X770 + 8800m = Merry Christmas?

Just wanted to share my joy. Well on a slightly sadder note, I called up DELL to get a return on my M1730. It's a great laptop, and i love its features, but ive been slightly unhappy with general stability (in general) and performance (in games). Not to mention the fact my LCD appears to have pretty washed out colors (SHARP). The 8700's seem like cards with potential, but im not willing to gamble on that being tapped. I remember once i bought the 5800 Ultra (yeah i had more money than sense at the time ) and waited on NVIDIA's promises of 'massive performance improvements' coming from drivers. Thankfully i sold it on for more or less the same money before NVIDIA choose to dump it (since there were so few in the UK it sold well on eBay).

Since 'Alienware' are not going to be in the game until Jan/Feb, im kind of not got the luxury of waiting 'that' long. Besides, the new AW design has not really thrilled me, and its going to no doubt take extra time for the UK site to be updated... then there is the cost. AFAIK the 17" Alienware cannot be configured with a single card. So its 8700 or 8800. And considering how much a single 8800 is costing, I can see the price going up to £3000 quite easily.

Anyway, I jumped on RockDirect. They are promising (well, very hopeful) to have 8800M's in laptops shipping before Christmas. So i just put in an order ....

X770-T7700-8800
Intel Core 2 Duo T7700 2.4GHz
New NVIDIA GeForce 8800M GTX 512MB (DX10)
Hi-res WUXGA+ (1900x1200)
2GB DDR2 800MHz
160GB 7200rpm SATA HDD
1Gb Turbo Memory
Windows Vista Home Premium

...and all the usual stuffs (bluetooth/wi-fi), even has a HD-DVD drive which will be really nice. Get me some HD-DVD movies now ^_^

Kinda on the pricy side though, but then thats expected. If you compare it with the M1730 it might not look so hot. the M1730, with that AGEIA PPU and RAID0 (320GB) HDD and SLI cost me £1780 (with a £40 XPS backpack), the new Rock is costing £2068. Yes it hurts. Ok so no 8800M SLI, but i doubt that id get that for £2000 from Alienware anyway (or anywhere else).

Anyway, waiting time is 3-4 Weeks (with all hope) so in time for Christmas, im hoping. If/when it arrives i will be sure to post some info on here, benchmarks and impressions and so forth.



EDIT: Take a look at this. Shows the 8800 in action vs 8600 (Crysis).

http://www.unwiredshow.tv/2007/11/19/22-nvidia-notebook-graphics

 

Ouch, that does look like it would hurt. I hope it arrives before Christmas so we can find out more about it!
Thanks for being the guinea pig!

No really, thanks.

 

I dunno, I'd be more inclined to go with cheaper BF laptop deal or Dell + dump money into nice desktop.

I really don't see the point of paying such a premium for the 8800M GT. Isn't the whole point of a laptop mobility? I'm assuming since the Asus G1 with a 8600 chews battery like a mofo, that this thing wih a 8800 isn't going to last you more than an hour or two moving around.

You can build a pretty nice setup for around $1k right now with a 8800GT desktop, can't you? I would so do that + Sager NP2090 my parents paid for if I had the money and be perfectly happy.

I mean, what kind of gaming can you possibly do on a laptop without being hooked up to an AC line and an external mouse and not burning your lap and not having it rev like a vacuum? Perhaps I'm just not "hardcore" enough, but I get enough of a fix at home and even my mom's integrated E1505 + Madden was enough for me on the train home.

I dunno, just my thoughts.

 

anyone else notice the mistake?
rock dont do an x770 with the 8600 its an 8700gt thats running THAT BAD!

 

Well its a space thing. I need something with a smaller footprint. I don't hve the space to have a full size PC/monitor ect.

Also its nice to be able to have something you can just pop in a case and take with you whenever. Something that just needs one power-outlet. It seems that DTR are gaining popularity, so i guess im not alone.

As for battery life and heat, well im told the 8800 actually has longer battery life than the 8700 or 7950. With that im going to then assume it consumes less power and so produces less heat. Also since the ROCK has a single card, and not two, it should run a lot cooler than the M1730 at full load.

All in all, it depends on your circumstances and what you want. Most of the time my notebook will be on my desk id imagine, but its nice not being tied to that. Even if its just moving to a different room, or laying in bed surfing the net/playing a game, not being tied to a desk is great.

Yeah, I did wonder.

