Clevo (Sager, Alienware, etc.) Santa Rosa DX10 Notebooks

Tomorrow is going to be the day where we finally see all that Clevo and companies have to offer for Santa Rosa/DX10 notebooks! Does anyone have any insider information that was leaked about them?

 

Not that I know of. This should be exciting.

 

What is going to happen tomorrow? Can you fill me in?

Thanks

Trance

 

See original post ...

 

Sorry, the original post is vague. I thought it was some kind of event were all the mentioned brands would be in. I was looking for a URL.

Anyway thanks recursive and smart reply ...

 

Ah, sorry. It is just a day where all the major companies are allowed to release information and products to the public about a specific advance, this day being Santa Rosa and some miscellaneous elements.

So just expect tomorrow to see some new products out on the market!

 

You can check my signature for more information on the Intel Santa Rosa platform. Here's an example of some newly-announced notebooks:
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3687

 

Excellent, thank you Chaz!

I wish HP would come out with high-end notebooks. Everything about them is "just enough", except for the video which is lacking. It's not bad atm, but its still technically mid-range... 8600M.

That seems to be how they work though. Even now you can't get a 7950gtx, or even a 7900gs for that matter, from them.

 

Been looking. Yes HP, Compaq and Zepto are pushing. But at this time no news in NVIDIA website regarding M8600 GT (or the M8*** family actualluy), Clevo site doesn't even mention the D900C on their list much more the the RU, Alienware nothing. Guess we will have to wait some more days or weeks to have some real info regarding this (benchmarks etc).

Trance

 

It's 8***m. Goto the NVIDIA website and check it out so far. No mention of Clevo or anythign though. They do say Enthusiest G8M is coming in the summer though.

 

http://www.rockforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=10960
Some early info on Clevo's lineup which Rock carries. They say 8600 is as high as it goes for Santa Rose so far. It will get better as the platform matures.

 

Yeah, went to NVIDIA website and the 8*M series is alreadyd there.

Trance

 

This is a disaster... I need a good G80M notebook before July . Bah.

Maybe I'll be lucky enough to swap the videocard out... I would think an 8600 to 8800 something would likely be feasible.

 

"Clevo makes some of the most powerful notebooks available...There's a lot missing, there's no contacts on the bottom, the mounting holes are totally misplaced...This is obviously not MXM. For further reference, one of the pictures our reader has taken."

So, is what I read from that website (thanks for the link btw) basically saying that my clevo notebook (M570u) is not compatible with the new mobile DX10 cards that will be coming out?

 

Ice-Tea can explain it best, but I will try.

Clevo and MXM

Clevo does NOT use standard MXM, they (as well as some other ODMs) use proprietary videocard module designs.

So the "design" will determine the capable upgrades of GPUs for the future.

The newest Clevo D900C and M570RU have the lastest Clevo videocard module design.... although they call it MXM-IV, from previous experience with Clevo gaming notebooks, I am very confident that the new Clevo modular videocards are proprietary. To date the only card that has been tested successfully and will be shipped with these new Clevo models is the NVIDIA 7950GTX (new modular design). The 8700M GT has been rumored for these notebooks as well, but there is no official specs on the card itself... but from experience, its probably on par or better than the card that it will be replacing [in this case it should perform as well or better than the 7950GTX w/ DX10 support].

The current and previous Clevo's (D900T/K, M570U, M590K/KE, etc...) all have the last generation modular design... in which the best card up-to-date is the NVIDIA 7950GTX. There is no word about newer cards (DX10) that would be available for this "older" modular design, but it seems doubtful.... because the newer DX10 GPUs [especially high-end ones] will require more optimizations in power consumption and heat dispersion.

Hope this clears things up.
-Gophn

P.S. I guess I should include this in my next revision of the Clevo Guide... lemme finish my finals first.

 

Hp just bought Voo Doo to enter the gaming machine market.

 

Is this just for Rock's notebooks, or will this be true for all vendors that use Clevo notebooks, such as Sager?

 

i think that we cant say officially, but the 8600 should not be the only DX10 card for these high-end notebooks because the 8600 are really weak and mid-range even compared to the current NVIDIA 7950GTX.

 

Gophn,

I can throw a clevo 7950GTX in my d900k even though supply at a decent cost are holding me back .

The d900c which also features that same 7950GTX (?) will most likely support upcoming dx10 cards while my d900k will not? Or am I incorrect in assuming the two cards are the same?

I can understand voltage and cooling requirements but it seems the form factor is the same...

 

The two cards [in this comparison D900K and D900C] are different in modular design. They both have the same GPU though.

the D900K is using the "old" Clevo modular design, while the new Clevo models [D900C and M570RU] appear to have a newer design... mainly for the purpose to have a chance to upgrade to a power hungry high-end DX10 card

I would not say that its out of the question that they may still be an upgrade (DX10) for the "older" modular designs, but it is very doubtful because with power and heat dispersion requirements, the best card that can be put in to the "old" modules cannot exceed the requirements of the current 7950GTX [.... in other words the near perfect DX10 performer to the mobile 7950GTX is the desktop NVIDIA 8600 Ultra].

Only time will tell.

