Help configuring my Sager NP5796

Hey everyone

i want to buy my first notebook and after much research i finally decided to go with the Sager NP5796. the nb will be used mainly for playing the latest games (at medium-high settings and resolutions with good frame rates), 3D Modeling (3dsmax, maya, XSi etc...), watching movies (in good quality) and for all the other standard stuff such as internet surfing and Microsoft Office.

my budget is about $2300 more or less and i want to order it from XoticPC and i need your help configuring it according to my needs...

so lets start with the Display:
do i realy need a WUXGA (1920x1200) or is the WSXGA+ (1680x1050) enough? and which is better for gaming, 3d modeling and movies?

Processor:
is the difference in L2 cache size (3MB or 6MB) and clock speed that significant? and what does the difference in the Wattage output mean? more heat less battery life?
how will it affect performance?

Video Card:
i will go with the 9800m gt because i think its enough for my needs and the difference in performance between this and the gtx is not worth the extra $365 (anyway thats what i think)...

Ram:
should i spend $120 more on 4gb? i still dont know if im going to use a 64bit system or a 32bit one... whats better for games and 3d modeling? (which system and how much ram?)

HDD:
250GB (5400rpm) and above or 200GB (7200rpm) and above. space is more important to me than speed, but if the difference in speed is so significant in boot and load times than im willing to compromise in space, although i've heard that when the HDD is bigger its also faster... and whats the difference between Serial-ATA II 300 and Serial-ATA 150, like the diffence between the
250GB 5400rpm (Serial-ATA 150) and 320GB 5400rpm (Serial-ATA II 300)?

other configurations i have trouble with are the:
Intel® Robson Turbo Memory what is this? do i need it?
TV Tuner does it make the nb like a TV (with cable and stuff)? or its just for controlling it remotely (taking the volume down, opening the DVD tray etc...)?
Sound Card is there a real difference between the default card and the more expensive cards? do they worth the extra $100-120?
Mouse / Keyboard Accessories are any of the mice they offer realy good for gaming or any cheap mouse would do?
Notebook Cooler do i need it? or does the nb run cool anyways?

i would also like to know the average battery life of this notebook in gaming mode (heavy use) and normal mode (light use) so i'll know if i should buy an extra battery...

last question: i want to buy this nb as soon as possible but i could wait a month or two if something worth waiting for is around the corner, like a better and/or less power consuming CPU or GPU... i have heard that the new mobile Nvidia Quadro GPU's are about to come (FX 3700, FX 3600, FX 1700) so maybe i should wait for them? (i've heard they are excellent for both CAD and Gaming, unlike the 9800m which are good for games but compromise CAD)

sorry for all the noobish questions, i never had a lappy before so i dont know whats important and whats not...

any help would be appreciated

*Thanks Gophn for helping me out! i just need more suggestions of Sager owners thats why i posted here as well... *

 

-Just like numerous answers in this forum, 320 GB 5400rpm instead of the 200Gb 7200rpm, performance is similar, and so is price...
-I went for the P9500, 6Mb cache, and 25W, don't know if it will make a difference in battery life, but it has enought power for me...
-Also went for 4Gb, didn't want to instal later myself...

 

Display:
do i realy need a WUXGA (1920x1200) or is the WSXGA+ (1680x1050) enough? and which is better for gaming, 3d modeling and movies?

Processor:
is the difference in L2 cache size (3MB or 6MB) and clock speed that significant? and what does the difference in the Wattage output mean? more heat less battery life?
how will it affect performance?

Video Card:
i will go with the 9800m gt because i think its enough for my needs and the difference in performance between this and the gtx is not worth the extra $365 (anyway thats what i think)...

Ram:
should i spend $120 more on 4gb? i still dont know if im going to use a 64bit system or a 32bit one... whats better for games and 3d modeling? (which system and how much ram?)

HDD:
250GB (5400rpm) and above or 200GB (7200rpm) and above. space is more important to me than speed, but if the difference in speed is so significant in boot and load times than im willing to compromise in space, although i've heard that when the HDD is bigger its also faster... and whats the difference between Serial-ATA II 300 and Serial-ATA 150, like the diffence between the
250GB 5400rpm (Serial-ATA 150) and 320GB 5400rpm (Serial-ATA II 300)?

other configurations i have trouble with are the:
Intel® Robson Turbo Memory what is this? do i need it?

