is what's holding you back.

 

I had heard upgrading CPU on this machine is an absolute pain?

Also thanks for the honesty MALIBAL #3 !

 

Upgrading the P151HM1 isn't as great as everyone's making it out to be. Not because it's hard to open up and change anything but because it's not very cost efficient. A 6990m sells separate for $600-800 tack on the $100+ you'll have to shell out for the bigger power supply and you've just bought a new laptop.

 

More like around $400.

 

yup more like 400usd and that price could go down i you buy it secondhand (in the future) from the nbr marketplace for example

edit:
you could also try gta IV, isnt that kinda cpu bound?

 

I would just get the G73 form your dad and save up for a better machine to buy in 1-2 years. A $1300 machine in 2 years will beat a $1300 machine today by a mile.

 

Ya I think that is what i'll do, but from friends recommendation I think my next one will be an Malibal made one for sure.

 

No.
Laptop Video Cards :: ATI Radeon HD 6970M 2GB Video Card for Clevo P150HM Laptop - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder
6970m $550 on MXM Upgrade this card is 475 euros or $654
Laptop Video Cards :: nVidia GTX 580M 2GB Mobile Video Card - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder
gtx 580m $800

They don't have a 6990m for sale separate yet but rest assured it will be between the price of the 6970m and 580m. There are none on ebay yet in the US either.

 

actually you can upgrade to the 180w power supply for just $45 from Malibal

 

If you do it at the time of purchase. If you do it after the fact it's over $100

Even if you guys want to nitpick about pricing and use your ideal scenario that's still $440 sunk into an older laptop down the line. It still remains that you would be better suited putting it towards a new one at that point.

 

those are the price of the cards now. down the line they will be cheaper. especially if you get them secondhand. so yes upgradeablitiy makes a difference and can save you much if you know how.

 

In regards to gaming, it is hard to find one that will stress the CPU as much as the GPU would. Games are extremely dependent on the GPU, not the CPU, as the GPU is the bottleneck (In otherwords, your GPU would have to be Uber-fast for a modern game to be bottlenecked by the CPU). Even though theoretical benchmarks like 3dMark and Wprime can be useful in determining how much faster one CPU is than the other, that performance difference rarely translates into gaming performance. To get an idea of how well CPU's and GPU's perform relative to one another, I'd suggest taking a look at the charts at Notebook / Laptop Reviews and News - Notebookcheck.net.

 

Thnx malibal for taking the time to educate me, much appreciated. Looks like I got some reading to do tonight

 

By the time you are upgrading a 560m you are probably going to need something better than a 6990m. And guess how much a high end card will cost when you need it? $600-$800. You're a lot better off spending the extra $245 now than having to go through that later. I wish I was able to.

 

+1 for G73. No reason to spend more. Likelihood of updating CPU and GPU is slim anyhow considering the high cost of the components. Save the money and enjoy the G73 and save up for another machine to buy in a year or so.

 

sure thats if you but it brand new. but like i said if you get it second hand from a reputable source like the nbr marketplace it will cost considerably less.

but like what you said with regards to your setup, imho its better to get the best technology you can buy atm. when bf3 comes out the OP mind find his rig a little wanting, hell have to sell it for maybe half the price he got it and plunk down another 1600 usd to get a better laptop. so if you have the cash now, why not do it all in one sweep.

 

You are kind of delusional thinking people are selling off high end notebook graphics cards left and right for good prices. There's currently 2 6970's on ebay ($500 one is a Dell one), one 580m ($900), 2 485m's ($700 and $800) and 1 470m ($500) and no 6950's.

Only good deals in the marketplace are from this guy http://forum.notebookreview.com/computer-components/598812-fs-6990m-brand-new-free-heatsink.html and you better believe they sell out fast.

 

HD 5870's are selling for > $250 used. Not horrible, but not easy on the wallet either. Plus if you go to spend $300+ in a couple years you're going to want something better than the 580m or 6990m. Even in a couple years the 580m and 6990m will cost > $300.

 

what ht said. LOL you havent been around here long enough to see that you can get some good deals, especially from 2nd hand items. you have to be fast though.
imho its worth getting a 485/6970 stock or as an upgrade. there have been only 2 real leaps in performance in mobile gpus- the 8800gtx and the 485m (and their amd counterparts) which gave an almost 150% or better performance from the cards it replaced. everything in between has been an incremental increase of 8-10% in general. so these models may be relevant for the next few years as the 8800gtx was during its time. but you probably havent been around long enough to know this too LOL

 

I said that in the previous post. 5870 is not an upgrade from a 560 so why would you buy it? I used them as an example because they're the top end card at the moment and the top end cards at whatever moment are going to be similarly priced. And when you want to upgrade you're going to want a top end card if a 560m isn't cutting it anymore.

@travelbug I didn't say there wasn't deals to be had...? I just said they're not coming out left and right like you're saying. In fact, they're extremely rare and difficult to even capitalize because of high demand and limited stock.

Just going to stare at the last part and laugh for a while.

 

I don't quite understand the humor, but whatever.

 

Not in your comment but in his. He makes all these wrong assumptions then makes a backhanded remark like that.

 

i could say the exact same thing about you but it is not my style to argue over the internet, so whatever.

 

Well, those prices are the way they are because they are relatively new GPU's. Judging by the progression of the market with respect to the current prices of past high-end cards, I would suspect that those prices would drastically drop in a couple of years.

So it isn't that bad of a bargain. If one feels like a 560m would be enough for their usage, or if they can't upgrade due to budget constraints, they could always upgrade to a better GPU in the future for a couple hundred dollars and experience a substantial performance improvement (40-50% if one were to upgrade his/her 560m to a 580m or a 6990m). Not too shabby of a proposition, in my opinion.

This is possible in the P150HM, but one would need a 180W PSU to do it in the P151HM1.