Lots of Questions: NP5160, NP5165, or NP5175?

I'm purchasing this laptop for weekend use and for use on 2-week vacations throughout the year to play Star Wars the Old Republic. It needs to be able to sustain 6-12 hours of continuous game-play without damaging the internal components.

I understand the GeF 540m is capable of running SWtor at high settings so I have been considering seriously the NP5160 but maybe a larger screen or faster GPU would be worthwhile?

My initial spending limit was $800 but in order to get a quality gaming laptop I am stretching my budget. While cost is a large factor for me, the number two factor would be longevity of the product. Mainly, cooling. My last gaming laptop was a different brand and it often overheated & eventually died because of this.

Seeing as how the 540m will run the game I need to run & to my satisfaction should I go for the 5160 or should I break the bank, be irresponsible, & make the jump to the 555m?

Is there any additional things I should have added to the laptop? I understand the IC7 paste is a wise upgrade.

Finally, is SagerNotebooks.com a good place to order from? What is the customer service like? Heaven forbid if something was to break, is the customer service good to have it repaired? Is the two year extended warranty worth the money?

Thank you so much. I take the input I get on this forum extremely seriously and this will guide my purchase significantly. So again, thank you so much for the input.

 

Welcome!

1. Buy the best machine you can reasonably afford. This applies particularly to the GPU. In other words, be irresponsible and break the bank
2. IC7 is not a wise upgrade if you are budget-conscious. Do it yourself and save $40 if you really feel the need.
3. Don't buy direct from Sager, go through one of the many resellers on this forum. Check the reseller feedback subforum to zero in on a good reseller for your needs.

 

I would get the NP5165, the 540m is quite outdated at this point and wont be able to play new cutting-edge games at medium settings this year.

 

To be fair, SWTOR runs great on a mix of low and high with integrated Sandy Bridge on that model (without even using the discrete card). That said, the 555m is worth the small increase because it will last you quite a bit longer than the 540m due to the power increase. The longer the card is useful and relevant, the longer you can go without having to buy new hardware.

IC Diamond will lower temps by ~6C, but if you're trying to save money, it's an upgrade you can always do later on your own.

 

2. If you are able to apply it yourself, thats good. If you are worry about heat, it gives better peace of mind. I considered doing it myself but I am unsure of my ability to use the stuff and how to clean cpu/gpu to apply it.
3. Full agreement on using a reseller.

The np5160 is slight older than the np5165. The np5165 has better intial screen and gpu, which means it will stay current longer than the np5160.

 

It's pretty straightforward to do it yourself. Here's a link to the service manual with the full instructions (thanks to Theriko):

W15xHNx_ESM.zip

To clean off the old paste, I'd recommend using something like ArctiClean which is designed to do it. However, there's nothing wrong with using a microfiber cloth and some 90% isopropyl alcohol. Just make sure you don't use anything that will leave lint behind, like tissues/paper towels/etc. Even coffee filters work OK if you can't find anything else.

Applying paste depends mostly on the kind you use. IC Diamond is like this:

Application

 

I know its offtopic, but is there any special way to repaste IC7 if you there was a need to do it?

 

Thank you everyone for your help. I am weighing my options. I really appreciate it.

 

IC Diamond does recommend doing a specific way. Here is how they say is the best Application

 

6-12 hours? That's all? Pfft... novice... I kid, I kid.

Yeah the 555m is the best choice. Trust me on this. There's no reason to go for a 540m laptop unless you get it for around $500 or less since it's just too underpowered for most games.