Sager? What Is Better? Best Gaming Laptop? NvIdia 980 (8GB) or 980M SLI x2 (16GB)

HELLO ALL!

I Need Your Help In Purchasing a Nice Gaming Laptop. I Want The Best There Is, With The Options To Expand In The Future. Right Now My Eyes Are Set On The Sager. I Would Like People Who Have These Computers, Know About Them, Have Had Them In The Past, And Just Personal Opinion And Or Preference. I Have Collected All The Known Fast And Best Gaming Names That I Am Aware Of. This Is My Personal Opinion. In The Past I Have Owned Apple, Asus And Sager. Right Now I Have My Eyes Set On Sager And I Have A Question For All Sager Owners And Or People That Know The Answer To This Question Through Experience Or Opinion.

Thank you in Advance.

I would like to purchase the best top notch Gaming Laptop and have the capability of expanding it for quite some years to come. So, I have came to the conclusion to purchase a Sager NP9870-S, their current top model. Unless anyone has an idea of a better machine, this looks like it has it all.

My question is simple. the laptop has the PC I7 6700K chip, and the capability to house 1. NVidia 980 (desktop video card) or the 980M (mobile edition) in SLI totaling 16GB video ram. Which graphics card setup would be better? The single desktop graphics card 980 (8 GB) or the SLI 980M (mobile edition 16 GB). I think the mobile edition is the correct answer since it has a total of 16 GB. Yes the desktop video ram is better, but it only allows one.

I would really like to have the laptop come with only one 980M and put the second one in at a later time. Does Sager or any place sell the 980M besides purchasing it on ebay. And if I did do this, would there be a problem installing the second video ram card in SLI when the time comes.

Thank you all in advance for looking and helping me decide this. If any of you would recommend a better machine that is better, please by all means let me know!

Thanks again!
Sincerely,
Bobby

 

First of all, if you want that Sager model, it is good, but the better option is the EVOC P870DM-G laptop. They are the same base model P870DM but the difference is, the Sager has stock BIOS/VBIOS and limited options when it comes to customizing.

One of the problems I see a lot of people face here is with the 6700K, it's a matter of luck, you either get a good one that overclocks well, or you get a bad one that barely is able to maintain low temps even at stock clock speeds. If you happen to receive a not so good 6700K, then chances are your CPU will throttle due to heat even at stock speeds.

If you get the EVOC P870DM-G, they have 2 options, 1) they can delid the CPI for you to reduce the temps by a good 10C applying Liquid Ultra between the IHS and the actual CPU. or better yet, they have the option to buy a silicon lottery CPU that is guaranteed to run at 4.4 GHz out of the box (factory overclock) or even higher if you want to push your system more.

My first P870DM-G had a 6700K that could barely run on 4.2 GHz on all cores, even after delidding it myself, that didn't help much as I had one sucky 6700K.

I then upgraded to a silicon lottery one that is factory delidded and I can run at 4.6 GH 24/7 on all cores with temps maxing out at 80C.

Secondly, if you go with the Sager option, you are limited to 2133 MHz RAM.

EVOC can be configured with up to 2800 MHz and next Monday they will have the 3000 MHz kits coming in as well.

Having a CPU that is factory delidded is great because that means it is still covered under warranty, if you do it yourself, your warranty is void.

Please have a look at these threads:

EVOC P870DM-G Gaming Laptop

HIDevolution - The Best Company I ever dealt with

HIDevolution's Warranty!

Upgrading my Eurocom Sky X9 from HIDevolution

 

Thank you so much, I am looking at the system right now and seems to be very nice. I've never heard of this machine. I will most definitely take a look and I had no idea about the 6700K chips. Thank you for the heads up.

 

Example of the throttling/over heating I am talking about:

CPU hits 99C and throttles when running division

Received my upgraded P870DM hot running GPU

Clevo P870DM-G temp issue
I personally helped the guy in the 3rd thread to fix this CPU overheating by undervolting his CPU but let's not take any chances and get a golden 6700K or a delidded one at least if you don't wanna pay extra for the Silicon Lottery one.

