Best time to buy & model refresh?

Hello all. After ~5-years with my MSI GX-640, it's time to get another laptop, as my current rig doesn't meet most of the newer AAA game specs. Sigh ...

I've had Sager envy for a while because their thermals seem to be better than other brands. So with that, I've been eye-balling the Sager NP8657-S. 250GB SSD + 1TB drive, 16GB ram, i7-6700HQ, Nvidia GTX 970m (3 GB). I'd need to add an OS and a few extras ...

But ...

I'm flexible on when I purchase. Financially I should wait until next spring (March-April ish), in which case I'm wondering whether there are newer models / components on the horizon. I'd rather buy something towards the start of a refresh cycle rather than the end, and I don't know where the NP8657-S in terms of refresh cycles. Are there newer generations of graphics cards coming to mobile that I should wait for? I'm not in a dire need of a new laptop (the games can mostly wait!).

Cheers!

 

The NP8657 just came out, so really right now is at the start of the refresh as everything is new for skylake. It will likely be the same things as the march-april time frame just more models possibly out by clevo/sager at that point. While i would think the NP8657 will still be going strong at that point in time.

 

Thanks for the reply! I gotta see how things go and take a look at my budget .... it would be nice to get things now. And that NP8657-S seems like a screaming deal.

Question: I'm someone who has never been bothered by screen tearing, and hence never use V-SYNC. Is getting the G-SYNC upgrade worthwhile? I guess it bumps the screen up to IPS-style, which could be a good thing irrespective of G-SYNC.

 

I think the $80 upgrade is worth it with the better screen and Gsync is nice.

 

If you don't need new notebook right away, the best strategy is always to wait was long as you can .

Especially with Clevos where HW updates keep coming practically continuously as new components get available (both minor and major).

With that particular model e.g. I'm aware today the number of screens which are certified by Nvidia to support G-Sync is limited, so some people have been complaining it was either getting worse screen with G-Sync or better screen without G-sync. This is something that may change in future (without even changing anything in most commonly shown specs / model number).

Another thing that's kinda under "continuous update" schedule are minor CPU updates, e.g. with Haswell CPUs there were i7-4700HQ, i7-4710HQ and i7-4720HQ CPUs used depending on when you bought notebook. I would expect Skylake CPUs to proceed in similar way.

One thing that's still missing in that model, but kinda logical to be there, is Thunderbolt 3. So that may come in the future too.

Big change that should come sometime in 2016 is Pascal GPU architecture by Nvidia. Should be a big step up from Maxwell, though no idea if they manage Spring 2016 launch for mobile (around that time is expected big desktop Pascal GPU).

Though if you have itch / less patience, it's ok to get this model. It's pretty great notebook.

Change after 5 years will dwarf changes between two consecutive notebook generations (I did something like that a year ago, going from Fermi to Maxwell, still haven't got used to how crazy fast modern GPUs are ).

 

The other approach is to future proof myself a little more and grab a model with a GTM 980M and 8GB of VRAM. There's a pretty decent performance increase between the 980 and 970, and if I want it to last 4+ years the extra VRAM would probably help.

The 8658-S is like the model above but with the 980M. Comes with the g-sync/IPS display. $1764 vs. $1454 is a pretty steep increase though. $300 bucks.

Then again, the 970M is about 12x faster than my current ATI 5850 (by the 3DMark Vantage benchmark). The 980M is like 13x faster. Of course, differences between the 970 and 980 start to take off with the more demanding newer benchmarks/games.

 

There is nice OC potential in the 980M as well.

 

Spend the 300 and get the 980M.. More futureproof...

 

If you were planning on upgrading in a couple years, then I'd say maybe go 970m, as you would be upgrading before it ends up really starting to struggle with games and programs. But if you want to keep it around a while, then the extra performance from the 980m would probably be worthwhile.

 

Naw! Upgrade every few years with 980M and it's successors

 

Technically the BEST time (if you have that option) as a gamer is at the launch of a new generation if you want it to last as long as possible, but now is not bad either.

 

That's kinda what I was asking ... I think When is the next generation for Nvidia coming out? 2016? 2017?

 

Nobody really knows yet but the inkling seems to be mid-late 2016. Here is a thread on it:

http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...000m-series-gpus.763032/page-50#post-10127703

I think I'm more on the page of upgrading now; unless you want the GTX 980 in your laptop then those are already becoming available

 

Now is not a bad time like I mentioned, the worst is a month or two before launch and we are certainly not there.

 

Yes. What about the GTX 980 (laptop) on the horizon though? I suppose it is more premium rather than part of a refresh cycle. Plus OP is looking at the 970m. Figured I'd mention it thought as I'm treading that line of thought.

 

So, pardon me for me being ignorant but there's zero chance of seeing a 980 in a 15inch laptop correct?

 

As of right now, the only models announced with it have been 17 and 18 inch models. With the 980 taking up more space in the computer than the mobile counterparts, and needing some improved cooling, it's less likely there would be a 15 inch model. Don't know if it is impossible or maybe just nothing planned in the short term yet.

 

Thanks Pat! Look like its time to buy