NP9170 vs. NP9370

I'm currently looking at purchasing a laptop with a 7970M or 680M. I'd prefer to stick to Sager hence my thread title.

Am I correct in the assumption that the 7970M should work flawlessly on the NP9370 since it doesn't feature Enduro? The NP9370 is only $50 more than the NP9170 when configured with the 7970M.

If I were to upgrade to the 680M I would be looking at $200 more for the NP9170 and $300 more for the NP9370 when compared to the 7970 configuration. While I don't feel the extra cost is necessarily justified, the current driver situation makes me hesitant to pull the trigger on the 7970M, even on the NP9370 which doesn't support Enduro.

Are there any throttling issues with the NP9170 when using either of these cards and if so, do you think the additional cost of the NP9370 is worth it to avoid that throttling? I'm not a fan of the monstrous power brick that accompanies the NP9370, but as a desktop replacement I don't suppose it would bother me too much. Also, is the overclocking potential of both cards (7970M & 680M) similar?

I've done many hours of research and am still not sure what I should do. Feedback from those who have owned either system or GPU would be greatly appreciated.

 

9370 any and every time. You won't be stuck with just one card in the future if you so choose. So a few years down the line, crossfire that ish up. 680 isn't worth it when going for the 9370 unless you can get an MX now. Even then, I think crossfire 7970s is about the same cost as a single 680mx.

 

overclocking potential:

7970m up to 25%
680m up to 50%

in numbers: 3dmark11 p-score
ive seen 7970m break 8000
ive seen 680m break 9000

both of which were extreme overclocks with heavy modifications/tweaking involved.

more realistic OC would be around 7.5k for 7970m and around 8k for the 680m. those scores are definitely doable

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

Yes you are correct about the 9370 not having the Enduro issues as that model doesnt have switchable graphics.
Price/Performance the 7970M really cant be beat but I do still like the Nvidia cards.

 

As much as I would like to get the 9370, its out of my price range. If I end up getting the 9170, I can always upgrade it to a 9370 down the road?

 

uh? If by upgrade, you mean buy a completely new laptop, sure...

A 9370 with a single 7970 is almost the same price as a 9170 with a 7970. So...

 

Thanks for the advice everyone. Srikar, do you consider the NP9170 too big to carry around the house from time to time? I understand its meant as a desktop replacement, just curious if its feasible to sit in my lap while I'm on the couch if I want to browse the web on battery.

 

I mean upgrade the motherboard & whatnot. I don't want & not interested in the 7970. If I were to get the 9370, it would be with dual 670m 3G SLI. I configured a 9370 w/ 670m 3GB SLI & a 9170 & the price difference is around $300 or so. That is out of my price range hence the reason why I asked if I can upgrade. I should of been more specific. Can I upgrade to the 9370 motherboard that supports SLI in the future if I get a 9170 now?

I'm also interested in this too since I can't make up my mind between a 9150 or 9170.

 

I have the np9170 in my sig. I actually just spent the last 5 days staying at 3 different houses, bringing the rig along with me each time. The included bag they give you when you order was able to carry the computer and powerbrick (and it is a brick) with no problems. Heavy for some, sure, but definitely portable.

As for sitting it on your lap, would really depend on your lap size and how long. Would it be fine for an hour, maybe 2? I would think so. I'd still recommend some sort of pad between your lap and the machine; you don't want to block any of the vents.

I have a weaker 675mx and I bought the rig with the intention of swapping it out for the 680mx at some point. Frankly, I don't know if I will need to. I have yet to experience anything that the 675mx cant handle, save for trying to play metro 2033 completely maxed out ( I have it set to highest settings minus 1 notch for AAA, etc and get a solid 30fps, even with tesselation)

 

I don't have any problems, but I've been using 17" laptops for years now.

So upgrade just about everything internally or only add a GPU at a later date? You're still not making sense. That, and I'm not sure the dimensions are the same to even fit the 9370 motherboard and another GPU.

