Buying this laptop from Mythologic Clevo P377SM-A Please assist me on configuring

Hello:

My budget is between $4000 to $5000. This is my configuration so far:

System Memory 16GB (4 x 4GB) , PC3-14900, 1866MHz SODIMM

Video Adapter 2 x nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 (SLI)

Optical Notebook Black 6X BD-ROM/5X DVD+RW Blu-Ray Combo Drive

Wireless Card KILLER WirelessN 1202 - Designed for the best wireless gaming, HD video and audio experience

CPU Intel Core i7-4910MQ 2.9GHz, 8M L3 Cache, 22nm, DDR3L-1600MHz, Quad-Core Mobile Processor


I am confused about the msata SSD/ Hard drive part. Do I need to add Msata SSD drives or can I go to HDD only? I want 1TB SSD.


What should I change here as well? Should I go 4940MX?

 

If you're going to spend this much on this speed demon, I strongly suggest getting a SSD otherwise your HDD will be the bottleneck of your system. That said, you don't need mSata. As far as I know the performance is similar. You might want however 2x 512gb ssd in RAID 0. Also do you have external drives? 1tb total isn't much storage. I don't know your needs but when you spend that much on a machine, I assume you want flexibility. 1TB SSD for the stuff you access frequently is nice but maybe an internal hdd for backup or storage would be nice.

As for the CPU, letting us know what your use of the machine is going to be would help a lot. A 4940 may or may not be overkill. Also think about the cooling of the machine, you might be better with an inferior CPU in the end.

About your ram. If you're going all in like this, why do you want 4x 4gb over 2x 8gb so you can upgrade later?

 

So far as I know (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) mSATA is just a smaller, more convenient form factor than the 2.5" HDD/SSD.

For that system, it's entirely up to you - you can get up to 2 mSATA drives and up to 3 2.5" drives at the same time... or you can get 1 mSata only, or 1 HDD only, or a mix of the two. It all comes down to your preferences for capacity, total system weight, and cost.

If it were me (I WISH) I would keep the CPU at 4910MQ, bump the RAM to 32GB (4x8GB), get a 512GB Crucial 550 mSATA as my OS drive, and 2x 1TB Crucial M550 2.5" SSDs for storage, total price $4706. Or 2x 500GB Samsung EVO mSATA in RAID 0 for OS, and 2x 1TB Crucial M550 2.5" for data and backup, total price $4978.

Have fun and good luck!

 

I suspect it's because Mythlogic doesn't offer a 2x8GB DDR3-1866 option.

 

wow thats gonna be a kick-a$$ config, i like

first of all, u can use intel xtu to overclock the 4910MQ by 600 mhz, so no need for an xm cpu (at least at first, u still got the option to upgrade later on)

loving those 980Ms in SLI!!!!

make sure to OC the ram to 2133 mhz as well

as for the msata/2.5" sata: u can do either or both! if u want 1TB u could go for a raid 0 config with two 512gb drives, might as well be samsung 850 pros that way ull have double the performance of a single 1tb drive at the same capacity

cheers!

edit: lol oh wow in the time it took me to finish my post there were three others before me already haha

 

I just want gaming and normal applications. I want to play all games on Max 1080p 60FPS. Does RAM really matter?

Let's say my budget is $4500.00, what would you change on my config?

 

ram doesnt really matter but why not go all out on such a budget? so yeah, id stick to the 4910mq, oc it by 600mhz, get 2 or three ssds in raid 0, leave the rest as it is and ure good to go

 

I see.

Question, what is the difference between the two:

Notebook Black 6X BD-ROM/5X DVD+RW Blu-Ray Combo Drive

Notebook Black 6X BD-R / 6X BD-ROM / 8X DVD+RW Blu-Ray Combo Drive

 

first one is a blurayplayer/dvd burner, second one can burn blurays as well as dvds

 

This one can only read BluRay disks.

This one can both read and write BluRay disks.

You're probably fine going with the first one, unless you think you'll need to be copying BluRays or using them as backup media.

 

Should I purchase a year warranty? Also is it true that they can upgrade your system in the future as long as you pay?

 

I've gotten systems from Dell with a 3-year warranty before, and it paid off well: they replaced almost the entire system twice over before it expired. Then again, Dell provided in-home service for the systems I bought, so I didn't have to ship it in.

The system should come with a 1 year warranty already? The only thing you're buying is extending the free shipping on warranty claims from 45 days to a full year. With your budget, it might be work going with 2 years, or even 3.

The upgrade thing is kinda cool - as I understand it, they're giving you the labor for an upgrade for free for life. All you have to do is buy the hardware, and send the system to them, and they'll install it for free.

 

i can tell u from (pretty recent) experience: whenever u make such an investment, always go for the maximum warranty possible! unless u plan to switch rigs in 1-2 years anyways. the warranty upgrade is totally worth it and its only a fraction of the total system price

 

Keep in mind not all future hardware will work. Things like CPU most likely wont once the next gens are released as they use different sockets, and GPU's are hit and miss. Other things that are using the same standard like RAM and SSD there should be no problems upgrading.

