NP9377-S vs NP9570

Can't find a thread for the new NP9377-S or the NP9570 (both with the 880M GPU) so thought I'd post here.

So I was looking at both, and configured them exactly the same except for the CPU ...the price difference was what surprised me.. $2,159 for the NP9377-S with the i7-4810MQ versus $2,634 for the NP9570 with the i7-4820K.

Sure the i7-4820K is unlocked and has a bigger cache and operating frequency (3.9GHz vs 3.8GHz), but nearly $500 extra for that CPU? On the flip side, the i7-4820K sucks up a lot more power (130W vs 45W) and has no integrated GPU. From what I can see on search, the RRP is around the same price for both CPUs, so I'm kind of stumped at the big price difference. Is there something I'm missing..? The chassis on the NP9377-S has a couple of lights on it which don't actually achieve anything, but other than that, the cases are'nt all that dissimilar that I can see..

The reason I'm looking is that I'm considering parting out my desktop and going for a laptop as a desktop replacement (and of course keeping the NP7338 for mobility).

Thanks.

 

Those 2 really shouldn't be compared like that. The 9570 houses a desktop CPU in a laptop form factor, and is the only laptop in the world to have that sort of configuration. It is in a league of its own. Whereas the 9377-S is still more of a "traditional" high performance laptop. The price difference is far more than just the CPU itself, you also have to factor in the engineering and design that has to go into producing such a niche device.

Apart from the obvious CPU difference, the chipsets used are also very different. The X79 used in the 9570 is an enthusiast class chipset, and supports quad channel ram, while the HM87 in the 9377 is more mainstream and only supports dual channel. The 9570 also has 5 speakers vs the 2 on the 9377. The 9570 has a DVI port, DisplayPort and an ExpressCard slot, while the 9377 lacks the DVI and ExpressCard, and has a Thunderbolt port (which doubles as a mini DisplayPort) in place of the DisplayPort.

The chassis of the 9570 is also about 0.5" thicker on average, needed to accommodate the heavy-duty heatsink and the fans used to cool the desktop CPU. The performance of the 4810MQ might be similar to the 4820K at stock, but overclocked the 4820K will run circles around the 4810MQ. Although you won't be able to use it to its full potential due to both thermal and power issues (Meaker would be able to elaborate on this much better than I could).

 

I have a NP7280 which is basically a predecessor to the NP9570. To back up what rhutor says. The thing is a beast. I have owned two of these types of machines from SAGER, and they both are still running strong. The one before was a NP9260.

Even though your example chooses The i7 4820k, that is the base CPU. People normally pick these types of machines to be able to go to the high end CPU.

If you look at the following side by side comparison, you will see how you can load this laptop up with some pretty impressive CPUs.

ARK | Compare Intel® Products

So, to sum it up, you're paying for the base unit to have the option to go to some CPUs, that no other laptop even give you the chance to choose.

Another thing to consider, these things are massive. I think mine is about 12-13lbs (+ the ~4 lb power supply) and even though it has a 17.3" screen, many 17" laptop bags are not big enough because it's also very thick.

For the type of work I do, it's all worth it.

 

They pretty much summed it up nicely. The np9570 will only give max an hour on battery, its more for battery backup. Its a true desktop replacement. Most of my sagers have been this type. This is the first time im going with a mobile chipset on the np7338. Talk about a big change!

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2 hours actually lol. The 9570 is more niche.

 

2 hours is impressive for a laptop replacement of that size.

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Did you mean desktop replacement? Lol.

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+1 on the comment that the battery is really just battery backup.... ;-)

My NP7280 is on battery probably 99% of the time, but when I have ran it off the juice, I think 1 hour is MAX. I guess if you cranked everything down, you could eek out 1:15. I think the longest I have ran it was like 40 minutes.

Some people say you will kill a laptop battery if you don't run it down some times. Both my beasts have ran almost all their life on the a/c (With battery in and charging). My NP9260 is 6 years old and the NP7280 is 3+ years old. Both have the original batteries.

 

Does tour 9260 have any juice left? 6 years plus I am pretty sure it is on it's last legs if it has any left.

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My girlfriend uses it every day. Sometimes it comes out of sleep and cranks the fans all the way up and need to be hard booted, but when running it's 100% rock solid.

Once in a blue moon it will get a memory error on initial boot, but a reboot makes that go away.

I do have to take the bottom cover off every 6 months or so and blow out the dust.

I have owned HP laptops and they have failed in the first 3 years when subjected to the same daily use.

Actually the NP9260 fell from about 3 ft on two different occasions and survived. It was in my backpack, but still I expected some damage with such a heavy laptop.

 

My np9280 is 5 years old with the original battery. I got an hour when it was new and still get an hour now with the same battery. It very rarely gets fully drained. Pretty much only when i test its run time. Keeping your battery as close to a full charge as possible is probably the best thing you can do for it. Constantly draining them is what hurts them the most.

