Buying Sager NP9262(Clevo D901C)

Yo everyone at NoteBookReview forums.

I'm writing this as I suddenly got a lot of money in my hands and decided that it was time to get a new computer, after over two years with a ~1500 dollar HP laptop with a broken screen (been using a desktop screen with the laptop for the past year).
With an-around-3000-dollars-bugdet, I started searching all over the internet for a good laptop. Being quite inexperienced with high-end laptops, the first thought that hit me was "ALIENWARE". After a short time, I realised that they were, in fact, quite hyped, so I began searching for alternatives. I ended up stumbling upon the magical word: Clevo.
I quickly found and fell in love with the Clevo D901c, and after realising that I couldn't just buy one directly from Clevo, I began searching once again, this time for resellers. I also decided to raise my bugdet to 4000 dollars.
In the end, after reading countless reviews and threads all over the internet, I figured that the best deal for me would be buying a Sager NP9262 from XOTIC PCs.

I found out most I wanted to know about this beast spending hours on this forum, but I've got a few questions, mainly about the build of my new laptop.

My current build is:

SAGER NP9262 Ultimate Custom Laptop (Built on Clevo D900C / D901C)
- Display: 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver: Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Dead Pixel Policy: Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Processor: ~Intel Core 2 QUAD Q9650 3.0GHz w/ 12MB L2 Cache - 1333MHz FSB
- Video Card: SLI ENABLED DUAL nVidia 9800M GTX (2) 1,024MB (2,048MB TOTAL) PCI-Express w/GDDR3 Video Cards (User Upgradeable)
- External Monitor Video Adapter: None Standard
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR2 800 (2 SODIMMS) Dual Channel Memory (Requires Vista 64-Bit to recognize Full 4GB)
- Exterior Finish: Standard Finish
- Optical Drive: ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- Primary Hard Drive: ~ 250GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300)
- Secondary Hard Drive: ~ 250GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300)
- Third Hard Drive: ~ 320GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 8MB Cache)
- Raid: Raid 0-Stripe (Combines primary and secondary hard drive)( (Requires Identical Sized Hard Drives)
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): None Standard
- Floppy Drive: None Standard
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Wireless Network: Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- Wireless Network Accessories: None Standard
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- TV Tuner: None Standard
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (12 Cell)
- Spare AC Adapter: None Standard
- Port Replicator / Dock / Hub's: None Standard
- Fingerprint Reader: None Standard
- Mouse / Keyboard Accessories: None Standard
- Notebook Cooler: None Standard
- Operating System: ~Windows XP Pro SP3 w/ Drivers, Utilities CD
- "Medialess" Microsoft Office Software: None Standard
- Software Bundle (Not Installed): None Standard
- Warranty: 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Telephone Tech Support

Since I live in Denmark (Europe), the cost for this baby, after the cash rebate, ended up being 4088 dollars with delivery, without any warranty or 0 dead pixels policy.

I will be using this laptop mainly for programming (mainly Flash, but also more heavy 3D tasks), school work, watching movies/anime and of course - gaming.
Because of this, I want a laptop that'll be strong enough to play the newest games (yes, I'm still drolling over Crysis videos) at a high graphics setting and hopefully the ones to come out in the next couple of years. This is the reason why I decided to max out the processor and graphics card, but I'm still in doubt about some things regarding the laptop, which's why I got a few questions:

1. How much will this laptop be worth in a year? I know that Sager/Clevo is really bang for the buck, but is it really worth it? Especially with the new Clevo model coming out, won't the value of the D901c drop alot?

2. What harddrive should I get? After reading a lot of different opinions on this, I'm still in doubt. On my build, I did two 250 gb 7600 RPM hardddrives with RAID 0 and a slower third 320 gb 5400 RPM harddrive for things such as anime and backup.
I thought that this'd be the best idea, but then again, I'm not really any good at this. How much will having a RAID 0 with two 250 gb harddrives affect the speed of the computer, compared to having just one without RAID?
Also, I never quite got the idea of RAID 5, so if anyone could explain it to be, it'd be greatly appreciated.

3. Windows XP or Vista? I never really liked Vista, so I'd prefer having XP, but after reading the "XP or Vista thread" on this forum and a few reviews, I'm still a bit in doubt. As far as I understood, XP runs most games faster than Vista, but some games like Crysis won't run properly on XP. Is this true, and if yes, will this also be a factor in games released in the future?

