New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:

Your knowledge please

post #1 of 7
6/12/09 at 1:18pm
Thread Starter 
Hello all. I am popping my post cherry. My 1st.

I will start by saying that I am no tekkie by any stretch of the imagination. So if you're gonna throw numbers and letters out there like "The sl900bQr has a better Q Rating than....", then I'm just gonna come back with "Huh?"

I am looking to buy a new desktop replacement. I currently have an Area-51m 7700 Notebook: P4 3.6 | 2GB 2x1024 | 7200RPM Raid 0 | ATi 256MB PCI-E | 1680x1050

I bought that new and maxxed everything out at the time. I am now looking to do the same thing. I am looking to buy a workhorse of a rig. Something with all of the best I can put in it right now.

So at first on my new journey, I went back to Alienware (I've never had a problem). --> Then I found OCZ. I really wanted to do a DIY. But then went back to Alienware's M17x which offered a little bit more. Uhg!

Now I learned about Sager. Then I'm learning that Sager is actually a Clevo clone (so confusing).

Now I think I have reached the end. I think I want a Clevo D900F. If I'm correct, the Sager NP9280 is the same thing with the Sager brand name; is that right?

Anyway...

I am planning on maxxing this pig out. I will probably wait until W7 is out, probably should wait for the W7 SP1, but I doubt I will. Also, I would like to wait for dual SLI nVidia support (2GB).

I thought that the fastest processor was the i7. But when I've been running around to configurators playing around, I see some places offering Xeon processors. Uhg again. *maddening confusion* So which IS better? i7, or Xeon?

And it doesn't matter what I am going to be using it for. I just want to build the biggest pig possible and not have to worry about upgrading for another 5-10 years.

These are the specs I'm looking to build right now:
17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
 Intel Core i7 Quad Extreme (Nehalem) 975 3.33GHz 8MB Cache 130W
12GB, PC3-8500/1066Mhz DDR3 - 3 DIMM
 nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10
12,288MB DDR3 1066MHz Memory (3 SODIMMS)
2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
(x3 Raid 5) 160GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD Serial-ATA II)

On the Blu-Ray, I would like to have the Blu-Ray burner instead of just a reader
On the SSDs, I would like to have 512s instead of 160s.

I guess some of my questions are:
If I buy the Clevo (D900F) through Sager (NP9280), am I facing a markup for the Sager name for the same rig?
Is Xeon better (faster/more powerful) than i7?

I'm sure if I get replies, I will be picking your brains more.

Any and all feedback will be GREATLY appreciated.
Reply
Reply
post #2 of 7
6/12/09 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aborted Kitten View Post
Hello all. I am popping my post cherry. My 1st.

I will start by saying that I am no tekkie by any stretch of the imagination. So if you're gonna throw numbers and letters out there like "The sl900bQr has a better Q Rating than....", then I'm just gonna come back with "Huh?"

I am looking to buy a new desktop replacement. I currently have an Area-51m 7700 Notebook: P4 3.6 | 2GB 2x1024 | 7200RPM Raid 0 | ATi 256MB PCI-E | 1680x1050

I bought that new and maxxed everything out at the time. I am now looking to do the same thing. I am looking to buy a workhorse of a rig. Something with all of the best I can put in it right now.

So at first on my new journey, I went back to Alienware (I've never had a problem). --> Then I found OCZ. I really wanted to do a DIY. But then went back to Alienware's M17x which offered a little bit more. Uhg!

Now I learned about Sager. Then I'm learning that Sager is actually a Clevo clone (so confusing).

Now I think I have reached the end. I think I want a Clevo D900F. If I'm correct, the Sager NP9280 is the same thing with the Sager brand name; is that right?

Anyway...

I am planning on maxxing this pig out. I will probably wait until W7 is out, probably should wait for the W7 SP1, but I doubt I will. Also, I would like to wait for dual SLI nVidia support (2GB).

I thought that the fastest processor was the i7. But when I've been running around to configurators playing around, I see some places offering Xeon processors. Uhg again. *maddening confusion* So which IS better? i7, or Xeon?

And it doesn't matter what I am going to be using it for. I just want to build the biggest pig possible and not have to worry about upgrading for another 5-10 years.