By the way, the EVOC is fully upgradeable starting from the GPU, CPU, RAM, SSD/HDD, you name it

so get the best base components and slowly upgrade later on if the cost is higher than what you are anticipating.

 

I have a Sky X9 myself. why HIDevolution over Eurocom?

I initially got a Sky X9 only to have the Prema BIOS as HIDevolution were not a Prema Partner at that time

My comments about my Eurocom Sky X9 experience:

1- I received the laptop, then noticed the temps were higher than normal, so I opened the laptop and saw the horrible paste job they did on both the CPU and GPU

2- Their customer service is a joke. Like I'd contact them to ask for the latest Prema BIOS, they'd say I need to pay $200 USD even though I gave them my laptop's serial number and had previously paid the $200 USD during my order so they know I am eligible. Then I ask for the Prema VBIOS, they tell me no it's not stable and I should not use it. Then I contact a guy I know at Eurocom and he tells me to ignore their emails and sends me the new BIOS/VBIOS. He is great, but their customer service are worse than anything I have ever seen.

3- they don't offer RAM speeds more than 2400 MHz. HIDevolution offers 2666 MHz, 2800 MHz, and next week will also offer 3000 MHz.

4- They don't have any CPU delidding service

5- They don't offer you the option to have a Silicon Lottery CPU and higher overclocks guaranteed. If you want one, you'd have to buy the Silicon Lottery CPU separately and you won't get warranty for that as opposed to getting it from the reseller.

6- With Eurocom, you have to pay an additional $200 USD for the Prema BIOS/VBIOS to have it from them and not void your warranty. They ask for that additional $200 USD because now they have to honor the warranty even when the laptop is operating at non-standard specs. Fair enough. But guess what, HIDevolution offer the Prema BIOS/VBIOS without any additional charge and will still honor any warranty claims even if you have that custom BIOS on it.

7- Can't comment on their warranty but my experience with HIDevolution's warranty....... read this:
HIDevolution's Warranty!

If I could turn back time, I would love to have an EVOC and not deal with Eurocom ever again, but oh well, I'll wait for the next Clevo model and get it from HIDevolution I've learned my lesson.

 

I most definitely will. Thank you so much for your input. I am really considering that Evoc. Thank you again!

Apple seems to have the best customer care. I remember having them replace three IMac screens due to a few dead pixels in the course of three Imacs over the years. My Macbook 13 inch 2010, they replaced my HDD, touchpad, keyboard, screen, top plastic cover, motherboard twice and the DC jack.

Asus... On the other hand, if you look at their customer service rating, it's 50%, probably would be lower if people actually checked the work they do. They only have 3 shops in the USA that you can send your machine to in order to get it fixed. My Asus G53JW-3DE 2012 had a busted HDD, I asked for a RAM upgrade maxed out and wanted them to do it because it is about 60 screws to get to the 4 RAM slots. My USB went out on the left side, and the top piece on the fans popped and broke because of heat.
I sent it in, the idiots replaced the HDD so it would boot up, never installed the RAM, thankfully they didn't charge me for it. They never fixed the USB. To top it all off, their way of fixing the plastic piece over the fan was to use a new one and super glue it back on. Genius.
So I ended up taking it apart and it was fun but tedious. If anything they made my life harder because upon taking the device apart the Palm Rest snapped on me, more super glue there... I fixed the USB, just a $5 dollar component I bought off of Ebay, put in the RAM $13, and now I'm going to have to break the top piece on the fan in order to get to my screen because it has 3 lines through it. I have 2 Asus Laptops and I built an Asus Rig. I love them all, but even when I received the Asus Rampage 3 Extreme motherboard, there were capacitors and other parts that were bent, which of course I slowly and carefully bent back into place. Don't even try to get your product fixed by Asus. Believe me, you can do a better job or if you really can't or don't want to, bring it to a repair shop. Even if it's under warranty bring it to a repair shop.
Sager customer service Rocks! But still you must send away for it to get fixed and it does take time, they do a great job but the shipping is what worries me.
All in all I think Apple has the best customer service.