4. Will I have to pay VAT for the computer? I can buy this computer through a company of my relative (shhhh ), so will I be able to avoid paying VAT for it, when I get it shipped to Europe?

I'd like to apologize for the very long thread, but this will be a laptop that I'll be using for the next 5+ years, so I don't want to make some "noob mistake" and throw my 4000 dollars (I'm only 15, so that's a hella lot of money for me) out the window, if you know what I mean.
Also, if you got any other comments/suggestions on my build, please go ahead and post, it'll be very appreciated.

Thanks in advance.
Xan

 

Don't be afraid of Vista. It's bad reputation comes from its earlier days when the 3rd party drivers were very poor, which are long passed. It's a solid, stable OS in my experience with new drivers, especially the 64 bit version. On the other hand, it doesn't really offer anything that could be a considered a huge leap over XP.

 

Thanks for the reply.
I know that Vista has improved, but according to various tests, XP still gives you a lot better FPS in games and an overall better performance. The thing I'm worried about comes from threads such as this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=334074

 

XP never gave "a lot better FPS in games" over _Vista; XP originally gave a mild benefit, measurable at most in perhaps 1-5 FPS (except in some exceptional cases), and generally not noticeable to the ordinary user. That benefit from XP has been almost erased with the continuing improvements in _Vista, to the point at which there is little overall difference between the two (other than the eye candy, really), so that it makes little or no sense to throw away a perfectly good _Vista license you paid good money for just to switch to XP.

Also, even if it's a question of whether you get XP or _Vista from your reseller (i.e., and don't pay additional for an XP license on top of a _Vista license), it really doesn't make that much sense to go for XP instead of _Vista just on a generalized sense of "folks don't much like _Vista" - instead, you should only go with XP on a brand-new machine if you have a specific, articulable reason for wanting to go with XP instead of _Vista. Keep in mind, as time passes, fewer and fewer apps and whatnot will continue to work at their optimum level in XP and _Vista will continue to pull ahead of XP. Also, and I'm not making any promises here, so don't take it that way, but you're much more likely to be able to qualify for a less-expensive upgrade to Win7 when that OS is released if you go with _Vista - if you go with XP you will definitely have to pay full freight for a complete retail copy if you want to step up to Win7.

Finally, the thread you linked to is utterly irrelevant for your purposes because that thread concerns the 64-bit version of XP Professional, which had very poor driver support, and has nothing to do with the 64-bit version of _Vista, which has quite good driver support.

 

With the linking to that thread, I was suggesting a point to get Vista instead of XP, just letting you know.
Thanks for your reply anyway, it really helped - I think I'm going Vista now.

 

Fair dinkum; also, I'd say it's probably a better move to go with _Vista over XP at this point, so congrats.

For what it's worth, I'm a committed XP user, inasmuch as I see no point in switching any of my current systems over from XP to _Vista, and the next system I intend to purchase supports XP, so because I can purchase it sans OS, I will be installing a retail copy of XP onto that new machine; however, from what I've seen and read, I do not believe that XP provides any significant advantages over _Vista at this point (other than the comfort level ), and do not see the point of wasting a paid-for _Vista license just to go back to XP, particularly when one might not be able to find all of the drivers one needs.

 

Just so that you don't misunderstand it, with XOTIC PC, I can choose what OS I want, so it's not like I'd be paying more for .Vista (yay for no advertising ) or XP. To be honest, I really dislike the design and interface in .Vista, so that's mainly the reason why I'd be picking XP over it.
The only thing I'm worried about with XP would be being unable to use some drivers.
Also, what's the difference between a 64-bit and 32-bit OS? I'd be guessing that 64-bit is superior, but if there's driver problem with 64-bit XP so you're unable to use it, isn't getting it like shooting yourself in the foot when buying a 4000 dollar computer?

Sorry if my questions seem a bit newbie-ish, but as I said already, I'm not really that much into high-end laptops.

Also, regarding the harddrive question in my first post, what'd be the RAID/harddrive build that'd get me the best performance? - And will any of the OS' take more advantage from it than the other?

 

I think you'd be better off with a desktop that has more power and will cost a little less then buying this "portable" desktop. Don't get me wrong, I love Clevo and powerful notebooks but seriously think about it. Anyways didn't you say you were 15? Do you really need a "portable" desktop at 15 that cost that much?

Just my 2 cents.

 

Thats one killer machine!