 

I've kind of decided on the NP9370 but dual 680m's are out of my league. And I don't want to have to deal with an upgrade later on. Besides I don't think I need that kind of power. I'm not a gamer. I'm into video and graphics. But I do want as much GPU power as I can afford. Which would give me better performance, one 680m or dual 670MX's? I think I'd rather stick with nVidia I've always had good luck with them. thanks for any advice.

 

The motherboard isn't meant to be upgraded at a later time. So once you invest in the NP9170, your stuck with it essentially. That being said you can upgrade the CPU, GPU and other components. Also, I'm not sure why you would opt for dual 670m's over a single 7970m.

If you go with a NP9370 that has a 7970m the performance is outstanding (there are driver issues with the NP9170 and the 7970m that are being worked out), far surpassing dual 670m's in SLI and that's assuming that SLI even works properly with the game your playing. The 670m is a crippled card and is nowhere near the performance of the 7970m or 680m.

Neal16: If you want performance that will last get the 7970m or 680m. As I mentioned above the 7970m works flawlessly on the NP9370 and matches the 680m in performance for half the cost. You can't go wrong with either of them in a NP9370 in my opinion.

 

I'm so price conscious that you're mostly likely right I'll look into more & after more researching 7970m is better than 670m SLI. so thanks for the advice. Once thing less to worry about. Now just getting the cost where I can afford it.

 

So here's my choice for the 9170 & 9370 from LPC-Digital

Sager NP9170 (Clevo P170EM)
Configuration:
Product Price Quantity Subtotal
Instant $50.00 OFF! (my order is over $1, 350.00) $-50.00 1 $-50.00
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with MATTE Surface (1920 x 1080) $0.00 1 $0.00
30 day Guaranteed no dead or partially-lit pixels** $50.00 1 $50.00
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 670MX 3GB GDDR5 Memory $0.00 1 $0.00
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz) $0.00 1 $0.00
None - Drivers & Utility Software Only $0.00 1 $0.00
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB $0.00 1 $0.00
Sager Branding $0.00 1 $0.00
Non-RAID Storage $0.00 1 $0.00
1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $30.00 1 $30.00
No 2nd Hard Disk Drive (Opt out) $0.00 1 $0.00
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software $0.00 1 $0.00
No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy $0.00 1 $0.00
Intel® Centrino™ Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Module $30.00 1 $30.00
8 cells smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 76.96Wh $0.00 1 $0.00
Integrated Fingerprint Reader $0.00 1 $0.00
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 3 Years Premium** Parts Warranty $149.00 1 $149.00
No Canada Warranty $0.00 1 $0.00
NONE $0.00 1 $0.00
FREE UPS Ground (CONUS Only) $0.00 1 $0.00
Product summary: $1,528.00
Cash Price: $1,482.16

Sager NP9370 (Clevo P370EM)
Configuration:
Product Price Quantity Subtotal
Instant $50.00 OFF!! $-50.00 1 $-50.00
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display Matte type (1920 x 1080) $0.00 1 $0.00
30 day Guaranteed no dead or partially-lit pixels** $50.00 1 $50.00
AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 $0.00 1 $0.00
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz) $0.00 1 $0.00
None - Drivers & Utility Software Only $0.00 1 $0.00
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB $0.00 1 $0.00
Sager Branding $0.00 1 $0.00
Non-RAID Storage $0.00 1 $0.00
1TB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive $30.00 1 $30.00
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software $0.00 1 $0.00
No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy $0.00 1 $0.00
Intel® Centrino™ Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Module $30.00 1 $30.00
Removable Smart Lithium-Ion battery pack (8 cell) 89.21WH $0.00 1 $0.00
Integrated Fingerprint Reader $0.00 1 $0.00
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 3 Years Premium** Parts Warranty $199.00 1 $199.00
No Canada Warranty $0.00 1 $0.00
FREE UPS Ground (CONUS Only) $0.00 1 $0.00
TBA $0.00 1 $0.00
Product summary: $1,828.00
Cash Price: $1,773.16

My budget is $1500 or lower.

 

I would go with your NP9370 configuration except with a few slight changes.

- No Pixel Guarantee
- No Thermal Compound Upgrade
- Select a different hard drive, avoid 5400 RPM drives at all costs. They are incredibly slow.

