*** Official Sager NP8170/Clevo P170HM Owners Lounge ***

Far be it from me to tell them how to build their machines. I don't think it's quite the conspiracy you make it out to be, but the bottom line is that this may be the thing that keeps me from purchasing the Sager; I certainly won't be buying a laptop AND building a separate PC for my recording purposes.

 

I posted this in the asus forums but I want the sager opinions on this too. I have some spare cash for a new gaming laptop. My current one is out dated and is going to be passed down to my girl.

Anyway I am stuck between spending roughly 1500 for the asus g73sw with sandy bridge and a 460m with 8gigs of ram, or the 8170 with the 485m and same specs for 1900.

Is the 400 dollar increase worth the 485m over the 460m? I have a feeling if I don't get the 485m then I will be thinking later on down the line "damn I wish I would have upgraded for X game" or "wow im going to blow this money on this when I should of had a 485m for future proofing".

It's hard for me to decide because money IS an issue but I am sure I could come up with the extra.

How are the sagers in the cooling department? The only other thing I am losing is a backlit keyboard and I think I can deal with that.

 

If money is an issue now, you can always get the 8170 w/460m first, and then upgrade to either the 485m or the 6970m later on. $1900 less ~$495 for the 485m brings the cost below $1500.

 

Futureproofing is a never-ending endeavour.

Scenario 1. You buy the 485 now for a bundle of extra money. You're ahead of the game, for a while, until the next new piece of hardware comes out, and then the new games come out to take advantage of that. Then you're no longer hanging with the newest of the new.

Scenario 2. You keep the 460, and you're not really hanging with the newest of the new, but you can play just about anything you want dropping the visuals a tad. You wait until the next new piece of hardware comes out, and you apply the money you would have spent on the 485 to that new piece of hardware, plus a little extra. You're out of pocket a little bit more than you would have been in scenario one, but you're sitting on better hardware than in scenario one.

Guess what? Regardless of which scenario you go with, you're doing to do it all over again in a few years.

 

=P Thanks for the opinions guys. How about this then. The question being is the next newest nvidia card that is coming out, capable of being put into the 8170? I'm not sure if anyone knows but that would be great to know.

If that is the case I would like to go with disord3r's option number 2. Sticking with a 460m now and getting a nice ssd until something better than the 485m hits the market and then switching to that.

Currently I am on a gateway p6831-fx and it has held up great over the last several years, but it's time for an upgrade!

 

If it's an MXM card, then it should be good.

 

One last question, that I just don't quiet get yet.

1920x1080 is 1920x1080....whether you are on a 15inch or 17inch screen it doesn't change the looks does it?

Like would I have more viewing room when gaming on a 17inch at 1920x1080 compared to a 15inch?

Sorry if thats a stupid question but if both resolutions are the same I would assume all of the viewing aspects would be the same. I currently game on a 17inch but the 15inchers are much cheaper and I wouldn't mind dropping down to one if it was a decent savings.

 

I just went with the 485m now because from what i've heard it will be a lot more expensive to buy it seperately than prebuilt. Apparently it's like $900 by itself?

 

For large values of good =). It also depends on making sure its the same MXM standard, the cooling and power systems can handle it etc.

While they have the same resolution, the 17" will mean things are a bit "bigger" while still being the same res as the screen is physically larger, so its a personal preference at that point.

 

Aye. Thanks for supplementing. I was a little lazy - it's been a long day

 

as Myth stated before its the same resolution. You will get the same pixels, but it will look "bigger". If you look at TVs for instance, a lot of them will have the same resolution, but look different because of size. If you look at a 30 inch TV compared to a 50 inch TV you could probably see that difference. Because 1920x1080 is so high you wont really notice a difference in picture quality, just that you can see it better on the 17"

 

Gotcha ok so the 17inch is a must for me. What I am trying to decide now on basically is whether or not to get the following. Upgraded screen? I don't know what the stock sager screens look like and or how good they are. What would you guys recommend? As for the dead pixel policy, the standard one that xoticpc offers will not cut it for me. I will spend the 100 dollars to ensure I don't have any dead pixels. Side note, I think it's a shame we have to spend an extra 100 dollars to ensure that our unit is properly working. Thats like selling a car and saying "oh but for an extra 100 dollars I can make sure the tires aren't balled for you".

Anyway other than that the only other question that comes to mind is the 2630qm vs the 2720qm for 160 dollars. I wonder if the chips will drop price later on down the line making the upgrade worth it even more.

