*** Official Clevo x7200 and Sager NP7280 owners lounge ***

My old laptop didn't perform well with the newer games so I have been out of gaming for a couple of years, I have Battlefield 2, Battle for Middle Earth, AVP2, Command and Conquer etc... will these run on Win 7 Pro 64bit? On the x7200 listed below?

 

Yea they should run well. High Settings as well.

 

So you can have 32bit games running on 64bit system ok, I'm still using XP so I don't know anything about 64bit software. I see a lot of cards are dx10 so does that mean they can't play dx11 games?

 

I've been using 64bit since December, and while it used to have major incompatibility problems with XP, these days most things (95%+) work on 64BIT machines.

I haven't found one game or app that isn't 64bit compatible (except for older cd's I bought in like 2003 or something just to test. I wouldn't worry about it at ALL.

 

Windows will also load 32-bit programs and emulate them to work in a 64-bit environment. Drivers are really the only place you have to be careful.

Toms Hardware did a decent comparison between 5870 (single and cf) and a single GTX 480m all in an x8100.

Mobility Radeon Vs. GeForce M: The CrossFire Advantage : A Leopard That Changes Its Spots

Give it a read if interested.

 

I just ordered my second Sager from XoticPC. My first was an NP9262 I bought back in May-2008. Being a software developer, I pound on this machine 8-10 hours a day compiling 50,000+ line .Net applications. About a year ago I added 2 Corsair P128s in RAID 0 and have pretty quick I/O and ~240GB of space. I also have a normal 640GB HD in bay 3.

My question is, what would be the best option for the newer X7200? I'm thinking of going with two P256, but they seem to be a bit of an older design. I need a minimum of ~240GB in SSD and 500GB w/ a normal drive. I'd like to keep the SSD budget under $1200.

I'm getting the 980X, 12GB Ram and a single 500GB HD.

 

You can just resuse the current drives unless you need to keep both machines fast....I like the Vertex 2 drives right now - with the sandforce controller.

 

I'd say 12GB Ram isn't needed. 500Gb is fine, it's not that expensive over the default.

SSD I wouldn't know much.. but everyone tell's me the Intel one's are the best.

 

He is doing compiling and stuff, he may need the ram. He is not just gaming like most of us

 

Here is some HWiNFO32 screens on this model...

 

Yea I read that after I posted.. got too lazy to change it

 

Compiling don't really need ram, just a fast CPU with good amount of cache.

 

I ordered mine with a single 500GB hard drive and plan on adding a Sandforce controlled 240 or 256GB drive myslef. Xotic would not include the drive in their warranty even if I purchased it from them so I will install it myself. I was told that since Sager did not offer the drive that I wanted then Xotic could not cover it under the warranty.

You could buy a vertex 2 256GB drive for around $630.

 

I'm going to keep the NP9262 operational as a back up system.

I'm currently bumping up against the wall with only 4GB on 9262. So, I decided to go all out on this one.

I looked at the EuroCom Panther 2.0, which can go to 24GB, but was crazy expensive. Like $7K.

 

Each instance of VS2010 I open hogs like 500MB - 1GB, sometimes more. On my 4GB system, I get Out of Memory errors when opening some of my projects if I have anything else open. There are times I need 3-4 instances open at one time.

I also do alot with running Virtual PC instances which hogs a ton of ram if you want to set aside 1-2GB of RAM to each instance.

I used to run this stuff on a run of the mill HP laptop and with 9262 (& SSDs) my compile times were cut from >1 minute to like 5-10 seconds. When you compile 100+ times a day, it all adds up.

 

For business use this laptop would be a no brainer for me. (Well, this or the D900f since business should not usually need the 3d power)

 

It looks dull enough to be a business machine... just saying. It's not very high in the good's department imo.

 

Yes it lacks bling, but that is ok sometimes. The M17 was nice as the perfect balance between bling (skullcap ftw!) and tame looks (and it was pretty fast too )

 

Yea that's why I got it

This machine is 1/2 and inch thicker than the M17x which just kills it for me. Plus with the amount of POWER it hogs, not to mention heat (and my god that powerbrick puts mine to shame) it just isn't efficient YET, and the score's aren't coming out as high as I would have hoped.

Therefore, I'm pinning my hopes on the 470M SLI to be as fast as the 480mSLI, but draw less power, therefore actually becoming a cheaper and better option.

Or just wait for ATI to come out with something faster lol. But Still waiting on non physx runs.

