Doubts about my 9262

So I'm waiting for the backordered 9262, and I've started skimming the 3dmarks on the latest desktop systems.. and I've seen some as high as 24000... considering the 9262 should only get about 13.5k or so, sometimes I wonder if it'd be wise to get a medium to low end laptop for mobility and get a desktop.. I used to need a laptop for the mobility and power, but now being a mechanic the last laptop I got (5760) I was happy with. It still played the games coming out today even (except for Crysis of course), but in about two years time it was getting low-to-middle-end in the gaming world.

Anyone know the approximate price of a desktop system that could produce 20k 3dmarks? I really like the mobility of a laptop, and have gotten used to it these past few years.. it's just seeing those scores vs 9262 gave me pause. Anyone else have similar feelings?

EDIT: I just read a 'rumor' about Vista throttling 3dmark06 scores under 14k? Any truth to this?

 

in order to hit 20K w/o overclocking, I guess you will need SLI 280 or SLI 9800 GX2, which cost $400 each I heard? plus liquid cooling and all other stuffs, probably $2000-$2500. i suck on desktop tho so I could be wrong.

 

In terms of desktop vs NP9262 performance, you will almost certainly be able to get more performance out of a desktop, dollar for dollar, than the 9262 and, considering that you can get a reasonable notebook capable of handling basic tasks like word processing, web surfing, email, and the like for about $500 to $600, you can certainly get as much, if not more, performance out of a desktop for the balance of what you would have spent for a fully decked out NP9262.

For example, without spending much time to find and configure the cheapest system with the best performance/dollar ratio, I found this system on TigerDirect priced out at about $2,800. Add that to the cost of a $500 basic notebook, and you're only out of pocket $3,300, which is in the ballpark for a pretty well kitted-out NP9262.

If you don't have a good reason for going with the NP9262 as your primary gaming system (e.g., even if the system is going to remain at home all the time, do you need the ability to move it ocassionally, or the ability to easily close it up in one package to store it out of harm's way when not in use), then you should probably go with a performance desktop and a basic notebook.

 

You're going to get so much better gaming performance from a desktop based system, that's true. When you consider the number of people out there that want the latest and greatest, and how those same people literally just will DUMP the 3 or 6 month old (perfectly capable) technology for a fraction of what they paid for it... you can really build or buy a nice gaming rig that technology hounds consider junk.

To give you an example, yesterday I had a couple X9000 Penryn processors, worth nearly a grand a few months ago... I literally called old customers and traded in their T9500's for $150 and shipping. What am I going to do with x9000's now???

You may also consider a used notebook that is a capable gamer. I mean, you're already thinking 13,500 3D06 numbers. Those people are out there too. I have a customer that bought an Executioner with 8800 GTX and x9000 CPU, he found that he uses his MacBook Pro more because he thought he wanted to have a 17"... until he got it. The thing is new for all intents and purposes. There are people out there where you can just clean-up on good deals. I would look around and see what you can see. You can always re-order if you don't find what you're looking for.

Actually, now that I think about it, as I write this, I am building an Odachi for entry into the World's Fastest Notebook shootout against DELL, Alienware, VooDoo, and Falcon. When it comes back from review... the thing is on the chopping block for what I have into it.

So either, save your money and get the 12-14,000 class used notebook, or the killer desktop with a lessor secondary notebook, or some combination of those. I listed perfect examples of cutting edge that you can buy at reduced prices. Ebay is your friend. I'm sure this forum is rife with people with "good stuff".

 

thanks everyone.. is there some sort of directory to see what component's compatible with what? I haven't built a computer is a looooong time and everything's kinda bewildering. I'm looking at getting say a ATI4870 SLI'ed system to compare to the 9262...

 

A number of online sites (e.g., Tigerdirect) have configurators that will provide you with a menu of the available options they provide for each of their base models. While that's not ideal in terms of maximizing what you can get, it's a good place to start to get your feet wet again and to get a sense of what goes with what.

