What do I need to know when I get a laptop?

I am currently looking around for options for when I choose to get a new laptop.

I know Ivy Bridge will be coming out soon and I plan to wait until then. My budget is ~$1500. I plan on gaming (BF3) on the laptop and I have not bought a computer in 5 years so I am not completely up to date on modern features though I have tried to catch up lately.

Things I am considering:
15"-16" screen (1080p)
8 GB ram 2x4 (1333 unless there is a noticeable advantage of 1600)
60 gb Intel 520 SSD (I have a 500gb usb3 external)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Ivy Bridge Processor on par with i7-2670QM 2.2 GHz

Are these reasonable or should I consider making changes?

 

Sounds like you just described the Sager Np 8150. GenTech PC - Systems
Do you plan on gaming on an external monitor?

 

That looks about right, I would actually up the gpu for a 6990m or a 580m.

Basically when things come out, there will be a change in names.

And yes look for the NP8150/P150hme.

And I would buy another SSD, the samsung 830 would be a great buy, and I would buy one of at least 120gb. Since games are 10gb+ right now, and there is 20gb of windows, office 1.5gb, in the end you are going to be able to install 1 game at the most, since documents also take space.

 

or take out the dvd drive and plug another hdd in there, having the 60gb ssd as your OS partition would be fine, games and other large files being installed in your secondary drive.

aside from the secs, I'd advise getting the 6990m upgrade which should still fit in your budget just to make sure 2 years down the road you could still play BF4

 

I was looking for basically your setup. I'd say you're very safe narrowing it down to the Sager 8150 or MSI 16F2 (AKA PowerPro 11:36 - same notebook just named different). For your price range you can easily get that setup and then buy your own SSD from a vendor like NewEgg or Amazon and install it yourself (since notebook retailers typically overcharge you for SSDs). This way you can use the mechanical drive that they sent with your notebook as a media drive/backup.

Also, another vote for getting a 120GB+ Samsung 830 drive. You can do the research yourself, but when it comes to SSDs the Samsung 830 is best performance, Crucial M4 has less power consumption, and Intel makes some very expensive SSDs that don't perform quite as well as the Samsung or Crucial.

 

FYP.....

 

Cloudfire, you forgot to fix the SSD!

 

I have never had a SSD before and just heard that Intel was reliable. I will definitely look into the Samsung 120 gb as I was already considering upping the 60. I know very little about graphics cards so that input will help a lot especially since it is always nice for computers to last as long as possible (or really any product).

Is there a noticeable difference between 1333 and 1600 RAM? I planned to just go with 2x4 GB 1333 and keep it open to upgrade later if it gets to the point where I will need it.

 

Intel is realiable. However space is always necessary, there is the ODD caddy, which basically means that you install a HDD in the place of the optical drive.

The intel is focused on reliability, which sandforce isnt (companies that use sandforce are: OCZ, Kingston (some drives not all), corsair, mushkin, OWC...), samsung is considered to be pretty reliable and chepaer than intel, crucial is a good buy as well

regarding gpus:

Nvidia is basically defined by their consumer line (GT), and their gamer line (GTX)

the numbers work this way:

GTX 5 6 0m

5 = generation, the current is 5, the next to be launched this year is 6
6 = family, the higher the number the better, 6 is the entry card for their gamer line, being the others 7, and 8
0 = whatever they want to put, its usually 5 or 0
m = mobile

AMD is basically divided by their some groupments:

the numbers work this way:
HD 6 9 90m

6 = generation, the current is 6, the next to be launched this year is 7

9 = family, the higher the number the better, 8 is the entry card for their gamer line, 9 being the top end

90 = the place in the family, the higher the better

m = mobile

no there isnt.

 

Thanks this is super helpful. Is there any difference between Nvidia and AMD cards in general? I know with Intel and AMD for processors Intel has the better (though more expensive) processor while AMD has better integrated graphics

 

Benchmarks will show 1-2% performance increase from 1333 to 1600mhz RAM, however some people will swear it's a noticeable difference. I personally don't think it'll be game-breaking, as long as you get 8GB you're fine, that seems to be the sweet spot for performance nowadays.

