Can anyone help make sure I spec this right

1) What is your budget?
2-3k possibly

2) What size notebook would you prefer?
heading to college so it will be a desktop to me and a laptop.

3) Where will you buying this notebook? You can select the flag of your country as an indicator.
USA I suppose
4) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
Buying sager 5797 most likely

5) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook?
Gaming, I am acompetition gamer so peak FPS performance is a must. (games like cod4 and the newer cod's plus I will likely play Diablo 3 if it ever comes out)

6) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both?
both.

7) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games or types of games?
First-person shooter mostly. Call of Duty 4, 5, CA, diablo etc..

8) How many hours of battery life do you need?
If I play I will plug it into the AC. When I am not playing... mh, not sure 2 hours?

9) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK?
Online is fine.

10) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista), Mac OS, Linux, etc.
I dont mind vista or xp.

Screen Specifics

11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
native resolution is fine.

12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Dont care

Build Quality and Design

13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Not really.

14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
Next month, would be nice. Hopefully last a couple of years.
Notebook Components

15) How much hard drive space do you want; 80GB to 500GB? Do you want a SSD drive?
320GB 7200 sounds good.

16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive?
Regular optical drive.


now onto what I specced my 5797 (this is subject ot change and any input... keep in mind I need good Frames per second that are stable mostly for online gaming)

Chassis Color
Orange Trim
Display
17" Wide Viewing Angles WSXGA+ LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1680 x 1050)
Proccessor
45nm Intel® Core™ 2 Quad Processor Q9100 / 12MB L2 Cache, 2.26GHz, 1066MHz FSB
Video and Graphics Card
Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M Graphics with 1GB DDR3 Video Memory
Operating System
Genuine MS Windows® VISTA Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition
Memory
4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1066MHz - 2 X 2048MB
Hard Drive
320GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
Optical Drive
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
Intel Robson Technology
None (what is this?)

Everything else is fine.

 

In my opinion I'd go with a higher core2duo than a low quad processor, for gaming.

 

Or a higher Quad?

 

well yes. or that. But a higher quad is going to be a bit more expensive. Where as I believe the lower quad is about the same as the 2nd best duo

 

From what I've heard, the games that will depend alot on cpu will need quad-core to work best (like GTA IV, supreme commander, UT3), so I'd go with the quad. (12mb cache and 2.26ghz is still quite good even for normal apps and games)

 

I would go with the quad too. A higher clocked Core2duo isn't going to make much difference considering most games are GPU dependent but a Quad will give you the better performance with those Quad core optimised games.

Also consider that quite a few people purchase 2.26 Ghz Core2duos in their gaming laptops with no problems because it has been paired with a powerful GPU.

A higher clocked Quad will not be cost efficient for a while yet though.

 

you can overclock the quad core i selected right?

 

You can't. It would be worth spending the extra money on the QX9300. Or you can take the base processor and buy Soviet's q9100 for ~$325 on the marketplace

 

The quads aren't worth $710 or $915. Period. If you aren't willing to buy one cheaper and install it yourself, just get the T9800. Neither quad is worth 2x-3x more than this processor.

 

i wouldnt go overboard with speccing a 5797 for college. a hell of a lot of things happen with college student's laptops (read: drunk chicks spilling beer on it)

on a more serious note, i couldnt justify going anything over the 2.66 Duo when speccing mine

 

Have been going over this myself a lot too being as that the q9000 2ghz =
t9600 2.8 ghz in price.
I went with the t9600 bc of the higher clockspeed but Im still not 100% sure lol I do edit videos (hd) I can do that semi ok on my old laptop (ordered a xxodd m570tu-2/sager 5979) which has an old core2duo 2ghz so the extra ghz will help a bit I hope.
I'd buy the higher quads in a heartbeat if they were cheaper they're much too expensive imo.