Buying a new laptop, 2 alts

[Clut]

Buying a new laptop powerhouse, what would you choose?

Alternative 1:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
McAfee® Security Center – 30-Day Trial
Plasma Purple
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
500GB 7200RPM Solid State Hybrid
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Intel® Advanced N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology and Bluetooth 3.0
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Alternative 2:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz Turbo Mode, 8MB Cache)
McAfee® Security Center – 30-Day Trial
17.3-inch WideFHD1920 x 1080 60Hz WLED
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (4DIMMS)
750GB 7,200RPM HDD
2GB GDDR5 NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 580M
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Wireless 802.11 g/n
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

the inch difference in the screen doesnt really attract me that much, but with a bigger laptop came the option for a better processor and a crossfire setup with the graphichs card, alternative 2 is $300-400 dollar cheaper

mostly for gaming, i also like to dualscreen alot if that is better with the crossfire (i'm clueless)

so what would you choose and why?

[Thefishtank]

id go alt 1 2 graphics cards i can only see being better than a single for dual monitor setup...im sure you could even eyefinity with those.

[glo]

Why do you want all of this in a notebook? They're both going to weigh 10+ pounds, be 3~ inches thick, and require a desk or table with a cooling pad (or else these overheat like a champ)...

Why not take the money ($2,500ish ?) and get a desktop with twice the performance?

[ispano]

http://www.xoticpc.com/sager-np7280-...wconfigure=yes

[Skelly]

the 6990M gives about 15% more performance than the 580M http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4494/slide9.jpg

Dualscreen is probably less good with crossfire, because crossfire is not supported in windowed mode, so it will only use half your video card.

I'm not sure why ispano is suggesting something with a last-gen cpu.

[ispano]

the 6990M gives about 15% more performance than the 580M http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4494/slide9.jpg

Dualscreen is probably less good with crossfire, because crossfire is not supported in windowed mode, so it will only use half your video card.

I'm not sure why ispano is suggesting something with a last-gen cpu.

Because it's a desktop CPU, not a laptop CPU. As such it destroys even current gen laptop CPUs.

[Deleted]

Dualscreen is probably less good with crossfire, because crossfire is not supported in windowed mode, so it will only use half your video card.

I'm not sure why ispano is suggesting something with a last-gen cpu.

6990m is a single GPU, not a dual GPU and yes, Ispano is right, a desktop CPU will destroy every single mobile CPU out there, even if it's a gen old.

EDIT: The benchthing you linked to is from AMD themselves... Can't really trust that.

[ispano]

6990m is a single GPU, not a dual GPU and yes, Ispano is right, a desktop CPU will destroy every single mobile CPU out there, even if it's a gen old.

The one listed in the OP has two 6990M GPUs, so it would be Crossfire. Not Quad, but still Crossfire.

[Deleted]

The one listed in the OP has two 6990M GPUs, so it would be Crossfire. Not Quad, but still Crossfire.

Oh snap, missed that! Ah well.

[Deleted]

Alternative 1:
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit
Intel® Core™ i7 2820QM 2.3GHz (3.4GHz w/Turbo Boost, 8MB Cache)
18.4-inch WideFHD 1920 x 1080 WLED
McAfee® Security Center – 30-Day Trial
Plasma Purple
8GB Dual Channel DDR3 at 1333MHz (2DIMMS)
500GB 7200RPM Solid State Hybrid
Dual 2GB GDDR5 AMD Radeon HD 6990M AMD CrossFireX
Slot-Loading Dual Layer Blu-ray Reader (BR-ROM, DVD+-RW, CD-RW)
Intel® Advanced N 6200 a/g/n 2x2 MIMO Technology and Bluetooth 3.0
Internal High-Definition 5.1 Surround Sound Audio

Holy crap you gotta be rich!

I would choose Alternative 2 because you do not need Two HD 6990M and GTX 580M performs like a GTX 560Ti (which I got) and I can max out all the games I have on my computer with it.

[Clut]

okay, so the alternative 1 dual card setup is much stronger than the gfx in alternative 2? but both will run, say crysis 2 at full graphichs and 1920x1080 resolution?

sidequestion, will this computer make alot of noice and go cooking easy? and if so which one will be worst?

and no im not rich, but i have a lucky connection and i live in norway

[Djinni]

if you need any form of portability take the 2nd one... if you don't mind HAVING to plug your laptop into a power source wherever you go take option 1.

[Clut]

i actually dont mind having to plug the laptop into the wall everywhere i go, but what im most concerned about is if its worth going $300+ more and adding weight and size for alternative 1, and if the noice will be very different. thanks alot guys you're feedback is really appreciated

[ispano]

I'd still say find a local Clevo retailer over AlienWare. But to each his own *shrug*

[Clut]

the 6990M gives about 15% more performance than the 580M http://images.anandtech.com/doci/4494/slide9.jpg

Dualscreen is probably less good with crossfire, because crossfire is not supported in windowed mode, so it will only use half your video card.

I'm not sure why ispano is suggesting something with a last-gen cpu.

so a single 6990M is 15% better than a single 580m?

[Skelly]

6990m is a single GPU, not a dual GPU and yes, Ispano is right, a desktop CPU will destroy every single mobile CPU out there, even if it's a gen old.

EDIT: The benchthing you linked to is from AMD themselves... Can't really trust that.

The i7 2820QM beats the i7 960 by about 12% on PassMark - the only real bench I could find comparing the two.

So maybe the 15% is a little off. But the 6990M is undoubtedly better than the 580M.

And to quote anandtech "Alienware now has both the GTX 580M SLI and HD 6990M CrossFire configurations available on their web site; at present, the SLI setup costs $700 more than the CrossFire configuration, which makes the 6990 an easy recommendation"

---------- Post added 2011-07-31 at 04:54 PM ----------

so a single 6990M is 15% better than a single 580m?

Maybe not 15%, but definitely better

[Clut]

And to quote anandtech "Alienware now has both the GTX 580M SLI and HD 6990M CrossFire configurations available on their web site; at present, the SLI setup costs $700 more than the CrossFire configuration, which makes the 6990 an easy recommendation"

isnt this for desktop?
well anyways, so screw the 580m and go for the 6990, how much of an upgrade is the crossfire though? its hard to decide

[Skelly]

isnt this for desktop?

Nope. Anything with an M on the end is a mobile version, which you will never see in a desktop.

As for the performance boost for crossfire? I can't really tell you because there aren't any benchmarks out yet (that I can find). I would say somewhere in the ballpark of 80% though. Note that heat will increase proportionally and battery life inversely.

[ispano]

Yeah, battery life won't likely be as bad as mine, since it has the Desktop CPU, but it won't be spectacular. You might not even be able to play most games without it plugged in at all. Mine for example, if I was in like a current FPS. If I unplug the AC, it drops to like 2 fps. It downclocks everything because the power draw would damage the battery.

[Skelly]

If I unplug the AC, it drops to like 2 fps. It downclocks everything because the power draw would damage the battery.

All Alienware laptops I've seen are like this too. Your components will only run anywhere near full speed if its plugged in.