2 X 9800M GTX is a bit too much imo, you gonna have lots of heat

2 X 250GB 7200RPM in RAID0 will give a very nice performance.

to give you a flavor of the difference between a normal HDs and a RAID0 setup, I ran a small benchmark with "PerformanceTest 6.1" on the machines I have:

Results for RAID0: 2 X 200GB 7200RPM
Seq. Read: ~105 MBytes/s
Seq. Write: ~99.8 MBytes/s
Rand. Seek + RW: 6.3 MBytes/s

Results for normal single HD: 120GB Toshiba 4200 RPM
Seq. Read: ~31.4 MBytes/s
Seq. Write: ~31.4 MBytes/s
Rand. Seek + RW: 2.19 MBytes/s

As for the RAM, I would say have more! DDR2 800 6GB+ (I know only 667 is available)
I'm using vista pro 64, and I use my machine for programing, 3D animation with blender, and some photoshop work. I play GOW from time to time, and have lots of taps opened when I browse (using google chrome), and I almost fill my 4GB! I still have to manage my apps :| (I'm disabling the swap).

Other than that, the machine is great, just have a close look at the keyboard layout, its a bit strange (not like a normal full keyboard) so don't get surprised.

Good luck,

 

Take that 4k, cut it in half (2k), and buy a decent desktop with a large monitor. With the rest of the money (2k), start compounding and add an additional 2k a year for 20 years or so and your going to have somewhere around a million dollars maybe more depending on the interest rate

You sound like a smart kid - You and I both know your not going to have this comp for 5+ years. I am 20 so I remember how it is to be 15 lol

On the other hand I am completely unfamiliar with the work you will be doing. So maybe this is one of those rare cases in which you really do need such a machine. In that case, good luck!


Pwn

 

Why don't you get the one volker wants to sell in the Buy/Sell.He is in Europe and would be cheaper for you IMHO.

 

Wow, we replied to this post at the exact same time lol. For some reason my original post was before yours. That is a first for me especially since the thread was somewhere in the middle. Sorry for the off topic comment I just had to make a note of that


Pwn

 

As for your comment on buying " Volkers " Sager NP9262 in the Buy/Sell I would not recommend doing so. That is a huge liability and I know a lot of you are going to despise me for saying that but it is the truth. Do not take the risk of buying any high end expensive machine from the Buy/Sell section, XanKage. No matter what the rep - As for the rest of you adults feel free to do as you please.

Pwn

 

Thanks for all the replies! Especially NeonLighto, yours really helped - I'll be sure to get RAID 0! Unfortunately, XOTIC PC only offers 4 gb and 8 gb ram (same goes for all the others resellers I've checked too). And the very expensive 8 gb upgrade is, to be honest, really pushing my budget too far.

As for all the ones recommending a desktop, this is (unfortunately) not an option for me; It's a long story, but I got three different homes in different towns, so I have to have a computer that I can move around all the time, therefore, having a desktop is out of the question for me.

As for Pwn, I'm very sure that I'll be using the computer for many years, I've taken good care of my current computer for years, and I'll be taking even more care of this one. Also, my needs for a powerful computer are probably much higher than the ones of the average 15-year old, since I'm doing a lot of heavy programming and other tasks (my future is very most likely to be within the programming/animating industry too).

Thanks for reference RAMBO29, I will take a closer look at Volkers computer, and don't worry Pwn, I will be very cautious with buying such an expensive computer from someone, I don't know.

Again, thanks all for being so helpful! You guys rock!

 

From your original post, you talk about the long term value of the system as if you are going to resell it or something. Computers, like cars, are depreciating assets. The minute you drive it off the lot it will lose (monetary) value.

Just remember that Gophn has had his D901C for over 3 years now and still competes with todays laptops without having to upgrade it. Also remember that the D901C refresh will not be coming until fall 2009 so you still have a large time frame where this sytem is the latest in notebook technology.

 

Actually, I think Gophn has one of the earlier iterations, not the D901C; still, the general point is well taken. With respect to computers, "long term value" should probably be read to mean "will I still be able to get above-average performance out of the thing in 3 or 4 years" or something to that effect.

 

Advice. Don't buy two cards, but one. Use the extra money on something else as you won't miss a thing (honest).

As a programmer to programmer, this beast will serve you well in your work and in that regard the money is well spent. As a gaming system ... well just read this http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=331632&page=3&highlight=XBOX360.

