Top performing gaming laptop?

I'm in the fortunate position where I'm looking for a top performing mobile gaming rig and budget really isn't a concern.

I've reviewed the Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Maingear, OriginPC, and Sager machines. Ultimately I will likely buy some combo of:

Intel i7 990x
8GB+ of at least 1333mhz RAM
2x GTX580 SLI
256GB SSD

Does any of those rig builders stand out in terms of service and quality? This is a capital purchase and Ill want to make this last as long as possible.

Thanks in advance!!

 

That is quite a lot to put in a laptop; are you sure you wouldn't be better off with a desktop instead? The only reason to get a laptop like that is if you want to game in multiple locations easily, because obviously you will not get any usable battery life out of that. There are some desktop cases that are designed for small size and light weight and can fit all of the components you want inside. They are often equipped with carrying handles for easier transport.

If you are set on a laptop for gaming you don't need the i7 990x; if I were you I would get the fastest sandy bridge laptop CPU instead; I would bet that an i7 2860QM or something like that would provide all of the performance you need for gaming while shaving hundreds of dollars off the price.

A laptop like the one you listed will quite literally be a desktop with poor cooling and an integrated screen and keyboard and a backup battery for emergencies. I doubt you would even be able to web browse on battery for more than 30 minutes with those components.

 

Honestly the Alienware M18x is the most powerful and best bang for your buck. You can get an extreme OC'd CPU 4.0ghz, 580m GTX SLI, 2x SSD's, up to 1833mhz ram, and it uses optimus so you can still get 2-3 hours of battery life while not gaming.

This won't come cheap though. Dell is also pretty good on their warranty as well.

 

Clevo X7200, the end.

Sager NP7280-S1 / Clevo X7200 Ultimate Sager Notebook

The answers you seek, lie within. Other resellers are out there for this monster too. Pick your favorite. This is just to give you an idea. Careful though, if you really want to get a machine like this, are you better off getting a desktop with 3-way SLI GTX580m's? Do you need it now? If you wait until march-April there will be newer parts too. For that price I might just hurry up and wait a bit and buy a next-gen mid/full tower desktop.

 

OP you really need to ask yourself if you NEED the ability to game in multiple locations (while plugged in, of course). What you are seeking is a $4800 laptop that CANNOT be upgraded in a few years (since it is a laptop) and will be matched in performance by a desktop that costs half as much. Is the ability to game in multiple locations worth THAT much to you? If there are two places you will be going back and forth between you could quite literally buy TWO gaming desktops that would essentially have the same performance.

Or, you could buy a gaming desktop with the same performance along with a lesser performing gaming laptop for about $1500 that will still play all current games well and save over a thousand dollars.

Basically, dumping this much cash into a laptop is a horrible idea. With a desktop, you can easily upgrade video cards. You really can't do this with a laptop, even with MXM cards. There simply aren't places that sell these cards, and often new cards simply won't be compatible. You also would need a different heatsink for a new card.

In a desktop you can easily replace the motherboard and CPU as well should you want to upgrade to a newer processor. You can also sell these for quite a significant portion of what it would cost to buy a new motherboard. With a laptop, you can't upgrade a motherboard, and you definitely wouldn't find anyone to buy a used one if you could. Since you can't upgrade the motherboard you will not be able to upgrade the CPU in a few years when better performing ones come out.

Simply put a $4500+ laptop is a horrible investment and not future proof AT ALL. Sure, you will be able to play games on high for 2 years or so, but after that you will be left with something that is obsolete an unupgradeable with no way to get any money out of it short of completely selling it, and you usually can't get much money for used laptops.

 

Dude get malibal sager is overpriced and malibal is cheaper and better bang for the buck I mean i got a laptop from malibal and am playing around with it right now and it is simply amazing. Plus on top of that the graphics card can always be upgraded at a later time. Also just to let you know malibal is also is a clevo platform like sager.

 

If the OP is as filthy rich as he suggests in his post D), I´d go with the Alienware. I´d feel less concerned in putting all that moola in one machine with the Dell warranty behind it.

 

As I said before you really can't upgrade laptop video cards, even MXM ones. The MXM cards aren't always compatible, and you need a heatsink that both fits in your laptop and works and your fan configuration, AND is the proper heatsink for a new card. Additionally it is really hard to find anywhere selling MXM cards. People should NOT consider mxm cards in a laptop to be synonymous with upgradeability.