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Keeping it full is second worst thing to do to a battery's longevity. Fully discharging is worse.

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While I have a great appreciation for the desktop CPU "laptop" I would almost always go for adesktop over them for not only price but the fact that you can get a desktop GPU as well. Although for my needs mobile GPUs cover100% of my needs, I find that mobile CPUs are lacking in encoding making me wish I had a desktop to handle the task. But Ill have to make due until I win that lottery.

Oh and lol at people using these on battery! Pretty impressed they get as much as they do but as stated above they are more or less for UPS purposes. Still if money werent an issue having a 6 core desktop CPU in a more mobile then a desktop rig would be pretty sweet! But my advice is if you want a laptop get the 9377 if you want the 9570 get a desktop IMHO.

 

With a pair of 780ms at 1045/7000 and a 4930k at 4.3ghz I don't miss a desktop too much.

 

Yeah, Mine has a i7-980X 6 Core w/ 24GB of ram and SSDs. Been my main development system for several years. I also have a Dual-Quad Core Xenon development system with a ton of high end desktop hardware (4x WD Raptors in RAID 0). Haven't even turned that system on in about 2 years.

Before the Sager, I was using whatever was the fastest/meanest laptop HP made for the consumer market. My compile times were on the order of 1-2 minutes. When I got my first Sager and put SSD in, my compile times are almost always less than 15 seconds and sometimes just a few seconds. When you're doing that 50-100 times a day, it adds up.

Compiling is not multi-threaded, so it doesn't even take advantage of the fact you have 6 cores. I think most of speed gains are from the SSD and the fact that background processes don't ever get in the way.

Don't think there are too many things I have to wait for. Maybe video crunching.

These machines are really in a league of their own. I guess if you haven't used one, you really can't appreciate it. And for the vast majority of laptop users, the cost can not be justified. But for some, the cost of a laptop of this type is just the cost of doing business.

 

Oh dont get me wrong Im not saying I wouldnt own one if I could, but unless money isnt an issue a desktop is much cheaper. But thinking about encoding on a 4930k makes me foam at the mouth with envy! I guess Ill just have to make due with a 4810MQ when it comes and envy those lucky few who can afford and make due with a true desktop replacement.

 

Now imagine it with a 12 core xeon in it

 

Why do people still post this in 2014? Yes IT's common knowledge that it is cheaper to build a desktop not even a disput at this point. I see people ask about a laptop and get this response I'm sure if they were looking for a desktop they would ask or just get one.

Back on topic I Just ordered the NP9377 Hopefully have it later this month 4820 i7 and 880m sli

 

Because this laptop fills a very small niche and most people dont understand ita pretty much a desktop. Plus im just saying for me not for the op. Ease up Francis...

No way id pass out from excitement! Can the 12 core fit in the thermal envelope? Im assuming power is fine with the dual PSUs.

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Yes, you need to hack the bios a little but I believe prema has done it.

 

If this is true:

Spoiler

 

Thanks Rhutor and others for the education! I am much more informed now at the difference due to engineering, quad channel ram etc. etc.. Definitely bears some more thinking.

 

Yeah that's what puts this in a different league to other machines

 

What is the battery life (best case scenario - assume max power saving) for a dual graphics card 9377? TIA.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Clevo-P370EM-Barebones-Notebook.81409.0.html

Old but will be close. Looking at 2-3 hours realistic battery life.

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Yeah 2-3 hours. The force multi monitor p state controls in nvidia inspector can be useful.

 

Thanks for the insights. I need to upgrade my laptop and have been patiently reviewing the Sager line for a while. When I can see my way clear to buy, I had decided on the NP9377 with the new GTX 880M and SSDs. I'm not really a gamer but more so because I've never owned a machine that could handle the graphics. My HP without a dedicated GPU doesn't cut it. I'm relieved to hear that these Sagers last, as one of their benefits is their upgradeability. If you're going spend $2K or more on a machine, don't get one with the CPU soldered to the main board or with a GPU that can't be upgraded. Also sounds like the build quality is acceptable. My main concern is with the few resellers out there, e.g., firms like XoticPC. Have read many horror stories as well as buyers who have had good experiences. Any thoughts who to consider ordering from are appreciated? Any thoughts on how to possibly avoid getting a wanker machine out of the gate are also appreciated. I'm not looking for anyone to attack the resellers, just some advice. I don't have the time or money to deal with problems. And, yes, I also considered the NP9570 but the cost is really more than I can swing.

I was looking at the MSI GS70 Stealth but it's not upgradeable and you need to buy an external blue-ray reader/writer.

 

Xoticpc x2. Bought from them twice and everything was smooth. My first was in 2008 and about a week after I got it mobo died. What to know what happened? I shipped it to sager and they replaced motherboard. Had it back in a week and it ran flawless for 3 years two months. Then sold it. I sold it to a friend and I know it was still ticking without problems about a year ago. Their 5 year old son managed to knock some keys off it though. Kind of miss it. My np5160 is still going real strong and I will be buying from xoticpc again when the maxwell refresh comes out. Can't wait.

