Sager NP9772 Config Thoughts?

I am looking at the following specs, mostly play games such as Dragon Age and have been waiting to purchase a new laptop so I can finally play Inquisition.

Sager NP9772 / Clevo P770ZM
17.3" IPS Full HD LED-Backlit Display with Matte Finished Surface (1920 x 1080)
Intel® Core™ i7-4790K (4.0~4.4GHz)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980M 256bit w/8.0GB GDDR5
16GB (2 x 8GB) , PC3-14900, 1866MHz SODIMM, CL10
512GB Micron M600 M.2 SATA Solid State Drive (OS Drive) (depending on price I may drop to 256GB)
1TB SATA III 6Gb/s 7,200 RPM Hard Drive
Bigfoot Networks Killer M.2 Wireless-AC 1525 + Bluetooth 4.1

Here is what I am on the fence about
IC Diamond Thermal Compound - I don't plan to repaste myself, so is it worth paying extra for?
I also don't have plans to overclock either the CPU or GPU, so I assume the 230W power adapter will work out just fine?

From the current threads it looks like the IPS panel currently shipping is LP173WF4-SPF1, has anyone heard any different? I was hoping the panel would be closer to 80% NTSC but it is in a laptop so I should consider that.

Right now all builders / resellers are being considered.

Any other thoughts / comments are welcome.

 

Get the bigger PSU, that tiny bit of extra dough goes a long way.

If you do not plan on repasting yourself, definitely get the IC Diamond TIM, as the notebook is going to need the transfer to be as efficient as possible.

Also you should probably add your location to the OP so people can make better suggestions in regards to where to buy it from. Not your exact address though :lol:

 

Thanks, I am in the US. Currently looking at most of the retailers mentioned here in the forums. Since I hope to pull the trigger in the next week, it will depend on who is offering deals at that time.
I will look at the larger PSU.

 

IC Diamond is a great choice. Its last a long time so since you do not plan on re-pasting its a good call to get a type that doesn't need it. Plus you'll get lower temps.
230w is fine if you do not plan on overclocking. But a 330 might come in handy a few years down the road when you may feel like squeezing some more performance from the computer with even a slight overclock.

 

According to Larry at LPC-Digital, in this link, the model may be slightly different for Sagers. SPD1 not SPF1.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/threads/sager-np8278-s-vs-sager-np9772.769829/page-3#post-9982049

 

I got IC Diamond on my build 4 years ago, and it's still going strong. I re-pasted this weekend just to see if it would make a difference, and it shaved 2-3 degrees off. 2-3 degrees degradation over 4 years is amazing, especially considering stock paste would easily be 5 degree hotter to begin with.

 

Well I dont know, however I simply cant reconmens a 230W adapter for those specs.

 

The LP173WF4-SPD1 panel is still only 72%. I will probably give Larry a call and see if he has seen any other versions come through. Like I said, I was hoping for better but the reality is, I have a monitor that is 92% so if I am doing serious photo work I will be using that and hopefully not the laptop screen.

What are the advantages of going with the larger PSU if there are not plans to overclock? I get that plans change, and I have done some overclocking in the past, but are there other advantages for a stock setup? Everything I have see said that the 230W was fine for even a maxed out stock rig?

 

From what´s been tested the 230W is enough for stock and mild overclock.

 

I don't mind picking up the larger PSU if it makes sense from a system perspective but I find it hard to believe that a manufacture would supply a power supply that won't work for their stock machine. I do like the flexibility that getting the large PSU might provide if I decide to overclock in the future.

 

Sadly there are laptops that ship with too weak psus so it does happen.

The flexibility is nice, I agree. If you get the 230W you can buy the 330W later from some resellers.

 

230W is plenty for a stock machine. If you want to run it out of spec then you have to work beyond that

 

Thank about it supposedly 100W for the gpu, 88 for the cpu and you are left with what, around 40w for the screen, ram, ssd, hdd etc etc. The PSU will be working close to its limit under full load (not a good thing).

Now tdp isnt very accurate, however it is sufficient for estimations, assuming the user actuallly needs the hardwares capabilities. I am not saying the stock PSU wont be able to run the notebook, I just wouldnt reconmend it when you can upgrade to a 330W and be sure you can get some nice OC if you ever need it.

Now of course 230W is the minimum it can supply and it can do more, I just wouldnt push it. Though you will have warranty, so in the in it is up to OP if that little extra savings is worth it.

 

Thanks for the info on the PSU. It seems like the 230W will be enough but for $65 extra dollars future proofing the laptop purchase is probably not a bad idea. It's not that much extra cash when you are already spending a lot on a laptop. I have had my current laptop for 6 years so I don't upgrade very often.

Any thoughts on the network card? I had seen some issues with the Intel card which is why I choose the Killer wireless.

 

Do you game on the go? If you do then you might as well go with the killer one, though generally if you want a good gaming experience go with a wired Lan connection.

The intel one is realitively ok as well, one of my coworkers were using a p750zm with it whilst waiting for their desktop to be repaired and they never had an issue. Speed was decent too. Though your getting a hih end laptop why cheap out on it now, after all I do believe the killer isnt that much more expensive, at least not where I am.

Their performance is realtive to the enviroment and hardwares on both ends.

 

I believe the Linux compatibility was better on the Intel card, but the recommendation otherwise was to go with the Killer card.

 

Thanks , all my gaming is via wireless.

 

Thej definitely get the killer one if you can

 

As new cards come out you can also change it as wifi modules are never that expensive.

 

Here's a dumb question for you. Are desktop processors too powerful for a laptop? Does a laptop like this invite issues which only show up later? This dummy wants to know. Or to put it another way, how is it now possible to have a desktop processor in a laptop when it was not before? (This one is the first isn't it?) (Am I in the right thread?)

 

I would think the biggest issue would be heat. Most laptops aren't good a keeping components cool even if you regularly clean the fans. The NP9772, I hope as solved that issue but even so, I have a notebook cooler already waiting for it.

 

It's not the first time it's been done. Last generation's P570WM had a desktop CPU... also not the first.

If it's designed well, cooling primarily, it shouldn't invite issues to show up later. Too powerful, what's that? (previous answer) There are other opinions out there, of course.

Question seems on topic or in it's own thread.

 

Yes they can be used in notebooks, but a properly designed notebook will be heavier as a result and perhaps bigger.

 

Clevo/Sager have offered a notebook with a desktop CPU for at least the last 5yrs. They do make sure all cooling etc is acceptable before releasing it.

 

I haven't had any throttling or shutdown from 4790K and the fans are surprisingly reasonable for noise. This for compiling, encoding and gaming.

 

I have the Killer 1525 AC part in my P750ZM and it's been pretty solid under Windows.

As far as Linux compatibility goes, though, the latest information has it that support for the Killer Wireless 1525 AC card is in the Ath10k driver now, complete with the required firmware. It requires a 4.x kernel though, which means if your distro doesn't have a 4.x kernel available, you're building it yourself. So yeah, for the best out of the box experience, go with the Intel part.

Since I need to use Linux and I have the Killer part, I'll likely be guinea pigging a 4.x kernel build on my machine. That should be pretty entertaining.


-CA