 

I've heard really bad things about dells customer service and i think alienware is overpriced by a whole lot

 

This isn't "Desktop Review" so when people come here and ask questions about laptops I don't understand why people continue to suggest desktops. There's reason the OP wants a laptop, so recommend him a laptop instead of your opinion.

The problem with the x7200 is that it uses an outdated CPU chipset which draws way more power for similar, or lower, performance than an M18x. This also means that while not gaming it's still going to have about 15 minutes of battery life compared with a few hours in the M18x. I know this because I used to have a Sager 9262.

Sager/Clevo will be #2 until they produce a sandy bridge DTR or wait until the Ivy bridge comes out.

Alienware isn't overpriced anymore, as you won't find similar specs anywhere for much cheaper. Also customer service is hit or miss just like it is anywhere else, but since it is such a big company individuals will eventually get a working machine even if they have to go through a few lemons. I was able to pick-up the beast in my sig for about $1700 a couple months ago, and it runs like a champ.

 

Thanks for the feedback all, the info about 990x vs 2960xm is what I was probably looking for.

For me, mobile gaming means taking a machine that I can power at different locations. The M18x looks like a fantastic choice at this point.

I have a great desktop... but I'll be spending a lot of time in at least two other locations plus on the road over the next 30 months. I'm in a (very fortunate) position where I can put some money into a great rig that will let me game from wherever. I will likely donate the gear to family or someone in need as I don't need to look at this as an asset to resell.

 

I would agree that a high-end mobile Sandy Bridge i7 quad is unlikely to ever be a bottleneck in gaming even with dual GTX 580M's, so unless you truly need the processing power (i.e. CPU-intensive non-gaming usage), you're probably better off budget- and battery-wise with the 2860QM suggested above. You could even go with the 2960XM in the Alienware MX18 for more power, though $550 is a big chunk of change for the upgrade.

If a thread that came up about a week and a half ago isn't incorrect, the 580M's are also cheaper with Alienware than Clevo-based notebooks, so you might actually save some money going dual 580M's with Alienware versus Clevo.

In other words, if you're ever going to use this computer on battery, the MX18 has a huge advantage. If, on the other hand, you really do need as much processing power as possible, the Clevo-based options will probably be your best bet. Either one of these will be a beast of a gaming laptop, though, just make sure to save some room in your budget for the forklift you're going to need to carry it around.

 

In that case you would definitely be better off with the newer Sandy bridge CPU. You probably don't need the power of an extreme edition mobile i7, since most games aren't very hard on the CPU these days relative to video cards. I would suggest going with the 2860Qm instead, since it will save you around $500 over the 2960xm (because the extreme edition CPUs are always exorbitantly priced) and you will have the same performance in most every game out on the market. It is more likely that your GPUs will be the bottleneck before the CPU especially if you are gaming at 1080P.

Looking at the intel site it seems like the extreme edition CPU is $500 more than the 2860Qm for a 200 mhz increase in base clock speed and a 100 mhz increase in max turbo clock speed. Correct me if I am wrong, but this does not sound like a very significant difference, especially if you are going to be mainly using this for gaming. You will probably not get any benefit from paying for the more expensive CPU, and you can use that money on something else like a second (or third) hard drive.

I take offense to this.

There is no harm in presenting someone with ALL of their options, especially before they are going to make such a significant purchase. I am actually quite surprised that you are chastising me for trying to make sure the OP, a first time poster, knows ALL of the options that are on the table.

Not everyone who thinks they need a laptop actually DOES. The way you are acting is very similar to the way a moderator would act on a forum for a specific brand to a post by a member suggesting a rival brand. Desktops are not "the enemy" and there is NO DOWNSIDE to suggesting the OP explore that avenue as well. The only possible negative side effect of doing this is that the OP may feel offended (although this OP does not), but I would GLADLY risk offending a few people when on the other hand I could be potentially saving them thousands of dollars by letting them know how impractical a high end gaming laptop is for many people.

Of course if the OP had decided on getting a desktop, this discussion would cease here and recommence at DesktopReview or somewhere else. However, I see nothing in the forum reviews which prohibit me from suggesting that the OP consider a desktop as well. I have no way of knowing how knowledgeable an OP with zero posts is about the current state of computer hardware and pricing, so I want him/her to be as best prepared as they can to make an EDUCATED decision. Being ignorant, like you suggest, helps no one.

If you want to be close minded, unhelpful to newcomers, and ignore viable options that is fine, but please don't play back seat moderator and tell me that what I post is not welcome here. It IS NOT appreciated. Laptops have their place and desktops have their place; I am just trying to make sure newcomers know what their options are. There is no need to be a "laptop fanboy" about it.