 

I talked to Customer Service from EVOC and you can order the 2800 MHz DDR4 and request that it be replaced with the 3000 MHz DDR4, with the condition that is works when they test it, which is on Monday. That's great. But, alas when I do order the product I am going to leave it pretty much stripped down and order the parts myself and put them in. Not only will it be cheaper but I enjoy it. You also understand and know your machine as well I think so it's a lot better this way. Even the screen, I can later on order the 4k screen and replace it with the regular screen. And I can do the same with the MXM socket GDDR5 SLI 970M Graphics cards (12 GB) and replace it with the SLI 980M or higher SLI. I love building heat sinks, I did it with my Asus G50VT-X5 and my old Sager.

 

now that you mentioned it........

As much as I like their price/specs on paper, every laptop I owned from them had issues, ranging from raplacing screens, motherboard, from the first week, then getting a laptop with the screen getting fuzzy at times due to a lose cable connection.......

here is an old past I made last year when I had an Alienware 18:

Spoiler

1) Returned my ASUS G751JY


2) ASUS = 0 quality, it's a matter of luck if you get a 100% working ASUS laptop, or any piece of hardware made by ASUS.


3) All the latest and previous last 3 Gen ASUS ROG laptops have USB port issues, it's all over their ROG forums


4) And old post I made 1 year back.......

Spoiler

after owning 4 ASUS laptops...I would never buy an ASUS laptop again...but if you had to choose between the above 2 the JZ no question

Never had an Alienware before because of its high price. I had 3 ASUS Gaming laptops, G73Sw, G75VW, and G750JX

After being frustrated with ASUS's bad driver support, and lack of official drivers for Windows 7, I sold my G750JX and got this Alienware.

Now I know why they cost an arm and a leg

1) much better build quality, it's like you bought a Mercedes as opposed to a honda civic

2) Warranty is much better, if the laptop spoils, they will come to your house and fix it at your home the next business day. When my G750JX stopped booting within 6 months of owning it, I had to drive to the service center which is very far, and it took them 7 days to replace the motherboard

3) I wanted a bigger screen and ASUS only have 17.3' screens. This 18.4' screen is a dream to play and surf on

4) I didn't ask for it, but I got a freebie dual GeForce GTX 770M so my performance has never been better

5) I love the lighting effects of Alienware

6) Their audio and KLIPSCH speakers blow the ASUS G750JX out of the water in terms of loudness and quality although both use a Realtek Chipset, but the speakers are better and the Alienware comes with the Dolby Home Theater which improves the audio quality by a great mile

7) All ASUS laptops has a problem with the left USB 3.0 Ports. You plug in a USB 3.0 HDD to the left top or left bottom ports and it will randomly keep disconnecting. That is for all G750 series, JX,JW,JH,JZ,JavaScript, you name it. don't believe me, just hang around on the ROG forums and see the jokes of problems they have. pathetic for the amount of money you pay. problems with screens,m auto dimming problem, contrast problem.

I wouldn't use an ASUS laptop anymore even if they gave it to me for free! cheap Taiwanese crap!

Did I forget to mention...

their implementation of Optimus is messed up...it is very tricky to force games to use your nVIDIA GPU unless you do a lot of settings and even then users on their forums complain that the freakin' games are using the Intel HD Graphics! LOL! horrible!

with Alienware, there are no such mishaps...you press FN + F5 and the laptop reboots activating the nVIDIA GPUs and it's stuck like that until you press FN + F5. no room for error of a gaming even seeing your Intel HD Graphics!

you want Testimony ? Please take the time to read this:

why ASUS? because people who buy ASUS cannot afford Alienware, no other reason on earth...that's a fact...I am one of them...

First laptop, 2 years ago..

G73Sw:

bought it and ran home like a little child wanting to see my lights in the chiclet keyboards....ooops...no lights...tried all driver updates..BIOS update...nope..

Called ASUS, they told me to bring it to the service center it's an easy fix!! whaaaat?? I buy a 2000 USD laptop and go to the service center next day? oh well..I did and they activated it with their BIOS tweak utility that they don't give to customers! great quality control Taiwanese Engineers! send out laptops for sale that don't work properly as advertised...

after 1 week...the screen started giving me fuzzy images...closing/opening the screen lid fixed the problem....wow!! what did I buy? a 1990 Toyotal Corolla or a brand new gaming laptop??

