170EM Build Feedback

Configured this over on PCSpecialist on their Vortex III model:

Processor (CPU):
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Mobile Processor i7-3720QM (2.60GHz) 6MB

Memory (RAM):
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card:
AMD® Radeon® HD 7970M - 2GB DDR5 Video RAM (PRE-ORDER, ETA END OF MAY)

Memory - Hard Disk:
750GB SEAGATE MOMENTUS XT HYBRID, SATA 6 Gb/s, 32MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive:
SONY BD-5750H 6x BLURAY WRITER & CYBERLINK SOFTWARE


A few questions on this:
1 - How easy will in be to put in a SSD as a boot drive at a later date, was thinking of getting a 120GB 520 at some point down the line... Will this be a simple case of pop-out/pop-in new drive like a regular HDD, or will it require new drivers and such?
2 - More of a heat/noise question for those who already own this chassis, how hot does a high end GPU run under gaming load and how loud does it get? In your experience is it worth paying extra for the Thermal Paste. If any of you that have done so in the past from said Reseller, how well was the paste applied?
3 - Any further advice/feedback on the build itself is welcome, thanks for any answers.

 

1- easy plug&play
2- thermal paste upgrade is OBLIGATORY (any laptop gamer knows it) and you leave the rest to the strong cooling of P170EM
3- you could get i7 3610QM and save cash for SSD that way (depending on what you use the laptop for)

 

The laptop will be used as a desktop replacement (photoshop/media-hub/work) and gaming laptop... choose the 3720 for the higher core frequency mainly with gaming in mind, am I off base on this?

Thanks for clearing up the other issues.

 

Gaming = 90% GPU.
CPU will not improve gaming significantly, if at all. Go with the 3610 and save money for the SSD.

 

You will see more speed increase with the SSD than with a higher clocked processor

 

A few more questions on this build...

Since I'm planning to get 8GB (2x4) of Ram with this I was wondering if the reseller would install said ram within the modules found behind the keyboard or or within the back panel. Obviously I would prefer them to go behind the keyboard as it would make a potential upgrade to 16GB down the line much easier.

In response I was told that apparently the back panel modules have to be filled in first..?

And that it seems this chassis does in fact not actually support 16GB of 1600mhz Ram..?

Can anyone here confirm these issues?

Thank you.

 

The 170EM supports up to 32 GB of 1600MHz ram. Direct from the Sager website (See specifications):
Supports Dual Channel DDR3
Four 204Pin SODIMM sockets, support for DDR3 1333/1600MHz* (Real operation frequency depends on FSB of processor)
Expandable up to 32GB, depends on 4GB/8GB SODIMM module (32 bit OS editons have a memory limitation of 2.8GB. Other hardware or application limitations may further prevent use of all installed memory. Windows 7 64bit is required for memory configurations of 4GB and above.)
*Two DIMMs per channel option is only available in 4 cores processor.

 

You could probably email them and request that they do that. I doubt that they'd do it standard, it's more work for them.

 

Does this mean that one would see absolutely no performance gain in using 1866MHz memory as opposed to 1600MHz? I know that the difference is minimal, but if the motherboard (I'm assuming? Or is it the CPU?) only supports up to 1600MHz... Why does every reseller also offer 1866 speed memory?

 

If you request the hard to reach slots be filled with the RAM thats fine, just make sure to specifically ask for it. 1600mhz is fine, its the standard option now on Sager models.

 

Thanks for the replies all, finally got a reply from PCS on the issue and they said they only install the ram into the slots behind the back panel. Which is a bit disappointing, but oh well...

So I have to ask anyone who have done so previously, how complicated/hard is it to take out the keyboard and install the extra ram?

Also, does the Kingston HyperX memory differ in any way from regular memory in terms of install/set-up process? I only ask as they seem to sell two version of the ram.

Regular (which is what I'm getting): Kingston HyperX 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600Mhz CL9 Non-ECC.. | Ebuyer.com

Plug and Play: Kingston 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600MHz HyperX Plug N Play.. | Ebuyer.com

Anyone know what the difference is?

 

Not at all difficult. The top power/touch strip pops off with a small flat screwdriver. Keyboard should be held in by 5 screws, gently lift the keyboard (it is a bit heavy for a laptop keyboard) and the RAM is underneath in the middle roughly.

The Plug N Play is just that, you install it and don't have to worry about overclocking/volting the memory to 1600Mhz frequency, the other type you have there would set to 1333Mhz in the BIOS and you would not be able to switch it up to the 1600Mhz as the BIOS has limited options.
So get your second linked RAM there and you should be fine.

 

Thanks for clearing that up, so I take it the plug and play version is compatible alongside the regular version (as I assume that's what the reseller will be be fitting)?

Basically, should I expect any issues with having 2x4 of the regular type and adding 2x4 of the plug and play type down the line?

lol ...would never have guessed that out of all computer components Ram would be the thing to cause me all this trouble/confusion.

 

I'm not sure what you mean by "regular" type memory, but the non-ECC is noted as XMP (eXtreme Memory Profile) will not give you the 1600Mhz but will drop down to 1333Mhz.

If the "regular" type memory is installed by the reseller, and so long as your frequency and timing match, I don't think you will have any issues.
Frequency being 1333Mhz, 1600Mhz, and timing being 9-9-9-27 for example or 11-11-11-29.

 

Sorry, by regular I meant the non-ECC version (first one I linked earlier).

I simply assume that is what the reseller will be fitting as in their customizer the Kingston ram that they show on their memory page has no mention of plug&play about it and has the blue cover of the no-ECC version???

Customizer: PCSPECIALIST - VortexIII 17 Laptops, VortexIII 17 Gaming Laptops, Build Your Own VortexIII 17 Laptop
Page in question: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/matrix/198/2/3/

So are you saying if the reseller install the non-ECC version I will only get 1333Mhz and not 1600Mhz as it says in the description?

 

You may want to double-check with your reseller to verify the memory they are installing.

It may be they just simply posted a stock photo of the memory pulled from somewhere on the internet as an example photo.