Question:
Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
I'm looking to build a laptop for college. My parents are giving me a healthy budget, but I want something that will last. There are good deals in the $1800 price range, but those would last me two years tops. I want to be ahead of the game for a few years and not have to upgrade for about four.
So, I'm upping the ante considerably. I just sure as hell better get those work-studies lined up pronto!
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General Questions
1) What is your budget?
$3000 tops - Anything over $2,000 comes out of my own pocket.
2) What size notebook would you prefer?
a. Ultraportable; 12" screen or less
b. Thin and Light; 13" - 14" screen
c. Mainstream; 15" - 16" screen
d. Desktop Replacement; 17"+ screen
3) What tasks will you be performing with the notebook?
Heavy duty gaming
4) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places or leaving it on your desk?
The college has a LAN party that meets a few times week, I'll have to move it now and then.
5) Will you be playing games on it; if so, which games?
High-end current releases - CS: Source, Medieval II: Total War, FEAR.
STALKER is supposed to finally see the light of day in Q1 2007, and I'll be interested to see if it's as much of a beast as people were saying it was 2 years ago.
6) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like?
I don't buy from unreliable companies.
7) How many hours of battery life do you need?
A few hours of gaming would be nice, but if it doesn't, that's fine too. As long as I can do non-gaming related tasks for a few hours on battery, I'm happy.
8) Do you mind buying online without seeing the notebook in person?
Not at all.
9) Please select your country's flag as a post icon and tell us what country are you buying this in?
Screen Specifics
10) Would you prefer standard or widescreen?
I have no experience with widescreen - please give recommendations.
11) From the choices below, what screen resolutions would you prefer?
Standard
a. XGA -1024x768 - Large and easy to read text + graphics icons, but you fit less stuff on the screen.
b. SXGA - 1400x1050 - Compromise resolution between XGA and UXGA.
c. UXGA - 1600x1200 - Very small text and graphics icons, you can fit lots of stuff on the screen.
Widescreen
d. WXGA or WXGA+ - 1280x768/800 or 1440x900; Wider viewing version of XGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
e. WSXGA+ - 1680x1050; Wider viewing version of SXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
f. WUXGA - 1920x1200; Wider viewing version of UXGA, good for movie viewing or spreadsheets.
12) Do you want a glossy/reflective screen or a matte/non-glossy screen?
Build Quality and Design
13) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you?
Not really, but that'd be a nice bonus.
14) When are you buying this laptop and how long do you want this laptop to last?
It has to be ordered by mid-August so it's ready for college in September.
Two years is the absolute minimum here - and even then I'd want to sell it for a decent chunk of change. I'd like a machine that can give a good four years of acceptable performance if required to.
Notebook Components
15) How much hard drive space do you want; 40GB to 120GB?
80-100. 7200 RPM.
16) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a DVD-ROM, DVD-CD/RW or DVD-RW drive?
DVD-CD/RW.
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Sorry for the long read, guys. I've done some research on my own, a lot of it via this forum (this site is an outstanding resource).
There are three major contenders here:
Aurora m9700
Sager 5760
Sager 9750
The two Sagers are what interest me the most. The 5760 is slightly cheaper, but the 9750 has a whopping 512 MB dedicated to the 7900 GTX as opposed to the 5760's 256.
Plus, the 9760 uses AMD processors, while the 5760 is Core Duo (I'd be using the T2500). The Aurora's SLI 7900 GS isn't bad, but I'm thinking dual core is the way to go.
I'm not sure what the performance difference is between DDR and DDR2, or if it's worth the money. I'd need to know before buying, of course.
What I'd like to ask you folks, then, is this: what is the best deal out of all of these? Which will last me the longest?
Thanks in advance,
John
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
Well if you go with the Core Duo setup you will have the option of later upgrading the processor to an 64bit Core 2 Duo Merom. The 9750 is a monster of a notebook, and i would personly go with the 5760.
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
DDR2 latency is generally higher than DDR, i've never noticed much of a difference between in and DDR.
Some people might recommend Dell XPS M1710, but I personally think its overpriced compared to the quality of the Sager notebooks.
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
I would go for dual core rather than SLI. DC will give you a minimum 20% increase in computing power. Games like the ones you described can and were designed to run on non-SLI graphics cards. Maybe you should buy a dual-core with an ATI X1600. But I'm not sure if the X1600 can handle your specs.
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
[quote=bc135]I would go for dual core rather than SLI. DC will give you a minimum 20% increase in computing power. Games like the ones you described can and were designed to run on non-SLI graphics cards. On the other hand, for the future upgradability of your machine, you should also have a powerful graphics card (for your money) to run the upcoming Windows Visa OS. Personally, I would purchase a Core Duo laptop with an ATI X1600 or something of that nature. I would not bother with SLI as Vista's Aero Glass doesn't need it at all.
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
I would go for dual core rather than SLI. DC will give you a minimum 20% increase in computing power. Games like the ones you described can and were designed to run on non-SLI graphics cards. On the other hand, for the future upgradability of your machine, you should still get a powerful non-SLI graphics card (for your money) to run the upcoming Windows Visa OS. Personally, I would purchase a Core Duo laptop with an ATI X1600 or something of that nature. I would not bother with SLI as Vista's Aero Glass doesn't need it at all.
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
Well if you go with the Core Duo setup you will have the option of later upgrading the processor to an 64bit Core 2 Duo Merom. The 9750 is a monster of a notebook, and i would personly go with the 5760.
I am leaning towards the 5760 as well. About the upgrade to Merom - are you sure that Sager offers this service? Can you give me any details regarding price/time of availability? Core 2 is not something I want to miss out on, but I can't hold out for them to bring it to a laptop before buying one.
Also, I'd appreciate it if someone could give me a rough idea of how long Sager takes to process orders (the time from when I place the order - roughly August 17th - to when I'd get it, which would ideally be by the beginning of September).
Thanks for the replies!
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
I suggest purchasing the notebook now, im am not sure on Sager doing an upgrade program but ive heard that they should. Even with out the upgrade its still a powerfull notebook. Meroms will most likely note be available untill September, and waiting for Sager to put them in their current models would be a waste. You may have the option of purchasing the processor and upgrading it yourself, but this may void the warrenty.
Suggested site: http://www.powernotebooks.com/category.php?catId=26
Answer:
Re: Desktop Replacement: SLI or Dual Core?
If you need to buy it right away, I would just get the Core Duo and live with it for a while. I don't see the point to buying a new processor now, only to throw it away when you buy a new processor ala Merom. Core Duo is plenty fast for most users.
I would go for the Sager NP5760 myself.
I don't know if you will get 3 hours of non-gaming battery life though. And I'm also not so sure about the resale value of it in 2 years. There will be a whole different technology landscape in place by then.
Just my $.02