1720 Problems, Maybe I'm wrong

Dell Inspiron 1720.

- No 7200 rpm hard drive
- 8600m GT video card is worse than the 7900 go gs
- Memory runs at 667 instead of 800. It should be 800 shouldn't it? The bus of the system is 800.

Jenson1

 

1) 7200RPM drives can be purchased for cheaper aftermarket...though I am surprised they are not available. There have been supply problems with drives and parts before, so maybe that is happening again.
2) 8600GT is currently the most powerful DX10 GPU out there...blame nVidia for not getting the 8700 or 8800 out yet
3) DDR2-800 RAM is just barely coming to market, and Intel's Santa Rosa chipset does not support DDR2-800 RAM. Also, 533, 667, and 800 RAM perform just about the same because of latencies.

 

7200 rpm won't be a deal breaker for most people. Your loading times will be slightly higher but that's it.

The 8600GT is the fastest DX10 card on the market currently.

The performance difference between 667 and 800 is still under testing but don't expect major breakthroughs in speed.

 

That's odd that Santa Rosa doesn't support DDR2-800.

 

and since when is the 8600GT worse than the 7900GS, I was under the assumption it was about the equal.

 

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

8600m GT 3Dmark6 score was 3500 which is terrible.

 

I thought 3Dmark6 is simply for bragging rights...

 

Dell's previous notebook was the inspiron e1705 ... It has a 7900 GO GS video card. The problem is now they use the 8600m gt which is slower than then 7900 go gs. Why should i pay 2000 dollars for a notebook with a downgraded video card. lol

One more thing. If you use microsoft office & internet explorer ONLY then a 5400 rpm hard drive is fine. But if you use your laptop for anything that is somewhat intensive YOU HAVE to get a 7200 rpm hard drive. 5400 rpm hard drives are frickin slow. Just close your ears and listen to the laptop, the 5400 rpm hard drive is like "WAIT WAIT hold on give me a sec, let me grab some coffee.. WAIT MY BACK i have a back ache.. WAIT".. LOL

 

I thought the performance of the current videocards were theorized to increase after the vista drivers stop suckin?

 

I bought the E1705 at the end of May. I'm a bit annoyed that Dell decided just now to introduce a numpad on the 17 incher , since that was the primary negative point I had with it. I was actually prepared to buy a Gateway NX860 instead of the E1705 only because it had a numpad. And then I did a 180 back to the E1705 after finding out the NX860 had the Fn key to the left of the Ctrl key, which totally doesn't jive with WASD or everyday touch-typing (maybe if I was an ESDF man, it would have worked out). I figured I can always buy a USB numpad if I ever need more keys. And yes, all of my purchasing decisions are based on keyboard layout ; for example: WTF?).

I'm happy with the 7900 Go GS over the 8600M GT, though. I figure that I'd rather get better performance in the DX9 games out today than get crappy performance in the DX10 games coming out in 2 years. By then, I'll have built a new desktop to take over gaming duties.

Also, the E1720 doesn't have the subwoofer either, right? The E1705's speakers can be outperformed a pair of $20 desktop speakers, but it's still the best audio I've heard out of a notebook. The tiny subwoofer definitely helps to keep the sound from turning into a tinny mess.

 

OK...I think you're making the situation sound worth than it is.

1. 8600M GT had a 3dmark of 3566. 7900 GS had a 3dmark of 3800. The difference is 234 points, or 6.16%. I seriously doubt you'll notice that - at 60 FPS on the 7900 GS, you'd get 57.5 on the 8600M GT.

1.1. If you're considering the 8600M GT's score "terrible", then the 7900 GS must be "very bad". If the 8600M GT is "terrible", you should be looking at at least the 7950 GTX, but really a desktop.

1.2. The 8600M GT will be able to play DirectX 10 games. Not a huge deal, but as DX 10 matures it might be nice to have that ability.

1.3. The 8600M GT is probably going to get better performance as drivers for this card, DirectX 10, and Vista get better. It's quite possible that a year from now it'll be performing better than the 7900 GS.

2. I think you've used a hyperbole in your description of a 5400 RPM hard drive. I'm not sure exactly what speed my current hard drive is, but based on its age and price it's probably 5400 RPM, and I've never gotten a back ache waiting for something to load. A little bit slow on games like Battlefield Vietnam, but not nearly slow enough that you could make coffee.

2.1. It is not true that if you do anything somewhat intensive, "YOU HAVE" to get a 5400 RPM drive. 1 GB of memory perhaps, but the faster hard drive just gives better load times, nothing essential for getting stuff to run.

2.2. That said, I am puzzled why the 7200 RPM drive isn't even an option in the e1720 when it is in the e1520.

3. This is probably to keep the price reasonable. From what I've heard 800 MHz memory costs about 50% more than 667 MHz memory.

3.1. Santa Rosa doesn't support 800 MHz memory. Don't ask me why - seems like it should to me.

3.11. The GPU will have a 800 MHz bus IIRC, so you will get some boost from the 800 MHz FSB on the CPU over the 667 MHz bus.

4.0. Wow, I remembered the 3566 3dmark score of the 8600M GT from memory - kind of scary that I can remember that.

edits:

5.0. Yeah, I also don't get why the e1705 didn't have a NumPad. Some people are upset about the keyboard and touchpad being off-center, though, so it's all personal preference. I agree that the touchpad is way off-center in the 1720. I kind of wish the e1520 had a NumPad (there were rumors that it would), but alas, it only has an embedded one. Too bad these are too embedded in the design to be optional.

5.1. I also looked at the NX860 and was considering it until I decided to go with a 15.4-inch and 8600M GT instead. Jenson1, you might want to consider looking at that as an alternative (it does have the 7900 GS).

6.0. No, the e1720 does not have subwoofers. I haven't been impressed with the audio from the notebooks I've seen recently, so I can't say I'm surprised.

6.1. I recommend headphones. Nice an quiet so you don't disturb anyone, and if you get a halfway decent pair they can give good quality sound at a louder volume than most laptops if you max the Windows and headphone volumes.