Help me decide on a Clevo P170EM configuration please. Thank you!

Hey guys,
I have no ideea where to start. I’ve been reading countless threads on this forum for the past 2 months so i’ve gathered a lot of answers to my questions but i still have some unanswered and i am hazy on some aspects.
I will use the laptop for a lot of things but the most taxing it will be the RAW image processing, video editing (1080p), gaming and playing/testing with some virtual machines. I don’t necessarily need a super quiet machine (Asus G75 comes in mind) but I don’t want jet engine either. I will use the laptop in my office a lot so even if in my office is not like in a library I don’t want to bother people around me when i start an encoding/rendering task that takes several hours and it goes vvvvrrrooommmm
I’ve decided to buy an Clevo P170EM from a local system builder and I have a hard time to figure out on some aspects of the configuration. I want to pick up the right parts so I can future proof it as much as possible without breaking the bank (impossible task, I know, but I’m trying my best).


1. CPU : By far the biggest decisional problem. The system builder gives me 3 options that i find them interesting 3630, 3720, 3840. I am torn between 3720 and 3840... i know that the 3630 is a good alternative and a lot cheaper but i was thinking that 3720 and 3840 can be overclocked (if needed) 400 mhz with intel XTU but i am not sure if you can do it with the default bios (i am under the impression that you can in 170EM but not in 150EM). I wish they had the new 3740 but they don’t and they will not have it in the near future so i have to pick up one of those 3 named earlier. If you ask me i would love to buy the 3840 but i am afraid that it will generate a lot of heat stock, with heat comes a lot of noise and probably a lot of throttling if/when i will try to overclock it so i think stock it might be wonderful, overclocked not so much (especially on those hot summer days )
On a side note, I have no idea if all 3 CPU’s are OEM or some are ES, i’ll have to ask because i only want an OEM cpu in my laptop after i read multiple threads on this forum where people were complaining about the ES ones (heat, instability).


2. Ram : i was thinking for 16Gb but i am also inclined to go for 32Gb.... mainly because it is not that expensive (it’s not dirt cheap either) and might come in handy on some projects... but can’t say that if it’s overkill 32gb and it will be a waste of money. Also i don’t know if i should go with some generic ram that the builder will put in (probably generic DDR3 1600Mhz CL10 or 11) or should i go with some more expensive Corsair Vengeance CL9 or Kingston HyperX.


3. GPU : they gave me 1 choice, 680M or wait another 1-2 mo if i want something else... so i’ll go with 680M. It will burn my wallet but at least i will have good drivers and a stable system.. My experiences with ATI weren’t good on several occasions so i gave up on ATI long time ago.

4. SSD : Has to be an 240-256Gb for the OS and games (and of course an HDD to store my video files that i would edit).. Don’t know if i should look in to a Samsung 840 Pro or Intel 520 or even an Intel 330/335. I was also thinking of an msata drive, and the only alternative i have from vendor is an Transcend MSA720 128Gb. It will be a shame to let the msata slot unused and i can use it for game storage

That’s it for now, i am waiting for your comments and helpful comments and then i’ll pour in more questions.

Thank you for your help!

 

1). I would go with the 3720QM. You can OC and it should perform great for your encoding/rendering needs.

2). Go with the cheapest ram option. You can buy better ram cheaper yourself and installing it takes about 60 seconds.

3). Go with the 675MX. You said video editing and photo editing, you don't want a Nvidia GeForce for that. You would want AMD, but you said you are done with them, but frankly and bluntly, it's AMD you want. AMD OpenCL outperforms 680M handily, even the desktop GeForce cards. Adobe and others are all dropping CUDA, makes no sense, most have already adopted OpenCL. Nvidia decided to remove OpenCL/CUDA capaiblity on the GeForce. GeForce is strictly gaming now, for the most part.
- If you were really serious, you'd get the cheapest option possibly and then get a Quadro off Ebay. But that will cost around $1,400 and up.

4). Go with the cheapest option for HDD, hard disk. You can use that as an extra drive or external. Again you can buy a better SSD option cheaper on your own and that takes 30 seconds to install.

 

# thank you for your help hulawafu77

1. noted
2. i can buy it without ram and add some myself, the question is if it makes the difference to invest more money in a faster ram
3. it will be 680M because it;s the only option i have for now and i will do a lot of gaming also. I did not know about the OpenCL and CUDA... looks like a have new topics for research. An Quadro is out of the question, it's way too expensive.
4. I have to further research for a better SSD + HDD combo

 

Hi edit
which reseller will you be getting your lappy from?

all i can say is your above spec will be very fast but as mentioned 16gb ram might be overkill. i got the same but dont really need it but its there now for futureproof.
as mentioned above you could buy the lowest spec ram and hard drive and then buy it yourself for a lot cheaper elsewhere.

you mention the msata drive above. this is sataII so slower than sataIII which will be your main ssd. my crucial m4 512gb is great and very fast (12 second bootup and on forum) but the samsung you mentioned are the best but more expensive. the read and especially the write is much faster than mine. i know nothing about the 840 pro but its meant to be lightning fast. the 830 have been raved about also with great reviews.

what i would do is forget about the msata drive and get one large samsung ssd and then buy another one for your second drive bay yourself later to save quite a bit of money.

