Sager NP9260 First Thoughts (pics, video)

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The Sager NP9260 is a big notebook that has correspondingly big power. Configurable with dual NVidia 7950 GTX graphic cards, three hard drives and an Intel Core 2 Extreme desktop processor the NP9260 is designed for those that simply want the fastest machine money can buy.

Sager NP9260 notebook (view large image)

The folks at PowerNotebooks.com and Sager Notebooks were kind enough to send us a sample of the NP9260 with the following configuration:

• Screen: 17&quot; WSXGA+ &quot;Super Clear Glossy&quot; TFT Active Matrix screen
• Graphics: DUAL NVIDIA GeForce Go 7950 GTX PCI-e SLI Mode w/512MB (1,024MB Total)
• Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 2.66GHz Processor w/4M L2 Cache - 1,066MHz FSB, Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Compound
• Memory: 2,048MB (2 SODIMMS) DDR2/800 Memory
• Hard Drive: Dual 80GB SATA/150 Hard Drive at 7,200 RPM, RAID 0 enabled
• Optical Drive: Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive
• Wireless: Built-in Intel PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11a/g/n, Built-in Bluetooth Wireless
• Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (12 Cell)
• OS: Windows XP Professional
• Ports:
  • 4 USB 2.0
  • 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Pro Dup/SD/SD Mini/MMC)
  • FireWire IEEE 1394
  • RJ-45 LAN / RJ-11 Modem
  • S-Video out and in
  • DVI out
  • Monitor out
  • Modem / LAN
• Price as configured: $3,485

We were allowed to configure the NP9260 for review purposes and chose not to go with the Intel Core 2 Extreme processor to keep the price as tested down a bit, the Core 2 Extreme X6800 2.93GHz would be a $800+ premium over the E6700 2.66GHz $3,485 configuration you see. Also, while three hard drives are configurable, we were &quot;conservative&quot; and have just two hard drives configured in RAID 0. Both have 80GB storage capacity and a spin of 7200RPM. And a final note, we went with Windows XP because Vista does not yet support SLI graphics (NVidia dual graphics cards working together).

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For those keeping track, the Sager NP9260 is the same machine as the Clevo D900C that was first talked about back in April.

The first impression of NP9260 came before I even opened the box, and that impression was &quot;man this thing is heavy!&quot; The NP9260 is a 17&quot; screen notebook, no bigger than many notebooks I've had in the past, but it weighs close to 12lbs so it's far heavier than say a MacBook Pro 17&quot; notebook that's around 7lbs. But the NP9260 doesn't need to apologize for its weight, it's a desktop replacement gaming notebook and not designed to be carted around campus and to a library. The fact it has a desktop processor inside will tell you that much.

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The NP9260 is amazingly sturdy and quite awesome to witness in person. The amount of fans and vents on this thing is unreal, the entire back side and multiple vents on the bottom work to keep the notebook cool. With a desktop processor and dual graphics cards at work it's understandable why all these vents are needed. What's great though is that the cooling system actually works well and while you do get quite a bit of heat, the notebook isn't unusually noisy due to fans.

Left side view of NP9260 (view large image)

Right view of NP9260 (view large image)

Audio input and output ports on the front side (view large image)

Back view of NP9260 -- lots of vents and a couple of ports (view large image)

Fans (view large image)

I of course took the opportunity to run 3DMark06 a few times and the NP9260 always scored over 9,500 3D Marks without doing any system tweaks -- that's on factory default settings. The smoothness of graphics you get from the NP9260 in SLI mode is unreal. In our full review we'll cover more benchmarks and talk about the power of the system, but for now take a look at a video tour where you can see 3DMark05 in action:

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Look for a full review with benchmarks in the next couple of weeks!

 

 

How much energy does that beast consume at full tilt? Do the lights flicker?

 

It's a 280 watt power supply. The electricity meter did seem to spin faster when this thing was plugged in.

 

Hahaha, puts my 65 and 90 watt supplies to shame. Any mic recordings of the fan noise?

 

That thing is a beast! It puts 99.9% of the DESKTOPS out there to shame!

 

And to think, all this power, energy consumption, money, etc. wasted on playing silly trivial games.

 

Insane.

This thing is a beast, but the M570RU is a much more practical gaming notebook than the D900C.

 

Actually, I'm quite surprised that the dual 7950GTX 512MB cards only did 9,500 in 3dmark05. My single 7900GS 256MB does ~9,800 in my desktop.

I don't think SLI is worth it for notebooks. You only gain 10-20% better performance over a single card..

 

Thank you very much for the review , I will be looking forward the complete benchmark!

 

Just 9500 points for 3dmark05? Well I am very disappointed. I think that the 8800GT, which will be launched in a few months, will be much faster then these dual cards.

I always say: never go for the top of the line, the cost too much and their performance gain is not worth the money.

 

I think that 9500 score is for 3DMark06...

Even the Sager page says that its 3DMark2006:
http://www.sagernotebook.com/pages/go_np9260.html

And read here from NBR member that got it:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=125244

Shows 9000+ score in 3DMark06
and 14000+ score in 3DMark05

 

wow that looks big.

If only they had 15" with similar specs and a full size keyboard with number pad...

 

That is an insane machine, a worthy replacement for the D900T/K. Great job on the video! I think picking that thing up qualifies as weightlifting.

 

Awsome beast, unfortunately not well balanced in terms of cost Vs peformance & features IMHO. But it's definitly the Porshe Cayenne of transportable desktops.

Trance

 

Excellent description. I was thinking along the same lines. It's definitely stretching the definition of a "notebook". I suspect that the PSU is as heavy as most notebooks.

John

 

does this use desktop ram or notebook ram?

 

Yeah that's gotta be 3dMark06... My single 7900 gets 9200 marks in 3dMark05.

 

atlast a look at the D900C it was expected though
but you cant deny it its got power
and puts the dells XPS line to shame considering that the M1710 also costs 2800+ with all the upgrades

 

HAHA!

That was perfect.

 

Great review. Would be good for someone who attends lan parties all over the country. Not for a college student.

I'm seeing that most people want a 15" or even a 14" laptop with a fast GPU. This is called the Mobinote series. The notebook that seems popular right now is the Sager 5760. If they can make a 15" version with an Nvidia 8800M, fans will buy it. What I'm basically saying is fans want something similar to the Asus G1S which has the 15" screen and a lot of power.

Notebook makers usually put the faster GPU in the 17" laptop, but I'm seeing that fans want a 15" screen because it weighs less.

 

Actually it uses regular notebook SO-DIMMs - this one has 2x 1024MB DDR2-800MHz chips.

 

so does this mean that it has a unique chipset that is actually compatible with 800 mhz, or does it clock down?

 

I'll check on that for you.

Edit: It's DDR2-800.

The D900C uses an Intel P965 series chipset.

 

So, I have a 1710 with ONE 7950, and I know it sounds like a B29 at full song. How loud is this when all fans kick high? what about that bubble of heat, do you feel it? I should probably stick mine in off to the side of my desk, I use the key and screen. Thanks for the good review!

 

It is actually very quiet, even at load. The notebook's cooling system is very well engineered and the system itself only feels mildly warm on the surface.

I will have more details in the full review next week.