Bad news for 7700 owners? - Page 4

Ditto...

I talked to a rep at AW right before i decided to get a dell xps2 because i was also unsure. He told me there is no way the AW 7700 will be able to handle the heat of the ultra but that maybe they will introduce another laptop that does.

No one said we are getting more performance with Raid 0; just an added feature. Some don't like having 2 X 60 GIg HD's in their system; they'd rather have 1 X 120 @ 7200 RPM. Raid 0 allows this.

Anyone that knows anything about Raid already knows this.

But yes lets enjoy our machines!!!! I just wish it didn't take so damned long to get them!!! Those of you who order the XPS2 what is the projected build/ship date? I know there i a thread going about it in the Dell area of the forums but I'm curious what you guys are seeing.

it sounds like there are a few people here who believe AW makes their own computers. but from looking at the sager 9860, hypersonic ex7, voodoo m790, and falcon fragbook DR 6800, and the aw 7700 they are all clones of the clevo d900t. granted each company offers their own unique style like alien eyes or custom paint jobs, but at the core they are all clones of the clevo.

just like dells are compal clones.

Exactly. Its all a matter of personal choice, in which system you purchase, I've used Dell, HP, Toshiba, Hard Drives Northwest. All are good, but AW offered what I wanted at the time, when no others had what I was looking for.

"No one said we are getting more performance with Raid 0"
Alienware said you get 'extreme' performance from RAID 0... "Extreme Performance - RAID 0 - Recommended - 80GB (40GB x 2) 5400 RPM ATA100 [+87 or $3/mo.]"

I did say in my original post... "The only benefit of RAID in the 9860/7700/etc... is to get more drive space or RAID 1"
I agree that it would be nice to have 120gig 7200RPM and/or the option for mirroring. I wish the iXPS2 had the option for an additional drive.

My only goal in posting here was to help educate those non techie people that think they are going to get more performance out of the RAID 0.

Raid 0, Try it, You'll Like it!

I see the people bashing Raid 0 don't have it. Fine. As I said earlier, you have to have it to appreciate it. I have Raid 0 on both my HomeBuilt and Area 51M 7700.

Although I can't compare performance of the 7700 directly as it came with a raid 0, I can tell you about the homebuilt.

Before raid 0, the one 200 Gig Maxtor SATA, took a little over 1 minute to boot. Also, A fresh installation of Windows XP Pro, plus SP1 (Back then) took close to 45 Minutes!!!! After getting a second 200 Gig Maxtor, It took me 18 minutes to Configure the Raid-0, Format the drive using NTFS and install Windows XP Pro and SP 1. 18 MINUTES!!!! It happened so fast I couldn't believe it would boot. But but it did.

After RAID 0, and before any additional software, she booted in 22 seconds. And now, with only 33 gigs of 400 free, every program & Game I own on her, she still boots in about 35 seconds. And the only change from the previous configuration was the RAID 0.

The AREA 51M 7700, Raid 0, despite having:
Zone alarm
Ad-Watch (via Ad-Aware)
Norton SystemWorks 2005
Alcohol 120%
Netgear wireless
every game I own &
41 gig of the 120 free

it still boots in 25 seconds. Now I don't know if that is as fast as the 3.6 Ghz 7700, but either way, it is fast to me.

I can't talk about Benchmarks, but real world is shaving 1/2 the time off of your boot and almost 60% of installation. I never timed game loads or installations. But if one of the none Raid 7700 (configred like mine) would like to run some comparisions, we may be able to tell.

This is not to bash anyone who doesn't like RAID 0, it is only to say the benchmarks on the Anandtech don't do the real world justice.

Is there anyone else out there who went from a non Raid SATA array to a RAID 0 Array and is disappointed by the results?

Although it's nothing to brag about, but I figured someone might ask, the home built is config'd:

P4 2.8 Ghz, 800 MHz FSB
MSI NEO 865PE FISR 2
1 Gig (2x512) Kingston Hyper X
400 (2x200) Gig Raid 0 - Maxtor Plus 7200 rpm
ATI AiW 9800 Pro
Antec TruePower 430W

Just my opinion

Klattu

I'm not bashing, I'm trying to educate.
If you read the Anandtech article they are talking 'real world' performance.
You said it yourself... you notice faster boot time and installation times but you never timed game loads and installations. People are not only buying RAID 0 so they can boot faster, they are expecting real world performance increase.
I'm not trying to bash or start flame wars. I'm a tech and I find the information very informative and thought I would share.
I like RAID... I have RAID 5 in all my servers. If the iXPS2 offered RAID 0 then I would have purchased 2 60gig 7200rpm drives in a RAID 0 configuration because I would love to have 120Gig 7200rpm solution. If SATA was an option I would have purchased 2 100Gig SATA 5400RPM drives in a RAID 0 configuration.
Now I'm just patiently wating for the 100Gig 7200 RPM drives to be released. One of the magazines testing the iXPS2 had the 100Gig 7200RPM drive. We hear that it's going to be available soon from Dell. I hope all of you AW people get it also .

If I was bashing then I would not have backed up my post with a good article. I would have said... RAID 0 in a laptop sucks and all of you AW owners suck and have no idea what your talking about. But I'm also an AW owner so I would not say that because then I would suck too

Then we are in agreement,

Thanks,
Klattu

That's just a gimmick to get those who don't know to use it.



I just can't wait to get my new machine. I love new stuff

They can't cuz it will cause serious legal issues and it is not professional.

Phrase 5 as of today.

I have my 7700 on my way too. Of cuz the bm will be a must when it's possible.

actually you are paying more on XPS2 for the same "configgable" config.

next generation of graphics card will be more powerful and with less power consumption. Eg :

Performance
7800 Go > 6800 Ultra

power consumption
6800 Ultra (66W) > 7800 Go (32W) (This numbers are not real, just an example ...)

deuch

We can always wait and wait, unless of course you have a need to fill. I need one next month, so I had to decide between the XPS2 and the Clevo clone. I have had countless Dell's with my business and although not boutique systems, they are very solid performers with good service. I have no loyalty however and would get the best out there. In this case, I chose the Dell. I had a 9860 on order, but cancelled it because the XPS-2 has the Ultra Card. I must add that I get great pricing because I have bought so many in the past. If the prices were the same, I still would get the XPS because it suits my needs better than the current Clevo. Three months from now, something else will be the top pick. It never ends and that is a good thing.
REVIEW LINKS
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/20050224/index.html
http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2356
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1769520,00.asp

and way more expensive.

Hey, what can I say? I agree with you!
They claimed those BM were to indicate the real world performance of RAID 0 but, indeed, those were BM. The accuracy was just depending on how the programmer wrote all the lines and compiled them. I don't trust it.