 

Here's your board: http://www.provantage.com/asus-kfn32-dsli~7ASUS1MT.htm $339
Here's your CPU's: Dual AMD Opteron 2218's $150 (2 CPU's x 2 Cores x 2 Ghz = 8 Ghz processing power - I have these you can basically have for $150)
Here's your 8 GB of ECC RAM: http://cgi.ebay.com/8GB-8x-1GB-DDR2-667-ECC-RAM-MACPRO-MEMORY-APPLE-MAC-PRO_W0QQitemZ160266096506QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item160266096506&_trkparms=72%3A392%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318 $245
Here's your 9800 GTX SLi video cards: http://cgi.ebay.com/EVGA-512-P3-N873-AR-e-GeForce-9800-GTX-512MB-DDR3-NEW_W0QQitemZ200242851177QQcmdZViewItem?hash=item200242851177&_trkparms=72%3A392%7C39%3A1%7C66%3A2%7C65%3A12&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14.l1318 $430 (for 2)
Add another $200 for hard drives, $150 for a case, $200 for power supply, $150 for 64 bit OS (for the 8 GB of Ram support), and $150 misc optical drive, wiring, etc. and you're done for two grand out the door.

You've got a dual - dual core server board with 8 GB of ECC RAM, and dual 9800 GTX's in SLi, not to mention a $200 bulletproof P.S. and minimum of a 1TB of storage with a $200 hard drive budget and one sweet case. Don't forget to add your monitor if you don't have one.

 

Wow... thanks! I'm definitely waffling now. Again, thanks for all that.

 

Yes. You are absolutely right. A desktop can be tricked out way more than ANY notebook. Yes, it's also cheaper. Now, fold your desktop, screen, keyboard, mouse, and sound system in half, stick it in your backpack, and leave. From what I have seen, a 9262 gets pretty damn close to a serious desktop when tricked out a bit. Oh, and it gets up and goes with you.

If it's gonna sit still for the whole time, yeah, get a desktop. but if you need to be several different places, such as school, work, on the road, and you still want your primary system with you at all times, keep with the Sager.

 

See my signature. I am currently run dual 4870s in CROSSFIRE (Sli is nVidia). Overall, my system cost me....well hard to say, I upgrade parts every couple months it seems, but I would have to guess at about 2-2.5K. I have not broken 20k on 3Dmark yet....Once my watercooling system is installed (in a week or two, parts are arriving) I should be able to push the CPU over 4gig and the cards a little harder. At stock clocks my system only hits 15-16k on 3Dmark06.

Those systems that are scoring over 20k are seriously overclocked top of the line machines. Not your everyday gamer....
The 9262 is the best portable gamer out there, it just depends on how much time you spend on the road and if it is worth it to take those games with you. Don't let "3Dmarks" be the only reason you buy or not buy something.

 

I just opted to go for a desktop machine thanks to a recent promotion at work which changed me from working overnight, basically playing games while getting payed, to working daytime. Here is what I settled on, and it was 1700BEFORE tax. 1900otd with shipping. Now mind you... I have a screen, case, mouse and keyboard already.

Asus Rampage X48 Mobo
Q9450 2.66gig quad processor at 1333Mhz fsb
4gig Mushkin DDR2 1066mhz 5-5-5-15 (I think) ram
1000W Toughpower power supply
1TB Samsung 7200RPM HardDrive
EVGA Nvidia 280GTX card
Windows Vista 64bit

I am going to be adding a 300$ water cooling kit from Petras Tech Shop , www.petrastechshop.com, which will allow me to overclock the OCHappy Q9450 and the 280GTX card quite substantially.

So... with the water cooling kit, I got it all for 2k before tax. I say before tax because if you order from newegg.com, and you dont live in a state where they have a service hub, you dont pay taxes.

This system should turn out to be a damn strong system, especially watercooled, and would allow for very smooth high end gaming. With the possibility to add another 280GTX card in the future, the system is strong on the future proof side aswell. Currently the Q9450 should overclock to mid 3's without much problem. We will have to see what happens when the Nehalem processors come out, but still... strong system for not THAT much coin.