 

Cool story bro.

If I came here asking about laptops and someone told me to get a desktop, and that desktop replacements were a waste of money, I would feel insulted. So it goes both ways.

Also I'm not a laptop fanboy, but this happens to be a laptop forum, for discussion and Q/A about laptops.

 

@Mjolner - Your post was actually pretty helpful, I would say - you made some direct suggestions regarding the OP's needs and then suggested that he might consider getting a desktop. I think the big problem was that some of the later posts simply said, "yeah, don't get a powerful laptop - that's stupid." You suggested a desktop as a possible alternative to an expensive laptop while others, possibly with the best intentions, discounted the idea of a cutting-edge gaming laptop entirely. In other words, I don't think GamingACU's rant was really directed at you, so it's probably best to just let it go.

 

Well thats interesting, because if I came here asking a question about spending $5000 on a laptop and I didn't know that it would NOT BE UPGRADABLE and NO ONE TOLD ME THIS I would be quite annoyed.

I am sorry if the TRUTH insults you, but that is the way the world is sometimes. Grow up and deal with it. Desktop replacement laptops are a waste of money if you do not NEED the mobility that they offer (and by mobility I mean portability, not the ability to use them for any extended period of time on battery). They CANNOT be upgraded, they have HORRIBLE heat management compared with desktops, and they cost a LOT more. This is the truth.
It is a trade off; you gain all of these downsides but you do get something that you can move from place to place and game in multiple locations. I was making sure the OP KNEW of this tradeoff. I asked him if he planned on gaming in multiple locations and he said yes; now I have not questioned his decision.
Answer me this:

How can MORE knowledge be a BAD thing?

If you can honestly tell me that knowing more about what you are about to purchase is bad, then you need to get out of these forums because you are not even remotely qualified to be giving people advice.

That is all I have to say about this; if I deeply offended the OP I am very sorry and he can contact me about it, but I doubt that this was the case. I am sure he has more questions that we can help him on. That is, unless they criticize laptops, then of course they aren't appropriate for a laptop forum! We can't have two sides of a discussion now can we...

 

Malibal IS a Sager. It is built and shipped by Sager. They are all built off the Clevo chassis.

In any case I agree with Mjolner. Basically carefully assess your needs. MXM cards are upgradable, but they are very expensive (like $600-800 or more) to get the latest, and there's no guarantee the next laptop release will follow the same MXM form factor.

 

If money was no object, I'd get an Alienware m18x.

 

For those specs, AW M18x as well. Clevo maybe next year if they stop making laptops as loud as an old refrigerator and backlit keyboards and don't look like laptops that were made 20 years ago.

 

Just because they have the same clevo platform doesn't mean they are the same company. I've read reviews about sager and that they have awful customer service and then i read reviews saying that malibal has some of the best customer service.....

 

dumb topic.

be smart and do what i do.

buy the np8150 with the 6990m.

my Iq is 187 and surely im not wrong

 

This is certainly not helpful.

Some people like to do a little bit of research because they're actually spending their hard earned money.

Anyway, OP, you can discard Falcon NW, Origin, and Maingear right off the bat, they're trying to sell overpriced Clevos to people that don't know any better. Look at Malibal, XoticPC, and other Sager/Clevo resellers. You'll get much more bang for your buck.

 

I'm with the Sager guys. As an old school AW user, they've lost my business over the year because of their CS. It's absolutely terrible after the first year where as our resellers on NBR are the standard. Not only do they meet it but often times exceed it. If you don't care about CS and rather have a backlit keyboard. Be my guest, spend that hard earned money on Dell. If you want the best hardware for your buck, go Sager.

 

I have had 2 alienware laptops in the passed and i can say that since dell bought them there CS has been totaly amazing. They go above what needs to be done, while yes i wish that thing on my laptops would not go wrong, they have be quick to fix them when for example when I was having problems with my graphics card they send an engineer around the next day to put a new one in best CS i have ever had from any company.

So CS can be very hit and miss some times it can be just one bad service rep that make you have a bad experiance

 

IQTest.com doesn't count, dude.

 

Sager builds Malibal. Goes down the same production line as Sager laptops, they just smack a Malibal label on it, seriously. Ask over in the Sager forum, heck even ask Malibal. They will tell you it's the same laptop. It all comes down to CS. Malibal has reputable CS, as do all the Sager resellers (XoticPC, LPC-Digital, PowerNotebooks, etc) all have A+ CS ratings at resellerratings and BBB.