TV Tuner does it make the nb like a TV (with cable and stuff)?

Sound Card is there a real difference between the default card and the more expensive cards? do they worth the extra $100-120?

Mouse / Keyboard Accessories are any of the mice they offer realy good for gaming or any cheap mouse would do?

Notebook Cooler do i need it? or does the nb run cool anyways?

 

so according to your suggestions is this how i should configure it?

Sager NP5796 Custom Notebook (Built on Clevo M570TU)
- 17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
- Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- ~Intel® P8400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.26GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
- 512MB PCI-Express nVidia GeForce 9800M GT DDR3 DX10 (User Upgradeable)
- None Standard (External Monitor Video Adaptor)
- ~ 2,048MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (1 SODIMM)
- None Standard (Turbo Memory)
- NP579x Silver Frame Trim Color
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 320GB 5400RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 8MB Cache)
- None Standard (External HDD)
- None Standard (Floppy)
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth 2.0+ EDR
- Built-in Intel® PRO/Wireless 5300 802.11 a/g/n Wi-Fi Link
- None Standard (Wireless Network Accessories)
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- None Standard (TV Tuner)
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- None Standard (Car Adapter)
- None Standard (Spare AC Adapter)
- None Standard (Docking Station / Port Replicator)
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- None Standard (Mouse / Keyboard Accessories)
- None Standard (Notebook Cooler)
- None Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only (Operating System)
- None Standard ("Medialess" Microsoft Office Software)
- None Standard (Software Bundle (Not Installed))
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Based Toll Free Tech Support
(Year2 & 3 Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)

Sub-Total: $1,987.00

im realy torn between this CPU: - ~Intel® P9500 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
and simplest one: - ~Intel® P8400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.26GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt because the first one has a bigger L2 cache, faster clock speed and has the same power consumption, but yet you say the differernces in performance (gaming/3d modeling/movies/every day use) are negligible? so i should spend the extra $165 on something else? and wont there be any bottlenecks to the powerfull GPU because of the weaker CPU (P8400)?

I think i should go with 2gb of RAM instead of 4gb because im just starting out 3d modeling and i dont think i'll be doing heavy rendering very soon, but i do want to be using 64bit Vista... can it still run fine with 2gb or should i switch to a 32bit system or XP? and which is better (64bit/32bit/xp)?

my budget is about $2300 but i still want the best bang for the buck, so please tell me if there is anything else i should be investing in that is worth the investment... also I live in Israel and here everything is more expensive and buying pieces of hardware later on from stores abroad such as newegg and such is not as profitable as buying a fully configured laptop, so upgrading the nb later on becomes a problem.... is there anything than that i should upgrade right now and not wait to see if i need to upgrade it? (such as RAM/sound card maybe?)

Thanks for the help

 

im realy torn between this CPU: - ~Intel® P9500 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.53GHz w/6MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt
and simplest one: - ~Intel® P8400 45nm "Montevina" Core™2 Duo 2.26GHz w/3MB L2 On-die cache - 1066MHz FSB 25 watt because the first one has a bigger L2 cache, faster clock speed and has the same power consumption, but yet you say the differernces in performance (gaming/3d modeling/movies/every day use) are negligible? so i should spend the extra $165 on something else? and wont there be any bottlenecks to the powerfull GPU because of the weaker CPU (P8400)?

I think i should go with 2gb of RAM instead of 4gb because im just starting out 3d modeling and i dont think i'll be doing heavy rendering very soon, but i do want to be using 64bit Vista... can it still run fine with 2gb or should i switch to a 32bit system or XP? and which is better (64bit/32bit/xp)?

my budget is about $2300 but i still want the best bang for the buck, so please tell me if there is anything else i should be investing in that is worth the investment... also I live in Israel and here everything is more expensive and buying pieces of hardware later on from stores abroad such as newegg and such is not as profitable as buying a fully configured laptop, so upgrading the nb later on becomes a problem.... is there anything than that i should upgrade right now and not wait to see if i need to upgrade it? (such as RAM/sound card maybe?)

you got tripple post, delete 2 plz