!!Edit!!
Oh and btw... build your own system, dont use the sites that build it for you. Spend the time to ask questions of friends, or on other websites as to whether or not certain components fit together. It will save you a LOT of money. I took a look at that Tiger site, wow... overpriced IMO. Go to sites like www.newegg.com and browse around untill you have a system that fits your needs and wants. Should save you a lot of money.

 

I agree totally. Last night I tried my best and 'built' a computer via Newegg's wishlists, and I ended up with a 4870 crossfire system WITH KEYBOARD AND MONITOR for about 2200. I just need to make doubly sure the everything is compatible with everything.

I think this should work: https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=8548712

 

That's an interesting tidbit of info - thanks. I'd just gone to the Tigerdirect configurator for lack of any other simple way to get a quick example, and without having much context in terms of desktops, that configurator seemed minimally acceptable. Should I ever be in need of a desktop, I will certainly stay away from the gilded cage of easy configurators.

 

It really boils down to what your passion is. I see people selling their high end gaming rigs, just to get a laptop that doesn’t even come close to the performance of their desktop. I know I’m a notebook enthusiast, since I use my D810 95 percent of the time, over my desktop that has an 8800GTS. I was using my desktop just a few minutes ago, and quickly realized that I don’t have half the stuff on it, as I do on my laptop. Rather it’s my phone software to my IPod stuff, most if not all of every accessory I have is in some way connected to my laptop, not desktop. Even being in the same room with my desktop, my laptop is what I prefer. It is setting on a chair or roll able table top next to my bed, on 24/7. As soon as my Sager arrives, my desktop will be formatted and given to my father as a gift. I don’t play games as much as I use to, so maybe that has a lot to do with it. One thing I do know is this; there is no replacement for a good laptop. But a desktop, heck yeah there is a notebook!

 

Our main business for the last 3 years until we expanded into laptops was high end overclocked desktop systems (air and water cooled). If you want 20,000 3DMarl06 then here's an example of one of systems we shipped last week:

Intel Q9550 overclocked to 3.5GHz on Thermalright Ultra Extreme 120 HS
OCZ DDR3 4GB 1333MHz overclocked to 1650MHz @ 7-7-7-20 (linked and sync)
ASUS Striker II Extreme motherboard
2 x BFG 280GTX

Also had a Coolermaster Realpower 850W, Bluray drive, 500GB Samsung etc etc

In 3DMark06 in Vista HP 64 scores 19,500

COD4 average fps 260 @ 1920 x 1200 everything on higest settings

Cod4 average fps 120 @ 2560 x 1200 everything on highest settings

The main reason for SLI 280GTX was because our customer wanted a 30" Dell 3008 monitor, I would suggest a single 280GTX is adequate for 1600 x 1200 gaming and also 1920 x 1200 apart from the freak that is Crysis (though you'll still get 50-60fps average in DX9 mode on High.

A system we had in a UK magasine recently was watercooled, painted etc and had a QX9650 @ 4GHz, 4GB DDR2 OCZ Reaper and we went through two GPU configs. It was on an ASUS Maximus Extreme (build quite a few months ago now) and we had 2 x 3870X2 cards in Crossfire at first that scored about 23,000 in 3DMark06 (Vista 64). Unfortunately The drivers were rubbish and we decided to sumbit the system to the magasine with a single 9800GX2 (this was before the 260s and 280GTXs were released). Although the 9800GX2 only scored 21,500 it was much better in gaming and was running Crysis on High at 1920 x 1200 about 50 fps.

TBH it's worth forgetting about 3DMark scores. Start with the monitor/resolution you want to game at and pick a GPU on that - 1920 x 1200 is where you'll start to want more than 1 280GTX. If you're only going to be gaming on the machine then go for an Intel E8400 and overclock it on air to 3.6GHz+ with no problems on a half decent board.

