P170HM vs others and some questions

I am new here but I am pretty much sold on Clevo at this point. I have been software developer for 10 years now and do mostly .Net application development now. I use my laptop for 70% development and 30% gaming when I am traveling. I have a nice gaming home PC that I use when I am in town. I am going to be traveling more then normal next year and really want a laptop that is able to play games while in the hotel. However my priority #1 is development. I have been building my own pcs since 1995. I am a very advanced user of computers.

Anyway to my questions

I currently have a Dell M6500 which is just terrible. I have had it for about 14 months now and from day one its been just flakey and other issues. I just recently got a Intel 120GB SSD and while that did help with some issues its still terrible with random slow downs and heat. It wont run Swtor, Skyrim and most other games at all after about 10 min the frame rates just die even at the lowest settings. I paid 3k for this POS when I could have gotten a Clevo but anyway I have learned and thats in the past. I am hoping to put my M6500 on ebay and get at least 1-1.3k for it to help pay for a new Clevo.

I am leaning towards the P170HM because its is smaller then the P180HM and I am assuming there is no reason to go with the X7200 these days.

Is there any big advantage of the P180HM over the P170HM besides the larger screen?

Here is the speced one I built. Anyway I am going to order soon I think any help would be appreciated.

Promotions: $100 OFF Configurations Over $1500
Display: 17.3" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit Glossy Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2860QM, 8MB L3 Cache, 2.5-3.6GHz
Memory: (12GB) 12288MB, PC3-12800/1600MHz DDR3 - 3 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 250GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA-300
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Wireless: Bigfoot Networks Killer™ Wireless-N 1103 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 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Price $1919

 

Only real reason to go with the P180HM is if you like the extra real-estate and you're looking for a computer with SLI or Crossfire. However, if you're not interested in that, the P170HM is definitely the way to go for a single-card solution.

Your build looks pretty good, but personally I never suggest more than the 2760QM processor since the price-jump from the 2760QM to the 2860QM isn't worth the performance gain. Besides that though the other thing I might nit-pick is the RAM. I'd suggest sticking with 8GB 1600MHz to save yourself a bit of cash, maybe use the CPU cost and the RAM cost to increase the warranty

 

I dont plan on doing SLI because I need to be somewhat mobile and I read about issues with SLI on laptops so I was thinking a single GPU would be fine.

I guess the 2760QM makes sense. The 2760QM passmark is 7597 vs the 2860QM at 7886 which is only a 3.7% speed difference.

I need 12GB of ram really. With visual studios and SQL server and the occasional virtual machine I need the most ram I can get.

I generally upgrade every 12-24 months so I will look at the 2 year one.

I should be able to play Skyrim and Swtor and most other games with this non sli setup correct?

 

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech

That'll give you an idea of what to expect with the HD6990 on Skyrim. Also, that makes sense about the extra RAM, I see where you're coming from. But other than that you've got a solid build, especially if you're considering installing that SSD you mentioned previously

 

You shouldn't have any trouble playing the games you listed. I run both on my P150HM with the 485m (slightly slower than the 6990m) and have no troubles.

You can always add more RAM down the road too if you decide you need it, some here have even gotten 4 x 8GB sticks to run well for a total of 32GB. 16GB is much more reasonable in price though

 

I am running 12GB now on my M6500 and its enough except for when I run virtual machines. I was going with a pure virtual machine development environment but honestly laptops just are not ready for it yet. Maybe once I can get 6 cores and 32 gb ram at a reasonable price down the road.

I have been looking into going with the 18inch model and doing SLI with same specs as above but not sure its worth it really.

Also sucks I missed the deals yesterday. I just wasnt ready to order then.

 

if you can wait,the successor to the 7280, the p270, should be out in a few months (it's got its own thread).

 

sager should learn to use progressive model names! p270 sounds like successor to p170!

 

Better to save a few $$ then rush to order. A notebook or PC is not a purchase you make everyday, you want everything to be perfect. So i'm glad you waited and got opinions and questions answered.

All the games you mentioned will play very well on a non SLI/CF setup.

 

2.2quad! beyond that is a waste of money unless you have oil rigs

 

Wow the P270WM looks awesome. I am not dying for a new laptop mine does my development stuff just fine now. I travel about once a month for a week at a time but next summer I am going to be gone 2-3 weeks a month for 4-5 months so as long as I can get something by then.

I can get a P170HM for about $1800 though, I wonder how much the P270WM will be.

 

The base configuration will be higher, but you have to consider what you're getting: Desktop CPU performance, three hard drives (four if you skip optical drive), long support of the LGA2011 socket (Ivy Bridge-E will be compatible), and the option to go SLI if you so desire.

You said it yourself (sort of) in that VS and SQL are performance hogs. The P270WM would take them on like a champ.

Also noteworthy is that the P270WM will be able to support 16GB of RAM (4GB x 4 sticks) and possibly 32GB (untested).

Hope that helps you out.

Edit: Noticed you posted about wanting 6-cores and 32GB of RAM. Welp, the P270WM can do just that! Although the cheapest 6-core (12 threads) CPU is ~$500 USD, it will certainly meet your criteria.

 

If the P270WM is coming out by around March I can wait.. I just dont want to wait too long.

At first I would more then likely order the base CPU and 16gb of ram and then upgrade to an Ivy Bridge CPU down the road. I am not sure on the SLI yet. I would prefer to avoid having the need for two power supplies at all times.

 

I couldn't imagine travelling with a P270 or 7200 on a regular basis, my P170 is enough of a hog and the single power supply literally is the size and weight of a real brick.

 

You only need 2x PSUs if you get the highest-end Extreme Edition CPU + dual high-end GPUs in SLI + overclock them. Overclocking being the key word. If you do not overclock, you will only need 1x PSU. I should clarify that in the FAQ.