7815-U Questions & Concerns

Payed 800$ for laptop + expediated shipping.
My concerns:
- Is the GPU Really that good (9800M GTS)
- Is the CPU Really that bad (C2D 2.0GHZ)
- The heat on the laptop, does it get really hot? I Didnt think so because of the 2 vents and fans.
- Can i overclock the GPU/CPU?

Thanks for reading and helping.
PS; If you don't know the specs click Here

 

1- yes the 9800m GTS is still a good card.
2- The cpu will hold back the 9800m gts http://forum.notebookreview.com/gateway-emachines/505982-x9100-results-7815u.html
3- Heat shouldn't be an issue
4- You can overclock the GPU but overclocking the CPU requires a PIN mod or an Extreme edition CPU.

 

How about the performance on stuff like

WoW/Runescape/CSS/Crysis
Those games & watching 1080p movies on youtube etc.
Can i multitask with ease? What are my downfalls of this laptop?

 

Those games will run fine but they will all benefit from a CPU upgrade except Runescape which should play perfectly.

1080p videos on youtube would be pointless because the laptop doesn't have a 1080p screen.

Multitasking shouldn't be a problem.

Only downfall in my opinion is the weak CPU.

 

Now how bad is the CPU? Please give me a quick rundown of what i can/cant do & how much is an upgrade

 

What do you mean by "BAD"? The cpu isn't bad, it runs cool will do most tasks fine and mostly for gaming it is a pretty good match for the 9800M GTS. Don't get me wrong it is not the fastest CPU out there but will get by quite well.

Whether you would need a CPU upgrade counts on your intended use, so the question is more too what are you planning to use the system for? If you are just a casual user with word apps, music video and gaming etc the CPU will be fine. If you are a user that constantly finds ways to push the hardware over the edge, well yes you will upgrade but you then are a user that will soon find a way to push the new hardware over that edge too............

 

How will it handle CSS, Runescape, WoW on highest settings?

 

Personally I'm not a gamer but I think you will find at the highest resolution and highest settings the Video here is more a crippling factor. If you want to run everything at high res and highest settings you will have to go out and spend some real serious money.

I think you will find at some setting though those are all playable. Just remember the 78xx is a budget gaming system...........

 

Well, as far as i've heard it can handle all 3 at max settings and be above 60 fps. Although i appreciate your help, what is with all the damn dots?

 

The CPU will be fine. All these threads with "XX CPU is bottleneck" are mostly rubbish. For gaming, you'll be more than fine. I have the P-7811FX and its only .26ghz faster CPU-wise and it's fine. Only CPU intensive games (such as GTA IV) will benefit from a much faster CPU. All those games will be handled excellently by the P-7815u.

Don't let synthetic benchmarks fool you. The reason people get such inflated scores is because they have certain tests designed for CPU ONLY, meaning of course, a faster CPU will achieve a higher "overall" score, but in real-life gaming, it'll make a minimal difference.

 

Finally someone with brains and a sense of humanity. Thank you for that, and i'm glad to know it's as good as i expected

 

I haven't played wow so im not sure about that but when i played CSS with a 1.8 ghz CPU it dropped under 60 constantly. Now that it is on the orange box engine and supports multicore it should be better.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/gateway-emachines/504306-t5550-vs-x9000-game-benchmarks.html

 

Right but this is a 2.0 p7350 & a 9800m GTS

so i shouldnt drop below 60 on any of the 3 im thinking

 

I have a very hard time believing those benchmark increases. But at the same time, one can argue that the T5550 was a mid range CPU so a reasonable FPS increase would be expected.

Taken straight from the MSI GT627 review (yes, it's an older notebook but it has a turbo overclock button to prove a point).

 

My friend who's got an ATI Radeon 5650 HD Mobility is ripping source, wow and runescape. So why shouldnt my 9800m GTS (Which is a stronger card) && The gts has more memory bandwidth as well.

 

Yeah but I didn't just overclock a CPU I went to a whole new CPU with new architecture with 3x the l2 cache and a 1GHz increase if I keep the X9000 at stock speeds. My X9000 also has 2x the l2 cache compared to the P8400.

The video card will not be the problem at all. In source games you will be limited by the CPU not the GPU.

 

Intel Core 2 Extreme QX9650 - Would this work in this cpu?

 

No Quads will not work. You can look into the T9400, T9600, T9900, and the X9100 CPUs.

 

Which one is the cheapest?

 

T9400 2.5GHz 6mb l2 cache. you can get these for a little over $100 usually.

 

Alright sounds good, would the x-9100 be an overkill?

 

Yeah it will be for the games you listed IMO.

 

Alright, the proccessor that comes with it should be fine for games that i listed?

 

I don't understand. So if Crysis is not a source game, then the GPU is the limiting factor, no? This has been found by most people that the GPU is the limiting factor in most modern games, aside from source games because they are optimized very well for the CPU.

 

Yes if you don't have a GPU strong enough for Crysis a CPU wont help but if you have a strong GPU like the 9800m GTS Crysis will benefit from a fast CPU also.

 

I cant use any CPU's other then the ones you listed? Because id like to throw an i5

 

Haha no an i5 wouldn't work. The CPUs I listed would be the best available upgrades. Also X9100s @ 3.4-3.6 GHz are faster than some i7s.

 

Dam, is there any chance you can link me a x9100 thats the cheapest you can find? Because im seeing some crazy numbers

 

be prepared for at least $300 for a used/nonretail version or $500+ for retail

 

If I were to get one I would get it from this seller New Intel CORE2 X9100 QHBQ Super low Temp! - eBay (item 260655200647 end time Sep-23-10 04:59:56 PDT) $275-$300 is the usual price for a X9100 and I have heard good things about this ebay seller.

 

X9000's fit? I want an extreme or a good 2.5+ That i can overclock for not too much. sorry im picky lol

 

Yes X9000s will fit but they are usually more expensive because they are somewhat rare.

 

dam ... Well, which 1 of the 3 is the cheapest and i can overclock? Sorry for the questions because i dont think i can overclock the p7350

 

The only one that can overclock is the X9100 unless you do some hardware mods.

 

go with a X9100 IMO; shirleyfu is a decent X9100 ebay reseller (the same link that xxERIKxx has provided). Bought my own X9100 from her.

Got mine OCed to 4GHz (3990Mhz) @ 1.450v for lolz. But 3.6Ghz @ 1.3Ghz normally. Had to mod my heatsink and drill holes in the backpanel to dissipate the heat generated at 4GHz though (+ notebook cooler; Cryo LX).

not saying you will need to do such things; i was bored. the stock heatsink and backpanel are fine as they are and do not need to be modded once the X9100 is installed and OCed upto 3.6GHz; a decent notebook cooler would be advisable, regardless.

you'll need Unclewebb's program "Throttlestop" for OC purposes.

 

Hey, quick question. I dropped mine while it was on about three feet onto carpet. The battery took the brunt of the impact, but it seems fine. I'm running HD Tune, and so far so good. The ports work, the HDD works, and it charges. It sounds and looks the same. I'm just worried that it's gonna stop working in a week or two