If you can afford a DDR3 board then work out what FSB is going to be achievable and buy RAM accordingly so you can run it linked and sync

 

Neil, that's awesome. Since Neil is in the U.K. he's a neutral third party, as I'm sure the OP is not going to send to the U.K. for one of Neil's systems and Neil is saying desktop. Neil has an interesting take on starting your system build with the monitor, or the resolution at which you'll be gaming at. That is a decent idea.

What I threw together in about 5 minutes above approaches the problem from a different perspective which is to build something that is performance minded but more importantly... as completely bulletproof as possible.

To me, having something that can work 24/7 for as long as you want to feed it electricity is the most important. Which is why I looked that stuff up. That and I have built a system similar to this and was surprised at the speed.

Look at those spec's and compare in your mind:

• 4GB of RAM notebook with 8 GB of ECC RAM with an onboard memory controller
• Notebook motherboard with a full sized purpose built server-board
• notebook power brick with a good 850-1000 watt powers supply
• Mobile 8800 GTX / 9800 GT's with 9800 GTX desktop cards in SLi
• The track record of this chassis needing motherboard upgrades to support the next GPU. ie. the 7950 to 8800 with a standard PCIe SLi desktop setup

I think we're all in agreement that a desktop will be more powerful. My entry into the thread ( above config) is both graphically (like he stated he was concerned about), processing power~wise and definitely in the memory and memory management department, as well as future upgradability.

Just the simple fact that with that much ECC RAM you can offload the Windows kernal into memory, and with the on-board memory controller just clean house is going to speed up you whole system at the OS level.

Neil also brought up another good point... advanced cooling. Now I never have had a problem with conventional cooling, but either way, conventional or water cooled, in a desktop you have a choice. The notebook, you get what you get unless you build something custom yourself.

My vote is desktop. Like Shyster said, pick up a little notebook for your everyday tasks. A buddy of mine picks up these little 12 or 13 inch Mac notebooks on Ebay for like $300 used. If Killer Notebooks is recommending a desktop for what you want to do.... well.

 

https://secure.newegg.com/WishList/MySavedWishDetail.aspx?ID=8548712

I think this should last me awhile, once I know all this should work together.

 

It's asking me to log on, maybe do a cut and paste or screenshot so we can see what you've picked?

 

Looks like a good configuration. FYI, I have purchased Open Box Motherboards from New Egg in the past and sometimes you may find they can be missing some key accessories. (one time it was a missing I/O Shield )

 

Open Box: ASUS P5E3 WS PRO LGA 775 Intel X38 ATX Intel Motherboard
Model # 5E3 WS PRO
Item #:N82E16813131282R
Return Policy:Open Box Item Return Policy
In Stock
$195.05 $195.05

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80569Q9450 - Retail
Model #:BX80569Q9450
Item #:N82E16819115042
Return Policy rocessors (CPUs) Return Policy
In Stock
$329.99 $329.99

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM
Model #:HD103UJ
Item #:N82E16822152102
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
$179.99 $179.99

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-5400c4

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-5400c4 - Retail
Model #:TWIN2X2048-5400c4
Item #:N82E16820145015
Return Policy:Memory (Modules, USB) Return Policy
In Stock

$44.99 $89.98

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
Model #:SH-S223F
Item #:N82E16827151171
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock

$29.99 -$3.00 Instant $26.99

IN WIN GD Black / Silver Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Model #:GD
Item #:N82E16811108086
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate

$155.99 -$15.00 Instant $140.99

Rosewill RX950-D-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 950W Power Supply - Retail
Model #:RX950-D-B
Item #:N82E16817182097
Return Policy:Standard Return Policy
In Stock
$254.99 -$80.00 Instant $174.99

SAMSUNG TOC T240 Rose Black 24'' 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor - Retail
Model #:T240
Item #:N82E16824001275
Return Policy:[LCD] Limited Non-Refundable 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock
Mail-in Rebate
$459.99 $459.99



PNY VCGGTX280XPB GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Model #:VCGGTX280XPB
Item #:N82E16814133228
Return Policy:Limited 30-Day Return Policy
In Stock

$454.99 -$5.00 Instant $899.98 (getting to GTX280s)

Subtotal: $2,497.95

Best I could do, won't fit in a reasonable screenshot.

