upgrade graphics card for np7280?

hello guys!
i'm considering to buy a sager laptop. right now it pretty much comes down to np7280 and np8180.

i really want the 7280 but the performance per dollar of the np8180 with dual 6990m's just seems too good to miss out on, and with around $400 more i can get the 7280 with one 580m.

so my question is: is the 7280 with the potential boost from another 580m installed later more future proof? or are the dual 6990m's future proof enough?

and where, if i choose to go with the 7280, do i buy another 580m in the future? am i right to assume that the words "user upgradable" on retailers' webpage mean that I can do the purchasing and the installation with ease?

any input would be much appreciated! thanks!

 

Is it more future-proof? Thats a hard question to answer, but a pair of 6990's will be within striking distance of a pair of 580m's. I would say that either are just as future-proof as the other, in the games playing sense. Now if you are doing CUDA development then the nV is the way to go. The major difference between the P180 and the X7200 is desktop processors in the X7200. Now if you are just gaming then the CPU options will be more than enough in the P180, as the hex-cores you get in the X7200 will really only come into play with benchmarking and/or workloads that can take advantage of 6 cores.

Now getting another 580m down the line, yea its perfectly possible and not too hard to install, but you have to remember that older video cards are not carried in inventory except for warranty swaps as needed. So there is always a risk of not being able to find another 580m down the line, but there is always ebay and the like =)

 

the cpu option in p180 doesn't really bother me, not even the performance difference between the 580m and the 6990m. i just want the one of these two models that lasts longer.
also, it seems current generation graphics cards on ebay are WAY more expensive than the ones i can get directly from resellers. would they be priced more reasonably in the future?

 

The prices you see on the configurators are the price differences between the video cards. I would say they would be a little cheaper in the future. The biggest issue to buy new is that after the 680m's come out for example, the 580m's will become harder to find, and if the P180 doesn't support it (Not saying it will or not ) then you will have to go find a 580m for example. So thats the only thing to think about.

 

so, besides the price difference, the only setback on going with single 580m is that i may not be able to get another one to upgrade.

what about actual gaming? would 6990m's hold up for 2-3 years? if so , i'll just save the fuss and go with p180.

 

Given how an Dual "Top of the line" GPU configuration from 2 years ago still handles today's games very well, I'd expect the same from the 6990/580m in the future .

 

You know, if it turns out that next gen GPUs will not fit current models, I may kick myself for not having bought a P180HM with a single HD6990m. I wouldn't have been able to get a matte display, but the cost would be about the same as the total I paid for a P170HM. As I understood it at purchase time last month though, if I wanted to get a more powerful graphics card in the future or a 2nd HD6990m, I'd probably also need to get a new power supply. However, whether or not the P180HM can support a 580m reliably is still an unknown variable; forget two of them in SLI. Whereas with the X7200, you know it'll work. The only thing that stopped me for pulling the trigger on that model was cost and the benchmark scoring for the i7-960 versus the i7-2760 (which I didn't end up getting anyway). It'd be a completely different story if I could afford an i7-980.

I went back and forth on what sort of setup would keep me going at even low or medium game display settings in 4 or 5 years considering I can still play some MMOs on the 2006 system in my sig (at lower resolutions). Ultimately, cost, the matte display option, and the best chance to support a next gen GPU settled it for me. Even if the last thing falls through, the other two make me happy. I suggest going through the owner's lounges here on these forums before making a final decision.

 

According to Nvidia the MXM slot will not change. So you should be able to upgrade gpu's down the line. Weather or not Clevo/Sager will support them is a different story. I'm pretty sure the bios in my P180HM doesn't offically support crossfire 6990's but they still work non the less.

 

I would have to agree. Especially considering that most games are console ports and the next gen consoles are likely 2 years away.

 

hello, Eldaren! are you happy with your purchase of p180hm, especially regarding how well the 6990m's perform? because what i'm debating on right now is essentially whether or not i would get a 580m and later upgrade to sli or just settle with 6990m's.

 

Yes I'm very happy with my P180hm. The 6990m's are champs. If your going for a 7280/x7200 you could always upgrade later to sli. However, if you are going for the P180HM you can not upgrade to sli safely. They draw too much current for the motherboard to handle.

If you're thinking about a 7280 I would wait. The P270HM should be out in a couple months. Chances are it will have better support for upgrades later on. And it uses the 2011 socket which will be used in Sandy Bridge-E and Ivy Bridge-E.

 

it's nice to see the reasoning behind someone else's decision. right now the major things holding me back on buying a p180hm are its size and what you said about probably not being able to support next gen graphics cards.

on the other hand, i pay more to get just one card with x7200 but with larger upgrade potential. i guess it really comes down to what games i would be playing with my new laptop. i guess if i weren't such a graphics freak that want all my games to be maxed out i would have went with x7200 already.

 

i don't know if i could wait that long. i have a G73jh with a bunch of upgrades and i want to sell it asap for a decent price to help me fund a new laptop. if there is still a chance that x7200 would support next gen card, that would still be a plus over the p180hm. if not, there is always sli as you said.

 

Well another thing to note about the P270 is SATA III support. It's also more power efficient so you may not need two power bricks to power a nice setup. I'm not trying to steer you away from what you want, the 7280 is a great machine. I would love to have one, but I would wait as the P270 will be much more future proof.

 

yes i can see your point, and it's a valid one. thanks for all your input, you've been very helpful!

 

I would not but 2x 6990Ms. AMD's Crossfire support in the latest games has been HORRID, to say the least. Heck Skyrim still doesn't support dual AMD graphics.

It's a bad move, when you look at the data on the driver issues AMD has had with Crossfire in 2011.

 

yeah that's probably another thing for me to think about, if they still won't be working on solving this problem by the time i make up my mind.

 

I had crossfire 6970m´s - and at some games they worked like charme... and some Benches were great, too.
But as Kevin pointed out, there are so many driver issues with the crossfire, that I had to go back to nVidia, even though they had ridiculous high prices with the GTX 485m´s.
I had all crossfire problems one could imagine: Black screen, blue screen, no screen ...
BUT I never had any mayor problems since I changed to SLI GTX 485m´s - and they are constantly overclocked to 580m clockspeed and doing pretty well .

 

so one more score for x7200. after reading all your input, im pretty much going to get the x7200 with 580m and later upgrade to sli.

 

also, if i get another 580m in the future, would i also need a new PSU?

 

With my SLI GTX 485m and the i7-970 I only have one PSU and NEVER EVER a (PSU-)shutdown.
I think when you are going to overclock in higher regions and you have an extreme CPU (980x/990x) you will need the second PSU that is available for the current system.

 

Agreed, same for me.