Sandy Bridge or Sager NP8690

Hey guys

I need a little bit of advice. I am wondering if it would be wiser to wait for Sandy bridge ( And the next GPUs) or pull the trigger and get myself the Sager NP8690 right now with the i7 740. The pros and cons would be appreciated. I don't need a laptop NOW, but it would be preferable since my computer is almost 6 years old.

Thank you

 

You're looking at close to a year before you're going to be able to purchase and take home a Huron platform notebook. If you can wait a year, and the machine you have can do everything you want it to do, then wait. There will always be something better coming out next year, just buy when you need a new machine, or you'll be waiting forever.

 

Well, I can wait until around February. You sure sandy bridge won't be released before Q3 2011? I heard they were released around Q1 2011.And I'd like to be traveling around too (weight is not an issue) so sandy bridge is something I'm looking forward too.

 

It'll be "released" probably at the end of Q1, but add at least a month before the first laptops are actually in stock for retailers, and a couple more before there's a wider selection of laptops and options to choose from. Then the GPU's are going to be out after that, so do you buy Huron then and try to upgrade, or do you wait who know how much longer for the GPU's? Add that this the extra cost of being an early adopter. You won't have any information on issues models have, or solutions and units are going to be more expensive because they're new.

Also Intel has complete control of the mobile market right now, so they're in no rush to release anything new, when the old is still selling so well.

 

Actually, a Google search on Sandy Bridge has the most recent articles predicting an earlier than anticipated launch of Sandy Bridge. We might even see laptops before the year is over.

Intel to Ramp up Sandy Bridge Faster Than Expected - PCWorld
AppleInsider | Apple may get Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs sooner than expected
Intel's Sandy Bridge CPUs to arrive ahead of schedule, could be with us this year -- Engadget

Intel is actually spending more money on factory equipment to reach volume shipment capacity sooner. Heck, the CEO himself has said that he's never been as excited in one of his company's products in recent memory as he is for Sandy Bridge. And both of those are due in part to computer manufacturers giving Intel positive feedback on the Sandy Bridge samples they've been given.

However, the question on whether to wait is really subjective and personal.

I asked my sister whether she'd like to wait to get a new computer at the start of next year when there would be a significant upgrade (Sandy Bridge), or would she rather get the computer half a year earlier. She chose the latter because once she graduates she'll have less time to play games on her Sager so the ability to enjoy her computer a significant six months earlier meant much more to her than having a faster computer six months later. That and her computer was really struggling to keep up with the times like yours is, CompNub.

I've read up on Sandy Bridge as much as I could and it really boils down to the extra cache, AVX instructions and lower power consumption for at least, the two core version, IMO. The AVX instructions won't matter until a few years later when software takes advantage of it. But I'm really struggling to estimate how big a jump with regards to speed we'll see off the bat with Sandy Bridge over Arrandale/Clarkdale.

 

I've got the same thoughts; I don't think we're going to end up seeing any sort of massive increase in speed with Sandy Bridge.

 

I'd have to agree. Could be why they didn't bother with the 32nm refresh for the quads.

 

How do you figure? Do you think the performance advantage of 32nm quads would have made Sandy Bridge's performance offerings look meager?

 

Exactly. Sandy will more of a clock speed and heat advantage than if they had put out 32nm for the current quads.

 

In the end, I say buy if you need.
If you don't, then wait it out.

I bought my D900F and UL30VT knowing that there was new revisions on the way but decided not to wait cause I needed them right away.

My 2 cents!

 

I am buying a "lesser" Sager for now to use for work and games. For me the big advantage of the Sandy Bridge will be the TDP savings. I guess I am lucky, as my lesser laptop will still be a huge leap ahead of the Dell latitude I have now and I can wait for a year for my business to pick up and Sandy bridge to have some experience in the market before i blow my wad on one based on that architecture. Still hoping Clevo throws it into the x7200, if it ever makes it out!
For a quick answer to the original question, if it were me in that situation, I would buy now. You could wait forever for the next big thing.

 

it seems to me that most of sandybridge's features are geared towards battery savings and integrated graphics and not on performance per se.
i really dont think sanybridge will give us a big leap in performance really

 

Laptops with Sandy Bridge will most likely be out by the end of January. Intel claims to be ramping up production so as to deliver the processors in volume in Q4 2010 which means that the first laptops will probably be unveiled at CES again (second week of January) and you'll be able to have the laptops in your hands by the end of that month.

If don't need a new laptop until February, my advice would definitely be to wait for Sandy Bridge. The general reason is that you should always buy electronics exactly when you needed -- no sooner because they get cheaper and better quickly and no later because if you wait for the next big thing, you'll be waiting forever.

The specific reason is that Sandy Bridge is going to be much better than Clarksfield in general and the Core i7-740 in particular. The Clarksfield processors never made that much sense given the pricing: they were 45nm parts based on an architecture that worked best in servers. Because Intel has no serious competition in laptop processors, Clarksfield was (and is) still be best out there, but they're hot and much slower than they could be if Intel made a Westmere version. Sandy Bridge will give you some architectural improvements, of course, but regardless of these, mobile quad-cores will get a substantial boost from it simply because this will be the first time they were made with a 32nm process.

 

This is why we didn't guess Westmere. The fact they needed that extra edge, tells me their sauce is weak. They would have sold a lot more x40 i7's if they were 32nm, and they would have cost less to produce. Even someone with a 820 would have reason to get a 840 at 32nm.

 

I'm actually doing the same thing, I don't need a laptop until about mid 2011 so I'm probably just going to wait until some more advanced tech comes out and then buy right then and there.

Or if you don't need a laptop with the new tech or the new Sandy Bridge fusion cpu+gpu technology isn't exactly performance based then I'm guessing the Sager models currently out like the 8690 and 8760 will likely be down in price and you could buy then. I hope they're still on the market by then or the newer and better Sager models have manageable prices.