 

Ok, this is the new config. Let me know if this is good for the price/performance

Intel® Core™ i7-4910MQ Processor (2.90GHz), 8MB L3 Cache
17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) Matte 72% NTSC Color Gamut LED Backlit LCD
16GB (4 x 4GB) , PC3-12800, 1600MHz SODIMM
2 x nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 (SLI)
Notebook Black 6X BD-ROM/5X DVD+RW Blu-Ray Combo Drive
RAID 0 | 2 Disk Min. Striped set, improved performance, additional storage drive highly recommended
Crucial M550 512GB mSATA SATA III 6GB/sec Solid State Drive
Samsung 512GB 850 PRO Series SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
Samsung 512GB 850 PRO Series SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
KILLER WirelessN 1202 - Designed for the best wireless gaming, HD video and audio experience
Windows 7 Home Premium
MYTH Lifetime Assurance with Lifetime Labor + 2 Years Parts Warranty, 2 Yrs 2-Way Shipping Cont US
SLAPPA KIKEN "FULL KIT" Bundle-18"

Total price $4,485.68

Any changes? I am just a hardcore gamer that loves to play 1080p 60FPS on future/current games Max settings and watching movies. I do not OC or benchmark.

 

Drop to the 4810MQ, grab two 1TB samsung drives and drop the M550.

This gives you more storage (at full speed) and lets you expand later.

For the same reason go for 16GB (2x8GB) ram sticks, same amount but two free slots to go for 24GB (2x8 + 2x4) or 32GB (4x8) later.

 

Samsung 840 or Samsung 850?

 

The tech side of me says the 850pro, it's the new 3D NAND based device which should stay fast and keep going into the petabytes of wrties range.

The sensible side of me says while the EVO is traditional 2D NAND based (TLC), most users will still get years and years out of it and is still going to be lighting quick.

If it were me and had that budget (considering I already slimmed your spend down) I would treat myself to the 850pro

 

DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES PURCHASE A KILLER WIRELESS CARD. It has an extremely high failure rate and can cause you endless headaches if you happen to get a bad chip. Go for the intel 7260ac wireless and enjoy your machine.

Aside from that it looks great. I also suggest 3 years warranty. You don't spend that much without making sure it lasts ya; it should be a drop in the ocean at this point.

With regards to the SSDs, what meaker said is perfectly fine. I like the 840 Pro performance and it does last longer than the 840 Evo (and this translates to 850 Evo and Pro models) but we're talking several hundred terabytes of writes here. So you'll be fine with two 1TB mSATA SSDs and you can put in other HDDs/SSDs in the 2.5" slots later on. Go for 850 Pros if you want =D

Same for the RAM, get 2 x 8GB if you can.

 

I agree with the 2 x 8GB ram and don't get the killer card. Get the Intel AC 7260. I have this one and it works very well. Strong signal.

EDIT:
I wouldn't spend money on the 72% gamut screen either. I had one like it and it was so grainy I bought a glossy version of the same model and swapped it myself. Took about 20 minutes and cost less than $100.. Lots of people don't like the the glossy screen though. <shrug>

 

Agreed on the Intel AC versus Killer.

I read on the P17x owners' lounge that there were some quirks with 8GB single modules in that model (regardless of mem brand), don't know if the P37x the same or even if Clevo fixed that on the P17x. Also I'd try to get some CL9 RAM given you're going all out and it's pretty cheap.

I'd also get 2 crucial mx550 for total of 2TB.

But other than that, WOW! Hope you have some friends with desktops and you can just casually suggest a Firestrike comparison 'on the fly'

 

Ok I changed my wireless to Intel AC.

Should I get a mouse from that website?

 

Depends if they offer the kind you like.

 

Totally up to you, but I'd suggest you consider the Perixx M2000IIB ($27 om Amazon)

Obviously everyone's tastes are different, but I find it to be quite smooth, adjustable sensitivity, responsive, nicely weighted, good quality, plenty of buttons, and it fits my hand and grip perfectly. And for $27, who could ask for more?

 

Nice. Wait let me ask. Someone said OC the ram. How do I do that and what are the pros and cons for that?

 

normally by using intel xtu, but the ram is basically the last thing u need to worry about when ocing, start with the gpu

 

Con of OC'ing the RAM is instability for minimal gains.

 

Yes it's the final thing for people who get their systems just so.

 

Ok this is my final config. Tell me if I need to change anything. Again, I am only for 1080p 60fps max settings gameplay and future proof:


Intel® Core™ i7-4810MQ Processor (2.90GHz), 8MB L3 Cache
17.3" Full HD (1920x1080) Matte LED Backlit LCD
16GB (2 x 8GB) , PC3-12800, 1600MHz SODIMM
2 x nVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 8GB GDDR5 (SLI)
Notebook Black 6X BD-ROM/5X DVD+RW Blu-Ray Combo Drive
RAID 0 | 2 Disk Min. Striped set, improved performance, additional storage drive highly recommended

Samsung 1TB 850 PRO Series SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
Samsung 1TB850 PRO Series SATA III 6Gb/s Solid State Drive
3 Year Warranty
Pixel Perfect guarantee


Total $4810

What is a good bag for this laptop?

 

A good bag depends on what you want to carry. Just the machine or other items as well?

That machine looks ready for some buttery smooth game play.

 

Laptop and other items. What would you recommend?

 

Well I use an evereki titan to carry my 9570 with its two bricks and then clothes and documents.