3 grand

If you had your heart set on an 8180 and had 3000$ play money how would you build Your notebook and what accessories and why....I am a newbie but i am not totally computer stupid....Sooo help me spend that vaca check that I didn't take, plus all them Saturdays working when I could have been in the woods trying to kill things... Thanks guys and ladies.. Paul

 

A question. Do you really need 18 inch screen notebook?

IMO, 15.6 inch is good enough for me, unless 18 inch give 2560 pixels in width.

 

I wouldnt. I would just go and get the m18x

 

3 grand? You can buy 2 laptops with that much

So what are you planning to use the machine for? Gaming? Video editing? Give us more details

EDIT: nvm just saw your previous thread

To be honest I wouldn't bother with it. It seems you can't go past 16gb RAM (choice not available in sagernotebook.com). Also if you read these forums you will find people having issues with SLI configurations and the 560m is a so so choice at best, and looks like the config is locked on that particular chip.

 

gaming video editing a very light graphic design

 

Best upgrade path would be a desktop. 8180 weighs 12 pounds without the massive brick of a power adapter, which means it's hardly portable anyway. But if you do want something to carry around...

I'm quite happy with my P170HM (2760QM / Radeon 6990M). With a single GPU 580M or 6990M, you'll have great performance (about 10% less than dual 560Ms) without driver issues / heat problems / micro-stuttering. And the upgrade path may be a bit easier - there's more wiggle room with single cards than there is with dual cards, simply because of the power two GPUs require. Laptops can only provide so much juice without overheating!

Seconding the other thread on an SSD - if you get a single GPU build with a smaller screen, you can put that cash into a really nice solid state drive, which will make start up and game load times muuuuuch faster. Much, much faster than upgrading the CPU.

 

THere is so much to be said about a lovely big screen. I have a Toshiba with average graphics card, but its a super awesome gaming machine. The screen is just beautiful to look at. Small screens are just plain hard to look at while gaming. Too much going on in a small area.

 

you could of course buy a 15inch plus a kick external monitor for that money as well

 

3 grand is a lot to drop for a notebook. Get a base P150HM with a single 6990M or GTX 580M for ~$1.4K. Use the remaining money to get a SSD (hard drive being the biggest bottleneck for day to day use) and a huge monitor. IHMO, notebook SLI option is still not mature enough and not worth the price and portability premium. You have to deal with power, heat, and driver support issues.

 

If your heart is set on the NP8180 you have a great choice, that computer will out game any other single card solution there is.
If you want to push the 3K budget i'd go with the i7 2860QM, 12gb 1600mhz RAM, IC Diamond, 120GB Intel 510SSD, 750GB second drive, 6x blu ray write/read, Intel Advanced 6230 wireless, and Window 7 Home. That will get close to your max budget, and will get you a kill machine

 

I'm gonna stick with the 8180...I know I could get a killer Desktop but I don't really want a desktop we already have two.. Want something portable like when we go down the shorehouse or when I am sitting in the living room watching the tube..Wont be on the go that much... I haven't taken a vacation in 3 years this is my vaca.. So why not..

 

Like the look of that. But i want to make sure to have enough for the warranty..

 

Why not go for mythlogic if you are dead set on a 8180? They offer 6990m graphic card options too.

 

yup was just there

 

Go with Myth, not just for the 6990m, but their amazing quality and customer service.

 

Two places to cut back might be the RAM and the processor. The difference between 1333 and 1600mhz RAM in gaming is miniscule; 1 fps max, often less ( source).

As for the CPU, the 2760 might suit your needs as well as the 2860, as the difference isn't vast (at least according to Notebookcheck), but it's a bigger difference than the RAM, certainly.