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+1 also for XoticPC. I have bought 3 laptops (All Sager) from them since 2008. I also have had nothing but good experiences. I have not had many issues with any of the machines except my NP7280, which turned out to be a simple fix where I just needed to reseat the RAM.

I have had good interactions with both their sales and tech support departments. It's so much better being able to talk to people that KNOW what they are selling as apposed to talking to a sales droid at Best Buy. ;-)

 

I bought from xoticpc too and so far things have gone great.

Are you waiting for the high end card maxwell refresh or just maxwell refresh in general? If you're looking for the latter maxwell has been around since the 7XX series in mid to low end cards. Currently the 830m, 840m, 850m and 860m have maxwell offerings as well as kepler. I read a review on the 860m kepler vs 860m maxwell and pretty much a wash on performance but maxwell does run cooler and on less power (with optimus this is kinda moot). So at least you'll have cooler temps and game on battery slightly longer if that's your thing.

 

Looking for an 860 or 870. I dont need gaming performance but I definitely want the less heat and less power usage. My 540m was more than I needed for the little gaming I do but I like running @home projects and appreciate the extra oomph for other stuff when optimus doesnt cut it. The only Maxwell 860 laptop I see I dont like the color and especially hate the port placement. And I for sure want a laptop with multiple storage options and want separate fans for CPU and GPU. On top of all that, I usually get a new lappie every 3 years or so but might try to push for 5 instead of 3 with this one unless something magical happens with computing power or battery technology in the next 5 years. Part of the reason I am considering an 870m though not needed. Might try my hand at some altcoin stuff if I can see a return on laptop investment within 3 years.

Also, I dont need super performance but do appreciate it. I want the best performance for watt I can get letting my laptop run @home projects and possibly mining coins. I try to keep my electricity usage under 500kw a month and I average a hair over 400 so I have some overhead. I'd like to try and run my stuff with 50% capacity of my processing power while using it and have overhead to do other stuff without noticing and keep heat as low as possible. I need maxwell for that. Also, will probably run 16gb ram for the foreseeable future and upgrade to 32gb of ram when the price is right. Hopefully, 2 16gb sticks @ 1.35v or less if possible.

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Well as stated above there are maxwell 860m out there in the wild so to speak. No sure which models use kepler or which use maxwell, but the initial maxwell have been out since 7XX (750ti I think??). So what you're waiting for is out, unless you're waiting for the 22nm maxwell and I'm venturing to guess that's late 2014 early 2015 for decent options. Could be wrong.

 

20nm maxwell and I want a sager. I like sager. Priced right and above average to exceptional computers.

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I'm not sure you can earn back the cost of a notebook mining.

 

I have been pondering the same question as the OP. I am looking to make an upgrade from a mediocre Dell XPS17 with a GT555M to something much more capable in terms of game play. I don't do any modeling, or really any significant video editing beyond the very occasional family videos in HD. I purely want just a gaming platform, and I'm not sure the extra cost of the 9570 will be necessary. I would still be running 16g ram (dual vs quad, but how much will this effect frame rates) and dual 880Ms. It is my guestimate that the I7-4810MQ will be more than enough to satisfy my needs for years to come.

Is the cooling still good enough on the NP9377-S to do some minor GPU overclocking? How about processor overclocking, or is that not allowed since it is "locked"? (I think, I'm not real clear on the difference or if this is even an accurate statement).

Any thoughts from you more experienced users (i.e. everyone but me)?

Thanks,

Kevin

 

Go for the 9377 if gaming is your primary thing. You can overclock a little on the 9377 just fine, all mobile i7s are partially unlocked to different degrees depending on model.

 

I just had the same question and decided on the 9377. The 9570 just seemed excessive in every sense. In any event, you end up with the same top mobile graphics cards in SLI/crossfire. That is what will ultimately determine when the machine becomes obsolete. A desktop CPU on top of that doesn't seem like a big draw to me.

 

The price seems to have dropped, only a ~$200 difference now. The 9570 also has a better screen, which would cost $100 to upgrade to on the 9377.

 

The temps on the 9377 look pretty good with SLi running. Not sure on how far you can OC, but SLi 880m will run anything you want at max with easy on stock clocks. As for the 4810MQ that CPU will run games well for years to come.

The main reason for the 9570 is for those who need desktop level processing in a complete mobile package. Unless you're doing alot of number crunching or serious encoding the haswell mobile chips will more then handle the task. Heck I noticed a huge difference in encoding times with my haswell 4810 vs my sandy bridge 2860QM. But I also noticed a hair more heat as well which is the only downfall to haswell IMHO. But thankfully sagers cooling is above average so never broke a sweat.