P750ZM / Sager NP9752 Questions

Hello NBR members,

I'm in the market for a gaming notebook and I've learned a lot by lurking on this forum for a few weeks. I'd like to thank all of you for your knowledge and insights. I apologize if any of my questions are noobish.

I have some experience adding RAM, adding hard drives, and upgrading GPU but only on desktops. I have some experience overclocking using software tools but I have never overclocked using BIOS. I have also never swapped out a CPU.

I am considering buying a Sager NP9752 with the following configuration. Call it a "Budget Batman" if you want. This will be primarily for gaming, including some CPU-intensive games. I am looking at the 9752 rather than 8651 because I want the option of upgrading the GPU later, possibly CPU too.

• Standard 1080p Sager IPS screen
• i5-4690K
  
• GTX 970M 6.0 GB
• 8 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
• 512 GB Crucial MX100
• Windows 8.1

Now my questions:

1. Do you think I could achieve a CPU overclock of 10% or so (0.3 to 0.4 GHz) and a similar GPU overclock (if Nvidia fixes their drivers) with the basic 230W power supply and without things getting too hot?
2. Would I need to use a BIOS mod to overclock the CPU that much? I assume I would need to use the BIOS to do the overclock rather than a software tool?
3. Would attempting such overclocking be a good idea given my limited experience?

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

1. Each CPU and GPU is different, and so whether you will be able to do so at all is a bit of a shot in the dark regardless of the PSU, but if you do plan on upgrading down the road anyways I'd just get the 330w and call it good.
2. You would need a custom BIOS to do so. Intel XTU is an option on this I believe but you'll be limited on what you can do. Haven't seen anybody report doing so on the i5 so far.
3. If you take it slow and cautiously you should be fine. Refer to the knowledge of the people here if you run into trouble. Can't advise you too much until you have the system in hand and know what trouble you hit.

 

One setup is to get a 330W for home use and a 230W for travelling.

The I5 K will behave just like the I7 K in XTU.

As above, go slow and watch your thermals.

 

Thanks for the advice. I went ahead and placed an order. It looks like Xotic got some new SSD options in the configurator so I was actually able to get a better value than I expected.

 

Awesome! Congrats on the order