Finally decided - NP9150 - Spec Help

Hey guys

So after what seems like about 3 months of deliberating between the Samsung Series 7 Gamer, Alienware M17x, the Clevo's and just about every other laptop under the sun I think I've finally settled on the NP9150.

I had originally planned to go with the NP9170 for the larger screen, better cooling and dual HDD slots (for double SSD's 256gb, not in raid. One SSD would be used for OS & applications, second SSD would be for Gaming/Data & Backup)

However I cant stand the look of the 9170, and I want a nice soft-touch finish so I've decided to go for the 9150. That leaves me with 1 HDD slot and an expensive msata slot.

So I've decided to spec a single SSD at 512gb instead and will be asking Mythlogic to partition it for me 120gb for OS/Apps and the rest for Games/Data/Backup.

The rest of the spec is to following. Could you fine gents please have a look and let me know if anything should be changed? Also, is the single SSD and partition setup a good solution?

Back to School Special - Get an additional 1% off your order
Mobile Chassis MYTHLOGIC Pollux 1612 Chassis (Clevo P150EM)No Branding
Mobile Display 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) Matte 95% NTSC Color Gamut LED Backlit LCD (Pollux)
Dead Pixel Guarantee MYTH Pixel Perfect Guarantee
Monitor Calibration Free MYTH Professional Monitor Color Calibration
CPU Intel Core i7-3610QM 2.3GHz, 6M L3 Cache, 22nm, DDR3-1600MHz, Quad-Core Processor BTS Special
Thermal Compound Free IC Diamond Thermal Compound
System Memory 16GB (4 x 4GB) , PC3-12800, 1600MHz SODIMM (Samsung) Quad-core+ processors ONLY!
Video Adapter NVIDIA 680M 4096MB GDDR5 DX11 GPU with Optimus Technology BTS Special
Optical Notebook Black 8X DVD+RW/CDRW Combo Drive
External Optical Drive None
Hard Drive 1 Crucial 512GB M4 Series SATA III 6GB/sec Solid State Drive
Keyboard Backlit Chiclet Keyboard - English Only
Mouse None
Network Card Onboard Gigabit (10/100/1000 Mbits/sec) LAN subsystem
Wireless Card KILLER WirelessN 1202 - Designed for the best wireless gaming, HD video and audio experience
Bluetooth Integrated Bluetooth 4.0 Only With Intel 2230/6235 AND Killer 1202 Wireless
Wireless Router None
Operating System Use your Non-Upgrade University provided license for Free email us after order
Anti-Virus Software None
Productivity None
Extra Battery None
Extra AC Adapter None
Laptop Case | MYTHLOGIC Recommends SLAPPA Gear None
Notebook Cooler None
Laptop Soundbar None
MYTHLOGIC Assurance MYTH Lifetime Assurance with Lifetime Labor + 1 Year Parts Warranty, 45 Day 2-Way Shipping Cont US
Phoenix Upgrade Plan Lifetime Phoenix Upgrade Plan
Accidental coverage and Insurance None

Total Price:$2,532.95

 

Another question actually, while I'm on the topic

Does HWmonitor work on the clevos? i.e. where you can manually set the fan speeds?

 

yes hwmonitor works, i have seen screenshots. i think for fan speed you have to mod the bios or something, clevo decided to take the fan speed fn key out for the 150em

 

HWmonitor does work and is useful for monitoring temps, but the fan profiles can't be controlled. It would be nice if we could.
As for the config, it looks a beast. You could consider getting an external optical drive and using the bay for an hdd. That's a very common solution these days as optical drives are rarely used.
I wouldn't bother partitioning, there is no benefit, and you should never use the primary drive for backup. Backup is meant to protect you from data loss if the drive or system goes wrong, is damaged or stolen, so proper backup should be external and replicated. Backup, backup, and backup again.
Otherwise the spec looks fine, and Myth has a good rep on this forum.

 

Partitioning has the benefit of easier restoration if you Image it. For OS/App only it can probably be even smaller size (depends on what you use really). But as said, all backup & images should be external, and if it's really important, in multiple copies at different locations.

 

Thanks for the responses so far, really sucks to hear that the fans can't be controlled even with HWmonitor. I had heard the fans are super loud on the 9150/9170's and so was planning on setting them to half or three-quarter speed for most of the time.

I don't suppose it's possible to swap out the fans with quieter/higher quality ones? Has anyone tried that?

Regarding the SSD and partitioning. The only reason I like to have the one drive partitioned is because I like to format the drive every 9 months or so and basically what I do is I keep my music, games and drivers/software for fresh install, all kept on the second partition. That way I just format the OS partition and after reinstalling windows I have everything I need already on the second partition.

Will it affect the SSD in anyway if I have this setup?

I have thought about removing the optical bay, but honestly I really dont need a lot of storage space. I've been getting along just fine with a single 250gb SATA on my Acer 6930G for 4 years with about 150gb used in total.

 

There is nothing inherently negative about partitioning and formatting your OS drive regularly if you so choose. Imaging a "fresh install" after basic program and windows install may help cut down some work, but SSDs are fast enough either way. What you may hear some people complain about is that doing so may reduce your SSD's life span, but really the truth is under normal usage the SSD will outlast your laptop by several years if not more, unless the drive was inherently defective from the factory (example, xtremesystem SSD endurance testing right now has a few drives that have had written more than 1 million GB of data, and still going.) So imho, by all means go ahead