New Laptop: Sager Advice

Hello all,

I am in the market for a gaming laptop to accompany me as I move overseas for work during the next two years.

I'm trying to decide between the following 3 laptops. I'm leaning towards the Sager (based on my research, the processor and GPU are swappable, and perhaps even the screen?), but would like your opinions. It's been over 4 years since I've built a computer, so any advice would be appreciated.

I really like the ability to upgrade parts, but recognize the names MSI and Lenovo a bit more than Sager.

Sager NP8278-S / Clevo P170SM-A
Display: 17.3" Full HD LED-Backlit Display Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)
HDD: 1TB 7200rpm SATA2 Hard Drive
CPU: Intel® Core™ i7-4710MQ
GPU: Nvidia GTX 970M GPU with (6GB GDDR5)
RAM: 8GB DDR3 SDRAM at 1600MHz
Price: $1,740 (all prices in Canadian dollars)

MSI Notebook GT70 2QD-2292US Dominator
Display: 17" FHD (1920 x 1080) Anti-Glare display
HDD: 1TB HDD
CPU: Intel Core i7-4710MQ processor
GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX970M 3GB Graphics
RAM: 8GB Memory
Price: $1600

Lenovo Y70-70 Touch
Display: 17" FHD LED AntiGlare, Multitouch with integrated camera, (1920x1080)
HDD: 1TB 5400 RPM+8GB SSHD
CPU: Intel Core i7-4720HQ
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960M 4GB
RAM: 16.0GB PC3-12800, DDR3L 1600 MHz
Price: $1600

 

Spec for spec.. It's a runaway for the Clevo P170SM-A. I wouldn't even consider the Lenovo.

 

Adding to what @anddo said Clevo is reputable for building solid, long-lasting machines with great upgrading potential.

The clevo p170SM-A is quite bulky though. If upgrade-ability is less of a concern you should look at the Sager NP8671 / Clevo P670SE which is thinner and a newer clevo model than the p170SM-A but doesn't have an upgradeable GPU and has only two slots for memory.

 

Third vote for either the Sager (a.k.a. Clevo P170SM-A) or the MSI. Screen can be swapped on all three (though Lenovo is tricky), the Sager features dual connectors though; can support both LVDS and newer eDP type screens. Both MSI and Sager are part aluminium-alloy, adding to weight, but also very robust.

Whichever you get, do consider an SSD, even if it's a smaller one just to hold OS, programs and games. Sager wins here; can sport 2x 2.5" and 2x mSATA (both can use RAID 0/1). Might try and snap up two small (used) mSATA's for cheap from someone upgrading to larger model and stripe these.

 

Most people do not recognize the name Sager or Clevo. You dont hear of them until you start looking into gaming or custom notebooks. They don't sell in stores or advertise making them less of a household name.

 

As someone who was out of the laptop game for awhile and has only been back at it for a couple of years, I can certainly vouch for this being true. I have a 170SM laptop and I wasn't worried about choosing it over MSI or Lenovo, especially after reading more here.

The thing to put some thought into (if you go the Sager/Clevo route) is which reseller you're going to purchase from. There's always a chance something might go wrong (the very nature of electronics), so I advocate choosing a reseller that has a good track record of taking care of their customers. I bought mine from Mythlogic and would definitely recommend them, but I certainly read many good things about XoticPC as well. Given how active a number of their members are on the forums (such as Hutsady above), I would feel comfortable in their hands too.

 

This is incorrect. There are 4 SODIMM sockets on this model.

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np8671-clevo-p670se-p-7799.html

 

Yes, they are one of the manufacturers who has resisted the trend towards 2 slots.

 

I would like to thank everybody for their quick and detailed responses!

The Sager definitely looks like the best option. However, on the XoticPC website, I noted an alternate GPU option for no additional charge; instead of the NVidia GTX 970M I could get: NVIDIA® Quadro K1100M (2.0GB) GDDR5.

I assume the Quadro is a bit more powerful, but that is balanced out with lesser RAM? Which would be the better option?

Hello Hutsady! I was wondering if I could inquire about shipping time for the laptop. My brother lives in Menlo Park, California and will be flying out on Saturday, August 1st, leaving ten business days of time.

If he ordered a completely "stock" model of the Sager NP8278-S / Clevo P170SM-A and paid for priority/rushed building, could the laptop realistically arrive at his place in Menlo Park by Friday July 31st?

I admit I've badly underestimated shipping times for custom laptops, and understand if it would not be possible---Reflexnotebooks here in Canada states it would need 14 business days for processing + 5 business days for delivery, by which time I will be overseas.

 

The quadro is significantly less powerful for games, it's just that some specialist applications will allow full accerlation on it over the regular geforce chips. The 970m will be several times faster in games.

 

Hey _kman, I think I responded to your question through an email that was sent in to us earlier, it sounds really familiar. If that wasn't you though, just email/PM me or Hutsady and we can help answer some of those questions.

 

Hi Pat! Yes, that was me sending the email. I appreciate your help!

 

One final question for you guys: I was browsing the other laptops available from xoticpc, and noticed the SAGER NP6679 (Clevo W670SC).

Compared to the Sager 8278-S, I'd be saving about $400 for a laptop that is lighter, gets better battery life, and (I believe?) is still CPU/GPU/Screen upgradable?

However, I'll be dropping to the GeForce GTX 950M GDDR3 (2.0GB) and losing two RAM slots---is there a really huge gap between the GTX 970 (6GB) vs. GTX 950 (2GB)?

And would I miss those two RAM slots 2-3 years down the road?

If the answer to the last two questions is "Yes," then I'll be pulling the trigger on the 8278-S ASAP

 

Clevo W670SC (vs. P170SM-A):

• GPU's soldered, though CPU + panel are upgradeable.
  
• Games on GTX 950M vs. 970M vs. 980M (980M is future potential)
• Don't think you'll miss the extra 16GB though (unless you plan on heavy number crunching)
• No RAID
• 1x mSATA + 1x SATA (vs. 2x mSATA + 2x SATA)

The 950M is a different league, hence the price difference (and +$100 for the MXM slot). Otherwise very nice and affordable, but don't expect it to handle latest/future games at high settings.

 

When comparing the two in 3DMark Firestrike the 950M = 3229.5 vs the 970M 7440, so yes over double.

16GB RAM should last you years down the road unless you're doing a lot of video editing work.

 

As the others have stated, the 950M is very much in a different league than a 970M. If you're planning on keep the laptop for 2-3 years, you'd likely be restricted to very light gaming on the back half.

If you happen to value money or thin/light more than you originally thought and plan on getting a lesser GPU, it might be worth going back to the original comparison and starting over in some sense.

 

True, the Quadros performance is less and their drivers and firmware are different. The cards are not purposed for mainstream use (e.g., gaming).