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tough decision!

post #1 of 11
5/11/07 at 12:49pm
Thread Starter 
i'm going to be heading to college this coming school year and i am in in the market for a new laptop! I'm going into engineering so i will need a pretty good laptop that can handle CAD and many other demanding programs. my question is should i get a santa rosa laptop with a 8600 card in it and upgrade when the 8800 comes out or should i go ahead and purchase a laptop with a 7950 in it. the catch is that my college says that i will end up buying a new laptop in 2 years....im stuck out here in rural nebraska and can't really ask anyone personally about this question so i will leave it up for the experts here on the forum, thanks!
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post #2 of 11
5/11/07 at 3:23pm
rural nebraska, hmmmmm (what part of Neb??)............I'm from northeast Nebraska (I'll be a senior at UNL next year).

Back on topic,
1) I know alot of engineering majors and none have powerful notebooks (UNL may be changing their focus, IDK)

2)Nvidia makes GPU's specifically for CAD (Quadro series) dell makes a good line w/ these GPU's (M60 and M90 in the business section on their site)

3)The Quadro line of GPU's doesn't have to be used (I wouldn't use them b/c they are usually more expensive)

4)You won't be able to upgrade a 8600go to a 8800go (99% positive here)

5)What is your budget? Off hand I would reccomend a Dell b/c you are going to college and their complete care warranty is a must for a college student (especially if you are taking it to class) Dell should be coming out with a new line or at least a refresh w/ Santa Rosa and teh 80go series GPU's)
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post #3 of 11
5/11/07 at 4:17pm
Thread Starter 
hey, nice to have someother person from nebraska on here! i am from wallace........south of north platte! where are you from?

1. it's not that they require it......i want a powerful notebook! haha ya know how that is!

2. I have seen that they make those and and are they good for gaming too? i game alot, but not extreme! i am not buying this laptop solely for gaming

3. if the quadro doesn't have to be used what other would you suggest?

4. when i said upgrade i ment to buy a 8800 Go when it is released and then install it(didn't know if you knew that is what i ment)....

5. my budget is around 3,600......
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post #4 of 11
5/11/07 at 4:45pm
I'm from Decatur originally (60 miles north of Omaha)

More than likely it won't be possible to upgrade to a 8800 type card, notebooks are not like desktops.

So you want a notebook for CAD and gaming, well for basics and with your budget make sure youget a 2.0Ghz C2D CPU, 2gbs of RAM (I would just buy the notebook with the 1gb then buy a 2gb kit off of Newegg and install it myself, you would save at least $100 this way.) and as far as GPU goes I would shoot for the 7900go (for 17in notebooks) or the 7700go (for a 15in notebook)

If you think you will need/want a new notebook in a couple years I would save $2000 out of your budget and use it in a couple years.

Models to look at:

Budget Models: Dell e1705, ASUS Z96J (gentechpc.com), Hp dv6000
$$$$ Models: Dell xps 1710, Alienware 9750, Dell M90, Sager 5960,

If you can wait another month or two I would, Santa Rosa is just coming out and the Dx10 mobile cards are new, it is always a good idea to let the dust settle from new technology before you buy.
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post #5 of 11
5/11/07 at 9:46pm
Thread Starter 
the 8600Go will be enough power? do we know when the 8800 Go is going to come out? i oh i will wait for santa rosa but i know that the 7950 Go is more powerful then the 8600 Go but is this because programs haven't adapted to these cards yet? can you get santa rosa with a 7950 Go?
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post #6 of 11
5/12/07 at 2:26am
as of right now the best is the 7950, though for longer use I would go with the 8600 (it seems to perform well w/ newer games and of course will perform even better when dx10 games come out.) It is hard to say when the 8800go will be out prob late this year like October or September IMO. I'm not sure about santa rosa w/ a 7950.......I think your best bet would be to buy one of the new Asus notebooks comeing out w/ santa rosa and a 8600 gpu (they should come out later this month) it will perform well for a couple of years and then you can buy a new notebook if you want. If that doesn't sound like a good idea and you want the best of the best right now then get the new Alienware 9750 w/ two x 7950 gpu's in SLI and a screaming C2D CPU. (it should eat up all your budget) Middle of the road notebook winner would go to the dell e1705 w/ a 7900gs (can be bios flashed to a 7900gtx = a very capable gpu)
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post #7 of 11
5/12/07 at 6:06am
Asus C90!

Youll be able to upgrade the gfx card !
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post #8 of 11
5/12/07 at 4:56pm
when is the C90 suppose to be released, and doesn anyone know also when 800MHz RAM is coming out? Like i said before i am a college student and if it comes out before school starts i will wait cuz the performace will been even better then. this just hit me....can you buy some 667MHz RAM with a laptop now then just upgrade to 800MHz RAM?
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post #9 of 11
5/12/07 at 5:56pm
asus c90 is so butt-ugly!
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post #10 of 11
5/12/07 at 7:50pm
anyone?
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post #11 of 11
5/13/07 at 5:48pm
Thread Starter 
yeah that is a good question, when is 800MHz RAM coming out?
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