 

DO NOT BUY OPEN BOX OR REFURBISHED MOTHERBOARDS FROM NEWEGG!

I also got a " refurbished" board from NE, had a problem (it didn't work), called Intel directly and they said, "That board was never refurbished." I called NE back and after a lot of wrangling got out of them that their refurbished actually means someone bought it and returned it! NOT GOOD.

Spend the extra couple bucks on this clutch component. Don't scrimp in this order:

• Power Supply
• Motherboard
• RAM & Cooling
• Hard Drives

 

If I could just chime in from experience, you can take this with a grain of salt if you want...

Intel Core 2 Quad Q9450 Yorkfield 2.66GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor
The Q9650's are coming out and you can expect a major price drop in 9550's and lower in the next 2 weeks. You should be able to get a 9550 for this price if you wait a little.

SAMSUNG Spinpoint F1 HD103UJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive -OEM
Absolute garbage. I got two of these. One failed within a week. I sent it in for RMA, got another drive back THAT WAS USED. Ok, that's part of the game, but this drive had someone's Vista install, 40,000+ pirated MP3's etc.!!! Worse yet, it exhibited the same problems as the drive I RMA'd and with the problem took me like 4 days to get all those MP3's off for my collection
I RMA'd it yet again and got another drive, but I would never even consider these drives.

• I use Segate or WD Raptors.
• Also consider the cost of say a 750 GB to a 1 TB drive.
• Whenever you get to 750+ GB of data, I always consider a RAID1 array. Think of the data on there
  If I lost my drives it would be a serious KITN!
• May want to consider a 10,000 rpm Raptor for the OS and programs and the regular drive for data etc.

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 675 (PC2 5400)
Garbage. I have had many issues with Corsir. They used to be really good, but have seriously gone down the drain. Go with OCZ, Mushkin or another top rated RAM. I will never consider Corsair memory for a system build again.

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner Black SATA Model SH-S223F - OEM
Good

IN WIN GD Black / Silver Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail
Cool/personal preference.

Rosewill RX950-D-B ATX12V v2.2 & EPS12V v2.91 950W Power Supply - Retail
I am not a huge fan of Rosewill. I prefer Antec or Silverstone (have an 750 Strider in my server, has run 24/7 for a year and a half). You're paying enough that you can get a more accepted quality name brand.

SAMSUNG TOC T240 Rose Black 24'' 5ms HDMI Widescreen LCD Monitor
Awesome - I am jealous I have the DELL 24" UltraSharp and when I do graphics I have to seriously look at the graphic when it is done from a major angle to see if there are issues with it.

PNY VCGGTX280XPB GeForce GTX 280 1GB 512-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Supported Video Card - Retail
Cool

 

I would still recomend the Q9450. Even when the Q9650 comes out, the Q9550 is only 170mhz faster from the factory, and there has been a LOT of research put into the 9450 and its overclockability. If you want to wait for the Q9650 to come out, that would be a good idea IMO, but then again... A smart guy on these forums once said, "There is always something on the horizon". Technically the Nehalem processors are "around the corner" aswell, so its personal prefference really.

Myself... I went with the 9450, mainly because there are hundreds of reviews for that processor and they all speak great things of this cpu and the capability to overclock it. Besides... I wanted my system now lol. On most of the other items I agree with Killer though. Never skimp on the powersupply or the cooling! As for the 1tb 7200rpm Samsung drive... a lot of people love that drive, including a lot of friends of mine who keep praising it for the speed and consistency of the drive. Perhaps Killer just got a bad batch... sounds like newegg are perhaps not good when it comes to returns. At no time should you EVER get a used hard-drive back when you return a defective one.

 

ROFLMAO!!!