They said they need to replace my screen! wow!! the laptop can't last a week without being repaired! i fought for a refund and got it after a long hassle...

next laptop...

ASUS G75VW,

ASUS decided to remove their awesome creative sound blaster audio chipset and put some cheap VIA audio chipset which made the subwoofer act like a center speaker rather than a subwoofer..

also..I only had the option to get the matte screen...oh well...people say matte is good...right? NOPE! not on ASUS! the ASUS matte screens look as if someone spilled grease all over them. very grainy image especially if you look at a white screen such as these forums or Google..if you look close..you can see the pixels of colorful rainbows! again shocked in awe for this cheap crap!

So I called ASUS complaining about the quality of the screen, they offered to change it to the 3D screen not coz I want 3D, but only because that is the only screen they have that is Glossy..

took the laptop...2 days..I get a call...sorry sir, we changed your screen, but fried your motherboard....we have no spare motherboards...so if you pay $500 USD we can give you a G750JX instead or you can wait till god knows when till we get a motherboard from Taiwan...

so I got the G750JX...

very bad driver support....ASUS released the win 8.1 drivers after 6 months of win 8.1 was released...anyone who upgraded while having the old drivers either got a non booting laptop after the upgrade due to outdated bluetooth/wifi drivers or had horrible problems....

next comes the 2D performance of their GTX770M....there is something not right about it! 3D was fine and performed as it should...but 2D was glitchy and choppy...imagine even a simple game of solitaire..the motion of the cards wasn't fluid...I used to get jealouse when I see my friends' Intel HD Graphics perform so smoothly in the Windows environment while my brand new gaming laptop cries in 2D...opening tabs in firefox...wow..another plethora of jerkiness / slow motion

next...they put cheap Atheros WLAN chipsets which cannot connect above 72 MBPS!! wow! had to pay 50 USD and get a Bigfoot Wireless N-Killer from the US and pay customs just to have a laptop perform like a normal computer

next.... USB 3.0 problems..

basically, I had to connect my USB drives to the right ports and the left ones were kept for my mouse and printer? why? because ASUS cannot produce a piece of hardware that functions right! they claim all ports are USB 3.0 and they are all in blue color...BIG LIE! it wasn't only me, I posted this on the ROG forums and every single one of the members verified the same!

I can't find my thread that I started, but here are 2 examples I quickly grabbed:

Asus G750 USB 3.0 Ports not working with some things

and

Is it normal that the top left USB port is very slow?

ASUS? HELLL NO!!

Worst case scenario, save some money and wait, then get a real gaming laptop from Alienware and be happy for life! rather than bite your fingers after you buy your ASUS

A quick Google search on the G750JX presents exactly what I experienced! I've probably formatted that laptop over 200 times twice daily just trying to make it work but every time some quirk happens...

USB 3.0 sooooo Slow on ASUS g750 jx [Solved] - Asus - Laptop Tech Support

USB problems G750 JX

Just got a G750JX, and with it, a whole suite of problems..

Asus ROG: G750JX-RB71 Screen Ghosting..

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/727019-big-green-float-g750jx-screen.html

G750JX Cheap display, horizontal lines - www.hardwarezone.com.sg

Brand New Asus G750JX-RB71 has been crashing repeatedly

G750JX - 1day old - Black Screen and not Booting

 

ohhh I forget to mention to you, speak to Ted and tell him you are an NBR forum member to avail your NBR Discount

By the way bro, I had my RAM upgraded from them 2 months ago to the 64GB Kit from G.Skill @ 2800MHz.

I then asked them about the 3000 MHz RAM as I saw it on one site. They said it's not out yet.

Today I was contacted by them telling me that I will be the first one to have it if I wish since they will receive it on Monday before anyone else! Very good customer service I was surprised they kept a tab on my request when I totally forgot about it.

@Robert James Maisano

Ordered G.Skill 64GB 3000 MHz. DDR RAM from HIDevolution