NP9262 dies, just bought a NP8170

After several years of ownership my 9262 died. I probably could have salvaged it but it was old, worn, and the screen was really loose. It was a great computer for what I used it for. As far as hardware, it had the Intel Q9550, Nvidia 9800GT and a few other bells and whistles. I just bought a 8170 from Xotic. Specs are as follows:
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R506)
- 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
- 8GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
- 80GB Intel 320 Series Solid State Drive (SSD Serial-ATA II)
- 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Combo Dual Layer SuperMulti DVDRW/CDRW Drive
- Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit

I'm pretty excited, how do you think the new computer will fare against the old?. I didn't max out the screen because I plan on using an external monitor. There was no budget but at the same time I didn't want to spend too much. What are the OC'ing abilities with these CPUs and GPUs?

 

the cpu is not overclockable. And the 2760qm is hugely better than the 2630qm now.

GPU is limited but I dunno how much as I have no experience with that model. I do know the 580m is better at it but not by much.

 

For overclocking:

1) The 2630 is not overclockable. While the HM67 chipset in your P170HM does support it, all "QM" sandy bridge parts including the 2630 do not have unlocked multipliers and cannot be overclocked. You'd need one of the "XM" processors like the 2920XM to do that.

2) The GPU is overclockable to an extent. There's a good thread here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...-my-485m-580m-clock-speeds-no-difference.html

It's definitely not recommended to do so, but if you want to- just be careful

For your new parts compared to the old- well it's not really a comparison.

The 9800 was 1/3 the speed of the 485m (4123 marks in Vantage versus 12198) and the Q9550 is about 15-20% slower than the 2630QM. It lasted a bit better because it was a desktop model

 

I as well had the NP9262. A great machine in it's time!

Choosing the 8170 is an excellent choice. The stock Hannstar dislplay is good according to many members here. You will love it!
_

 

Sounds like it's a pretty good machine. I'm not dying to overclock anything, I couldn't overclock my 9262 and it could do anything I needed/wanted it to do. I kept the new build simple so if I find the performance isn't enough I can put a better one in there. That's why I went with user upgrageable hardware. All I do is play WoW, Mass Effect 2, listen/download music and movies, browse the web. Nothing really too demanding, I just like to know there's room to grow if I want to.

 

I'm glad you told me about the CPU. I just emailed and upgraded to the 2760. Thanks for the heads up. I also upgraded to the 12 gigs of ram too. While I'm at it I'm thinking about upgrading the GPU also but I don't think it'll be worth the extra coin.

 

yeah I wouldn't recommend paying all that money for a 580m. The 485m isn't terrible it just isn't the latest and the greatest.