Sager NP8180 Configuration Questions

Hello, I am going to purchase a Sager NP8180 with i7-2760qm, 12 gb ram, AMDRadeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5 in CrossFire and 80 gb ssd. I will add 750 gb HDD myself. I plan to use the computer for gaming with ultra detail.

1) Does it matter if i get 1333 mhz or 1600 mhz ram?
2) Is the 80 gb ssd enough for windows 7, office and a couple games? I plan to store all other files on 2nd HDD. The 120 gb ssd is $140 more.
3) Will overclocking significantly enhance the gaming performance or just shorten the lifespan of the CPU and GPU? Will I need IC diamond if I do overclock?
4) I initially was looking at Xotic Pc's offering at $2350 w/ shipping but then I found Malibal had the same product for about $2200 w/ shipping Is there any difference bt these 2 companies? I can't find a better price than what Malibal offers.
5) Is there a student discount for Malibal or any way to get free shipping? I go to the Univ of North Florida.

Its a big purchase for me so i want to make sure I get the right product.
Thanks alot,
Jacob M.

 

1) The 2760qm is natively designed for 1600mhz and 1333mhz RAM. If you can stretch out a few more bucks, you might as well go with 1600. It offers about a 5% improvement in FPS (of course if the difference between 1333 and 1600 is over $50, it's not worth the small gains... the 6990m does MORE than enough-wise for games)

2) 80GB IS enough, but it is really squeezing the limit of the SSD with MS Office and a few games. Each game can be 6+ GB, and after Win7, 3 or 4 games, the appropriate add-ons for daily use (flash, java, etc.,) you may have so little space left you run into issues. Personally, I'd rather go with the 2630qm, save $210 with that, and use that $210 to get the bigger SSD. (more on that later)

3) Overclocking may enhance performance, but every part is different. Some people can get GTX 580m's to overclock all the way to desktop 560 Ti levels (about 30% OC), but there is an art to it. Also, the more you OC, the more errors that occur with GPU memory and the more likely you are to cause errors with the applications (artifacting, throttling, system shutdown, etc.). Additionally, the 2760qm is locked as far as CPUs go; only the 2960xm (which is massively overpriced) is unlocked and ready for OCing.

4) One is a Sager Reseller, one is a Clevo reseller.

5) Don't know.

Now, to build on point 2. I know that your heart is set on an SSD, and that is a WONDERFUL thing for programs, OS, etc., but 80GB is really a system OS drive. To get what you want, your best bet would be to go with the 1333MHz RAM (more than fast enough, SB is brutally efficient with memory), and a 2630qm CPU (this is MORE than enough CPU for anyone bar record-breakers, extreme OC'ers, and people who run VM's on a constant basis). To keep ya at $2200 or so, here's what i propose.

NB: you will need the 300w PSU with the dual 6990s. Just so you know.

Veda P180HM (P180HM)
$1,444.00 $1,444.00
Customizations:
Promotions: $100 Off Configurations Over $1500
$-100.00
Display: 18.4" 1920 x 1080 FHD LED Backlit Glossy Display
Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 6MB L3 Cache, 2.0-2.9GHz
Memory: (12GB) 12288MB, PC3-10660/1333MHz DDR3 - 3 SO-DIMM
$45.00
Graphics Card: 2 X AMD® Radeon HD 6990M 2GB GDDR5 (CrossFireX)
$425.00
Hard Drive: 120GB Intel® (510) SATA III 6Gb/s SSD2 Drive
$260.00
Optical Drive Bay: 6X Blu-ray Reader 8X DVD+/-R DL Super-Multi Drive
$80.00
Wireless: Intel® 6300 Ultimate-N 802.11A/B/G/N LAN and Bluetooth Card
$35.00
Cooling: IC Diamond 7 Thermal Compound, CPU & GPU
$40.00
Keyboard: English: US & Canada
Power Cord: US & Canada
Branding: Red Edition
AC Adapter: Full Range AC-in 100~240V, 50~60Hz, 300W AC Adapter, DC output 20V, 15A
$150.00
Build Time: 5-7 Business Days
Warranty: LIFETIME Ltd. Labor and 1 Year Parts Warranty with 24/7 Support (USA)

Product Subtotal: $2,379.00

Subtract 3% for cash. This will cover the 300w PSU, dual 6990s, a quadcore, and more than enough firepower for gaming @ ultra for the next 2 years.

