Purchasing PCMW blackhawk xr5 - config/warranty questions

There's a huge sale going on as many of you know from pcmw, I'm a couple hours away from pushing the buy button, but first here is my setup:

--NOW SHIPPING Intel® Core2 Quad Q9450 (2.66GHz/45nm/1333MHz/12MB)
--4096MB Ultra Speed DDR2 800MHz Extreme Performance Memory + Heat-Spreaders
--640GB @ 16,200RPM SATA150 Storage RAID 5 (3 x 320GB 5400RPM)
--nVIDIA Quadro FX 1600M OpenGL Workstation Card
--17" HD WUXGA+ 1920x1200 Ultra Resolution GlassVision Wide Screen Cinema Display
--Built In 802.11AGN 300mbps Ultra Speed Wireless Adapter
--Microsoft® Windows Vista Business Edition 64 Bit **NEW**

3 Year Diamond PLUS Blanket Protection Advanced Coverage


look good? for around $3600.00

the one question is about warranty, I can't contact them since it's on the weekend which sucks... they always have sales on the weekend

I'm up in the air between the 3yr diamond plus (the extras worth the money?) and the standard one

is the notebook cooler really worth it/necessary? doesn't the 9262 have a very well cooling system?

Also I'm a student, will they have a discount/ be able to refund me $$ for it?

And one more question on raid config/ which will be faster:

640GB @ 16,200RPM SATA150 Storage RAID 5 (3 x 320GB 5400RPM)
or
600GB @ 21,600RPM SATA300 Storage RAID 0 (3 x 200GB 7200RPM)

density vs spd... im not really sure which is faster, i guess having it in raid 0 is a risk as well right?


Thank's in advance... big decision to purchase tonight if I do by midnight

 

"--640GB @ 16,200RPM SATA150 Storage RAID 5 (3 x 320GB 5400RPM)"???
first off it's not really 16200rpm, and how do you get 640GB as 3x320GB?
7K200 is exact same speed as 5K320
I am really curious about this, are you a hardcore CAD user?
if yes -> you should wait for FX 3600M, it's twice faster.
if no -> you should go for NP5793, save yourself some money
having a FX1600M on your rig is like putting a V6 engine on a Ferrari

 

"how do you get 640GB as 3x320GB" advanced stupid quantum math.

 

raid 5 is something like striping two disks as in raid 0 but has a parity which will be able to save data if one disk fails... "RAID 5 (striped disks with parity) combines three or more disks in a way that protects data against loss of any one disk; the storage capacity of the array is reduced by one disk." from wiki

yes hardcore cad user, i was planning on upgrading to the 3600m when it came out, i just didnt want to miss this deal on all the other components

 

Maybe the OP just got out of a tough number-theory exam, and got confused about modulos, after all 3 x 320 = 960 mod 640 = 320

 

Config looks good, about the HDD's:

1x200G 7200rpm will be the same speed as 1x320G 5400rpm, so for that case its almost always better to go with the 320G.

However in your case the 3x200G raid0 would be slightly faster for 2 reasons:

1 - It's reading from 3 drives at the same time thus cutting data read times by a factor of three

2 - It's not performing a parity calculation which takes cpu cycles (I don't think they're done on the raid chip - I could be wrong)

However - I would recommend the 640G raid5 as you get the security of raid1 redundancy and most of the speed of raid0. The small extra speed gain you get from 3x200 is not worth the loss of the parity IMO.

I would think that you're not going to notice the speed difference between the two in ordinary everyday use and I'm doubtful it'd even make much difference in anything else

 

RAID 0 is the fastest, but the least safe.
As theriko said, a RAID 5 strip would keep you safer, you don`t want to lose 960GB of data

 

or even 640GB (one drive is 'lost' to the parity information to rebuild if any drive goes down)

 

Hi-

I am thinking about the blackhawk xr5 as a portable workstation for heavy floating point and light cad engineering. Questions
for floating point whats the diff between the xeon x3360 and q9550?
Whats the diff between matte and glossy for 1920x1200 screen?
Minor questions
Is $200 for no dead pixels worth it?
Is the auto adapter just an inverter? (If so I have about 3)

Thx

Bob

 

I'm sorry to post this here...but atm my brain is not functioning to its potential...

whats PCMW stand for?...better yet, someone know the link to they're site.
I know they are a laptop reseller/retailer...but can't find site.