Last but not least I am wondering how much ram I need. Mainly all I do is game but I have a feeling I might as well future proof it and go with 8 gigs. Should be a bit over kill for me but it should be fine.

As for the hard drives I think I will go with the cheapest option now and wait for the elm crest intel ssd's to drop in price a bit and then snag one of those, or possibly get one used.

What vendor do you guys recommend purchasing from?

PS: Anyone know where to buy the 485m's separately from and or how much they cost?

 

Just get 4 gb of ram for now and buy the other 4 gb later on for much cheaper.

 

I wonder how well the 485m is gonna run Battlefield 3?

 

I think many are wondering the same thing too...

 

1. Is a 10% boost worth $160?

2. RJTech, for $750.

 

I think the dead pixel fee is ridiculous and suggest you save your money. That's just my opinion though. The screen upgrades seem nice, and I am considering upgrading it myself sometime later, at least if the default screen isn't as nice as I would like. I may find the default screen is perfectly fine and that an upgrade is unnecessary.

RAM - you can get an extra 4gb and easily install it yourself for $40. They preinstall the first 4gb that comes with the machine in the difficult-to-access slots, so the easy ones are open for you.

DEFINITELY get the 485m. It is being said that Nvidia isn't releasing anything more powerful this year. Plus, it is leaps and bounds more powerful than the 460m.

Hard drives - I am definitely intrigued by SSD's, but am waiting for them to go down in price and installing one myself. If you are concerned with money, patience will serve you well. I've watched some videos of how fast SSDs are, like with Starcraft 2 load times...Ultimately, you save a certain amount of seconds that you would never notice UNLESS you compared them side by side. I am STILL often struck at how fast my 7811FX is, and it's old tech! I've never complained about hard drive-related speed issues, except for the occasional big file transfer.

I went back and forth on the CPU a lot, just like you. In the end, I chose the 2720QM, mostly because it would save me the later regret of NOT choosing it. As a price reference for upgrading the CPU later - I bought the 9100X 2 years after its release to replace the stock CPU in my 7811FX, and it STILL cost me $200 used on Ebay. So, if you need to penny pinch, I doubt you would ever notice a difference. If you are a regretful type like I am, just get it and save yourself the future stress.

So far, I really like Xotic and LPC Digital. In the end I chose LPC because of Larry's friendliness, as well as their slightly nicer prices. Mythlogic and Malibal seem great too, and I think they may all pricematch pretty well if you speak with them directly.

One more nice piece of info I have discovered on these forums is that they can build your 8170 with no logos on it if you would prefer that.

 

I chose the 2630qm simply because adding in the gtx 485m meant i had to sacrifice bluray and the processor to stay within budget, but from what i'm told the 2630qm will have little affect on gaming which is my main reason for wanting this laptop.

My budget was $2100 and i got my laptop build for $1962, i guess i could've gotten the 2720QM, but that would mean breaking the bank basically and i couldn't buy Crysis Maximum Edition and Crysis 2 this month to go with it.

I just hope it's not a huge 10 fps difference with that entry level i7 or i might have to upgrade the processor at some point.

 

Most video games are NOT limited by the processor. The majority are gpu limited, however with that being said starcraft 2 is NOT this way. SC2 is a VERY cpu dependent game and if you are wanting max performance the 2720qm will be a slight upgrade over the 2630qm.

Currently I would say it's worth the price because having something 10% roughly better for 160 dollars seems worth it to me.

I also feel a bluray drive isn't worth it and I will be purchasing a ssd later on down the road. The new elm crests seem really nice on paper.

 

Yea it sucked my budget limited me from either getting the gtx 485m or the 2720qm. But considering my budget i think i made the right choice. I just hope Starcraft 2 doesn't suffer too much cause that was one of the other games i was planning on getting besides Crysis. i mainly am getting any PC game thats not on consoles or is significantly better on pc.

 

Considering the 2630qm scored better (even if only marginally) than the last gen 940xm, I don't think it will have any issues running current or near future CPU intensive games like SC2. While the 2720qm does fill a sweet spot in terms of price-performance ratio, I doubt a 10% boost is worth $160 unless one is intending to use features not included in the 2630qm.

 

One thing i don't like about notebookcheck benchmarks is they do something like Crysis with very high settings at 1080p

Then the next one is HIGH at 1024x768

They should do very high at both full HD and 720p

Then high at 1080p and 720p.

I plan to run Crysis at 720p on very high settings and unfortunately i have no way to judge how much of a performance increase ill get since notebookcheck says very high only runs at 22 fps on the 485m at 1080p.

