Few questions on display type and memory before I buy.

I am in market for new laptop I have narrow down my selection to Clevo P170EM but I am lost on few options, what are the main differences between following display types.

Clear Glossy LED Backlit Display
72% NTSC Matte LED Backlit Display
90% NTSC Glossy LED Backlit Display

And is there a noticeable performance difference between 1333MHz, 1600MHz and 1866MHz memory speeds? Is it better to buy more memory or higher speed.

For example for the same price I can either buy 8GB 1866MHz memory or 16GB 1333MHz, which is better?

For the process I have i7-2760QM is it better to upgrade to i7-2860QM or Intel 40GB 310 Series mSATA SSD.

Thank you,
Shimi

 

Color gamut is a measure or the colors a screen can properly display. it's a % of the adobe color spectrum. The 72% matte 120hz display can do 3D, however.

There is about a 3-4% performance difference between 1333 and 1600, and the same difference between 1600 and 1866. The only places you would actually see it is benchmarks and the iGPU performance. I don't know what you will use this for, but 8GB@1333 is more than enough for games.

Nonononono. The next generation of intel processors have a paper launch tomorrow, and will be avalible for sale on the 29th, the base model, 3610QM (which costs about the same as the 2670QM) will outperform a 2820QM, which is a slightly lower clocked 2860QM. Again, even 2670QM is total overkill for modern games, wait a day and get 3610QM. People seem to be gathering to await news in this thread: ivy bridge nda should lifted tonight

What GPU are you getting? If you have the 670M, upgrading to the 675M should be the 1st thing you do with the money you save from CPU and RAM upgrades, the difference is huge.

Assuming you are getting a single 500GB HDD, the mSATA SSD is a worthy investment, but you may want to think about going to the 80GB drive as write speeds are doubled. If you're not buying directly from sager, most resellers can put potentially bigger, cheaper SSD's in for you. On that topic, buying directly from sager is definitely not recommended, with resellers such as Xotic and LPC-Digital, who are also on these forums, you can get better prices, better customer service, and broader selections of parts. Most resellers also offer a discount for members of NBR (this site). All you need to do is get 5 posts and wait a day. Hope this helps.

 

As all the questions have been answered I would like to propose a suggestion.

Wait until the end of the month. IV should be out and same goes towards the new AMD GPU 7970M, time is patience, time is money and in this case you "save" money by waiting.

 

With respect to the 670M vs 675M would there be any notable difference if I was just using it for the Mercury Playback Engine in Adobe CS5? Even very small NVIDIA cards have been used before so I just thought the 670M would be fine.

 

Thank you for the info, I will wait untill end of the month or mid next month before I purchase.

Other parts
GPU 675M
SSD Intel 520 120GB
Wireless 6300

In regards to display which is better, it is difficult to choose without seeing.

I have narrow down to following resallers.
AVAdirect, Malibal and Power Notebooks, I might go with AVAdirect because they have lots of choices for SSD and memory.

This will be my main computer will be using it for everything.

 

I would buy ONLY MATTE DISPLAY. It is pain to work on glossy one.

Buy laptop with as less RAM as you can. And then buy 1600 Corsair Vengeance for only 43$ or so 2x4GB kit. It is not just 4% as said before. The main gin is snappier effect of your laptop. everything is snappier.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820233242

Don't suggest to buy Intel SSD. Go aftermarket and buy Crucial M4 SSD. Or Samsung 820. They are very good. Corsair is cheap btw.

 

For the display, that's personal opinion. I've owned both myself and still prefer glossy to matte any day of the week. I don't work in direct sunlight, so I never really have issue with glare and you don't get the grainy effect that matte brings.

There have been plenty of benchmarks run on the RAM. The difference really is only 4-5% gains through synthetic benchmarks like 3DMark and others when stepping up from 1333Mhz to 1600Mhz. You won't notice any real effect in every day use either. An SSD is the way to go if you want "snappier" work, not slightly faster memory.

 

You forgot to say that all that numerous positive reviews about faster RAM is just placebo effect
SSD is must be anyway for sure. But about slightly faster memory... at first memory is not "slightly" faster. It is just faster. However real world performance on tasks is really not very big.

But as for me even though that snappier effect counts in miliseconds, even though real world performance is in couple percents, even though for some people placebo effect may take place still faster RAM is good because the main reason to have something at all is to be happy that you have it and know that it has advantages over other.
15% difference in price (on aftermarket) is not so big.

 

I wish I had both screen upgrades somewhere available to compare. Im puzzled what would I like best, 72% matte or 90% glossy. I generally prefer matte, but if the colors of the glossy are that much better....Id go glossy.

