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NEW duo core 2 Platinum 17 inch gateway notebook MP8708

post #1 of 28
10/8/06 at 4:41am
Thread Starter 
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1157068283471



Looks pretty nice! Only downfall is that it has NO dedicated graphics card

Other than that this new model is pretty stacked!

2.0ghz duo core 2
2gb ram
dvdrw
17 inch ultra bright
160gb @5400rpm

cons
no dedicated graphics card/crappy intel 950 shared 128mb


I wonder if this model supports the nvidia go 7600/7900 since its uses the same chassis as the m680/8510gz/nx860??
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post #2 of 28
10/10/06 at 9:32pm
Holy cow that's hot @ $1300! My new 14" Core 2 Duo Gateway cost that much and only has an 80gb hard drive and 1gb ram Maybe I should cancel and order the 17" lol.
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post #3 of 28
10/11/06 at 12:20am
Thread Starter 
only thing bad about the 17 inch is the intergrated graphics card... perhaps u can throw a nvidia 7600 on this model since its essentialy a nx860.
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post #4 of 28
10/13/06 at 4:17pm

How about the HP instead

For ~$1500 you can get this HP
If the specs listed are right you get a Go 7600 graphics with 256MB, an integrated web cam, Lightscribe (if you care about that), Gbit enthernet, and 1 extra media reader, but you give up a bit of CPU speed.

Personally, I'd never get a laptop weighing more than about 6.5 lbs since I take it everywhere. If they could squeeze this stuff into a 15" HP or Gateway I'd jump all over it.
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post #5 of 28
10/31/06 at 8:47pm
Wouldn't the added vid mem somewhat make up for that?
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post #6 of 28
11/9/06 at 6:56pm
Can you tell me something, hwo do i find an dedicated RAM card and where do you buy them from. I currently have an NVIDIA GeForce FX 5500 OC 256MB, is that dedicated or not. . .
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post #7 of 28
11/10/06 at 2:35am
what they mean as "dedicated" it means it has an independent gpu (graphics card)

so it's not using integrated graphics (graphics from the motherboard)

of course dedicated is better for gaming, so yes you have a dedicated card
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post #8 of 28
11/10/06 at 9:06am
Ok one more question, I know my graphic card says OC (OverClocked) and all but is it still ok to let it run at 85 Hertz and at the performance setting at the maximum? Or should I tone it down a bit, I'm not sure. I'm asking this because this christmas I'm getting another 512MB RAM upgrade so I will have 1GB (Can't afford 2x1GB, I'm just 13) and I'll be also switching back over to the game Star Wars Galaxies and I meet all the requirments to play the game but will it over work my GPU if I leave it on 85 Hertz and High Performance?
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post #9 of 28
11/10/06 at 4:40pm
i'm assuming u mean the monitor @ 85hz, which will do minimal if not anything @ all as far as gpu performance goes.

not sure which GPU u have that says OC since most laptop gpu's do not come OCed stock

are you talking about a desktop?

I'm assuming so, since I never seen a laptop screen that can go up to 85hz
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post #10 of 28
11/10/06 at 9:14pm
Yeah I'm talking about an desktop, and umm what exactly does the Hertz do in a GPU? Or should I rephrase that to what is the purpose of it.
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post #11 of 28
11/10/06 at 9:20pm
Oh and also, i know that im kinda pushing the desktop part since this is an laptop forum but I would like to know is this a good computer? http://www.falcon-nw.com/flash/ When you get there navigate to Desktops>Mach V>Configure your PC>and then select the option that says "Bragging Rights". Looking at those specs, and also considering its 4GB with a 2.9 Ghz Intel Core Extreme or something like that with an 800 something MB GPU, is it really worth 10 grand?!
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post #12 of 28
11/10/06 at 9:37pm
Hertz is the refresh frequency of your monitor

personally i don't see a difference, but I do get a headache if I use a monitor that is 60 hz or more.

So it really doesn't affect your gpu in any major way.

Falcon Northwest is a premiere boutique pc builder (they use great parts and have THE best customer service...from what I've been told).

So if you have that kind of money for that kind of luxury, FNW is one of the best in the industry
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post #13 of 28
11/11/06 at 3:24am
Some people's eyes are more sensitive to certain frequencies.
Thus changing the frequencies [hertz] helps their eyes.

As with falcon-nw, dream of it when you get a job. Don't make your parents buy you a 10grand desktop just because its flashy. 10grand could buy you a cheap yaris or something.
If you're only 13 and your parents are willing to buy you a desktop or notebook, stick with dell or hp or compaq or something simple.
And yes, their $10 grand computers will rock your socks.
But if you know how to build your own computer, you could do it for about $4 or $5grand.
That being said, if you only play one game, and only star wars, you would not benefit from spending $1000 vs $5000 on a computer.