I hope it's like a 15-20 fps increase by running it at 720p on very high because 37-42 fps average would be just fine for me.

 

Yea i still don't understand what those extra features mean as i don't run a business. All i care about is gaming and light video editing like maybe some 720p videos for YT.

Also, being a console gamer before this, i'd be perfectly content with most games at 720p at 30 fps or more, considering ps3 and 360 games a lot of the times run at sub hd quality.

 

If you don't understand them, then you probably don't need them. So, good thing you saved your money

 

Yea i figured as much but the difference in clock speed is worrying me a bit. I just need this damn laptop in my hands so i can be relieved! Gonna tweak the **** out of Crysis to get it looking it's best and running it's best possible for the 485m.

For some perspective of what i've been stuck with, here's me running some games using tweak guides on my weak 2004 pc.

YouTube - Doom 3 - Running on my Crappy Old Computer

and

YouTube - Far Cry - Running on my Crappy Old Computer

Yea my current pc sucks bad, so this laptop is gonna be a huge step up for me.

But, those videos at least prove how much i love tweaking games to get them running their best.

P.S. Yep i'm still rocking a 4:3 crt monitor, lol!

 

Just order an i7 2720 @2,2 ghz, 8go ram, 460m gtx, 750 go @ 7200 rpm, 64 go SSD in DevilTech
Used mainly for working and a little for playing, hope i won't regret it and have it before mid april!

 

WOO HOO! They got my personal check now i just have to wait for it to clear and email them the front and back of the check to confirm....hopefully it clears in 3 days.

 

I got the same email!

 

Sweet!!!! One step closer.


New status: Phase 2 (Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA)

 

Ahhhhhhhhhhh, i'm going to be able to play crysis, finally!!

 

Got confirmation from Xoticpc today. Phase 2 Sent for Custom Building / Testing / Burn In & Final QA. Estimated time 6-12 days. Can't wait.

Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM
- Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen w/ 90% NTSC Color Gamut (1920x1080) (Will add 4-7 business days to build time
- Dead Pixel Warranty: Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Processor: -2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2920XM, 2.5-3.5GHz, (32nm, 8MB L3 cache)
- Thermal Compound: - IC Diamond Thermal Compound - CPU + GPU
- Graphics Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
- External Display Video Adapters: No Video Adapter
- Ram: ~ 16,384MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS)
- Exterior Finish: Standard Finish
- Optical Drive: ~ 6X Blue-Ray Burner/Reader / 8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
- ~ 250GB Intel 510 Series Solid State Drive (SSD2 Serial-ATA III)
- ~ 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- ~ 750GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) in Optical Bay
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): No Back Up Hard Drive
- External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
- Back Up Software: No Back Up Software
- Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Bluetooth: None Standard--
- Wireless Network: Intel® Ultimate-N 6300 - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- Wireless Network Accessories: No Network Accessory
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- TV Tuner: No TV Tuner
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Car Adapter: No Car Adapter
- Spare AC Adapter: None Standard*
- Port Replicator / Dock / Adapters: No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Mouse / Keyboard Accessories: No External Keyboard or Mouse
- Notebook Cooler: No Notebook Cooler
- XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance: No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- Operating System: No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
- Microsoft Office Software: No Office Software
- Software Bundle (Not Installed): No Software Bundle
- Warranty: 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs
- Xotic Gear: No Xotic PC Gear

 

Nice setup!

 

What is the cheapest vendor on the forums?

 

They all price match for exact same configurations, so its up to the quality of the support you feel suits you better.

 

You should PM/email the resellers your interest. From there, they will probably give you quotes, and you can also start gauging who appears to treat you better/more customer-focused.

Just like how most members here have a recommended reseller, I have my own as well (LPC-Digital), but I think you should speak to as many of them as you can.

 

Sounds good will do. Few more questions before I decide what im doing here, how is the original panel on the np8170 compared to the upgraded one?

 

Do you guys think the NP8170 is gonna be this powerful?

YouTube - 16 cores with 10 meg pipe

 

Hi, after much doubt I've even placed my order!

