Introduction

Greetings,
New member here just wanting to say hello. I am just starting my research into the Sager 5175 and would like to hear the opinions of those with more experience than I in regards to this unit & Battlefield 3. My current laptop has passed it's prime and I am having frag fest withdraw

 

The 555M is definitely not a card I would recommend for playing new games at anything higher than low settings, and may barely be able to run BF3 at all. I would spring for at least a 560M - even though it's a numerical difference of 5, it's a whopping 35-40% faster.

Even then, you'll probably be running with rather low settings, as the recommended system requirements for BF3 are really quite high. If you have enough money, you'd be more well-suited with a Radeon 6970 / Geforce 485M / Radeon 6990M (in order of increasing price). 580M if you're really loaded, but then, you're looking at a 5175 so I'm assuming your budget isn't totally unlimited.

 

Unfortunately like Superloaf said the 5175 will most likely not be able to run it at enjoyable settings due to GPU limitations, if at all.

In the 17" market you'd want at least the 8170 with the base 560m GPU.

 

Thank you very much for your input. Since last night I have started to lean more towards the 15.5/6 screen size due to a smaller package to lug around. As far as systems go, I am TOTALLY open to suggestions to brand, components,where to buy, etc. My budget is around the 1400.00-ish level (The wife would prefer less, but we both know that's not going to happen)
FIRE AWAY...............

 

see my specs, thats a good setup and in your range if u take out thermal, big foot, dead pixel and make it 500gb instead

 

Agree with theHans, the Clevo P150HM / Sager NP8150 is definitely going to be able to handle BF3. You might be able to sneak a 6990M into the configuration and grab the $100 promo most resellers are running

 

Beautiful....Thanks for the advice guys !

 

Where would you suggest purchasing said animal ?

 

Yes I vote too for the Sager NP8150 / Clevo P150HM for your needs.

_

 

Thank you Larry !

 

You may also want to check out current MSI laptops such as the gt680. They go up to the gtx 570m which will handle bf3 no problem. The also have much better audio quality on the internal sound card and speakers, as well as much quieter fans [clevo/sager fans are pretty loud].

Something to consider.

 

If they are cheaper than what Clevo/Sager is offering I would actually go with the MSI since the speaker alone is really good.

 

Very soon [next month] there will be a barebone version of the 16" gt683dxr with gtx 570m for about 850$.
There is the simple fact that Clevo doesn't offer any GPU in between the performance of the 6970m and gtx 560m like the gtx 570m, however, the p150hm barebones with 560m tends to be more than 850 or 900. And there is the clear fact that the 570m is hardly behind the 6970m in performance.

Another thing... Clevos have really overbuilt cooling, all copper and 2 fans. But in reality it just isn't better. The MSIs which have been upgraded to 6990m seem to be doing better than a lot of the clevos with temps close to the danger zone.

 

larry and jp (from xoticpc) and malibal are all top notch resellers of sager/clevo notebooks. youll be in good hands if you purchase from any of them. plus they are extremely active contributors to this forum.

 

PowerNotebooks and XoticPC also sells their own branded laptops based on the 17" MSI body with a 570M, at a significant cost savings. As far as I know, same audio.

 

Agree, purchase from any of the big guys here on the forum.

I went with Malibal and they were fantastic!

Compare them in terms of price, service and friendliness (yes you are all very friendly )

Read the forums on reseller reviews. The big ones , nobody really ever had problems with

 

Fantastic advice guys...Thanks very much for your input.
The research & comparisons continues..........

 

Yeah but their CPUs are the ones that are getting crazy temps right now. 90-94*C

 

What would be the motivation for upgrading an MSI to a 6990M, out of curiosity? (Honest question, I swear!) It seems like after you bought the barebones and the card you'd more or less be at Clevo prices regardless, and the weight difference is negligible. I suppose you do get a backlit keyboard, though!

 

Look at my signature - thats the machine you want for Battlefield 3. I got it for 1190,50 EURO (im in Europe) from NEXOC. This price includes shipping with UPS in Europe, also includes the Thermal Compount for CPU and GPU. Its a great deal!

As for system specs, here is why you need that config:
-AMD 6990M is a tad more expensive than 6970M, but you get the best AMD video card in the world right now. Around 10-15% more FPS is always good to have!
-Intel Core i7 2760QM is a killer processor! 8 threads, 3.4Ghz turbo and 3.5Ghz turbo on single core.....man, thats what you NEED for BF3. The 2630QM, 2670QM and 2720QM may be cheaper, but hey - better buy one time something good than having to upgrade! Im not a fan on upgrading down the road.
-15,6" size. Well, not having to lug around a big brick is always good! I bought myself a Phillips Heat Protect Sleeve and yet this machine fits into consumer-grade sleeves and bags! Also, save yourself some 100-200$ off the 17.3" and invest in hardware instead screen size and weight.

Overall, Im satisfied to the max with that machine. You will be too!

 

Something's weird here - how'd you get two drives in there?

I guess with these ever-increasing specs we should probably ask what the OP's actual max budget is. Sneakin?

 

I didn't see any ODD, so he probably replaced it for another disk drive.