And as with the original topic, I think that deal was pretty great about a month ago when Best Buy would also install antivirus and antispyware for you, free of charge. So for about $1400ish, you could get that and have legal pccillin [or norton] and spysweeper.
As for the specs, I was almost going to buy that until I realized that it was integrated, so I waited and dished out even more money for a hypersonic.
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post #14 of 28
11/11/06 at 6:02pm
hi bryan,

i see that this laptop will be on sale again starting tomorrow.
i understand that the 128 mb of grahpic memory is not dedicated.

i've looked on microsoft's web site and it "seems" to indicate that shared memory is ok if you have a gb of ram.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsvist...footnotes.mspx

what i can't figure out is if this gateway laptop will be able to use the aero feature of vista.

i believe that having 128 mb or more is the best solution, but so many laptops are coming with this shared ram at a good price.

on some level, i'm afraid to buy a laptop that doesn't have dedicated graphics memory, because right now i don't know what other software could require and then i'd be stuck.

my other question about the retail gateway laptops is if you or anyone knows whether i could purchase an in house support contract from gateway if i buy a retail laptop?

any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated.

indera


Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan'sM505x
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1157068283471



Looks pretty nice! Only downfall is that it has NO dedicated graphics card

Other than that this new model is pretty stacked!

2.0ghz duo core 2
2gb ram
dvdrw
17 inch ultra bright
160gb @5400rpm

cons
no dedicated graphics card/crappy intel 950 shared 128mb


I wonder if this model supports the nvidia go 7600/7900 since its uses the same chassis as the m680/8510gz/nx860??
Reply
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post #15 of 28
11/13/06 at 11:11am
Well I bought it for a couple of reasons. Once I was in a quick pinch to get up and running, and the price was reasonable. One I removed the garbage of of it, it run pretty nicely indeed.

The video is a bit quirky insofar as some games do not recognize it...D.O.D. Source.

And the original D.O.D. runs REAL choppy. Now I'm not a hard core gamer, but I do use it a lot for school work....

Thoughts?
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post #16 of 28
11/21/06 at 12:35am
hi sk6,

you are right, the price is right. i did call gateway to see if i could purchase an in-house support contract for it, but they said no.
i think that's terrible and scary that they are willing to turn down our money.

i forgot to ask gateway though if it would run the aero feature because the 128 mb of ram was shared. i need to be able to run the "ultimate" version of vista on the laptop that i buy.

i hope you enjoy the laptop.
indera


Quote:
Originally Posted by SK6
Well I bought it for a couple of reasons. Once I was in a quick pinch to get up and running, and the price was reasonable. One I removed the garbage of of it, it run pretty nicely indeed.

The video is a bit quirky insofar as some games do not recognize it...D.O.D. Source.

And the original D.O.D. runs REAL choppy. Now I'm not a hard core gamer, but I do use it a lot for school work....

Thoughts?
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post #17 of 28
11/21/06 at 12:41am
Quote:
Originally Posted by indera
hi sk6, i forgot to ask gateway though if it would run the aero feature because the 128 mb of ram was shared. i need to be able to run the "ultimate" version of vista on the laptop that i buy. indera
Yeah it will run the Vista Aero just fine, RC2 worked on my MX6447, so you should be fine ,see chart below [Premium Ready Requirements] * 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1 * 1GB RAM * Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128MB of graphics memory (minimum)2, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel * 40GB hard drive capacity with 15GB free space * DVD-ROM Drive3 * Audio output capability * Internet access capability
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post #18 of 28
11/24/06 at 12:24am
thank you denb45,

these are the specs that i was going by.
i think the specs should have been more specific about the graphics memory, in terms of whether or not shared memory met the requirement.



Quote:
Originally Posted by denb45
Yeah it will run the Vista Aero just fine, RC2 worked on my MX6447, so you should be fine ,see chart below
[Premium Ready Requirements]

* 1GHz 32-bit (x86) or 64-bit (x64) processor1
* 1GB RAM
* Support for DirectX 9 graphics with a WDDM driver, 128MB of graphics memory (minimum)2, Pixel Shader 2.0 and 32 bits per pixel
* 40GB hard drive capacity with 15GB free space
* DVD-ROM Drive3
* Audio output capability
* Internet access capability
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post #19 of 28
12/14/06 at 2:14am
hi sk6,

can you tell me how much cache 160 gb hard drive has on the mp8708 laptop? the reason i'm asking is because i've read that if it has 8mb of cache the access/seek time is much faster.

does the drive come as one big 160 drive or is it partioned?

i'm also curious how you like the overall speed and screen.

thank you
indera


Quote:
Originally Posted by SK6
Well I bought it for a couple of reasons. Once I was in a quick pinch to get up and running, and the price was reasonable. One I removed the garbage of of it, it run pretty nicely indeed.

The video is a bit quirky insofar as some games do not recognize it...D.O.D. Source.

And the original D.O.D. runs REAL choppy. Now I'm not a hard core gamer, but I do use it a lot for school work....

Thoughts?
Reply
Reply
post #20 of 28
12/15/06 at 1:19am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryan'sM505x
only thing bad about the 17 inch is the intergrated graphics card... perhaps u can throw a nvidia 7600 on this model since its essentialy a nx860.
Actually i was wondering the same thing, I work at the Geek Squad at best buy so i got a good deal on one, the first day i got it i put vista ultimate on it, it worked awesome except the installation of programs was a little slow, boot time was slow, some programs acted a little slow and it was annoying me that it consumed i little over 600 megs of ram at idle... I put xp pro back on it a few days ago and this thing zipps around now..gotta love the t7200.

But back to my question..i would like to try to put the 7600 go in but not sure where to start. i took off the back covor that covers the CPU heatsink and fan and there IS a spot for another fan and what looks like room and a spot for a vid card with screw holes and everything..

I have taken alot of laptops apart and fixxed them but i never attemped to add a vid card from another laptop before..anyone ever done this? i can take some pics of the bottom cover off it it would help..
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