I would go for Vista definitly, especially for work as it uses the resources of a Quad Core CPU much better. If you are worried about Frame Counts now, you will more worried in an year (frame counts). So if that is your case for a decision between XP or Vista then just buy an XBOX360 and take from home to home like I do ... 0 hassle today and in three years still will play top noch games as well as in the first year. Better still use the money you saved by not buying a second video card and get an XBOX360.

By the way, you will not be playing Crysis at its highest settings on this beast still (1900x1200). Most people play it on HIGH and at 1600x1200 and in some cases even lower.

Trance

 

I'm aware that I won't be playing Crysis on maxed settings, but at least on high. I wouldn't expect that of any laptop.

Are you sure about the two cards though? I know the not many games take full advantage of the SLI today, but won't they in the next few years? As for an alternative, would it be possible buying a single 9800 GTX card now, and then upgrading to SLI later (and will they drop a lot in price during the next few years)?

As for your XBOX360 thread - I already read it, and I see you point. But I still need a portable system, since I'm always moving around (it's at least 2-4 times a week), so I wouldn't statisfy with a 360. Also, I'm also sometimes (at least quite a few times a month) in a place without a TV, so that's another reason why a 360/PS3 just wouldn't do. Thanks for the idea though.

And to afitzwater, I didn't mean it like that; What I was asking about was whether it'd be smarter to wait and buy the computer later, when it'd have dropped in price. That's why I wanted to know how much it'd be dropping in the next year. I see your point though.

 

your in the wrong thread. anyone dealing with these high end laptops already know what they are getting into

 

"Are you sure about the two cards though?"

I'm pretty sure

"I know the not many games take full advantage of the SLI today, but won't they in the next few years?"

That is the catch phrase. Always the next games will will. The point is that the function of SLI in laptops is mostly to play current games at 1900x1200 (except for Crysis, and most game in Multiplayer) where a single card is 1600x1200 (I mean high end cards). By the end of next year one game or another won't (the most Wanted unfortunately), and so on. So basically the diff is one resolution higher that is all, hardly IMHO worth double the price. Furthermore in a 17" you hardly notice the diff between 1900x1200 and 1600x1200 (you will notice but not much as both will look really well).

"As for an alternative, would it be possible buying a single 9800 GTX card now, and then upgrading to SLI later (and will they drop a lot in price during the next few years)?"

Yes you can as no one will stop you, but that might happen only if a new card comes out. But don't bet on prices to drop. In order to keep prices high Clevo usually stops production of older cards (for instance today you can't find the 8700M GT as an option). Say for instance a new card 10000M GTGTXG gets in, it will be priced say $200 more the the yours (yours doesn't get cheaper), once stocks are over the new card will come down to the price of yours and so on.

I have heard that the the d901c is getting replaced next year. As such we don't know if ever a new card will come out for this model. Most probably won't so you will be able to buy it only on second hand.

"As for your XBOX360 thread - I already read it, and I see you point."

I think you may have misunderstood me. In your case as a programmer to programmer I strongly advise this beast for work so go on and buy it with one card. I was just suggesting that instead of buying a second card get an XBOX360 or something else. It will be here after our model is discontinued and in the long term for less the price of one card you will be better served, and still have the so much desired transportability.

Trance

 

you'll miss allot.trust me. i had 8600's tried 8700's had 8800's and now have 9800's. and ran test on them all.. including autocad/photoshop/illustrator/pro tools/final cut pro/dvdshrink and not to mention a bunch of games and benchmark runs. you will notice a huge difference with having only one card. same with screen resolution. you can tell. well i can at least. i stare at it every day. lol

 

Even though you say the difference will "only" be between 1900x1200 and 1600x12000, I still think that that's quite a big difference, so I'm probably going dual cards.
Thanks for the advice though. Same goes for everyone else!
I'm going for my original build, only change being that I'll get .Vista instead of XP.

Now I just need to settle the last few things and hopefully, I'll be ordering it around new year!

 

I'd second the vote on getting the second card now - provided the budget has room - because, as stated by others, if you're really running hardcore, you will notice at least a mild difference; also, the prices for the second card, plus the SLi cable, are not likely to come down by much, and you may have a hard time finding anything other than a second-hand card if you wait until the next iteration of nVidia GPUs has been released to try and purchase the second card.