Everything else looks great. The pixel guarantee is a waste in my opinion and thermal compound can be bought for $10 a tube and is rather easy to do yourself.

 

Based on your recommendation here are both prices

Sager NP9170 (Clevo P170EM)
Configuration:
Product Price Quantity Subtotal
Instant $50.00 OFF! (my order is over $1, 350.00) $-50.00 1 $-50.00
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display with MATTE Surface (1920 x 1080) $0.00 1 $0.00
NVIDIA® GeForce™ GTX 670MX 3GB GDDR5 Memory $0.00 1 $0.00
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz) $0.00 1 $0.00
Standard Thermal Compound $0.00 1 $0.00
None - Drivers & Utility Software Only $0.00 1 $0.00
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB $0.00 1 $0.00
Sager Branding $0.00 1 $0.00
Non-RAID Storage $0.00 1 $0.00
750GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive $0.00 1 $0.00
No 2nd Hard Disk Drive (Opt out) $0.00 1 $0.00
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software $0.00 1 $0.00
No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy $0.00 1 $0.00
Intel® Centrino™ Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Module $30.00 1 $30.00
8 cells smart Lithium-Ion battery pack 76.96Wh $0.00 1 $0.00
Integrated Fingerprint Reader $0.00 1 $0.00
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 3 Years Premium** Parts Warranty $149.00 1 $149.00
No Canada Warranty $0.00 1 $0.00
NONE $0.00 1 $0.00
FREE UPS Ground (CONUS Only) $0.00 1 $0.00
Product summary: $1,448.00
Cash Price: $1,404.56

Sager NP9370 (Clevo P370EM)
Configuration:
Product Price Quantity Subtotal
Instant $50.00 OFF!! $-50.00 1 $-50.00
17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display Matte type (1920 x 1080) $0.00 1 $0.00
AMD® Radeon™ HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 $0.00 1 $0.00
3rd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-3630QM Processor (6M Cache, up to 3.40 GHz) $0.00 1 $0.00
Standard Thermal Compound $0.00 1 $0.00
None - Drivers & Utility Software Only $0.00 1 $0.00
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz - 2 X 4GB $0.00 1 $0.00
Sager Branding $0.00 1 $0.00
Non-RAID Storage $0.00 1 $0.00
750GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive $0.00 1 $0.00
8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software $0.00 1 $0.00
No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy $0.00 1 $0.00
Intel® Centrino™ Advanced-N 6235 - 802.11A/B/G/N + Bluetooth 4.0 Combo Module $30.00 1 $30.00
Removable Smart Lithium-Ion battery pack (8 cell) 89.21WH $0.00 1 $0.00
Integrated Fingerprint Reader $0.00 1 $0.00
LIFETIME Limited Labor and 3 Years Premium** Parts Warranty $199.00 1 $199.00
No Canada Warranty $0.00 1 $0.00
FREE UPS Ground (CONUS Only) $0.00 1 $0.00
TBA $0.00 1 $0.00
Product summary: $1,748.00
Cash Price: $1,695.56

9370 does look more tempting now & thanks guys for your recommendation & advice. Is there anything else I can cut cost on? Guess the final step is to ask the reseller's if they could give me any other types of discount or not.

 

For future reference to avoid confusion, the 680 you're referring to is the 680M, not the 680MX. The 680MX is a MAC-only card that presently is not being brought to PCs.

 

Reading comprehension fail I guess? Not sure why I would be talking about the same card and refer it as two different things.

"680 isn't worth it when going for the 9370 unless you can get an MX now. Even then, I think crossfire 7970s is about the same cost as a single 680mx"

 

You referred to it as two different things? Now that I did miss.

Here's what I saw.

I saw you say that the 680 isn't worth it when purchasing the Sager 9370 (which was a poor, inaccurate comment to begin with), and that Crossfire 7970s are about the same cost as a single version of a card that isn't even available for this PC (effectively meaning it doesn't have a cost relevant to the 9370, 9170, or the brand as a whole, which is another part of why the comment didn't make much sense to begin with).

