Clevo D900F - Core i7 with Nvidia G280 GPU - the new king

very competitive for high-end systems.

I guess you havent seen this post of mine.

here are my current "bang for the buck" high-end gaming notebook picks....
(with 256-bit memory interface videocards)

For 17"
*($1500 budget and below)*
- Sager NP5793 (Clevo M570RU) .... its hot right now since Sager is making it fully loaded with 9800M GTS and even Blu-Ray drive to liquidate its stock so that they can focus on the new (but slightly more expensive) NP5797.... Clevo M570TU/ETU.
- Gateway P FX with 9800M GTS is another good choice but does not have better build quality and cooling than the Clevo M570RU.
- MSI GT725 .... fully loaded 17" with ATI HD 4850
*($1600 to $2000)*
- Clevo M570ETU (aka. Sager NP5797) .... new model with Montevina, quad-core and choice of 9800M GTS/GT/GTX or Quadro 2700M
- Arima W840 DI (aka. OCZ Whitebook, Alîenware m17, etc...) .... new 17" dual ATI 3870, quad-core and dual HDD
*($2000+ budget)*
- Toshîba X305 .... 17" with SLI 9800M GTS .... processor could be better
- Clevo D901C (aka. Sager NP9262) .... remains to be king of notebooks... 17" with single/dual 9800M GTS/GT/GTX or Quadro 2700M/3700M, uses desktop quad-core CPUs, three internal HDD, and the best notebook cooling design to date.


For 15"
*(sub-$1400 budget)*
- ASUS G50VT .... 15.6" with 9800M GS (budget high-end card)
- Toshîba F55 .... 15.4" with 9700M GTS (still considered high end on the bottom rung of the ladder of high-end cards)
..... and the rest of the mid-range notebooks with Nvidia 9600M/9650M, ATI 3600/3650, etc..
*($1400+ budget)*
- Clevo M860TU (aka. Sager NP8660) .... new 15.4" with Montevina platform ... quad-core support... and 9800M GTS/GT or Quadro 2700M

Alîenware (except for M17 which is re-branded Arima) and .Dell does not make the list (mainly for the high-end systems), they are quite outdated and configurations are usually overpriced.

This is a bang for the buck list... if you want to pay for aesthetics and lights, then look elsewhere.

* please read the Clevo Guide for further information about Clevo and their international vendors.

 

Dear Gophn,

You are a favorite person of mine.

Signed,

Bungalo

 

bungalo bill, and others. Do you think those solder mods to the motherboard were just for the fun of it. Grow up and read. I had to revive my motherboard multiple times by replacing chips. I went through 6 motherboards on my system, tell me again how Clevo designs stuff well, they dont.
Painting my system and doing the light mods didnt do any damage to the system. All of the problems were related to poorly designed motherboards. I would think I know, I own the system. I am no noob at soldering and fixing motherboards, so dont go assuming me painting my system broke it.

I can never recommend Clevo again for their products,

K-TRON

 

Ok guys, K-Tron has my sympathy.

... I totally feel and have felt his pain during his repairs and chats about it.

Not all notebooks are immune from problems... all notebooks have a margin of error for faulty parts, design, build, etc....

And somehow K-Tron seemed to have beaten the odds of "this margin" multiple times.... kind of amazing if you think about it.

But if I was in his shoes, I would think the same as well.

Fortunately, my D900K has not had any major issues over the last 3 years that I have used it.... its still looks un-branded and stock with little its original plastic film still intact on the LCD casing.

 

Only 2 RAM slots? Isn't the i7 meant to work best with 3 RAM modules: triple channel?

 

There are 52 RAM slots, 18 cpu sockets, and three bags of candy come free with every model.

 

thats what I posted in the other thread.

these may be detailed specs, but they might not be finalized.

so Clevo can get a 3rd slot in there for the world's first tri-channeling notebook as well...

... to go with the first Core i7 and Nvidia G280 notebook of course.

 

sorry, but that award goes tot he Asus W90 which is already out. as supports up to 12GB ram(or 16)

 

What kind of candy?

 

Yes.