Sager itself has horrible CS, which is why you don't buy from Sager directly. Let the resellers do the work for you.

Reseller Ratings
XoticPC 9.7 http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Xotic_PC
LPC Digital 10.0 http://www.resellerratings.com/store/LPC_Digital_Inc
PowerNotebooks 9.86 http://www.resellerratings.com/store/PowerNotebooks
Malibal 9.51 http://www.resellerratings.com/store/MALIBAL

 

Not true. I'm sorry that you have a skewed view on DTRs. MXM slots are usually good for 3-4 generations of cards. There has been no indication that a new MXM type is coming out in the near future.

Against, misinformation. The M18x can get hours of battery life while not gaming, and a lot of the newer DTRs have great heat management. Clevo makes some of the coolest (as far as temp is concerned) laptops around, and the new alienwares don't get too hot either (unless you're OCing multiple 6990m's).

I never said more knowledge was a bad thing. If you had simply said something along the lines of "Desktops are more powerful and cheaper so if you don't need the mobility than go that route", instead of typing of multiple paragraphs of why you think DTRs suck and provided wrong information, then I wouldn't have had a problem.

 

DTR's have their place for sure, and to be honest, I think the Alienware M17x an M18x are good for battery life. Clevo's don't have switchable graphics so you're looking at 90 minutes max with significant battery saving measures. But if battery life really isn't a concern, my vote would be for Sager / Clevo.

All depends on one's needs. But it is good to consider a desktop + laptop because the cost will be less, and can still have a gaming capable laptop.

 

You're surprised? gee I wonder what else you would take offense to.

Stop being a hypocrit.

MXM laptops are upgradeable otherwise they wouldn't be MXM. This is a great option for people willing to get their hands dirty which obviously they are if they want to upgrade.

Clevos are worse for upgrading than Alienwares. Clevos no longer provide good BIOS support because they don't want users to upgrade. Clevo is not an amazing laptop manufacturer. However, one companies decisions and designs do not mean a as much as you seem to think about the entire industry.

Right now you could save a crap ton of money by buying a cheap m17 r2 and sticking your own CF 6990m in it.

I'm glad you think your opinions are the same thing as truth, it will help you a lot if you want to be a dictator of a 3rd world country.

 

OP: even though your budget is infinite, lets pretend it's actually finite. Figure out your budget.

Lets say you have a $5000 budget, just for kicks. I would recommend spending $2500 of it on a gaming laptop. That leaves you with $2500. In 18-24 months, you'll sell your laptop for $1500. You now have $4000 + interest on 2500. Repeat several times.

I believe you'll get a lot more value out of your money and stay current for a long time using this method. The issue is that spending over $2500 starts to get into pretty heavy diminishing returns. At the same time, computer technology progresses very quickly. 18 months from now computers will be much faster.

That my 2 cents. Good luck.

 

Oh really? Where can you buy a new MXM card? It is a LOT harder than upgrading a desktop video card for sure.

The M18x may have an hour or more of non gaming battery life, but that has a MOBILE i7. The CPU the OP originall wanted was a SIX CORE DESKTOP i7 CPU, which will obviously consume a LOT more power than a mobile cpu. Pair that with 2 of the highest end mobile video cards and multiple hard drives and you have a recipe for very short battery life unless you get a GIANT battery.

niffcreature how exactly am I a hypocrite? I take offense to being yelled at for presenting both sides of the issue; this is completely different than the OP being offended. There was nothing hypocritical about what I said.

As far as MXM upgrades go I still stand by what I said in terms of the heatsink; if you manage to get a newer card in there there is no guarantee that your cooling system will be able to dissipate the heat properly (if it has a higher TDP) and there is also the possibility that the heatsink itself will not be optimal for a different core/memory layout. I was simply letting the OP know that MXM card upgrades should not be viewed as something that will definitely work.


I think that spending $2500 on a laptop now and saving the other $2500 for a few years down the road is a better idea, since that $2500 laptop in 2 or 3 years will likely outperform this single $5000 laptop in the 3 years. Also a $2500 laptop will probably be able to play pretty much any game out there on high settings at 1080P for at least a year or two.

 

Probably the best idea. You can still get a killer system for $2500, especially if you look for deals.

 

Except you're wrong. The whole purpose of creating a standard is so that the user CAN upgrade. Your opinion is your opinion, leave it at that.

