Sager 8130

Hello everyone! I'll be off to college next year (Currently a junior) and so i've been looking around for a new laptop. Currently, i have a dell inspiron e1505 that has been with me for about 5 years. After looking around for a few weeks, I found the sager 8130 to be the best option for me, but i still have some questions, and who better to ask than a forum dedicated to the laptop. So, here are the specs i will hope to get:
Promotions: $50 Off Any Configuration
$-50.00
Display: 15.6" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit Matte Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2670QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.2-3.1GHz
$80.00
Memory: (8GB) 8192MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 2 SO-DIMM
Graphics Card: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 560M 1.5GB GDDR5
Hard Drive: 500GB 7200rpm 2.5" SATA 300
Optical Drive Bay: 8X Multi DVD+/-R/RW RAM Dual-Layer Drive
Operating System: Microsoft® Windows® 7 Home Premium; 64-bit
$80.00
Wireless: Intel® 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN Card
$35.00
Cooling: Stock OEM Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
AC Adapter: Full Range AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, 120W AC Adapter, DC output 20V, 6A
Branding: MALIBAL
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)
Extras: Standard Black Carrying Case
Cost: $1,164.0
So, question time. With these specs, will it be able to run games such as battlefield 3 with decent fps? (30+) I don't intend to play games at the highest possible settings, because with my inspiron, i was never able to play a demanding game in the first place. Anything i can get will be an upgrade, if you understand that haha. Second, i've read that the battery life on this laptop isn't brilliant, but i would guess that comes from the graphics card constantly being on. Would it be better to wait for a similar laptop with optimus integrated to come out, or to buy a seperate battery, and just pop that in when the first dies out (In class, of course. At home or in my dorm it will just be plugged in all the time) Or is there a way to turn off the graphics card. Third, I don't quite understand the 2.2 ghz - 3.1 ghz. The computer overclocks itself when it needs to? That should be it for now, but i think more questions will arise later. Also, i'm not exactly computer savy, so if your answers could be put in a way that i could understand? Thank you very much!

 

Hey ThexDoctor, welcome to the wonderful world of Sagers

You can find some FPS results with the GTX 560M and various games here:

Computer Games on Laptop Graphic Cards - Notebookcheck.net Tech
(I love that link, I really do.)

Also, users have reported right around 2 hours battery life when reducing screen brightness, changing energy profile, etc. so you may want to consider buying another battery if you'll be without AC power for 2 hours.

Just a heads up, Optimus probably won't be coming to the higher-end Sagers anytime soon, but nothing is confirmed for the future, it might change.

Also, Turboboost is an automatic overclock where the computer will push that clock speed up on the CPU when the computer requests more power and the temperature of the system is cool enough. It is a really handy feature.

 

Ah, that card should do just well, and i can even upgrade it if i want. Darn, guess I'll probably just deal with the battery, i can't find a laptop that's as great as this one. Do you know about the fan noise level? I don't want to be typing notes in class and suddenly have the fans go off as if someone was using a hair dryer haha

 

Couple of customers are reporting louder than usual fans, but others report whisper silent. Most have been silent. Sager is looking into the loud-fan thing, but hasn't found a root cause yet, besides a BIOS/EC update (don't worry about doing this, they are shipping with the latest versions).

 

Hmm, I suppose fan noise won't be an issue for a while, so I'll get this and wait for the solution, or hope i get a non-noisy laptop hehe. On a scale from 1-10, what would you give this laptop in overall rating? :3

 

My fans are silent unless Fn + 1 is hit. Going from an e1505 to a NP8130 with a GTX 560m is going to make your world go upside down (in a good way). Even going from a 260m to a 560m was a great upgrade. As for BF3, you should be able to play it at all settings medium at about 30fps to 40fps with the latest drivers.

 

Yep haha, big upgrade for me. I was thinking about an alienware m14x at first. Man, what was I thinking haha!

 

Yes this model is a nice 'upgrade' to the M14x. Also a lot easier to work on and upgrade in the future!
_

 

Also consider MSI's Force 16F2. You can get them at xoticpc.

They have space for TWO hard drives, plus one in the optical bay.

Could be useful. Also, they have better speakers, and a 3 year warranty is $30 cheaper. I suggest the 3 year warranty.

 

The customization is so expensive on that model! The Intel Core i7-2670QM, 2.2-3.1GHz is 150 on that, and 80 on the sager. 35 to upgrade to the intel 6300, 75 on the force. 105 for the windows 7 on force, 80 on sager. the same specs on the force cost $1358, so no thank you

 

Hi, one of our customers who owns a Lotus P151HM1 with basically the same build as yours, just posted a vid of BF3. Check it out: battlefield 3 clevo p151hm1 - YouTube

 

Ah, thank you for that video! 42 fps w/o fraps seems solid to me. One final question to everyone. Is there really any difference in the wireless cards provided in the customizations?

 

Where are you buying it from? I am looking at buying the same laptop, and that $50 discount would be nice

 

Yes there is. The 6230 has better range and bluetooth. The 6300 has really good range and no bluetooth, and the Killer Wireless N has the best range and no bluetooth. (I'm oversimplifying things here probably).

Mr. Mysterious

 

@shakenbake158 this one is the lotus p151hm1 from malibal. Sorry for calling it the sager, but it's the name i've been using the whole time i researched about it haha.
@Mr_Mysterious Is the killer wireless n worth the 80 dollar upgrade? I don't mind if you go into details about this

 

Not in my opinion. Many people have said that the 6230 is more than enough for what they do, including gaming.

Mr. Mysterious

 

Mm, then I'll get the 6230. Thanks for your help everyone!