 

I was just wondering... would it be better to get a Blu-Ray discdrive than an ordinary dvd one?
It'd cost me 165 dollars for a "2X Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive", and XOTIC PC also offers an even more expensive "Panasonic UJ Blu-Ray ReadWrite Super Multi DVD+/ -R/RW BD-R/RE Dual Layer Burner", which's 495 dollars.
The Panasonic one is really crossing my bugdet, but I might just be able to afford the 165 dollar one.

Would it be worth getting one? Will games in the future only support Blu-Ray? Will normal dvds read faster with a Blu-Ray reader? And finally, would it be cheaper getting the normal one now ( Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares) and upgrading to a Blu-Ray later, when they become cheaper?

 

i would seriously hold off unless you are a avid blu ray movie watcher. this means, you watch them every other day on the bare minimum. picture is incredable, but it's more of a bragging thing right now. and once games start coming on blue ray, your going to have to upgrade any way to something like a 6x or 8x or be stuck with your 2x and pay an arm and a leg to upgrade to the latest and greatest. stick with what you have now. it's more practical. if you seriously need to watch a blue ray...watch it on the ps3 if you have one or a bluray home player if you have that.... im not going to say it not worth the 165, because it is, it's just when i had mine...i watched 3 movies and that was it. bragged that i had a bluray D) then got rid of it.. lol. i almost bought another one for this lappy, but it would be more of a to have thing though....

 

I see. Thanks for the advice!
Especially the point about the reader only being 2x - I really didn't think about that at all. I might invest in the Blu-Ray reader, but it's only if I have money remaining after covering everything else for this beast (which I probably won't ).

 

no problem.

 

I just received my 9262 two weeks ago and I am very pleased with it. It truly is a desktop replacement and is meant to be so. People that are looking for simply a portable computer to do limited tasks need not look here.

As far as one or two cards and other options, buying high-end now will last you longer than medium or low end if you use intense applications/games. Mine will last me longer then they guy that bought mid-range and he will end up buying another mid-range before I replace mine.

Future proofing is a farce since computer technology changes every six months and what is great now is a has been in a year. I just bought this with all of the high end pieces and Clevo is doing a revision or a totally new high end model in less than six months.

If you get this set-up loaded, you will not be sorry.

 

Raid 0 is not necessary, unless you are planning on doing serious video or graphics work, Raid 1 is sufficient or just no raid at all, just have one as a backup.

 

I am, in fact, planning to do more or less serious video and graphics work on this laptop
Also, backup is not a problem as I, other than the 320 gb harddrive, already have an external harddisc with 500 gb, which I regularly update, so even if my RAID 0 harddrives failed, I wouldn't lose much of my work. So RAID 1 or 5 is pretty much out of the question.

Also, I prefer being able to move things on my harddrive quickly, as I'm always moving my files around. And to be honest, when I'm already getting a 3.0 ghz quad processor and two 9800 GTX cards, I really think that not getting a fitting read/write speed on my harddrive would be a waste.

 

^^ i have to agree with you there xankage.

and besides..if you want to do back up. just acronis image everything to the 3rd hard drive. and that 3rd hard drive is very easy to replace should you want to do more or switch out a full drive. or you can add an esata pci express card for a few dollars. i did this for my esata drives. that i now don't use.
basically my 3rd hard drive is my software drive for installing and reinstalling of software to any of my 3 partitions on the fly. i get tired of putting in disk or having to do it through the network, when i can storm it all right there. gotta love 3 hard drives!

 

The 900's now have the esata connection, no need for express card. In fact you can get a seperate array set that to Raid 0 and just hook it up when you need it.

 

a 900 huh....

as long as your not talking about a d901c or d900c... because none of these have esata ports

 

I'm sorry to bother you all so much, but buying a Kobalt Comanche SLI (also built on the D901C) has come to my eye... considering the very low pound (Kobalt is from UK) and the much cheaper delivery to Denmark (Kobalt offers it for only 50 pounds compared to XoticPCs over 220 dollars), I'm getting highly in doubt if I should buy my new notebook from Kobalt instead.
Another factor is that this notebook comes with a free (well, it's included and they don't charge anything for it ) three year warranty, where I'd have to pay a hella lot for a XoticPC one. Also, I'd be getting a Danish keyboard layout, which's unavailable from XoticPC.