 

http://www.pcmicroworks.com

 

Its far from "poratable"

I reccomend the HP 8710 instead

 

I will never buy another HP product because:

Their printer and scanner drivers try to rule your operating system
They stole the processor out of my L2000 system when I sent it it for overheating and replaced with a slower processor (they fixed this after 4 tries)
The hinges on the L2000 broke twice (they did fix them)
Tech support for HP is arrogant in my experience

Also the 8710 doesn't do raid or quad core (yet)

The clevo D901c (blackhawk base) is a desktop replacement and the battery is really a UPS but that's what I need

 

HP`s business line is very different and way better

 

OP,may i advice you to get your laptop from www.xoticpc.com?it will be cheaper from there + their support is better

 

I looked at www.xoticpc.com but they don't support 8gb or the xeon or q9550 where xtreme eurocom and pcmicroworks do. pcmicroworks is cheaper with their $500 weekend discount. I need the quad core and 8gb.I am a bit concerned about pcmicroworks support as there have been some compliants about product quality and support.

 

Xoticpc doesn't support those components (yet), and neither does PNB, because neither Sager nor, more importantly, Clevo has publicly stated that they will support those components (yet). Given that Clevo is the real manufacturer here, I'd do substantial research on those components and any potential problems that might crop up when used in the D901C (e.g., read through the specs and errata/update sheets for the processor and the chipset to see if potential problem areas can be identified).

 

Forum Guys-

The only way to settle this is a test so I just emailed PCMW the following:

"All the forums say that q9550 or x3360 with 8gb in the d901c probably won’t work and will lock up. I’m looking at $5016 (with diamond warranty) with no OS but I am not willing to bet the 15% restock fee of $753 that they are not right.

So if you will give full refund if vista 64 can’t see 8gb ram or I get more than 3 lockups or BSOD in 30 days and the $500 weekend discount I will order one Monday PM and stress test it for the 30 days.

I need your waiver of 15% restock by fax signed by a officer of the company.

Deal or No Deal? "

Stay tuned for their response(s) and my experiences if they waive the restock fee.

 

That is not a fair characterization of what's been said, at least in this forum, regarding the Q9550 or the Xeon X3360. All that's been said is that, to-date, neither Clevo nor Sager has publicly confirmed that the Clevo D901C/Sager NP9262 will support those two processors with the level of reliability Clevo/Sager expect from their products.

As far as I know, some non-Sager resellers have put the Q9550 and the Xeon X3360 in the D901C and have sold it in that configuration, which would imply that the configuration provides at least a minimum level of functionality and that the D901C does not "lock up" with these processors.

 

I have to agree with shyster1 that my statement was not a fair characterization of this forum. There are some other threads complaining about PCMW (which I can't find just now). A fair statement is that lack of stated support for quad core q9x50 and 8gb by clevo (AFIK) has made me unwilling to bet $753 at PCMW on the unit.

Mea Culpa

 

Not only PCMW< but isnt Lobalt also offering htem?

 

No worries; sorry if my post was a bit uptight - I hadn't had my cuppa yet when I posted.

 

got url for lobalt?

 

I'm assuming he means Kobalt Who also offer the xeon and 8GB

 

If we ask xoticpc to do a price match ?? to pcmw for the 9262

 

btw,why do you need xeon and 8gb ram?

 

btw,why do you need xeon and 8gb ram?

I work in mining and geology.

I'm not sure I need the xeon but I need the quad core as I do a lot of piping in linux (eg tar -xzf ... | awk {......} | sort .... >answer)

Geologic block models often contain 50 to 500 million (10^6) blocks as real*4 (4 byte numbers) so thats 200 millions to 2 billion (10^9) bytes and several models need to be in core at once for slicing for visualization and calculations. I have 20gb in my desktop and occasionally thats not enough (performance tanks if I have to page).

 

sager 9262 is max of 4gb in all the specs I'v seen

 

you can put your own memory

your desktop has 20gb ram ???

 

PM Gophn to double-check, but I believe that he stated in a post about a month ago (some time in May) that the 9262 could handle 8GB of RAM - provided 4GB sticks were available - given that the CPU & chipset are desktop components.

 

Desktop Dell 5160 will hold up to 64gb (not cheap) both vista64 and ubuntu see and use all 20gb but vista gets confused and I often have to reboot if a single process uses more that about 12gb

 

the 9262 will handle 8GB though I don;t know if there are chipset limitations (some address space reserved for system devices) but as this is a desktop chipset I don't think that is the case

 

I wish I could find the earlier thread in which this was discussed. My recollection is that there is a physical addressing limitation which means that, with reservations for peripherals and whatnot, the D901C will not "see" the full 8GB. I believe that justin@xoticpc provided that conclusion.