 

I am referring back to the M17, NOT the M17x we have now. It was the machine with dual 3870s (first crossfire laptop ever)

 

Oh right *lol*

Yea I saw it.. my friend had it, spent 5k on it lol.. back in the day. That's what made me really want an Alienware.

 

Intel is so late! lol

Clevo's and AW's come "pillow-proof" out of the box. Put it on a pillow - the pillow get's destroyed/burned down in a sec

 

When my x7200 arrives I want to get it humming as sweet as possible so which benching marking software should I buy? (use mainly gaming)

 

No need to buy benchmarks software just go to Guruof3d and download the game benchmarks there for free

 

if it came down to it, for MMOs (the only thing I play) and a small amount of COD type games, would you guys recommend a 970 with SLI 470s or a 950 with SLI 480s?

i recognize that 6 cores is pointless now, but this will be the only laptop i buy for a few years...interested in longevity and gradually scaling back the graphics as time progresses.

i don't use a laptop for anything other than gaming.

 

Even a 920 or 930 will be fine for years to come for gaming. Max out the graphics as they will play a much bigger part in future games

 

Even given those two choices, i7-950 + SLI 470Ms is the solution I would choose as ideal.

I don't understand spending $900 on a CPU or a GPU.

 

Well given that the 470s are not an option right now....that should help a lot in the decision making process

 

Not to hamper any excitement for the x7200, will blackcomb be available in this system? What kinda vantage/3Dmarks would we be looking at with an overclocked 990x and blackcomb?

 

An overclocked 990x will perform identically to an overclocked 980x....for various examples of this you can checkout HWBot or search for reviews

The only difference MIGHT be a new stepping for the 32nm parts with the 990x but I am not holding my breath

 

How much CPU influence is there on GPU performance ?

 

Not much at all after a certain point. And the entire i7 900 series is past that point

 

well..cpu has allot to do with older engines and higher speeds, but less to do with running more than 2 cores. a 620m will out pace a 920xm in the right gpu benchmarks. why? because the 620 is clocked at 3.33 while the 920 is clocked at 2.00. and since they only need a fast processor and in dual core mode..that 1000 dollar chip is pretty much useless(with 90 percent of it's users)... until you get into anything using more than 2 cores.

side note:
the other 10 percent..will run the cpu in the correct mode for the job..

 

You should get the 950 because it's merely $20 more than 930.

 

Definitely agreed

 

So for gaming the 980x will make little/no difference than the 950?

 

That is 100% correct.. The 950 will be all you will ever need for the life of that machine .. That CPU is a monster ..

 

it will do it's part being clocked at 3.33ghz while the 950 is clocked at 2.93 or the 960 clocked at 3.06. if everything is ran at stock..then of course the 980 will shine brighter...but if you have over clocking (the equalizer) then getting the 980x is a mute point. unless of course your doing some heavy encoding or just flat out want top of the line. sure...it will do a job a few minutes shorter, but hey...that's miller time for some....lol.. waiting for the job to finish..

 

Lol at Miller time...

After a long hard day of Video encoding its Miller time ..

 

I wouldn't even care about few minutes... The computer I'm using takes five minutes to start up(that's why I don't have it in my signature lol)
When I get this thing, I will probably be scared of how much faster my life will become.

 

lol..i dont drink, so it's kool-aid time for me...lol
the 950 is the right choice...

 

His mention of the 470M gives the impression that he'd at least consider the wait for them.

 

That is bold as we have absolutely no idea how long that will be

 

way to much waiting going on..wait for the 480m and dont buy, wait for the 460m and dont buy, wait for the 470m and dont buy, wait for the 990x and dont buy...that's a whole lot of waiting going on...

 

Mine takes 10+mins to start, that's the fun about putting it in my signature.

 

However when I brought it 5 years ago, it was the fastest most powerful thing around and it was $6000 (about $4400 USD). What my old CPU would do in 54minutes the 980x will do in 176 seconds (wPrime).

 

If i waited as much as some of these very patient people seem to do i dont think i would ever buy a Notebook of any kind ..

I am not a very patient person though so i probably dont count lol..

 

Waiting? I'm just altogether skipping the terribly overpriced 480M, so I guess it can be considered 'waiting by default'.

I mean, come on, 470M SLI might be cheaper than a single 480M.

 

I cant say i blame you for skipping it .. These cards in particular are certainly not for everyone because of the high price tag attached to them... Its a good card without a doubt but most definitely comes at a premium..