Help with some technical details for NP9377

Hey guys,

So I decided to pull the trigger as I can not wait anymore for Intel Skylake (Broadmore is just not a big of an upgrade to hold for it seems) which probably is due early 2016.

Anyway so I configured the NP9377 I want and I have few questions:

1. What are the specifications of the display supplied? Is the standard one 60% NTSC or 90% ? If its 60% would it be noticeable/worth it to go for the 72% NTSC gamut? I will be doing gaming mostly with some light Lightroom/photoshop

2. I will be connecting my laptop to 2 30"/27" monitors while at home, can the HDMI/Display port support 2560x1600 @ 60HZ+ ?

3. Is intel 4910MQ with 8MB L3 cache much better ($350) than the 4810 6MB L3 overall?

4. Is the copper heat sink upgrade worth it?

5. Are there any soon/upcoming changes to the NP9377 lineup? Chasis refresh/new motherboard new intel I7-5xxx mobile series?

6. Is there a good docking station to use (one with HDMI/Displayport) so that its easier to take my laptop daily from school/home?

7. I couldn't find any information on the performance of GTX 980M SLI, what should I expect on running WoW/Diablo maxed out on 2 2560x1600 @ 60HZ displays?

8. Does XoticPC offer decent discounts on high end systems like Alienware?

I did research all of my questions but have not found many answers to them yet. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

The following is the configuration I opted for.





Sager NP9377-S (Clevo P377SM-A)
- FREE!!! – U.S. UPS GROUND SHIPPING (Use Coupon Code "FREESHIP" in Checkout) [U.S. Lower 48 ONLY / Restrictions Apply]
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 72% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (Will add 4-7 business days to build time) (SKU - XSC003)
- FREE! - 30 Day No Dead Pixel Warranty
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Sager - 4th Generation Intel® Haswell Core™ i7-4910MQ (2.9GHz - 3.9GHz, 8MB Intel® Smart Cache) (SKU – SPU402)
- FREE! - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- SLI (2x) - NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 980M (16.0GB total) GDDR5 PCI-Express DX11 (Maxwell) [User Upgradeable] (SKU – GPU04X)
- COPPER COOLING UPGRADE - Extra Cooling Copper Heatsinks Applied to the Heatsink/Heatpipes (XPC Service - requires shipment to XOTIC PC: will add to build time)
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- 32GB DDR3 1600MHz [4x8GB] Kingston HYPER X (CL9) Dual Channel Memory (Windows 7 Home Premium not supported) (SKU - RAMX97)
- Sager Branding
- Standard Laptop Finish
- No Laptop Laser-Sketch™
- No Custom Laptop Painting
- No Custom Laptop Painting
- Non-RAID Storage
- Remove - mSATA
- NO mSATA Solid State Drive
- 512GB Samsung 850 Pro Series SSD [SSD2 - SATA III] (SKU - SSD095)
- 512GB Samsung 850 Pro Series SSD [SSD2 - SATA III] (SKU - SSD089)
- Raid 0 Stripe Enabled (Requires 2 or 3 Hard Drives. Combines Hard Drives for performance) (Sager)
- Remove DVDRW Drive and Install Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy Only (SKU - ODD082)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Bluetooth Included *With select wireless cards only* (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Intel® Dual Band AC 7260 802.11 A/AC/B/G/N 2.4/5.0GHz + Bluetooth™ 4.0 (SKU - WIFI94)
- No Network Accessory
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- Integrated Digital Video Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- Spare 330W Sager AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 8.1 Professional - 64-Bit (64-Bit CD Included) + MS Office 2013 Trial
- None
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Back Up Software
- No Unlimited GB Cloud Backup
- - No Microsoft OFFICE Software
- No Software Bundle
- No Global Anti-Theft Protection (Options below require an operating system)
- Sager 2 Year Parts & LIFETIME Ltd Labor Warranty w/ Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Customer Support (SKU - WTY096)
- * 24/7 LIFETIME U.S. based technical support
* Extreme QA testing by dedicated technicians
* 24-72 Hour stress testing and benchmarking to ensure top performance and stability
- Standard Production Time
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
- No XOTIC PC Gear

 

Can't answer many, I'm afraid!

Firstly Broadwell (not a prison, btw) may not offer much in raw performance improvement, but may be much cooler. Currently Haswell is so hot as to be almost defective - it causes throttling in many high end machines, and loads of others are running dangerously close to 90 on a regular basis, which can't be good for durability. Also hassle of constant repastes and monitoring etc.

Secondly if you are going for an SLI system, bear in mind that not all games support SLI and the ones that do obviously don't give you x2 the FPS compared to single. However (subjective opinion inbound) a 17" single card is just about portable (borderline, per my fashion senses), an SLI machine really feels silly in a cafe especially the massive 300W power bricks. I once had a D900 and felt so self conscious about taking it to public places that it spent 99% of its time on the desk lol.

Thirdly no idea why you are putting in that much RAM...

Re 3 - the point to research is not whether CPU x is better than CPU y, but rather how hot it gets for the performance it grants. There is no point to blazing processor x that gives you 5 frames per second more than CPU y, only to then reach its TDP 20 minutes sooner than y and then drop 20 FPS after that.