I've always been a fan of buying stuff that is a notch under the top of the line, it tends to be the largest saving step, however as nice as it is to spend other people's money, I'd say go for the 580M . IME nVidia has always been faster to release drivers and has been more reliable compared to the ATi cards I've used in my desktop over the years.

 

actually no, obviously if you compare cards that are in the same level of performance, currently the 580m is a little bit faster than the 6990m.

People always argue about who has the better drivers, I had both and some more, all had driver issues, meaning I dont change drivers that often, I find one that works with the performance that I want and stick to it, unless there is a great improvement on others. Nvidia though has the best management program, meaning you can a set some options for each game that you own.

and both have usually monthly releases of new drivers, to either fix something that they broke, or to improve the performance on some games.

 

Since I am waiting a few months (hopefully only until April) for Ivy bridge will a new line of graphics cards come out and have a better price/performance than the 560m/580m and 69990m? I have no idea what their refresh cycle is like or when it happens.

 

nvidia is pushing their refresh cycle for Q2-Q3, AMD should be the same as well

 

I just said nVidia was quicker to come out with updated drivers than ATi. Yes the debate about nVidia vs. ATi is like saying Coke is better than Pepsi. I'm just sharing my brand preference based on my limited experience .

I read a thread somewhere on here saying that the 6 series of nVidia mobile GPUs have been claimed to be reboxed versions of the 5 series GPUs, at least until later on in the year. I've also heard that the current 560Ms are just overclocked 460Ms as well :shrug:

 

AMD releases drivers every month, is the verde program launching new drivers every 15 days?

As always both are rebadging some stuff from the other series, the 555m is now the 635m, although there are 5 different gpus with that name and the recent one is a different core from the other 4 versions, it was released on the LG P330, a 13'' laptop with a mid high end card, take that m14x you transvestite!.

the 500 series was a bunch of rebadges, just the 520exm, the new 555m (the one I mentioned) and the 570m, the rest...

 

I should have said "nVidia releases more compatible drivers faster". ie: when SWTOR came out, there were problems with crossfire and sli not being compatible with the game (only running a single card). nVidia was faster to come out with compatible drivers than ATi if I'm not mistaken (this is just one of the more recent instances I can think of off the top of my head). It's not like it's life-and-death waiting for updated drivers between the 2 companies, it was just one of the notable differences between the 2.

 

A) If you plan to buy Sager laptops with Optimus, there will be a big boost in graphic performance with the IGP with 1600 vs 1333. Next GTX laptops with Kepler from Clevo will have Optimus.
B) If you plan to buy any laptop with AMD Llano and graphic switching to IGP, there will be a lot less graphic performance gain with faster RAM because Sandy Bridge and Llano scale differently with memory.
C) If you plan to buy a SSD, pick either Intel, Samsung or Crucial. Intel 520 is still in the dark wether it is reliable or not since it is the first Intel SSD with a Sandforce controller. Intel themselves say that the 520 should have the same reliability as 510 and 320 aka very good.
Personally I would have ditched the 60GB 520 and rather bought myself a Crucial M4 128GB since it cost the same. It have awesome performance too

 

Out of curiosity, how long are you prepared to wait? Dunno if you know about the supposed rumors for the IVB delay.

 

Only delay for dual cores
Intel is only delaying dual core mobile Ivy Bridge CPUs by VR-Zone.com

 

Yes I saw the article about the delay as well as the one about how it is only for the dual cores. At this point in time I feel like I will wait for IVB just because it will give my computer a bump up in all areas of performance and be relevant longer than if I went with Sandy Bridge.

As of now I'm happy just using my xbox for gaming if it means that my computer will be able to perform well on games further into the future.

 

Here are some other articles (which are all trumped by Cloudfire's latest rumor mill info):

Intel to postpone mass shipments of Ivy Bridge processors

Intel to push back Ivy Bridge launch from April to June :: TweakTown USA Edition


Since Intel (and possibly their partners) only know, my guess is that only time will truly sort this out.