P370EM and P170EM questions (trying to finalize my decision)

Been reading around and working over configs for the past week or so. Have a few questions that hopefully someone can answer. Since the general consensus seems to be that the 680M is the king of all, in either one of these chassis. The 7970M shouldn't be combined with the P170EM unless you are up for playing the driver lottery.

Currently trying to decide between:

P370EM w/ 7970M (for some non Enduro goodness)
P370EM w/ 680M (allows for SLI later on)
P370EM w/ 670MX SLI (can't find any data on how good or bad it is. 675MX SLI would probaby be my pick hands down if it were available)
P170EM w/ 680M (since the drivers for the 7970M can't be trusted so to speak)
P170EM w/ 675MX (best bang for buck)

Another thing to add. I'm probably going to buy a 120Hz panel from laptopscreen.com down the road. Does anyone know if the 7970M will even push one of those panels? I noticed on the website that the 120Hz panels have a 50-pin connector (probably for Dual-Link DVI or equivalent) where as the 60Hz panels are 40-pin. Here are the links:

Eurocom SCORPIUS P370EM replacement Laptop LCD Screen from $89.99 Brand-new screens (never used).
LP173WF2(TP)(B1) replacement Laptop LCD Screen from $89.99 Brand-new screens (never used).
LP173WF2(TP)(A1) replacement Laptop LCD Screen from $89.99 Brand-new screens (never used).

IF the 7970M can't push a 120Hz display, that takes it out of the running all together.

Any advice would be appreciated. Oh, has anyone bought from Cyberpower? They seem to offer a the same for a little less compared to other vendors. However, I haven't seen any traffic on the forum about them. And how about Eurocom?

Thanks in advance.

 

I'm curious as to why you believe purchasing a 7970 is playing the "driver lottery" seeing as how the major issues surrounding the device have been pretty well resolved in the recent beta releases. Any utilization issues I once had have been fixed and the performance of the card itself has also been greatly improved, which is further made proof by the 7970m benchmarking higher than the 680m at stock. I'm not one to tell people what to with their money because in the end it really has little effect on me, bottom line is whether or not you are happy with the product...............I can just say that had I purchased a 680m instead of the 7970m I would probably be regretting that decision from a monetary standing.

Also, both of the vendors you've mentioned have shady pasts...............I'd stick with the active/reputable vendors on these forums as they will provide better support and are also usually cheaper.

 

What driver are you running for the 7970M?

 

7970M does support 120hz yes.

 

7970M can definitely handle 120hz@1080p but on the P170EM you will be limited to 120hz@720p. The dual-link connector was the main reason why I purchased this laptop instead of another, unfortunately it seems the HD4000 cannot be bypassed... A big disappointment for me, I am still hoping for someone to prove me wrong though

 

Video card is always personal preference but Im surprised you would even consider a 170EM. The 370EM makes it pretty obvious that the 170EM was a failed beta. Terrible cooling, terrible sound, terrible trackpad. fragile case. Unless you are going super low budget the 170EM is an unworthy platform to house high end componenets.

 

Completely agreed with the others.
P370EM is well above P170EM in many (if not all) aspects.
Not to mention the *cough*glossy bezel*cough* on the 170....

Go with 370EM.