These are the specs I'm looking to build right now:
17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
 Intel Core i7 Quad Extreme (Nehalem) 975 3.33GHz 8MB Cache 130W
12GB, PC3-8500/1066Mhz DDR3 - 3 DIMM
 nVidia GeForce GTX 280M 1,024MB PCI-Express DDR3 DX10
12,288MB DDR3 1066MHz Memory (3 SODIMMS)
2X Blue-Ray Read/8X DVDRW Super Multi Combo Drive
(x3 Raid 5) 160GB Intel X25-M Solid State Drive (SSD Serial-ATA II)

On the Blu-Ray, I would like to have the Blu-Ray burner instead of just a reader
On the SSDs, I would like to have 512s instead of 160s.

I guess some of my questions are:
If I buy the Clevo (D900F) through Sager (NP9280), am I facing a markup for the Sager name for the same rig?
Is Xeon better (faster/more powerful) than i7?

I'm sure if I get replies, I will be picking your brains more.

Any and all feedback will be GREATLY appreciated.
Regarding Sager and Clevo - Most people don't realize that very few of the well-known computer brands actually make the computers they sell. Instead, they contract notebook manufacturing companies to make them and the major brands do the assembly and sales. Keeping that in mind, Clevo is a manufacturer and Sager is a brand that has a contract with that manufacturer. So the Sager NP9280 is the same thing as the Clevo D900F.

Regarding processors - Several of the new Xeon processors are just as powerful as the Core i7 processors, because they're based on the same technology. If you have questions about specific processor comparisons, let us know.
Reply
Reply
post #3 of 7
6/12/09 at 3:59pm
Thread Starter 
Thank you for the reply. Now you're doomed...I have more questions.

I realized the fact that the NP9280 is basically the D900F. I am prolly gonna wait for Win7.
And more importantly hopefully dual nVidia SLI support???
Also, what about 1333 RAM?
Reply
Reply
post #4 of 7
6/12/09 at 4:59pm
Thread Starter 
I realize those aren't really questions. How about this...
...do you have an opinion on buying from pro-star.com?
Reply
Reply
post #5 of 7
6/12/09 at 6:38pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aborted Kitten View Post
Thank you for the reply. Now you're doomed...I have more questions.
oh, no!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aborted Kitten View Post
I realized the fact that the NP9280 is basically the D900F. I am prolly gonna wait for Win7.
And more importantly hopefully dual nVidia SLI support???
Also, what about 1333 RAM?
Unlike desktops, if a notebook doesn't come with SLI, it will never have SLI. As for higher-speed RAM, since the memory controller is now part of the processor (with the latest technology), you'd need a processor with a memory controller that can use 1333 Mhz RAM. Currently, the only ones that support that speed RAM are the Xeons with model numbers W5580, W3570, X5570, X5560, & X5550.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aborted Kitten View Post
I realize those aren't really questions. How about this...
...do you have an opinion on buying from pro-star.com?
My last in-depth look at Clevo/Sager resellers was back in 2005, and a lot of things have changed since then. I've heard of them, but other than that, I can't really offer an informed opinion right now.
Reply
Reply
post #6 of 7
6/12/09 at 8:17pm
Thread Starter 
My only concern is that since I am buying this for a looong time computer, as 1GB GFX become more mainstream, I wont have the ability to expand.

Let me ask you this...with 12GB of memory, with it being 1066 as opposed to 1333, how much of a difference would I see if it were 1333 if any?
Reply
Reply
post #7 of 7
6/12/09 at 9:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Aborted Kitten View Post
My only concern is that since I am buying this for a looong time computer, as 1GB GFX become more mainstream, I wont have the ability to expand.

Let me ask you this...with 12GB of memory, with it being 1066 as opposed to 1333, how much of a difference would I see if it were 1333 if any?
warning: this may be a bit technical

The new platform allows for triple channel memory, so theoretically 3x1066Mhz = 3198Mhz usable memory bandwidth and 3x1333Mhz = 3999Mhz usable memory bandwidth. The memory controller can take advantage of up to 6400Mhz memory bandwidth, so you could (again theoretically) see up to a 25% speed increase in memory access time if you used the faster memory.

Mind you, currently 4GB DDR3 1333Mhz notebook memory modules are VERY expensive (10x the price of 2GB modules), so if I were you and wanted to get 1333Mhz memory, I'd get 6GB (3x 2GB) memory right now and wait for the price of the higher-capacity modules to come down.

edit: and regarding the graphics card, that's just the price you pay for having a notebook. There are some (very few) notebooks with replaceable graphics cards, but the vast majority don't have that feature.
Reply
Reply
New Posts  All Forums:Forum Nav:
  Return Home
  Back to Forum: Sager & Clevo Notebooks