Re 4 - again the Haswell problem. If you are planning to keep this system for 4+ years, then the more copper and the better the paste the longer your investment will last.

Re 5 - Clevo is now following other manufacturers even more closely in not letting information slip. If you know a refresh is coming, suddenly someone has a load of obsolete junk in their shop


Re 8 - Alienware has its own brand rules and doesn't want to ever been seen as 'cheap'. It's part of its DNA/brand ID. Also why would Alienware discount when so many people want them on an emotional level, and are happy paying upwards of $500 for same spec hardware, just for the cool factor of the logo and the bragging rights. I personally would haggle hard when a new model is announced or after a frenzied buying season, eg Christmas.

 

1. There is no set standard to use for the default display. The lowest they go is a 60% NTSC typically but they have been known to pretty commonly use the 72% due to supply of the lower default. For photoshop and design work I'd recommend the 72% personally and if you don't want to run the gamble of getting supplied with it selecting the default display then go ahead and select as an upgrade option.

2. The HDMI I believe will be limited at 1920x1080 but the display port I seem to recall a customer confirming that they were able to do so. Perhaps somebody with the machine would be able to confirm to double check.

3. I would stick with the 4810, I doubt you'd need the performance difference it'd offer and actually notice it.

4. Anything cooling wise that can be done in my opinion is worth it. There are mixed opinions on this option that it doesn't offer enough benefit for the cost, typically 1-4c reduction in temps, but it's something we recommend getting if it doesn't break the budget for you.

5. Very doubtful any further changes in the next few months since they just got done with a model refresh with the 900 series cards.

6. "Good Docking Station" would largely depend on what you intend to use it for. All it is basically is a piece of plastic that allows you to plug in one USB cord to connect those external devices instead of them all independently. Our Asus universal one seems to be pretty liked.

7. You should expect beauty with dual 980s running those games at those settings. Shouldn't be any trouble for the setup.

8. We don't have any hidden discounts or pricing. Sager follows a MAP pricing structure and we have them as low as they'll allow resellers to go. There is the free shipping/cash discount for you to take advantage of if you'd like to do so.

 

1 - As Derek said, to be safe taking the 72% screen would be best for you I'm sure.

2 - As far as I know, the HDMI is HDMI 1.4a which should be perfectly able to do 1600p at 60Hz, and I KNOW the GPUs support it.

3 - The 4910MQ will be useful if you need to overclock. It can hit 4.3GHz on 4 cores, whereas the 4810MQ hits a max of 4GHz. Also, the extra 2MB L3 cache may benefit you some, but I can't say. I haven't seen evidence that cache helps all that much, but maybe it might with your programs? I can't say. But as far as leaving things stock? The 4810MQ is all you'd need.

4 - Not really. As far as I know it just lets the laptop take longer to hit max temps, but also it's slower to cool down. So... I can't say so. I COULD be wrong about this though; anybody who has tested exclusively could reply.

5 - Not really

6 - I don't understand what you're asking exactly.

7 - You'll be perfectly fine. 980M SLI is absolutely no joke, even at 1600p, and you will be able to play just about any game at max graphics at 1600p. With AA turned on too (unless the game is terribly optimized).

8 - They do, but I don't know how recent their machines are, and they should still be more expensive than you would pay if you haggle Dell down.

 

To be fair I would not run 4.3ghz as an all day overclock, that would be more of a benchmarking clock, you would be aiming at 3.9-4ghz for a fully tweaked setup.

 

6. Is there a good docking station to use (one with HDMI/Displayport) so that its easier to take my laptop daily from school/home?

You can get a USB 3 docking station, but if you are expecting to display games through it, no dice. I have a Plugable USB 3 with 1 HDMI, 1 DVI, ethernet, 6 USB, headphone and speaker ports. I was disappointed to learn that I can't plug my monitors in to game on it. For that you need to connect directly to the laptop ports. However, I do have ethernet, a wired gaming mouse, a USB printer/scanner, headphones and an external keyboard connected to the Plugable. It isn't as good a solution as say, my Dell M4500 dock but it is still handy. A good solution would be a USB hub for what I am doing. But I do get ethernet which is still faster than the wireless in my house.

 

Scratch all that. I just tried it. Even though everything I read said it can't be done, I just ran MechWarrior: Online through my Plugable USB 3.0 dock and it was flawless. I cap my games a 60Hz.

http://www.amazon.com/Plugable-UD-3...d=1414849973&sr=8-1&keywords=Plugable+UD-3900

The main thing is to make sure you get a dock that uses DisplayLink. The Plugable products have DisplayLink drivers on a CD, but use the drivers from DisplayLink directly and they update automagically. The drivers are from DisplayLink anyway, but may be older.

http://www.displaylink.com/

 

We should have a match or two at some point, my kit fox will bite your ankles

 

My Commando will bite *your* ankles.

 

Message me your in game ID and ill add you on my kOS Li... I mean friends list

 

I am guessing you are Meaker in game?

 

That's me i might get on tonight.