Need advice on my Sager NP9170 build

My goal is to build a gaming laptop that will last 2-3 years for around $2,500 max.

I thought this build looked pretty good, but I had a couple of questions:
1. Is the 680M worth another $245?
2. Is a 72% gaamut matte screen worth $119 over the stock matte screen? Is the professional color calibration worthwhile?

So here is the build I selected:
Sager NP9170 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P170EM)
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- SAGER Back 2 School Savings!!! ( Free Hard Drives & Ram Savings ) - See Specials Below
- 17.3" Sager FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Matte Screen (1920x1080) (SKU - S1R401)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- NO Professional Monitor Color Calibration
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3820QM (2.7GHz - 3.7GHz, 8MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU - S2R203)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- AMD Radeon HD 7970M (2048MB) GDDR5 DX11 [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R155)
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- FREE! - 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4T824P)
- Remove All Branding
- Standard Finish
- No mSATA SSD
- 512gb Crucial M4 Series Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA III) (SKU – S5R063)
- None Standard
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- 6x Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special! (SKU - S7P557)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band) (SKU – S8R008)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included) + MS Office Starter 2010 -[ Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (Directly through Microsoft) ]
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support (Labor through XPC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
Sub-Total: $2,549.01

 

The build looks great. I would suggest the 680M over the 7970m as it does have slightly better performance. And yes the upgraded screens do look nicer.
To upgrade to those from what you have and still try to say in budget consider Changing the primary drive SSD to something smaller then adding a second drive like a 750GB. Unless you need that much space on the primary drive, most people will be ok with 120-240GB depending on all the programs you plan on installing.

 

Do you need all that much CPU power? a 3610 or 3720 is enough for any gaming. They won't bottleneck you
instead you can use the money to get the 680m.

Calibration is highly recommended for any of the high gamut screen.

To add on Xotic suggestion

You do get a free 750GB hdd with the "Back to School" offer
Just pay for a 250GB SSD and you can save a lot there too
And make sure the OS gets installed in the SSD.

Of course that would require removing the DVD drive....

 

I agree with you with everything except you do not need to remove the dvd drive as you will get 2 HDD and an ODD with the sager np9170 which is one of its advantages over the np9150

 

+1
Good catch, I was thinking 9150 while typing.

 

Is the 72% gamut matte screen that much better than the stock matte screen? (which I'm assuming is around 60%) I can understand that the 90% gamut glossy would look better than the stock glossy screen, but is the 72% gamut worth $119? From what I've read on the forum, some people say you won't notice the gamut in games.

I was going to order the i7-3820QM to future proof the laptop for a couple of years. I can alway upgrade the HD and RAM, but I'm stuck with the CPU. When I went through the options again, I didn't see the free back to school HD, rather it was $110. I was going to go with the 7970M rather than the 680M, as I had a bad experience with nVidia/Asus a few years ago with a bad GPU (that had known problems)...the one that nVidia covered in some manufacturers and not others. From what I was reading, the 680M is marginally better than the 7970M, and I didn't want to pay $245 for a GPU that wasn't much better.

 

I have the NP9170 and I think the stock matte screen looks great, the colors are bright and clear and of course there are no reflections.

Also, not to start a huge, dramatic thread (or to deter you from your purchase), but you may want to read a few of the threads in the Clevo/Sager area about some of the issues the 7970M is currently facing... I'll leave the specifics for those threads but essentially the card is underperforming in some games for reasons that don't seem to be 100% clear yet. I currently have the 7970M and enjoy nice (even great) frame rates on most of the games I play, but I just thought I'd point out that there are others that are more than a little disappointed in the card.

 

Good build. I would take the recomendation and get the 256GB SSD and 750GB HD has a data drive. Make sure to redirect your user locations to the HD, writes kill SSDs, no need to waste it on downloads, music and or pictures.

7970m does current have Enduro issues, but they are actively working on the issue, CatalystMaker just tweeted on the issue. Liek Nvidia, they will solve the issue, just hopfully alot quicker.

