Help finalizing build

Hi! I've been reading these forums for months planning on purchasing a laptop but it never seems the time is right, or there's some new tech just around the corner. I've finally convinced myself I'm done waiting and have decided on Sager/Clevo for the quality/$.

This is going to be used primarily for gaming (mostly MMOs, RTS, Diablo 3, SC2, WOW, etc), some Photoshop work, and I imagine my wife will watch movies, internet, etc. I plan on keeping this for at least 3-4 years.

This is what I've configured so far:

Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.4-3.5GHz
$160.00
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B156HW01 V.4 95% NTSC Matte Display
$95.00
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5
$245.00
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
$30.00
Optical Drive Bay: Hard Drive Caddy For Optical Bay
$15.00
Wireless: Intel® 6230 Advanced-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card
$25.00
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
$40.00
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
Branding: MALIBAL
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: Lifetime Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)


Some questions:
1) I know 8gb was enough for my desktop 2 years ago. I don't see a reason why my laptop would need more, but...RAM is cheaper now. However, is there an advantage to 12-16gb for my planned usage?
2) I'm paying $15 NOT to have a DVD/Bluray drive? Is the HD caddy worth more than the drive? Is this the option I'd choose if I planned to add a SSD (which I do)?
3) I like the 6230 since it has bluetooth but I've never used bluetooth for anything other than for bluetooth headsets for my phone. I like the concept of my laptop having bluetooth but I'm not sure I'd use it and perhaps should go for a bette r wifi adapter. Is a mouse the most commonly used BT device for a laptop and is the responsiveness as good as USB for gaming, etc?
4) Can I use my 4 yr old Spyder 2 device to calibrate a matte laptop monitor?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

1. It's enough... but if you want, you can buy a 8gb kit from newegg yourself for $45.
2. Yeah, you could even have the builder put the HDD in the caddy to save you time.
3. Bluetooth can be added with a mini usb dongle... better wireless performance can't. I'd go with the bigfoot card.
4. I'd assume so, as long as it has win 7 support

I would recommend you to buy your own ic diamond and apply it... resellers are overpriced for the thermal paste option.

 

Thanks for the info.

I've read it'd be cheaper to buy the SSD and install it myself. I've done it in desktops and it's easy enough. Are there any compatibility issues I need to be aware of with the sager?

 

Yes, there are currently some compatibility with the newer Sandforce based drives, especially the Vertex 3.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/601231-compatability-ocz-vertex-3-ssd-sager-np8150.html

It doesn't affect everyone, but they're best avoided if possible. Otherwise, I don't know of any other major issues.

 

I noticed you mentioned Photoshop. I find in heavy use of Photoshop and the like I need at least 12GB of memory.

If it fits your budget, why not get 12-16GB. Of course it is user-upgradable if you plan to do it later. Just a thought.
_

 

I agree with Larry, if you are going to be using Photoshop, the more RAM the better... But as it was said before, you may be better off buying it from Newegg since it will more than likely be cheaper there... BTW, concerning SSD's, I have a Vertex 3 in my NP8170 and have had zero issues. Well, I do have one issue... I hate that it boots in 10 seconds (with all services, AV, and everything else enabled). lol!

 

That said, it's still a bit too scary to see all the issues people have the the vertex 3's... I still ended up going with the safer Crucial M4... which is with the new 009 firmware on par with the vertex 3 based on the benchmarks that were done on 009... guess I'll find out when my 8170 arrives.

Ram is definitely 50% cheaper on newegg compared to the resellers. Confuses me how people can convince themselves to get icd7/ram upgrades from the reseller

 

It's primarily an option for people that are unable or unwilling to open up the machine and do it themselves. (Or that just want to save the time doing it). I mean, you could technically buy all the parts and put the whole machine together yourself too (granted, no warranty on the whole machine that way)

 

Thanks for all the replies. I used to build my own desktops for years so I'm no stranger to the insides of a computer. So installing memory isn't a problem. The SSD is primarily to reduce boot times for me, plus perhaps loading a few applications/games faster. I'd put reliability ahead of a few points in a benchmark.

Think I've pretty much answered everything I needed to know. Now just have to pull the trigger. Thanks all!

 

You're sourcing exactly the same system I'm currently considering....except I think I actually do want a blu-ray drive to play movies. Is the 2760 not fast enough that it could utilize PC3-1600 memory rather than just the 1333? I know the 26XX do not, but I thought the 2720 and higher were capable of running 1600?

 

The 2760 can utilize 1600 MHz RAM, as could the 2720 that preceded it.

 

Per the Intel website, the i7-2760QM supports DDR3-1066/1333/1600 memory types.

 

Indeed it does. What's the reason you want Blu-Ray, anyway? I really would only recommend it if you have no other way other playing Blu-Ray discs. Blu-Ray FILES can always be played without the need of a Blu-Ray drive, and you could still mount BD files with ISO software.

 

Me, I have no other blu-ray players, so it's a new capability. I imagine most would go with an SSD as primary and a hard drive as secondary for maximum performance...and I still might - but right now an actual blu-ray movie would stymie me.

 

An SSD is a good idea, but you could always throw that in later. Blu-Ray is definitely more future proof, especially since you mention not having another Blu-Ray player.

 

Of course, now reconsidering. I generally keep most data storage on an external drive, but realistically the optical drive doesn't get used much on current laptop, and I expect won't be used all the time on the new one. Perhaps SSD as primary, hard drive caddy for a secondary drive and then using an external blu-ray player would be the way to go...

 

External Bluray players can be had for as little as $60 on sale... Or you could buy an external bluray burner for $90 on sale. I'd get the caddy as you will rarely ever use the OD...