 

I thought that was mainly aimed at the m860tu/m570tu. I could be wrong though

 

PCMW sez:

"You will have no problems with the following specifications, and Vista will support all 8GB of RAM. There was only a limitation with 32bit OS versions, and if anyone says differently, they have not properly researched or tested the new technology. We are the first computer manufacturer in the United States to offer 8GB of RAM in a notebook line, so it is understandable that many not think it possible.

We will waive the restocking fee as long as the notebook remains in like new condition with all accessories. "

But the $500 weekend discount has expired (they are still cheaper than eurocom or xtreme and have a dropit warranty) so I will wait til next weekend to order. (I don't need the unit until late July)

 

We compromised on the discount and I went ahead and ordered the unit with 8 GB, the x3360 and the lamest graphics card. Adventures in Vista 64 ultimate and Ubuntu 64 installation as well as some floating-point and integer benchmarks to follow in July

 

Sounds interesting - let us know how it goes. BTW, what'd that set you back, if you don't mind my asking?

 

Yes, it had nothing to do with the software. 64 bit or not. Justin said limitations in the hardware resulted in that not all 8gb could be used. But as i recall it came close anyway. Like 7gb or something.

Found it!!

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=252475&page=2

Look at Justins post

 

Yup, that's it. Thanks!

 

Right at 5k with the dropit warranty ($700 but worth it for pickup rides in the Congo, Mongolia and Bolivia) + blue tooth + WiFiN but its all deductable. In any event in 6 months I will look like a idiot for spending so much for so little. $5k was cheaper than at xtreme or eurocom (I did not pursue price match) but the pcmw dropit warranty was the best of any of them.

 

Not in my view - you get what you need/want when you need/want it, and don't look back. Besides which, if you're going to be traipsing around places like Congo, Mongolia, and Bolivia, you want the best warranty your budget can accomodate.

The only time it's worth feeling any regret over what you spent is - as with me and my stinky little vaio - when you didn't do your homework first and dropped too much $$ because it "looked neat" and you let yourself get suckered by the salesman. Even so, I've had this thing going for 5 years now and the only repairs I've done were two hdd swaps (the original hdd started eating itself up at the end of '06, and the first replacement turned out to be a dud within 6 months - along the way, though, I did learn how to cheat my way around the 137GB LBA limitation that, for some perverse reason, _Sony hardwired into the BIOS).

Enjoy it when you get it (I'll just sit here and be a little green with envy ), and I for one would love to hear how it goes with an officially unsupported CPU that technically appears to be within spec.

 

how does pcmw's 'dropit' warranty differ from sager's or xotic's? isn't it the same?? 3 yrs parts/labor, are you talking about the diamond plus blah whatever one? i can't go to their site b/c i'm at work

BTW I emailed them telling I was away for the weekend and they offered me a $300 discount on any model, which was nice... but I think I'm going to wait till end of july to order (blackhawk/9262)

who's a fan of the carbon fiber lid? I'm not too sure on it yet... the blue and red MW label is pretty ugly, at least the colors are IMO

 

I didn't check sager or xotipc because their 4gb max (I'm an engineer not a gamer) so they may as good or better.

 

I'm in the same boat, doing architecture going into my masters
pretty intensive/atmospheric modelling going on whino rhino/maya/etc...

which video card are you getting for the clevo 901c? The quadro series?

pcmw is offering the quadro fx 3600m with an ETA of 7/31, that's the card I'm waiting on i just have to decide which config to get in the meantime... I need the setup before august, sooo it's either the 8800m gtx or quadro 1600m...

I feel like it's pointless to have a gpu for only a month or two but I really need to laptop before the 3600m comes out

 

I understand the 8800GTX is a great all around card. Games and Rendering. I do 3d modeling and HD video, so that did concern me.

 

yes but for openGL, to use the advanced features like antialiasing (16x) and anisotropic filtering you would need a quadro card designed towards workstation graphics

 

Question:

I really want to purchase but I know it will be better to wait, I have about a month and a half till I have to buy. So 7/31 I will need to purchase,

...but i really want my laptop... So anyone have any clue on how much will change with the clevo 901c within that time period? there is another weekend power up sale through PCMW which is $500 off

How will the CPU's differ in a month and a half? I will at least get the q9550 (right now top of the line)
plus the Quadro fx 3600m has a ETA of 7/31... which is what i need

 

Still waiting on the 8GB XR5 (as expected). But PCMW gave me the weekend discount as we agreed. Until the unit arrives the jury is still out, but so far PCMW has been more than reasonable