Since your gaming as a primary you went overboard on CPU, drop it down as suggested to 3720. The 680 is not worth the upgrade from dollars to performance, it is not worth $300, however Nvidia fought their iGPU war last year and it dioes not suffer from Enduro issues.

Changes I would make:
Get color calibration, this is always noticable and worth it.
Drop CPU down, save the $$$
SSD+HD is the way to go, 256GB is all you probably need, but even if you keep the 512GB, grab a HD as secondary.
Keep the Bluray, but add the optional drive caddy, great way to image your system, backups, etc. Any old 2.5" HD will do.
Always buy a second AC adapter, you never know and NEVER use those universal crap non-grounded adapters.
If it were me, 16GB for gaming is wasted, I know its free upgrade, but I'd consider going 8GB-1866MHz.

 

Personally I'd go with this. Get the 680, you wont regret it. Color calibration, you can always find profiles that people posted here. I know there was one threat that had some good calibration advice.
CPU - I would drop down and save some money. Take the free upgrades on the HD and the memory. Honestly, 16GB is more noticeable (and free) than the 8GB - 1866 MHz memory. You wont notice any difference upgrading to faster memory.
I would not get a 2nd AC adapter... If yours fails order another from your retailer. I've been using mine continuously since I got my laptop with no problems. After browsing the boards for a few years now I haven't seen any problems posted about ac adapters failing.

If you know how to install the OS/Drivers yourself, get the 500gb Seagate XT and buy a 128 gb Crucial M4 off Newegg. It goes for $104.99 with free shipping.

Sager NP9170 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P170EM)
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- SAGER Back 2 School Savings!!! ( Free Hard Drives & Ram Savings ) - See Specials Below
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 72% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080)
(Will add 4-7 business days to build time) (SKU - X1R552)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- No Professional Monitor Color Calibration (Can find specs on this site)
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
- -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
- nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R406)
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- FREE! - 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4T824P)
- Sager Branding
- Standard Finish
- No mSATA SSD
- FREE! - 500gb (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache) (SKU - S5R413)
- None Standard
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- 6x Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special! (SKU - S7P557)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band) (SKU – S8R008)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included) + MS Office Starter 2010 -[ Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (Directly through Microsoft) ]
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)
- No thanks, standard double boxed packaging is okay with my order
- No Outside of US Shipping Coverage
- Standard Production Time

 

Or you could get the build in my sig for $1800 or so. its a damn beast regardless at this price point. depending on how much money you are wanting to save, i'd go for the 7970m... compared between the two were only slight advantages that are invisible to our naked eyes. so once the driver and enduro problems get resolved, you'll be glad you saved yourself $200 to spend on games or whatever.

 

So I should get the 72% gamut matte screen W/calibration, the 680M, the cheapest processor, the free 16GB RAM, and the free 500GB/7200 HD?

How does this configuration look?

Sager NP9170 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P170EM)
- FREE!! Continental (U.S. Lower 48 - UPS Ground Only) Ground Shipping on ALL Sager Laptops (Enter Coupon Code: "SAGERFREESHIP" during order process)
- SAGER Back 2 School Savings!!! ( Free Hard Drives & Ram Savings ) - See Specials Below
- 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Matte Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Anti-Glare Screen w/ 72% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080)
(Will add 4-7 business days to build time) (SKU - X1R552)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- XOTIC PC Professional Monitor Color Calibration w/ Spyder 3 Elite (Will add to Production Time) (Operating System is required) (XPC Service)
- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
- - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- nVidia GeForce GTX 680M 4,096MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology [User Upgradeable] (SKU - S3R406)
- No Copper Cooling Upgrade
- No Video Adapter
- No External Mobile Display
- 16GB - DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4S444M)
- Remove All Branding
- Standard Finish
- No mSATA SSD
- FREE! - 500gb (w/ 4GB SSD Memory) Seagate XT 7200RPM NCQ Hybrid (Serial-ATA II 300 - 32MB Cache) (SKU - S5R413)
- None Standard
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- 6x Blu-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive - Special! (SKU - S7P557)
- No Extra Optical Bay Hard Drive Caddy
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- NO External USB Optical Drive
- Internal 9-in-1 Card Reader (MMC/RSMMC/SD/Mini SD/SDHC/SDXC/MS/MS Pro/MS Duo)
- No Back Up Software
- Bluetooth Included (See “Wireless Network” Section Below)
- Sager - Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1202 + Bluetooth 4.0 (Dual Band) (SKU – S8R008)
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- No Carrying Case
- Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- No Car Adapter
- No Spare AC Adapter
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No Headset
- No External Keyboard
- Standard Sager/Clevo Non Chiclet Backlit Keyboard
- No External Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- No Operating System Redline Boost
- ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (64&32-Bit CD Included) + MS Office Starter 2010 -[ Upgrade to Windows 8 Pro for $14.99 (Directly through Microsoft) ]
- No Antivirus Essentials Software Bundle
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- LIFETIME Ltd Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime 24/7 DOMESTIC Toll Free Telephone Support (Labor through XPC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Parts Warranty Repairs (SKU - X9R009)