 

have to agree with you there rob
gaming round at a friends is so much easier with a notebook
and the wife loves the fact that half the house isnt quite as crammed with technology as before.

 

The Rock Xtreme 7700 is a re-branded Clevo M570RU (aka. Sager 5791).

... Clevo and its vendors have already given official word that they will have the new 8800M GTX modules (in MXM-IV) for their new gaming notebooks.

More info to come on Dec 6th about final pricing of the 8800M GTX and the approx shipping date (which should be later in Dec).

Alienware already launched their new notebooks (M17x and M15x) yesterday to coincide with Nvidia's launch of the desktop 8800 GT and mobile 8800M GTS/GTX.... but Alienware will not beginning shipping until early Q1 2008... because they need to get together their stock, while Clevo only needs to get teh modules from Nvidia because they have already established their two gaming models (D900C and M570RU) in the market already.

 

Yeah i was aware. But i dont mind... as long as the build quality is decent ect.

 

The 8800GTX is probably available at Q1. So I advice you to buy it along with the refresh of Santa Rosa (T9xxx). And with 4 GB of RAM and 200 GB 7200 rpm 16 mb cache hard drives.

 

Uhhh , your definitely going to be able to find 8800M GTX SLi for under the equivilent of $4000US...Rock is just a very expensive company.

Lets just admit your paying a premium because you want the technology early and fast : don't say "oh well i won't find it cheaper" ... cause if you waited a month or two you'd save ~$1000 (just my two cents * 50 000)

 

They are expensive. But not that expensive. Actually i read a recent review on a website that called them "Budget Gaming Notebooks". Anyhow if you are saying im going to be able to get an Alienware Notebook with 8800 GTX in SLI for £2000 or lower, then im astonished.

I doubt Rock's prices are going to drop after Christmas, they are actually giving away a free WUXGA upgrade for people pre-ordering with 8800's so that says to me the price will get a bit higher after they start shipping normally.

But this is what its about, i need a laptop ASAP. Alienware are saying Q1 2008. So my options are the M1730, or the A51-M9750. If you think the Rock notebook is expensive go price up an Alienware M9750 in the UK. That's ignoring the fact that the 8800M in the Rock will flatten both in any games, especially Crysis. Which is important to myself. So Rock are my only option for a good deal on a laptop that will last me a few years, this side of Christmas.

 

I dunno. I saw that the 8800M GTX is having problems with Crysis also. If there's no SLI with the 8800M GTX, I really doubt it would make much of a difference over the 7950GTX . Sadly so.

 

It will make a difference for sure, but even my 8800GTX desktop overclocked struggles with Crysis sometimes. But playing it on High is no problem at all in DX10. Though me with my kickass desktop plays it with Shaders Very High, most Very High except Post Processing and it runs great

 

m15x (base price) (when the fake config. testing url came up) plus 8800gtx (400 or 500 $ I forgot) and usual stuff (2.2ghz, 160hdd...2gb...)

around $2300.... definitaly find cheaper + more portable...

But not out till January and idk how friggin thick (seems like 1.5 inches about on pics) and you neverknow if they will change prices

 

Nvidia says by its benchies that the 8800gtx is twice as powerful as 7950gtx sli .... =) So quad power baby!

 

Nvidia says by its benchies that the 8800gtx is twice as powerful as 7950gtx sli .... =) So quad power baby!

And of course there will be SLI

 

Nvidia says that a single 8800 beats a pair of 7950 by a slim margin, not by double. SLI 8800GTX is where your double comes in.

 

Still think:

SINGLE beats DOUBLE... theres got to be some sense of.... errrrr single is better =)

And I could have sworn 7950gtx had around 5700 points and 8800gtx had 11000 hmmmm

 

This turned up today...

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=190462

 

I find stupid to buy a notebook for crysis...when you'll gain good framerates for the title spending over 1800$ far cry 2 will force you to change laptop...
Desktop video cards lose price after one week and notebook cards are even worse, i think a notebook must be a all rounded (at this time 8600gt)...and power?what is the sense of playing wherever you are every time on power ac???this is a transportable not a notebook...
there's something i miss...
Get a desktop or a console you'll enjoy more and you'll don't spend 2000$ every 3 months ...

 

It's not as simple as just taking the exchange rate at face value. £2000 does not equate to $4000 of equipment (unfortunately). I think it would be more like $3000, if that. If I had more time I'd bring up a couple of examples.