Anyway, here's what I threw into my shopping card:

Comanche SLI
Chassis - :: Comanche 17" 1920x1200 WUXGA X-Glass
Selected Paint Area - :: None Selected
Custom Paint Colour - :: None Selected
Finish - :: None Selected
Processor - :: Intel® Xeon® X3370 Quad Core Processor 3.0GHz
Video Card - :: 2x NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTX 1GB GDDR3 with NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Memory - :: 6GB DDR2-PC6400 800Mhz 6-6-6-20 1x 2GB, 1x 4GB DIMMs
Hard Drive - :: 250GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache
Hard Drive 2 - :: 250GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache
Hard Drive 3 - :: None Selected
Hard Drive Config 1 - :: RAID 0 - Striped Drive Configuration
7 in 1 card reader - :: 7 in 1 card reader
Operating system 1 - :: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate 64-bit
Operating System 2 - :: None Selected
Keyboard - :: Danish
Optical Device 1 - :: 8x DVD±R/W
Soundcard - :: Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook
TV Tuner - :: None Selected
Headsets - :: None Selected
Notebook Cooler - :: None Selected
External Keyboard - :: None Selected
Mouse - Mouse: None Selected
Mouse Mats - :: Kobalt Mouse Mat
Extra Battery - :: None Selected
2nd AC Adapter - :: None Selected
Warranty - :: 3 Year - European Collect & Return
Dead Pixel Guarantee - :: None Selected
Business Software - :: None selected
System Recovery - :: None Selected
System Recovery - External Image - :: None Selected
Carry Case - :: Standard Carrying Case

However, I'm having a few worries about this build:

1. The processor. I can choose between the Intel Xeon QUAD X3370 and Intel Core 2 QUAD Q9650. They're almost the same price. Which one is better? Also, another thing really confused me, was that the Xeon QUAD X3360 (2,86 ghz) was more expensive than the Xeon X3370. Is that just a discount or does the 3370 have some backside?

2. Ram. Upgrading from 4 to 6 gb ram was only around 30 pounds, and since someone already recommended me to get more ram, I thought it'd be a good idea. Is it?

3. Hard drive. I'd be getting the same 2x250 gb 7400 rpm RAID 0 hard drives as with the Sager, but I excluded the third hard drive. Kobalt offers a 500 gb 5400 rpm hard drive for around 100 pounds, but people told me that it's very easy to install a new one later, so I figured I'd just wait and then buy one later (since I really hit my budgets wall). Is this a good idea or should I get less ram or something else instead?

4. Sound card. I choose the 45-pound-more upgrade to the "Creative Sound Blaster® X-Fi Xtreme Audio Notebook" sound card. I don't want to be carrying speakers around all the time, so good notebook speaker-sound quality is pretty important to me. Will upgrading the sound card really make a different to the sound quality though and is it worth 45 pounds?

5. Experiences with Kobalt. I've only heard posetive things about Sager, but does anyone know anything about Kobalts reputation? Are they as solid built as Sager (they should be, since it's the same barebone, right)?

Sorry for making such a long post with so many questions again, I just really want to get the most out of my money, and you guys are so awesome at helping! Thanks again!

 

adding that sound card means you will be needing extra speakers...
3370=3.0
3360=2.83
3350=2.66
and the xeon 3370 is basically the same as the q9650

 

Thanks for the really fast reply!

How come I will be needing extra speakers if I add that sound card? And if I will, I'm definately dropping it!

If there's no difference at all between the Xeon and Core 2 processor, I'll just go with the Xeon.

 

because the sound card is a addon card (pci-express) that slot on the left side of your computer.

i think it's a naming thing personally. since both chips appear to be identical. xeon and q

 

I see. Thank you very much! I'd have wasted 45 pounds if it wasn't for you.

 

no problem.

 

I have a Clevo D901C based machine with the Xeon 3370. For your purposes it is identical to the Core 2 Q. Sometimes the integrators get better pricing on the Xeon.

Something to remember is that with RAID 0 and no third disk you need to have a backup strategy since if either of your two main disks fail your data will be gone. Same issue about system recovery

I use the third disk as the automatic backup target when I shut down.

Phil Schaadt

 

I think that the Xeon chips are designed for server use, and thus may have a somewhat higher tolerance for long-duration use and somewhat higher operating temps; however, that doesn't give them much of an edge over the standard quad-cores, particularly in the D901C, since the operating thermal range of the D901C - provided it's kept clean and thermal solution is properly applied in the Goldilocks manner (i.e., not too much, not too little, but just right ) - is below the thermal max for the quad-cores as well as, obviously, the Xeon. Basically, it more or less amounts to paying extra money for an unfamiliar chip name and bragging rights - sort of like paying for high-end perfume.