A couple of other questions:

Is the Diamond Thermal Compound or the copper cooling upgrade worth it?

What about the overclocking and Redline boost? Would that decrease the life of the processor/GPU?

I really wanted a SSD, as it takes forever to load "Dawn of War 40K" on my current laptop with a 400GB/7200 HD.

My current laptop is an MSI GX740 with an i7 CPU Q 720 @ 1.60GHz, an ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5800, 8GB RAM, a 400GB/7200 HD, a 1680x1050 glossy screen, and Windows 7 64-bit Home Premium. I usually try to double my performance when I upgrade, if not, I can wait another 6 months or so...

 

You can do the repasting and copper cooling much cheaper yourself. I found the copper heatsinks had only a small effect, but they are cheap to buy, so give it a go if you want. You might want to try the foil tape, as that can make a big difference.
As for the ssd, if you have a bit of extra cash, buy one. Makes a big difference with load times. You could drop down to 8gb ram to save some money for that.

 

If I'm not mistaken the 16GB ram are free, one of sager's BTS offer

 

Wow, good offer. Scratch that idea then.

 

I wouldn't bother with the IC Diamond, Redline boost, or the copper cooling for that matter. The temps for these new machines stay pretty cool to begin with. I applied my own IC Diamond and it only dropped the temp about a few degrees Celsius. I would recommend you get HW monitor when/if you get your machine and test what your temps get up to. If they seem high you can always do a re-paste yourself. It's fairly simple and there are many threads on this board about which one to buy and how to apply it.

GPU
Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I don't know which card you have, the 5850, or the 5870. Either way, you can restrict the cards between the 680m, 7970, and your 5800 to see what the differences are between benchmarks.

Personally, I've always been an AMD fan but this last round with the Enduro problems I would have to recommend the GTX 680m.

As for waiting 6 months for a new machine, I don't believe there are any refreshes or anything new worth waiting for in the near future. If you wait, chances are you would get the same options that are offered today. Only real advantage is to wait and see if AMD gets all the bugs worked out with the 7970 and Enduro and save yourself some $$.

 

How much of a performance boost would the 7970M be over the over the 5870 that I currently have in my MSI GX740?

I was looking on PassMark Software - Video Card Benchmark Charts, and the 5870 had a average G3D Mark score of 1,285, the 680M had a score of 2,598, and the 7970M had a score of 3,850. Is it accurate to assume that the 7970M would have over 2x the performance of my 5870?

I was reading about the "Enduro" issue...is that something that will be resolved in a month or two with the release of new drivers?

 

I went with the NP9170 with the free 16GB Ram and 750GB HDD upgrades as well as the 680m and Windows 7 Home Premium. Stuck with the stock i7 3610 for the CPU. After free shipping it ended up costing $1894.01

 

I'm reluctant to buy now with the 7970M problems and the high price of the 680M (plus my bad experience with a faulty nVidia card in the past).