Unless mentioning the "680" was supposed to be the second mention... which still wouldn't make any sense because the 680 is a desktop card and has no relevance here anyway. Unless you were indeed meaning to reference the 680M (which is what I pointed out and you just denied, so that's obviously not the case), which is the card that is relevant to this thread, which is also the only 680 card that you actually did not mention. Unless you were committing the faux paus of being specific and unspecific in the same statement, in which case I'm still not the one who failed here.

Regardless, I take it what you were going for was ultimately just a failed attempt at sarcasm. You'll have to forgive me for not completely comprehending something that never made a lick of sense to begin with -.- You'll come to understand after spending more time on the internet that anything but the most blatant forms of sarcasm never come off very well.

But anywho, you go ahead back to being a smartass. I won't be failing to comprehend anymore of your well-thought-out comments anymore. Just be more careful with it next time.

 

Okay, I can play this game. Let's go.

It is not a poor, inaccurate statement when we are talking cost vs. performance. On any given day, the cards are mostly equal unless we get into extreme overclocking situations where the 680m barely edges out the 7970m. The 680m simply is NOT WORTH IT. As in, worth it to pay out a fortune. Are you following me yet? Also, clearly I wasn't sure if it was available or not, hence my word usage in the original statement which I even was kind enough to bold for you which you still missed. "Unless you can get the MX now," means that it was not available when I last looked and I wasn't for sure it was available yet. As far as cost goes, I'm basing the difference between the 675m to the 675mx and comparing it to the cost of the 680m. Simple math stuff.

Yeah man. Because we can put desktop 680s in our laptops. I believe I'm on a laptop forum discussing laptop cards. It is why I differentiated between the 680 and the MX version. The "m" on 680 is unneeded due to the nature of the board. But hey, let's argue semantics like we have some sort of point.

Perhaps you should spend more time on the internet then because you are arguing semantics. Again, you failed at reading comprehension on my first post and insisted on defending your mishap. I wasn't sure the MX was available or not and I believe Alienware has some models with the MX in it already, but I may be wrong. Even if it isn't, I'm sure the MX won't remain exclusive to Apple machines for obvious reasons. Again, let's look at these words for a final time and maybe you'll understand them: " unless you can get an MX now.

 

Go with the 9370. The 7970M is way better than 670MX, in fact, I even remember reading that 7970M is even slightly better than 680M in some 3d, video editing or other high end programs/processes if, as you have mentioned, you are not a big gamer. Not to mention the future opportunity to throw in another 7970M for Crossfire once the current setup will run out of steam (which shouldn't happen in the next years).

 

Yeah I'd go 9370 too. Along with all the other pros that have been mentioned, the 9370 had a far superior sound system than the 9170. that one sound like crap.

 

Well that escalated quickly.

 

I bought and ASUS G73 a couple of years ago and had a dead pixel within about a week. Fortunately they included a 30 day dead pixel guarantee so I didn't even have to pay extra but I was very glad to have it. It was a bit of a hassle to have to send it to ASUS to have the screen replaced but it was worth it rather than to have to look at a dead red pixel for the rest of the laptop's life. I would never again buy any computer without investing in the extra dead pixel protection if available. I'm going to buy mine from Xotic like I did last time and for $50 they give you 60 days.

 

Dead pixels are black or white. What you had was a stuck pixel and can be fixed easily at home.

 

Sager quality control is a considerable step up from most other brands, especially ASUS. I'd also like to point out that when purchasing you have a 30 day no questions asked money back guarantee. So on the slight chance you do get a problematic screen you can either get a replacement laptop or a full refund from your seller. I'm not saying the pixel guarantee is a bad thing, I can just put that $50 to use making the system perform better. For example, you can get a really solid SSD for $80.

 

How is the battery life between the NP9170 and the NP9370(Using a single GPU)?

 

NP9170 is going to give you much better battery life because of Optimus/Enduro. If you're not familiar with that it will use the Intel HD 4000 when doing basic things like internet surfing. The NP9370 doesnt have that so the dGPU will always be on which eats more battery.