 

^^ yeah, what he said!

 

Looks like I missed a lot of .... "fun" while I was out-of-pocket doing Christmas duty (when you're married, it's "duty" not holidays ).

Anywho, Merry post-Christmas Johnksss! (and everyone else, as well ).

 

merry xmas & a happy new year to you and yours as well. and generally speaking....family comes first!

 

Yeah, merry christmas and happy new year everyone!

Just getting a bit back on topic... how about the ram? Will getting 2 gb (6 gb) more do any difference?

EDIT: Another thing about this... is there any real difference in performance from having 2x2 gb or 1x4 gb ram?
I'm asking this since Kobalt Computers offers 4 gb as 2x2 gb (4GB DDR2-PC6400 800Mhz 5-5-5-15 2x 2GB DIMMs) for 36 pounds, while a 1x4 gb (4GB DDR2-PC6400 800Mhz 6-6-6-20 1x 4GB DIMMs) is 260 pounds.

Since that this is a pretty big price difference, I was wondering if there was any real speed/performance difference (other than being able to get more ram with the 1x4 gb, since you still have one slot left)? And if I was getting a 1x4 gb, it'd be stupid not getting an additional 1x2 gb (so it'd be 6 gb; 1x4 gb+1x2 gb), since that's only 293 pounds (33 pouds more), right?

This leads me back to the first question: Is there really a big difference between 6 gb and 4 gb ram, both DDR2 800 mhz - and is it worth paying 257 pounds for?

 

I'll be ordering my new Kobalt Commanche SLI notebook from Kobalt Computers later today... here's what I'll be getting:

Comanche SLI
Chassis - :: Comanche 17" 1920x1200 WUXGA X-Glass
Selected Paint Area - :: None Selected
Custom Paint Colour - :: None Selected
Finish - :: None Selected
Processor - :: Intel® Xeon® X3370 Quad Core Processor 3.0GHz
Video Card - :: 2x NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GTX 1GB GDDR3 with NVIDIA® SLI™ Technology
Memory - :: 4GB DDR2-PC6400 800Mhz 5-5-5-15 2x 2GB DIMMs
Hard Drive - :: 250GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache
Hard Drive 2 - :: 250GB 7,200rpm SATA-II with 16MB Cache
Hard Drive 3 - :: 500GB 5,400rpm SATA-II with 8MB Cache
Hard Drive Config 1 - :: RAID 0 - Striped Drive Configuration
7 in 1 card reader - :: 7 in 1 card reader
Operating system 1 - :: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Ultimate 64-bit
Operating System 2 - :: None Selected
Keyboard - :: Danish
Optical Device 1 - :: 8x DVD±R/W
Soundcard - :: Integrated High Definition Audio
TV Tuner - :: None Selected
Headsets - :: None Selected
Notebook Cooler - :: None Selected
External Keyboard - :: None Selected
Mouse - Mouse: None Selected
Mouse Mats - :: Kobalt Mouse Mat
Extra Battery - :: None Selected
2nd AC Adapter - :: None Selected
Warranty - :: 3 Year - European Collect & Return
Dead Pixel Guarantee - :: None Selected
Business Software - :: None selected
System Recovery - :: None Selected
System Recovery - External Image - :: None Selected
Carry Case - :: Standard Carrying Case

I just want to thank everyone for helping me, espcially with the Vista/XP!

Any last remaks?

 

^^AAGGHH, my eyes, my eyes!

Oh well, at least the font wasn't in red or something else even worse!

 

I realized that, I was thinking of the new one coming next year sometime that will have the esata port. Feels like its already is here thats how bad I'm looking forward to it.

 

hopefully it will. and with over clocking..would make it the king of the hill on all fronts once again. right now it's still king of performance.

 

Autocad supports SLI?

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/item?siteID=123112&id=12051604&linkID=9240617

Photoshop supports SLI?

http://www.adobeforums.com/webx/.59b6c1a0

dvdshrink?

Defenitly not!

Neither the rest of professional apps support or benefit from SLI atm!!!!!!!!

Whoever says otherwise simply does not know what is talking about!!!!!!! Sorry had to be so blunt and direct.

Just to get some info straight about what SLI can do for you atm.

Have fun XanKage with your new beast.

Trance
DVDShrink benefiting from SLI, oh that made my day lolol. Sorry.