 

I will repeat my question: Where can you actually BUY MXM cards? I googled "buy MXM gtx 580m" as well as "buy MXM 6990m" and I found ZERO places selling them. The only place I found selling ANY MXM cards at all was this place:
MXM 3.0 Cards Store
And they only have midrange cards.

Its pretty hard to upgrade something if you CAN'T BUY IT, wouldn't you say? I stand by my original assertion until you can prove otherwise that upgrading an MXM card is a straightforward affair and will work consistently. If you are going to tell me I am wrong you need to back it up with facts.

 

Here is a company that sells a lot of different MXM cards (3 pages worth!):
Laptop Video Cards - R&J Technology, Clevo Barebone Notebook kits, Laptop and desktop system builder

Also, you can get them on ebay, or, as I did, buy one in the NBR Marketplace ;-)

 

See the post above me. You can also buy them from resellers, oh look - facts. Get off my lawn

 

you guys can also lookup member Table21...sells a lot of cards here

For example:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/com...ards-alienware-m18x-pulls-tons-new-stuff.html

Also, all resellers like Eurocom will sell you cards

PS...i've upgraded just about everything on my laptop except the LCD and vid card. The vid card will be next when the 7900's hit the shelves

 

I think I dig the $2500 approach, that's a great way of looking at it.

Knowing the upgradaeability (not a real word) factor is huge too. I have built eight or so desktops over time for myself and various friends but never even purchased my own laptop, much less inquired about how easy it is to buy or install new cards.

Thanks for all of the viewpoints on this (nerdfightcomedy included ). Gives a lot of insight and perspective.

Edit: Also thanks on the tips on Clevo resellers.

 

MXM isn't quite as standardized as a PCI-Express slot. Some manufacturers, like Asus, will modify the slot and card so it's unique to their system. But if they manufacture a newer tech card for a later model laptop, it typically is compatible, but you're stuck with buying the Asus specific card.

 

I was Gonna post what oan001 was gunna post Are these facts enough for you Mjolner?

 

Not when you consider this:

 

You don't have to worry about that anymore. Asus has gone back to soldering their cards on the motherboard. Most gaming systems with MXM are currently on 3.0b standard unless otherwise specifically specified. A true MXM will be 3.0b or 3.0a standard. Even though ASUS on the G73 says their is MXM, they aren't true MXM and can't be considered as so.

 

Those cards are extremely expensive and only work for specific laptops. I am standing by my original assessment that MXM upgrades are not practical.

I will acknowledge that you can buy these cards, but assuming you CAN find the proper card for your laptop in the future you will still be spending a LOT of money for it.

Aren't their potential issues with power as well?

 

Which proves the point. Doesn't/didn't Toshiba use non-standard MXM cards as well? Again, it's all beside the point because to purchase an upgrade is extremely costly with no guarantee it will even work. I'm not talking about a physical incompatibility, there are sometimes BIOS limitations on both the notebook and video card that must be addressed.

 

Your best bet for MXM compatibility is going with a Clevo based system. It seems to be one of the more large sales systems with MXM support. Although with the popularity of Alienware that is also a potential option.

 

After meticulous research and pricing, I decided on a Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM system through XoticPC:

i7 2960xm
GTX 580m
16GB 1866 RAM
250GB SSD

Should be plenty pleased with this build. Doesn't have the 580 SLI that Alienware has but this setup ran me $1500 less than the M18x.

Edit: This has been a hugely educational process, thank you everyone for helping me out.

 

this should do just fine

With the i7 2960xm, XTU will be your friend (Intel Extreme Tuning Utility). you'll get 4+ghz easily

 

The cards are expensive but that is the cost of running gaming laptops. And power isn't an issue because these come with beefed up powersupplies and beefed up cooling solutions. The alienware m18x with dual vid cards comes standard with a 330w unit, my laptop came standard with a 240w unit

And ya, spending double on a laptop doesn't make financial sense when you can go out and build a desktop for less money, but people looking at Alienware and Sager have a specific need and generally have $2K+ budgets. You need that or forget it. For example, i'm away on business a few days a week. So while i'm sitting in the hotel, i want the ability to game. Plus i dont' like compromises. I'm not going to enjoy the game if i have to run it at 640x480

But i'll quote from a famous movie:
"You want to play? You've gots to pay"

 

Sweet, good to know. Figured it was more palatable power setup for unplugged work, too. I considered the i7 990x and dual SLI setups available until I found out there was about 40min of battery life.

 

40min? lol...try 15mins