P-7805u or MSI GT725

Choices......

P-7805u
P8400 2.26
4G 1066 DDR3
Nvidia 9800M GTS 1G DDR3
320G HD 7200
DVD/CD
17" 1400x900 WXGA
2 Channel HD Sound
Wireless N
Build Quality
NBR Community
$1149 PRICE


GT725
P9500 2.53
4G 800 DDR2
ATI RADEON HD 4850 512 DDR3
320G HD 7200
Blu-Ray
17" 1900x1080 WUXGA
5 Channel HD Sound
Wireless N
Bluetooth
Build Quality
NBR Community
$1599 PRICE

Now the comparison is not 100% fair due to the price discrepancy. However I consider the MSI a good value for the goodies, just not as good a bang for the buck FX. I grayed out the aspects that I felt were the weaker of the two.

Unfortunately also the new ATI cards performance is still pretty much "theorycraft" but I don't think anyone has argued that it isn't better than the 9800M GTS the question is just "how much better" lots or little.

The price of the FX and the value it offers are hard to deny. However both are still in my ballpark with the GT725 hitting the ceiling (wife imposed at that). Hard drive space is not an issue, nor do I feel like opening either one up and replacing parts (i.e. adding a new CPU to the FX to close the gap). Its pretty much got to be hands off out of the box performance with some user tweaks (drivers, Over clocking etc), and the best performance at that.

I would have to say the Gateway NBR forum area has to be one of the best if not the best source of useful information and likewise helpfull folks out of any manufacturer. With my somewhat shaky knowledge of laptops this forum has been a safe haven. If I went with the MSI I would feel I am missing something with that regard.

So feel free to weigh in......Is the MSI 725 a better gamer laptop (price aside), with only performance and user in mind.

Thanks in advance

 

DDR2 vs DDR3 is not a big issue. You will see no noticible difference and even on benchmarks tests I dont think much will happen. Therefore your only concern is the price . I think the NBR community is actually kinda big on this 725 thing, I mean everyone wants to see the latest HD 4850 =)

If thats the case with only performance in mind, the MSI 725 is a much better choice than the gateway

 

No clue about the MSI because I don't have it.
But the P-7805u is an amazing machine to me.
But I got the 1920x1200 screen on mine so..

 

The GT of course is better, which is also why it's not even been released yet. It's newer and more expensive hardware. Of course performance wise it's going to be better. My only actual question to how much better is with the ATI HD4850M. It's not in the wild yet so actual performance has yet to be gaged. My only other hangup is ATI when it comes to drivers.

I was looking at the 725, but I needed a laptop now and could not really wait, nor justify myself spending an extra $350 or $550 since I'm not that crazy of a PC gamer and am in college.


But yes, performance wise the GT725 will be better. Only question is how much since it's not been released yet and no laptop yet has been tested with the new ATI cards (only theoretically tested).

 

The GT725 is really tempting, I'm kinda trying to stop myself from pulling the trigger on one, lol. Good thing MSI is helping that by being so mysterious with an actual release date. I'll wait for user reviews.

 

I think the 7805u is amazing. Great price, and you can do anything. I have crysis set to a mix of very high and high, and almost never slow up. plus its a 1200p screen! anyways, good luck

 

the 725 looks like a Secks machine.

 

Can you live without the blu ray and 1920x1200? The 1680x1050 non bluray GT725 is only 1350. That said, if money isn't an object the MSI is definately a more powerful machine, for my budget the 7805u when they still were garunteed to have 1920x1200 screens were just an unbeatable value.

 

With shipping and taxes, the Gateway is now around $1200. And the GT725-074 (i.e., without bluray and 1920x1200) is $1349, including the backpack. So, I think, the MSI has a better price, since Gateway does not have anymore the HD srceen it was "offering" before.
For a difference of $150 + backpack, I'm buying the MSI.
The big problem is, of course, the release date.

 

Or...a 7811 refurb from Tiger Direct for 749..

 

take the MSI, the 4850 looks to be a beast from previews.

I say wait just a little longer for definitive proof, or check out the MSI forums to see if theres any dirt, I was creeping there earlier and I think they got some prelim benchies or something.

 

I thought I was pretty clear in suggesting that he GET the 1350.00 MSI because it was pretty competitve in price and extremely powerful without spending the extra cash that seemed kinda unnecessary on the 076(?) that has the blu ray and 1920x1200 screen. Actually the difference is even less at the current price at least for me because tax was almost 75 when it was 1050 here.

I simply stated I got the g-way when it had the 1920x1200 screen and was 1050 because at that price with that screen it was an unbeatable value. That and I didn't want to wait around to pay more for the MSI sometime in the indeterminate future, lol. I was originally going to buy the 074 until the gateway came along.

 

I know you were talking about performance but don't forget that DDR3 uses less power (more battery time, something that you will need with a 6 cell battery like in the 725) than DDR2 and also creates less heat.

Also, as far as performance goes, as newer DDR3 chips come out, you'll be seeing a greater and greater difference between them and DDR2 chips. But given the 725 chipset (PM45), that can just be upgraded later anyway, so it doesn't matter all that much.

 

The power consumption of memory chips for laptops are quite low, and therefore won't save you much battery life. Memory, also doesn't tend to get quite hot, which is why there is no laptop cooling solution for memory...

Other than speeds and bandwidth being quite better than DDR2, the power consumption and heat produced from either one will ultimately be similar...

 

The GT725 is ugly as sin. I'd pick up a gateway based on that principle alone.

The release date of it is still up in the air anyway, I don't think it's gonna come out until late feb / early march.

 

I have been watching for that MSI, it has good specs and seems they put some nice features into their builds. My main concern is I am leary of buying a laptop that I can't touch and feel first to get an idea about build quality and screen quality.

 

Yes, you were. And I thought I was pretty clear in suggesting that I was agreeing with you. (?)

 

I think you left out the battery comparison. G-way has 12 cell vs MSI x cell?
That really important too, because there have been few cases when i needed to sit on battery for a while, and it never came a problem that my battery will not last.

 

I think GW is 9 Cell, and MSI is 6 cell.

 

Gateway FX's all have 9-cell batteries, I wish I could find a 12-cell.

 

amazon lists the msi as a 9 cell.

 

Oh sorry, lol, I thought you were saying i pointed out the cheaper model but was still arguing for the gateway. Though the gateway's stock may be rising again, newer batches are showing up with the 1920x1200s again and the price will probably come back down at some point to 1050, if that happens it becomes a tough race again.