P170HM Config (opinions)

I have just about settled on my new laptop and was wondering if this config looks okay. I have another one set up for the P150HM but I think the two hard drives as well as keeping the optical drive are worth the size increase.

This will be mostly for SW:TOR, WoW, GW2, D3 and things like that. Will the HD6990M hold up for a couple of years of regular MMO play? Would it be worth it to grab a dual GPU config in the X7200 or something?

Thanks for any advice.

Display: 17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED AUO B173HW01 V.5 72% NTSC Matte Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.5-3.6GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 4 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 120GB Intel® (510) SATA III 6Gb/s SSD2 Drive
Hard Drive 2: 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Reader 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
Wireless: Intel® 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
Branding: None
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 2 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Extras: Integrated 9 in 1 Card Reader
Extras: MALIBAL Software & Drivers Disc
Extras: Microsoft Windows 7 DVD-ROM

 

Your config looks great. It'll be fine for most MMOs probably for the next couple of years. Newer single player games, you may have to dump down stuff over time but it won't be too bad...alternatively if you have to dump down stuff you may be able to change your res to 720p and still be able to play most games at max.

 

The build looks great! Any reason for picking the 2860QM over the 2760QM? Might help save you a spot of cash. you might look into swapping that out for 1600MHz RAM since it has dropped in price recently.

You can see benchmarks here:
Mobile Processors - Benchmarklist - Notebookcheck.net Tech

Edit: Also, it should definitely hold up for 2-3 years

 

Thanks for the replies. As for the processor, if the performance is that close I certainly wouldn't mind saving a little money. Thanks for the link.

 

nice... pretty much the same oem build i went with...i stuck with the 2860 and got the 1600mhz ram... also went with the glossy 90% screen upgrade. the ssd was way cheaper to get on my own tho...

 

I definitely need the matte screen. Is it worth it to get the A+ grade panel upgrade?

What kind of real world performance will I see with 2860 and 1600Mhz memory vs the 2760 and 1333?

Thanks everyone

 

RAM gives about a 2-5% increase in performance per step (1333 to 1600 to 1866) while the 2760 to the 2860 might give you about a 5-10% increase according to the benchmarks from the link I posted earlier. I think a good combo would probably be the 2760QM with 1600MHz RAM since they're not too pricey right now

 

Have pretty much the same build but lower cpu , gtx 560 and 120 hz screen. It all depends on what you want. Also I would get the 1333Mhz RAM.

 

the screen upgrade was worth it to me... i checked the screenshot comparisions and had to pay for the upgrade

 

I too think that the 2760QM is a great choice and should serve you well for a long time.
_

 

Ok I'm thinking something like this:

Display: 17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit 120Hz 3D 72% NTSC Matte Display
Display Upgrades: A+ Grade Panel With 45 Day Perfect Pixel Warranty
Display Upgrades: Spyder 3 Elite Professional Color Calibration
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2760QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.4-3.5GHz
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 750GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Reader 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
Wireless: Intel® 6230 Advanced-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card

I've read good things about the 120Hz screen with the 580m this evening... any thoughts?

Getting closer, thanks for the help!

 

Hi, I see you're looking at our Satori P170HM... we've received great feedback on the 120Hz screen. Here's a recent review you can check out: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...m-3d-120hz-matte-full-review-pics-videos.html

 

Yep, that was one that put me over the edge I think. Looks great.

 

This last config with better 580m gpu and 2760qm is great and should kick but for a long time.
Jumping to the x7200 price is a bit steep for most users but you gain the dual gpu 's and 3rd hd/ssd option that would outperform the amd6900m and nv580m.
The x7200 is larger and heavier and has the desktop cpu in it.

This would only help if doing serious gaming and heavy cpu workloads vs the 8150/8170 as a good all rounder.

You just need to find out from the retailer is there a 2nd hd bracket or not when you do not have a 2nd hd selected or can they supply it or get you need to get it from ebay for $14 or less.