Outside of a putting a GTX 295 in a notebook, crossfire 4870's will still be faster than this GPU.

 

I will only buy this if it is going to be 3500 dollars or less.

I can build a sli 9800m gtx 9262 for like 3120.

So i hope it stays in that range.

Ok...how will dual 4870's be stronger than one Desktop 280. Are they really gonna be that strong.

 

I guess I should correct myself.

Have the first tri-channeling notebook.

the X38 only does dual-channel support:
http://www.intel.com/Products/Desktop/Chipsets/X38/X38-overview.htm

there are and have been notebook to have 4 physical ram slots already.

 

OHHHH ok lol i misread what you said..still 3 ram slots is still really sweet.

 

One of every candy known to mankind and aliens from beta 3.

 

guess no one sleeps in the NBR forum.

 

sleep?

Pssshhhhhh, I gotta sit here and pretend to do programming assignments still.

 

etetet ok aye

 

220W, WHAT? that's not a laptop is a small desktop
The battery will run out in 10''. You will need to carry a small nuclear power reactor with you all the time.
5.4 Kg (you will need two people to carry it and you won't be able to take it with you on an airplane, at least in europe) and the height is 60mm, that's like 4-5 DVD cases stack.
Impressive characteristics, but come on, guys, get a (mini) desktop instead

 

My HDX is considerable biggest than this, and I've had no trouble bringing it on planes everywhere. Heck, I leave for Thailand tomorrow with it.

As for me, this is a purchase the day it comes out.

 

6 motherboards die out for what I can only assume are similar reasons highly suggests you are the one causing the motherboards to fail. Unless you revise what your doing, you will probably keep killing those motherboards each time you try.

When the first one broke, I assume you tried the same setup with the 2nd, and it died too, and the 3rd died for the same reason. Right then, alarm bells should've gone off telling you your doing something wrong.

 

I have a friend who's NP9262 board died 3 times. He's safety-puss with his computers too, so I does happen. That being said, I'm still giving this one a look after the first round of reviews.

 

Heh I understand the enthusiasm but you're jumping that gun before it's even out of the holster.

 

Well seems like the XPS M1730 will get these GPU´s too. They recently released a new bios for new GPU´s so 280GTX in SLI in a XPS M1730, nice

Ah well the CPU is still inferior so, an I7 in that Clevo is very nice.

 

Wait, what?? Awesome! Where's this crazy BIOS? I haven't poked my head over there in a while, guess I should stop over..........

 

I'm confused. You bought in Thailand, and brought it back. Or you bought it from Thailand, and had it shipped? If you bought it in Thailand, why on earth would you go through customs? Just put it in a bag, and bring it on the plane. They have no reason they believe you bought it there, everyone travels with their laptop.

 

It is very hard to use 1920x1200 for online surfing, most websites can't be zoomed properly, and on 17" it will be very small text in many cases.

Question, what is it: "Extra Accessories - Internal MP3 Player - N/A" (is there any notebook with this option?

 

Im sorry you had a falling out with Clevo, but you were the one who initiated( from what I know of it) the breaking. I messed up my Gateway, and it has been away since october, but I dont hate gateway because of it, it was clearly my fault.

 

there might actually by Clevo vendors in Thailand.

Have you read the Clevo Guide yet?

it has dozen of Clevo vendors worldwide... but due to my language limitations I cannot go find more vendors in different languages.

 

Gophn did a great job in posting venders.
explain to me how strong is the Nvidia G280.

 

here are a couple of good detailed reviews with comparisons:
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU1MSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTU0OSwsLGhlbnRodXNpYXN0

if the mobile version of the Nvidia G280 still performs near the desktop version, then...
- a single GTX 280 should perform as well as (or slightly better than) a ATI 4870x2.

 

Dell has it released, A10 is the version. Now they haven´t announced any new GPU´s and if they would release 9800m GTX SLI for the M1730 that would be a total waste since the performance difference between 8800m GTX 96 SP´s versus 9800 GTX 112 SP´s is neglible.