 

#MrDj
Thank you for the feedback MrDJ.
The reseller is a small local company...
I was thinking at fast SSD for OS, Games, Applications and a HDD for randering, big 1080p video files to work with. Having a second SSD, although will be fast and expensive don't know how will cope with large and very large files copied to it frequently. A msata drive would be nice as a second SSD that even if it is SATA II and not as fast as the main SSD it;s still way better than an laptop HDD.... just thinking and planning looking careful at the end bill

#All
Every input is welcome, thank you for your suport, input and ideas... it will help me clear my thoughts

 

Can anyone tell me how thick (cm or inch) is the laptop in front (palmrest area) with the lid open... and in the back (speakers area)? I find the Asus G75 very confortable for the wrists because it's very thin in the palm rest area.

 

this is from the tech spec page
Width: 412mm
Depth: 276mm
Height: 41.8-45.4mm

so i guess 41.8 will be the palm rest but im not sure if thats with the lid open or closed.

 

I knew the specs but they are for the closed lid, that's why I asked for the open lid thickness specifically

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPHq1Qpfj1s&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Pretty good watch especially if your considering purchasing one

 

You should basically go with the rig in my sig.

For CPU, at least a 3720 since 3630 doesn't have vtd/vpro for your virtual machines . Plus I think 36xx are locked for overclocking, while the 37 comes partially unlocked. If you are doing a lot of editing, 38+ cpu will help, but it's usually not worth it to go past 3720 for performance gains.

For RAM, 16GB should be more than enough, unless you are doing some sort of crazy photoshopping with scratch disks. As for speed, I went with 1600 over 1333 because price difference was low. I think most would agree that 1800 is still too overpriced for the performance gain. Some would even say that even the 1600 isn't worth the extra money over 1333. Also, easy to install more on your own.

For GPU, a 680m is awesome, but sounds like a 7970m would be much better for your situation. I've heard what hulawafu said many times. So unless you are doing mostly gaming, you may want to consider trading for a 7970m.

And for SSD, I have a Samsung 256, and I love it. Works well as primary drive for os, games, and more important apps, and second drive is 750gb hdd for photo, video, music etc storage. But honestly, I wish I got a larger ssd. If you can, get a 500+gb. Mine is close to maxing out, although it is over provisioned. If I could go back, I would get two 512 ssds over my 256/750 combo.

 

The NP9170 is a beast, and I have loved every second of it. I only have the 675mx, but im still playing Metro 2033 at very high, and almost every other game (SC2, D3, COH) at ultra. The 680 should give you even better performance.

I only (lol only at a quadcore) have the 3630m and havent noticed any bottlenecks.

IMPORTANT about the ram. If you get 16gb and plan to upgrade to 32 ( 2 x 8gb sticks, which should be more than enough), make sure you ask your reseller to place those modules on the side on top of the keyboard (2 slots on top, 2 slots on the bottom) Both set of slots are easy to access, but the top slots need the keyboard removed to access, so if your reseller put your 2 modules there, it will be even easier for you to upgrade in the future (youll just have to take the back panel off) Also, I believe youll win 7 or 8 Pro to utilize more than 16gb

I have a samsung SSD 840 in my gateway, it flies. Boot times are less than 20 seconds. I plan to put an SSD in my np9170 in the near future. I've read that the samsung 830 is a better choice than the 840, but i don't know enough to comment other than SSD = Quick!

As for temps, cooling - I can recommend personally the Coolermaster U3 cooling pad for the NP9170. It fits perfectly, with a mm or so on each side. It lowers temps on my GPU by about 4-5C. Zalmann coolers are also highly recommended from what i have seen on this forum.

 

No need to specifically request the Ram be placed under the keyboard if buying from a Sager reseller. It's placed under the keyboard automatically on all their builds for the exact reasoning you mentioned, it's easier in the long run for the customer.

 

First of all i want to thank you all for the input. Every opinion counts.

Now i have come up with some mode questions, please help me out:
1. what is the height of the laptop in the palm rest area with the lid open?
2. can the P170EM cope well with the heat that is generated from an overclocked i7-3840qm?
3. you have to mod the bios from a P170EM in order to use the Intel XTU? (mine will be bought from Eastern Europe and i think it will come with default Clevo bios)
4. with Intel XTU you can overclock in small increments or is it 400Mhz or nothing?
5. an i7-3720qm overclocked with XTU is better suited for the P170EM cooling?
6. 16Gb or ram are enough for heavy editing 1080p material in ... let's say Adobe Premiere?

Thank you

 

Ill measure mine when i get home (that sounds wrong when you read it...) when i get home if someone doesnt post the height first.
For cooling, I can't imagine what you would have to do to this system to get it to overheat, barring a faulty component or wrapping the vents in duct tape. There are seperate fans for both cpu and gpu - xotic pc has a great video review on their site for the np9170.

I believe 16gb is more than enough for almost anything (Could be wrong, someone correct me if so)

I cannot speak to the BIOS & OC questions, above my level of tech. I can say i haven't experienced any sort of CPU bottleneck in performance on my 3630m.

 

It's about 1.25 inches from desk to palm rest area

 

Thank you very much for the info... i worked with Asus W90, it;s very thick 1.6 -1.7 inch and the egdes are not that soft..,and after 2-3 hours of gaming my wrists were screaming of pain.... the Alienware M17x is better then W90 but not great...i find Asus G75 perfect for wrist comfort