Help with configuring a NP9170

I am planning to buy a sager NP9170 at some point(definately before August) and I want to get the most for my money. I want to spend around 1500 dollars (USA) for the laptop, that is with all deductions. I will go for the cash discount, but I am not sure if there is a student discount for a highschool student? (No, I am not one of those hated freshmen ) I have been looking at all the different resellers, and I am really not sure which to go with, as they do not show all of their discounts on the website.

What I will be using it for:
CAD modeling (The program my school uses sucks up resources like crazy), Gaming (Battlefield 1942-Battlefield 2, World of Tanks, Command and Conquer, other assorted games. I mod the games to improve graphics, etc. so they will require more resources than they normally do) General uses (Internet, e-mail, typing)

The questions:
Is there a student discount for highschoolers? (With any reseller, keeping an open mind)

Is this configuration good? (I am fine upgrading the hard drive, adding ram, etc. I do not want to mess with the processor or video card though)

Is there anything here that can be removed to get the price down?



Here is the configuration I have been looking at:
I put in the more important components, so it isn't a complete list. Anything not listed will be stock.

Configure - NP9170

Display.
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with MATTE Surface (1920 x 1080)
$30.00

Video & Graphics Card.
AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 (ETA June 19th)
$200.00

CPU / Processor.
NEW! 3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3720QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.60 GHz)
$160.00

Operating System.
Genuine Microsoft Windows® 7 Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition ( 64-Bit Preloaded )
$80.00

Memory.
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB
$0.00

Primary Hard Disk Drive.
500GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
$0.00

Optical Drive Bay — Optical Drive or Hard Drive.
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
$0.00

Wireless Network Card.
Intel® Centrino™ Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
$35.00

Total cost (with cash discount): $1,817.78
That price is a bit high, but I also want it to last awhile.

Thanks very much for your help, I hate buyer's regret

 

Have you looked into ordering Windows 7 through your school, or some other place? I know that my campus bookstore sells it for a little bit less (don't know how it would work for you though since you're in high school...check microsoft's website).

You don't need the CPU upgrade. You won't notice the difference between the 3710 and the 3720.

If you're looking to keep the price down, I suggest you take a look at the np9150. You can get the same specs for a little bit less, and use the money you save to upgrade other components (maybe get an SSD!)

 

Lose the 3720, it's nice but not essential. It's a tight budget you have there, not much else you can do.

 

Okay, so the processor isn't as important as I thought. I want to get the NP9170 instead of the NP9150 for several reasons: It has one more hard drive bay, so I can get a SSD at some point along with a bigger disk drive, also I definately like having a bigger screen.

 

It's a good reason for going up a size, but you will save money going with a p150em, and you do have 2 drive bays if you're prepared to have an external optical. It's an option anyway.

 

Understandable. If you take the $160 you were planning on spending on the CPU and get an SSD, you should have an amazing computer on your hands However, if you want your SSD to be your OS drive (which I'm assuming you will), and you buy it aftermarket, you'll have to deal with transferring the OS to your new drive... potentially really annoying. However, I've never tried to do that before, so don't take my word for it, it may be super easy to do.

 

Would you still think 3720qm as a pointless upgrade over 3610qm if someone managed to unlock the overcloking potential it has? 3610qm would not benefit from it as far as I know.

 

I would go with LPC-Digital. In the USA, they have the best prices I've seen. Just email [email protected] (check their site for the exact address, this may not be correct) and ask about their discounts. They give a great deal. And part of their base offer is free ground shipping.

Also, if there's a way you can order without an OS and install it yourself, you save yourself a nice chunk of money.

I attached a picture of the P170EM prior to discounts. After their special "MAX" discount, and the cash discount price (I believe the standard is 3% for Sager resellers) it goes down to $1508. Note that this does NOT include the OS.

 

its just that it's not a bottleneck in the system. I wouldn't say it's pointless, you wouldn't see much if any benefit. An Ssd would be a good upgrade, but it's easily done later. Installing windows is pretty painless these days.

 

Agreed. I don't think anyone is denying that the 3720QM is a better CPU than the 3610QM, but the 3610QM isn't close to being a bad CPU and will not cause any bottlenecking problems. Just trying to save OP money.

 

You could always spend the money you save from the CPU on something more useful like a better screen, or maybe the steelseries keyboard.

 

Matte screen; good choice.

Graphics card; superb choice.

Get the base CPU indeed, it is already on par with the older sandy bridge 2920xm, so there is enough grunt for years to come.

Lose the OS, use student discounts or if your schools is like my old one, get it for free.

RAM; easily upgradeable in the future for a fraction of the price.

Disc Drive; personal preference, but since it comes with one, go for it.

Don't upgrade the wireless card, you will only see benefits in benchmarking, no real world difference. Plus you lose in-built bluetooth.

Future upgrades; SSD (either get a crucial M4 or samsung 830) RAM (if you want, 16GB 1600mhz: flashed to 1866mhz) Wireless card (completely unnecessary but will probably drop massively in price as the new versions are coming out very soon).

 

Ask about the netbook review discount (-$50) and get the 8gb ram with 1333mhz (another -$50).

That's what I would do. (almost no difference between the ram so it's a good way to save money)

 

Ask about the netbook review discount (-$50) and get the 8gb ram with 1333mhz (another -$50). Maybe take the wifi card off, apparently you can upgrade the stock one if you want to take the time to do so. Not to sure on that one though...

That's what I would do. (almost no difference between the ram so it's a good way to save money)

 

Sry for double post, also that discount is on Xotic PC. Also maybe consider the 9150 to save another $50 and you don't really need the upgraded processor (another $160). After all that you should be very close to your budget range and still got a kick laptop!