P.S. As for the heat and form factor within the D900K/T, its gotten so much more improved in the next models [M570U, M590K/KE, etc..] since they have heat pipes and more area for the heatsink that extends... which has shown a dramatic decrease in heat (about 15-30% . So a hotter card would not be ideal for the good ole D900T/K chassis.

 

I've been waiting to buy a Clevo until there is an official announcement regarding the support for the new DX10 cards on these year's new models. For instance we still don't know officially from Clevo how far will D900c go in terms supporting DX10 video cards. This bugs me a little bit since it is already shipping as far as the news go. Why would I buy (as of pay more) an upgradable laptop if the latest supported video card is already installed in with no garantees of supporting newer ones? I see no reason for that but some might ....

Trance

 

Of course the vendors and resellers of the D900C would not go on any rumors about DX10 upgradeability (I, as well as you, should not expect them to).

The fact is that Clevo has marketed this notebook to support high-end DX10.
Why would they [use so much money and resources to] make a new videocard modular design and increased the power (wattage) if they are not going to really do anything with it [in terms of innovation]?

I am personally confident that high-end DX10 will surface on these beasts by year's end.

 

"The fact is that Clevo has marketed this notebook to support high-end DX10"

Apart from opinion user opinions where does Clevo say it will support the new DX10 video cards when it comes to to D900c? I mean officially. Clevo regarding this laptop as been avoiding the issue officially. If they said it will but we are not sure how, they could put in place some kind of upgrade plan with no cost for the user (I mean if something needs to be changed apart from the video card).

Anyway, I'm just stating my frustration. I've been hearing multiple things about this laptop for about 5 months now regarding the video card!

Trance

 

upgrade cost is never free for the user.

if you want a better videocard you would ideal want it with the system.

if you bought the system earlier with a different card, there are upgrade pricings.

I remember when I got my D900K with 7800GTX and 2-3 months later the 7900GTX came out, they said it would cost me about $300-500 (depending on vendor/reseller) to upgrade... meaning that I swap out my card for the new one.

The cost of a high-end Clevo modular videocard usually floats around $500-550 for consumers to get. I decided to keep mine and get the upgrade myself so I would have 2 cards instead on one and lose $300-500.

 

"upgrade cost is never free for the user."

True and understandable.

Upgrade costs to supported video cards should be at most the cost of buying the new video card (if one is installing by him self). In this case and becouse there is no official announce regarding D900C and DX10 support I have no garantee of that being the case.

"If you want a better videocard you would ideal want it with the system."

True but the reason why you go for an upgradable laptop is becouse you plan to upgrade sometime in the future right? If there are no official garantees of that then defeats the purpose I think.

Trance

 

I plan on getting the 7950GTX (or better... if thats going to happen with the "older" modular design).

At the moment I am content with the performance of the 7800GTX, it still outperforms the 7900GS and the new mobile 8600GT.

Getting the 7950GTX will be great to increase 256mb of dedicated memory and a faster clock... but for $500, I am hesitant until I have disposable income.

 

Thank you Gophn for the time. I guess the reason why I'm planning to buy Clevo is due to the fact it's upgradable. I'm planning to buy the D900c with 7950GTX or better and then in 1 to 2 years upgrade it to a bettter video card (as 7950GTX are at a good price at the moment). But for now I'm waiting for an officiall annoucement regarding DX10 support, becouse if it doesn't due to some reason I have other options.

Trance

 

Hey Trance,

I understand where you're coming from. Actually I have seen materials from Clevo (their web site and official presentation information) stating that they will support the latest DX10 graphics modules for the D900C. However, I'm still a little wary, only because I've heard vendors say that Clevo can't guarantee these parts as an upgrade for the current system. I understand if they don't want to make promises they're not sure they can keep, but it seems like they're outright contradicting the ODM... so I dunno.

But yeah, the whole reason for me going for the D900C and Clevo would be the upgradability feature. If I'm buying a laptop for the next 3 years or so, I want it to either have a DX10 gaming quality graphics card already installed, or be able to get one installed in a year or so. Since they are so close to release, I think I'd be shooting myself in the foot if I didn't aim for DX10. I know there aren't any games out right now that really utilize it, but I'm talking about a machine that I would use for a while.

So I hope we get some conclusive news soon about video card upgrades on this machine.

 

The Eurocom D900C page used to say it would be upgradable to 8xxx series cards, but it's not there now. Either they're just not supposed to say anything, or the figured it would no longer be upgradable.

 

I just want a nvidia 8800 series card in one of my laptops before the semester starts, and hopefully it is the 5760RU. I hate being in the dark like this.

 

Are the M570RU's even upgradable or only the "D" series laptops? ...Also which ones are the quietest? I'm planning on purchasing one for my main Audio/Gaming rig.

 

The D900 series are not known for being the quietest because they usually have 1 or more fans than the M570 series.

Although from the most recent impressions of the D900C, it seems that Clevo has been improving their thermal designs to make the DTR's even more quiet.

 

You can download product guides, at least for M570U that has an upgrade section.

Also, I just noticed a Santa Rosa notebook on the Clevo site. But it has intigrated graphics.