The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    NP8170 v M17x R3

    Discussion in 'Sager and Clevo' started by Wildcat11, Aug 23, 2011.

  1. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    So my 06 macbook is dying and I am making the switch back to windows and gaming laptops. I have narrowed the field down to the Alienware M17x R3 and the Sager NP8170. Both will be using the Nvidia 580 GPU and the i7 2820 CPU. I am trying to figure out if I missed any of the key parts so please feel free to add or fix my list,

    Alienware:approx $3100
    More Expesnive
    More Ram (16gb)
    Illuminated Keyboard
    Better Cooling (less fan noise)
    Requires OS
    Smaller HD 320gb
    Less Upgradable
    Slot loading blu-ray (negative)

    NP8170 approx $2700-$2900 depending on vendor
    Cheaper ($400 or so)
    No OS
    Larger hard drive 750gb
    User upgradable
    Dead Pixel Policy (yes I know its extra $ but worth it imho)
    Fingerprint Scanner
    Upgraded thermal compounds
    Traditional blu-ray drive (i think)
    Better Build quality
    Less memory @ 12gb
     
    Wildcat11, Aug 23, 2011
    #1
  2. dabooosh

    dabooosh Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    64
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Where are you getting your NP8170 quote from?

    The laptop in my sig cost under $1,900. That's with an SSD and Bluray drive (1TB Scorpio Blue was my own purchase).

    That's about $1,200 less than the Alienware.
     
    dabooosh, Aug 23, 2011
    #2
  3. LukeS

    LukeS Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    194
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    i just configured one on Malibal's site with everything you listed (including the 16Gb ram you listed for the alienware) and it was just under $2500. There are other resellers too and they are all around the same price. Check the resellers thread for info on them.

    And yes, it is a tray type bd drive, not a slot load like the alienware.
     
    LukeS, Aug 23, 2011
    #3
  4. dabooosh

    dabooosh Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    64
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    How is your quote coming out so high?

    I just configured one on Malibal with the following specs:

    Stock screen
    I7 2630QM
    Radeon 6990M
    IC7 Diamond thermal paste CPU/GPU
    16GB 1333Mhz RAM
    750GB 7200RPM HDD
    6x Bluray reader/ DVD writer
    no OS

    And it came out to $1,894.00
     
    dabooosh, Aug 23, 2011
    #4
  5. LukeS

    LukeS Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    13
    Messages:
    194
    Likes Received:
    3
    Trophy Points:
    31
    He said he wants the i7 2820 and the gtx580m :)
     
    LukeS, Aug 23, 2011
    #5
  6. dabooosh

    dabooosh Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    64
    Messages:
    226
    Likes Received:
    1
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Doh. My bad.
     
    dabooosh, Aug 23, 2011
    #6
  7. Patrck_744

    Patrck_744 Burgers!

    Reputations:
    447
    Messages:
    1,201
    Likes Received:
    41
    Trophy Points:
    66
    Do you really need that much RAM just for gaming?
     
    Patrck_744, Aug 23, 2011
    #7
  8. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    @ Patrck_744 - No, I don't. However I do some light video/photo editing as well on the side. It's mostly for that reason that I am bumping up the RAM.

    @ dabooosh when I used malibal it came out to 2789, here are the specs I used..

    Customizations:

    Display: 17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 120Hz 3D 72% NTSC Matte Display $200.00
    Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.30-3.40GHz $350.00
    Memory: (12GB) 12288MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 3 SO-DIMM $60.00
    Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M 2GB GDDR5 $495.00
    Hard Drive: 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300 $45.00
    Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Burner 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive $175.00
    Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card $60.00
    Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU $40.00


    This is very similar in price to Xoticpc, Mythologic, and LPC-Digital


    How bad is the fan noise during demanding gaming? I have to use this beast in a public area so don't want it to sound like a jet engine every time I start up a game.
     
    Wildcat11, Aug 23, 2011
    #8
  9. Thisisalamp

    Thisisalamp Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    256
    Messages:
    758
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I'm pretty sure that the NP8170 has less fan noise than the M17x, as I've seen the M17x running like a Ferrari on steroids...the R3 noise was unbearable to be honest.
     
    Thisisalamp, Aug 23, 2011
    #9
  10. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Interesting, do you have links with showing this???
     
    Wildcat11, Aug 24, 2011
    #10
  11. Thisisalamp

    Thisisalamp Notebook Deity

    Reputations:
    256
    Messages:
    758
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    No, but I had an M17x and I didn't really like it to be honest. Since the NP8170 is kinda similar to my NP8150, then I would assume that it does run less noisy.

    Purely assumptions though.
     
    Thisisalamp, Aug 25, 2011
    #11
  12. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Ok, can anyone chime in on this? I will be using this laptop a lot in libraries and the like (while gaming). So it sounding like a hair dryer when opening office or gaming isn't really ideal.
     
    Wildcat11, Aug 25, 2011
    #12
  13. kidio007

    kidio007 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    32
    Messages:
    205
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I don't think any of those laptops are really suitable for gaming in libraries, atleast not the M17X which I tried at my school. After 10 minutes when the fan really kicked in it became way too noisy, and people were actually turning their heads. Then I went ahead and got the extremely silent G73, and I game in the library all the time now, not bothering anyone. But again, the noise coming out from the M17X is ridiculous, so I'm sure the noise from the Np8170 is alot quieter.
     
    kidio007, Aug 26, 2011
    #13
  14. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Kidio007 did you have the current generation of the M17?

    Anyone else use their NP8170 in public spaces while gaming? Noise level ok?
     
    Wildcat11, Aug 27, 2011
    #14
  15. bravo261

    bravo261 Notebook Geek

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    93
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    bravo261, Aug 28, 2011
    #15
  16. Wildcat11

    Wildcat11 Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    164
    Messages:
    128
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Wildcat11, Aug 29, 2011
    #16