Notebook P170HM Clevo rev.B3

1 x Intel Core i7 - 2630QM 2.0 - 2.90 Ghz
GTX 485/2GB
2 x Corsair 4 GB SO-DDR3-1333 CMSO4GX3M1A1333C9
1 x Sony Optiarc AD-7700S Slim € 26,00 CEBNS7
1 x Intel WiFi 62230 LAN (Half Mini Card) 300Mbps + Bluetooth
1 x Western Digital Scorpio Black 500GB WD5000BEKT DATA DRIVE
Seagate Momentus XT 500GB ST95005620AS BOOT DRIVE " no money left for a SSD "I now use such an HD and am quite satisfied with it.
Liquid metal thermal paste!
2640,61 USD$ 1900€

2 Years warranty
normally i can pick up the notebook next week in the store.
I can not wait!!!

Thank you all for the advice!!!

 

YAY! My NP8170 is finally going into Phase 2

 

Exact same rig as mine! BTW TPB rules!

 

@decayedmatter
you have the exact same configuration?
where did you buy your system?

TPB is indeed the best show ever made by man ; lahey is my god

 

Got mine from Xotic PC

1x Sager NP8170 / Clevo P170HM - Out Of Stock ETA March
- Xotic Gear: No Xotic PC Gear
- Warranty: 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs
- Software Bundle (Not Installed): No Software Bundle
- Microsoft Office Software: No Office Software
- Operating System: ~Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit Installed (64&32-Bit CD Included) w/ Drivers & Utilities CD's + Microsoft Office Starter 2010 - Included with OS Purchase
- XOTIC PC Redline Boost™ Extreme Performance: No Thanks, Please do not Overclock my system (Overclocking will add 3-6 business days to build time)
- Notebook Cooler: No Notebook Cooler
- Mouse / Keyboard Accessories: No External Keyboard or Mouse
- Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- Port Replicator / Dock / Adapters: No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Spare AC Adapter: None Standard*
- Car Adapter: No Car Adapter
- Battery: Smart Li-ion Battery (8-Cell)
- Case: Basic Black Business Case - Included
- Sound Card: Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- TV Tuner: No TV Tuner
- Camera: Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- Wireless Network Accessories: No Network Accessory
- Wireless Network: Built-in 802.11 Wireless B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card + Bluetooth
- Bluetooth: None Standard--
- Memory Card Reader: Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Floppy Drive: No Floppy Drive
- Back Up Software: No Back Up Software
- External USB Optical Drive: NO External USB Optical Drive
- External Hard Drive (Back Up): No Back Up Hard Drive
- Additional Hard Drive in Optical Drive Bay: No Additional Hard Drive in ODD Bay - When Selecting, Optical Drive is NOT Included
- Raid: HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- Second Hard Drive: None Standard -
- Primary Hard Drive: ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- Optical Drive: ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Software
- Exterior Finish: Standard Finish
- Ram: ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1333MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS)
- External Display Video Adapters: No Video Adapter
- Graphics Video Card: nVidia GeForce GTX 485M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 (User Upgradeable)
- Thermal Compound: -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
- Processor: - 2nd Generation Intel® Core™ i7-2630QM, 2.0-2.8GHz, (32nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- Dead Pixel Warranty: Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Display: 17.3" FHD 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright LED Glossy Screen (1920x1080)-

 

has nothing to do with this quote, just noticed your signature though. Phase 4:SC lol love it. My exact thoughts. I haven't played SC lately because my current computer lags so much. Can't wait to get my new rig.

 

Haha, Phase 4 cannot come soon enough. I have no idea if I dropped a league or there are some crazy new strats that I'm missing out on, but hopefully I can play monday/tuesday if everything goes well.

Protoss for life

 

Is it likely that the gtx 485m will get a performance boost down the road from a drivers update like the 460m did?

 

Hello everyone,

After waiting for about 4 months and extensive reading (like reading all 120 pages of this thread) and research on gaming laptops I decided to get the Sager np8170.

I live in CA and i am wondering do all the resellers charge a sales tax and shipping fee on top of the customized laptop price?

will be getting

2720QM
485m
8GB
X25-M 120GB SSD
750GB HDD
BDplayer

Thank you

 

We have no sales tax and FREE Shipping to CA...

 

Very nice

Thanks for the the really quick response

 

I don't think that any Sager resellers charge California sales tax. We do not either.

As far as shipping costs - it varies between companies, so you'll have to make individual inquiries.

 

Hmmm i just redid my build on xotic pc above, and it's now only $1934 rather than the $1994 i was charged, and my order still is in phase 1. Shouldn't i be able to get the lower price or is it too late if they started to cash my check already?

I emailed them and asked if they could possibly upgrade my hdd size or ram considering i could get 6 gb of ram for the price they are now charging rather than the 4 gb i ordered, that or a 750gb hdd rather than the 500 gb i got for $1994.