Hope this helps.

Jason

 

A note on SSDs: You could buy your own SSD and get a much better value. You can land a new 160GB Intel 320 for $225 on ebay. You could then keep the 500GB stock drive and use it for a backup. Just saying they tend to jack up the price on the SSD upgrades, but of course if you go with your own you'll have to reinstall the OS. I decided to go with a Crucial M4 256GB SSD for $350, much better price to performance value and space will not be a conern.

EDIT:

Looking at the malibal website, you could just pick no hard drive that takes - $45 off the price. So they are charging you $305 for an Intel 510 120GB that can be had for $275.00 new at amazon. Or if you really care about price to performance just buy your own Crucial M4 128GB for $210. In fact the M4 actually out performs the 510 in several areas: See this review (look for the purple line, its the second fastest SSD in that test). Another positive review

Then again, if you're paying over $2000 for a system maybe saving $50-100 bucks aint a big deal

 

Thanks for the sound advice,

I want to stick with the i7-2760 b/c I plan to play some very CPU dependent games.

I think what I will do is get the 500 gb stock HDD and then switch it to the 2nd hard drive. I found an OCZ Vertex 3 120 GB SSD for 190 on ebay which then I could use for my primary.

As far as the ram, I found Corsair Vengeance 12GB DDR3 PC12800 1600MHz RAMfor 90 on ebay so i could install my own ram.

New total is 2163+shipping. That includes the 300W PSU. Plus 280 for SSD and RAM.

Would installing the SSD, switching the stock HDD and installing RAM be difficult? I don't have really any experience with this.

 

Well it would require a complete reinstall of the OS and drivers, should not be that hard to do, or I guess you could try to mirror the drive, but I am more a fan of getting rid of the bloatware and starting with a fresh install. Physically installing an SSD is one of the easiest hardware upgrades you can make. However, you might have to dive into the BIOS to change some settings (but odds are the drive will be recognized without any issues). Make sure the RAM is notebook RAM and that you know how to access all 4 memory slots (tons of vids of this on youtube).

 

1) You shouldn't notice a big difference if any with ram speed. It'll be very negligible?

2) Depending on the games you want, a couple of games like WoW will fill that 80gb SSD very quickly. Otherwise a couple of standard games is more than enough for that capacity.

3) OC'ing the vid cards will enhance performance not so much the CPU. If you plan to OC i recommend the IC diamond upgrade.

4) Email your best quote to other companies, most will try and price match.

5) Email companies for their promos and discounts.

Your questions are always welcome here on NBR. That's what the community is here for, we help on small and large purchase questions even troubleshooting questions.

 

I think I am going to get a Crucial m4 128gb ssd. Is this compatible with the Clevo P180HM/Sager NP8180?

What about the Western Digital Scorpio Black 750 GB for my 2nd HD?

Also, I think the laptop has 3 slots for RAM not 4 like someone mentioned. How do I figure out what RAM is compatible with the NP8180? I would like 3x4 gb 1600mhz DDR3 RAM. It looks like alot of the websites do not have the option for the NP8180.

 

Any SSD is "compatible" so no worries there. There were reports of Vertex drives having issues, but the firmware update fixed it for a lot of people. The same goes for HDD's- any slim 2.5" 9.5mm laptop drive will work fine.

You are correct on the RAM in that there are only three slots. DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600, 10660, or 10666) will all work. 1600mhz (PC3 12800) should work for you if you choose the 2760QM or higher.

 

Ok thanks, I just found 3x4 gb of G.SKILL 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3 1600 at newegg.

 

True. I've got a Crucial M4 in my P180HM and it works just great

 

Good info here, any one has applied their own IC Diamond 7? Is it possible? Difficult? Risky?