Need help with picking a new machine - halp!

Hey Gents, don't have much time to search the web atm with work/family etc - hoping i can post this and not get flamed or told to use the search tool.

Looking for a new 15'6, maybe bigger but only if it has sli.crossfire and is in my budget.

Budget 2200.00 -ish

Need - Play Battlefield 3 at a decent clip, my current 16-sh month old sager isn't cutting it in the beta ( i know its a beta) Also, its still under warranty and will replace my fiance's aging g51, so it goes to a good home.

my current rig specs are below, i'm wanting to know if the new 15'6 sager/clevos with the 6990's or 580GTX +new i7 will give me much of a boost, or to wait.


Current machine:

Clevo W860CU Notebook Computer, 15.6" LCD, nVidia 285M 1GB Video Card


Options: Display: 15.6" Full HD (1920x1080) LED GlassView Display , Video Card: ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870 1GB GDDR5 , CPU: Intel Core i7-820QM Mobile CPU, 1.73Ghz, 8MB L3 Cache , Thermal Compound: Manufacturer's Thermal Compound , Memory: 6GB DDR3/1333 - 2 DIMMs , Primary Hard Drive: 500GB SATA300 7200rpm , Optical Drive: 8x DVD+/-RW Dual Layer , Wireless LAN: Intel 6300 802.11ABGN , Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth , AC Adapter: 100 - 240V Auto Switch AC Adapter , Battery: Smart Li-Polymer Battery , TV Tuner: None , Notebook Cooler: None , OS w/CD: Windows 7 Home Premium x64 ( , Office Software: None , Carry Bag: Included , Warranty: 1 Year Parts and Labor Standard Warranty , Zero Dead Pixel Insurance: None , Installation: Install Hardware and Software, Free of Charge , Shipping Schedule: Regular, Ship out within 3-5 day


- Thanks

Also posted in what laptop to buy thread, please don't flame me, looking for as much advice as i can get.

 

With $2200, you can get a 580m.

Many with the 580m say they can run all ultra settings with AA off.

CPU-wise, you can cut down there by just sticking with the 2630qm.

BF3 is said to be more compatible with nVidia(or I've read in the threads), so I would go with the 580m with the budget you have.

Also would get the 95% gamut screen upgrade matte, because matte screens are just rare and the gamut speaks for itself.

 

With your budget, you're probably looking at a 15.6" P150HM with specs similar to:

- 2760QM
- 8GB DDR3 1333 RAM
- 580m GPU

The hard drive size, screen, wifi, etc are all up to you as needed. But the GPU and CPU there are great choices for the budget you've got. As Ryan pointed out, many others on here are reporting running Battlefield 3 at high settings on the 580m without issue.

 

ok cool, to note - i'm porting over a segate hybrid 500g drive i am currently using, so HD wont even be ordered.

 

@ MALIBAL #2

IS there a big diff from first gen i7 to 2nd?

 

Yep- potentially huge depending on model. The second gen Sandy Bridge mobile parts almost directly compete with even the first gen desktop i7's. If you are looking at Optimus enabled laptops (lower end Clevo's)- the HD 3000 graphics are also a big jump over the previous integrated graphics solutions that were not integrated on to the processor die.

The chart below will show you a good range of benchmarks for CPU's:

Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

You'll notice that the i7-2720qm/2760qm beats out the desktop 920's, 930's and 940's. While these were first gen chips, they were also the desktop models which makes the comparison really marked.

 

@ MALIBAL #2

gotcha - so, honestly going with your rec all beit you are from a re-seller - am i looking at a fairly good jump in performance, 50% from my current config?

 

Yep, at least. Here are direct comparisons:

GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M - Notebookcheck.net Tech
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

580m - 13295 in Vantage
285m - 5631 in Vantage

Performance jump of 236% (2.3x better)

CPU
Intel Core i7 2760QM Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech
Intel Core i7 820QM Notebook Processor - Notebookcheck.net Tech

820QM - 3226 3DMark06 CPU
2760QM - 6042 3DMark06 CPU

Performance difference of 187% (1.8x faster)

So yep, you're looking at 2x the CPU performance and almost 3x the GPU performance compared to your current rig.

 

@ MALIBAL #2 please read the below- sorry i miss labeled the gpu mate.

Sorry, my gpu is above in the description, its the 5870 -

I copied and pasted my order from email, i guess the 285 was default then, i upgraded. What am i lookling like with that - mind you im OC'ed about 15% or so.

Thank you.

 

The 5870 still comes in around 1/2 the speed of the 580m (7614 in Vantage). Since you can still figure in a minimal overclock on the 580m, it's going to be roughly 2x the speed.

ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870 - Notebookcheck.net Tech

I'd suggest just looking at the 580m link in the previous post and looking at the benchmarks for just how well it does in games. That should give you a good idea of performance.

 

gotcha, so, its a worthy upgrade. Would the new ATI card be out of the question, and do either OC better -?

Thank you.

 

@ MALIBAL #2 i'm sending you a pm with my personal email, can you hit me up so we can talk about this machine and maybe i can get a order out in the next few weeks....i'd prefer phone, but IM is fine?

 

Hi, please feel free to contact us in Live Chat or via Phone during normal business hours. M-F 9am-6PM PST and we'll be more than happy to answer your questions. Thanks.