Im also puzzled about tge VGA cards...7970m is finally coming, but I have a strange suspicion that the 7990m will have 1536 shaders and bring even more performance to justify the wait for it....

Should I pull the trigger on a P170EM or just wait until the Ivy refresh (like last year where Sandy got +200mhz) and until 7990m comes?

Right now, StarCraft 2 on a 15.6" screen in 1080p is a little tiring for the eyes...

 

Thank you very much everyone. Very useful info here. Looking forward to its arrival!

 

IB is coming next week .. it would be foolish if you order it now .. IMHO

 

This was super helpful, thanks so much for all this info!

 

Anyone got an answer for this?

 

Well are you not going to take use of the new Mercury Playback Engine in Adobe CS6? Assuming you might buy the cloud-based CS6. Anyways, I would suggest Quadro cards for this, but the 670M should do just fine, it's a matter of slight speed adjustment if you consider getting the 675M instead.

more information: Graphics Cards for Adobe CS6 - Creative Suite 6 | NVIDIA

I do. Read above

 

Are the screen upgrades worth it if your main use is for gaming?

 

It is up to the end user ultimately.

There are some that swear by the 95% NTSC display because there are more colors to be seen and it is noticeably nicer when compared to the stock display.

If you haven't had a 95% display you wouldn't really notice the difference then.

Concerning matte vs. glossy, that again is up to individual preference. If you tend to use a lot of skylights and keep the blinds open to allow sun in the matte display would probably be preferred over the glossy display.

 

A personal favorite of mine.

Yes! If you wan't more vivid colors, more life to the gaming, better life-like explosions, not so much dark here and there, I would definitely say yes, but again, even if not gaming, the screen is worth even watching movies on (had a 95% gamut glossy and matte from some friends to check the difference) I would be a liar to say the upgrade isn't worth it!
I mean the stock screen are undoubtedly beautiful (as in a stock screen to be) other than that, nothing special.. but the gamut screen, they are Special (with a big S and bold)

Damn it Heihachi you were faster than me... but overall you are indeed correct, well played dude, well played.

 

Thanks guys for the input. Time to go back to the drawing board on my build and think a bit more on that display upgrade.

 

Thanks for the insight jaug1337!

 

Here's a side by side comparison of a calibrated vs uncalibrated screen from Xotic's website:
http://www.xoticpc.com/customization/monitor_calibration_side_by_side.jpg
Idk if this is realistic or a dramatization, but the different is pretty drastic. It's on the 72% screen for the P150

 

That is an excellent example. No dramatization at all. All we did was take one pic with the calibration off, turned it on and took another. The camera was set to manual mode so the exposed time wouldn't change because of the different brightness of the screen.

 

Well, 95% screens are good and brilliant when you get them, but average screens are pretty good when you have calibration tools.

Usually the consumer panels use blue phosphors covered with film to make it look white, thus there is a heavy tint of blue for many consumer panels. (Also brings out the default Windows 7 Aero theme..)

You will be shocked at the quality of the screen, but to be honest I don't do any photo work- stock screens are plenty good for what majority of people use it for - a smart user would save the screen money towards an SSD..

 

That is a fairly striking difference, but I'm not really positive I trust my limited knowledge of the topic to know how the one on the right is better. Someone sell me, how is the right side better, and not just "a little brighter"?

 

It's a matter of desire and lust, mostly opinion. Some see the screen as really bright, some see it as a better distinction of colours and blend, I personally see it as a beauty of vivid colours and it kicks oh yeah

 

I'd also like to add that the sky color after calibration is blue, which tends to be the color of most skies during the day. The "before" picture is really leaning towards a greenish tint. Calibration is just to make the colors "correct".

 

im in the multimedia production and we use color calibration tools all day.

if the room has a window, we would probably calibrate 3 times a day as sun changes its position and light decreases and so.

 

Which Solid State Drive (SSD) between 120GB and 128GB is good, this will be the primary drive.

 

That is a tricky question my dear friend!

It's all about taste, the lust to waste money and trust towards a certain brand/product.

The ones I would advice one to buy are as mentioned:

• Samsung 830
• Intel 520
• Crucial RealSSD M4

Some other brands/names are worth mentioning, but these are the ones I would settle with based on my own observation.

 

Initially I was going to buy Intel 520 120 GB SSD but was suggested by a user not to buy Intel SSD and go aftermarket and buy Crucial M4 SSD or Samsung 830, will have to read more about these two and maybe few other before I decide.

Thank you for the input.

 

Mythlogic has 128GB of Crucial M4 up there for $134.18 upgrade. Seems like the best deal I've seen.