And it can´t be any ATI GPU´s so I assume it is the new upcoming high end GPU´s that they have prepared the XPS M1730 for. I could be wrong of course just pure speculations, but it sounds most right to me.

So it could probably be GTX 280 GX2 Since basically the 8800m GTX in my XPS M1730 is a GX2, two GPU´s on the same PCB

 

+1 manic penguin !!!

Ktron are you kidding us ? You just kill 6 motherboard with your screwdriver and you don t blame yourself ? Come on don t say that Clevo sucks, its one of the best today...of course i dont put my big screwdriver inside, except to change processor , DD or things can be removed...not mobo !!!

I dont really understand about what you are doing inside !!! But 6 mobo !!! Come on you re a killer !!! Dont blame Clevo, if i would try to learn my D901c to swim in my bathtub, it certainly wont
The unique thing i m curious about, it your octitron, i want to see pictures !

 

They should release a 9800m GTX+ GPU that actually competes with it's desktop counterpart if they can make a 280.

 

I'm truly happy for Clevo for always pushing the boundaries and coming up with newer and newer technology in their notebooks.

But seriously, they're notebooks are just plain ugly. I know there's the thermal budget and all to be considered, but surely there has to be somebody they can hire to make their computers look just a little bit nicer.

I think that's the only downside to Clevo today.

 

looks is highly subjective. i find thinkpads the sexiest laptops ever made. most would disagree.

 

WHAT?! ......i guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder??

 

that actually is true though.

Everyone has their own definition of what beautiful and not... its all culturally, personally, etc. driven.

 

Like i think the Dell XPS m1730 looks ugly. And so does the m1330.But i think the simplicity in the Sager 579x and the 926x look great.

 

bigcityhunter, learn to read. I didnt break the boards. They continually die on me. I had to fix them. Use the search function and you will see. Any solder attempts were to fix the problems, not make more

K-TRON

 

he's right.

in K-Tron's defense.... he was only able to get refurb'ed or pulled (out of systems) motherboards.

I do not think he ever got more than 1 brand new board from a Clevo vendor/distributor.

So the number of the boards he went through does not reflect his skills (which are quite impressive IMO), its the boards that he got a hold that might have had issues before he got them.

 

omg... i think i just crapped my pants lol. its got similar specs as my desktop...

i'm gonna go cry in a corner now.

 

HOLY CRAP O_O.... wow...

it will run like 10 or more laps around my laptop

 

I'm no tech here, but wouldn't you think that there was a problem somewhere else along about the time you lost the 3rd mobo? I doubt all the mobos were faulty, and there must've been something else going on with the laptop if it fried every one that was installed - maybe a power supply/regulation issue?-

 

Doesn´t matter how a laptop looks like to me. What matters is the specs and performance.

 

magnus don't forget to mention, Price/Performance ratio

 

I will never understand the appeal of this notebook. Why would you want to have such a gigantic notebook? If you're looking for that much power, then you can spend LESS money to get a much better desktop.

It sounds great on paper though, I'll admit. It's just so impractical.

 

Mobility, simple as that. Some may go to LAN parties frequently and are willing to sacrifice some performance and their wallet to save their backs and arms. Besides LAN parties, some travel frequently and would like to bring a beast like this to play some Crysis in the hotel room when resting.

Its not for everyone of course, but there are those who will buy this to make it viable and be very happy with their purchase, same with other niche notebooks like the Macbook Air and Asus EEE which many love, many hate and their still around in the market.

 

Lots of reasons but my main one is portability and less heat, as I'm in a position where I can't have desktop running in my room cuz it would b a steam room

 

You don't understand because you aren't in the position needing such a notebook. I do contract work at different locations and am constantly moving from one apartment/suite to another. These kind of notebooks are perfect for me.

 

No matter how much cheaper a Desktop can be, you cannot easily bring your Desktop, 19 inch screen, keyboard and mouse with you when you spend some time in a different region, country or simply a different room even.

A Laptop gives you freedom, you can use it as a Desktop or take it with you. Many do not like having to stay at a desk to play games or type documents. I am more of a fan of 15'' Laptops because they are more portable though.