7811fx Impressions

So, I picked up new 7811 this Sunday, since it went on sale at bb. I was reading bunch of threads about how it freezes up, heats up, locks up etc. Of cox, I was pretty skeptical about purchasing it. I was looking at sagers 9262, however, the cost of the build made me realize that I cannot afford it. (I am student first, and gamer second)
Anyway, right out of the box, I installed Crysis, Crysis Warhead, UT3, Counter Strike Source. CS and UT3 I run on the highest possible resolution and settings. It runs flawlessly. I dont know how many frames I am getting (btw, how can I see FPS during the games????), but I am very pleased with the results.

To my surprise, I tried to run crysis on 1600X1050 (or something like that, it was 1600 to something) and all high settings. I am averaging about 19-20FPS, and it can drop to 12 when there are multiple explosions or bunch of aliens shooting at me. I have to say, 20FPS is very playable framerate. If I forget about FPS and benchmarking and concentrate on the game, the game is very playable and enjoyable at all high 1600x1050.

Now, as far as heating, freezes, lockups. Last night I have played Crysis for about 4-5 hours straight. While I felt some hot air coming out of the vent, the game ran flawlessly, with no problem. In the last couple days, I had played Crysis, UT3, CS:S anywhere between 1-5 hours straight without any issues.

Overall, I have to say, I love this machine, and I love the resolution of the monitor. It seems too small at BB, but once it at home, it is beautiful (doesn't seems small at all. seems just right).

Machine performs like I described right out of the box. I DID NOT update video drivers. The question is: if I am happy with the way it performs in the games, should I even bother updating it? or just keep the way it is?

 

If it isn't broke, don't fix it.

 

As long as you have a cooler or at the very least just prop the laptop up a bit in the back to allow some extra airflow, and there are no problems... I say you're going to enjoy your new laptop

 

Are you sure your a student first?! I picked up mine on this weeks sale as well. I am really enjoying it so far as well. It is taking some major adjustment to get used to the size but I am getting there. I don't game a lot but am downloading Bioshock now(and its been out how long now, yeah I am just now getting to it). Darn job and kids. In all seriousness other than a little bleed through it hasn't given me any troubles so far. The only thing it lacked that I wanted was bluetooth so I ordered a mini dongle off of ebay for $10 to take care of that. Good to see your enjoying it so far.

 

I personally would update at minimum the nvidia video drivers. Not because anything is "broken" but because they can often sometimes yield very real performance increases.

 

I would update video drivers as they come ONLY from Gateway. Sure, others may disagree as you can get some pretty sweet results with other drivers. E-wrecked tinkered with his 7811, ask him for tips. I recommend 2 pieces of must have software:

nvidia system tools 6.02
evga precision for their on screen display server. you have to make an account first. this programs is better than fraps for displaying frame rates, it also lets you customize the colors, etc. when the numbers appear and its lighter and show decimal points, ex. 25.4. just google both. nvidia 6.02 can be found at laptopvideo2go

 

if u got it this past sunday, then ur getting the 3rd batch already,
the drivers probably are the newest--9/15 updates.

 

I got mine Monday and they weren't. it just depends on how much inventory your local store goes through and when in the supply chain the updates have been installed. Who knows how long these things sit in a warehouse before going out. The install from laptop2go is dead simple and works very well.