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laptop configuration

Post Date: 2011-07-31
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axleman1011 View Drop Down
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Posts: 27 		  Quote axleman1011 Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Topic: laptop configuration
    Posted: 31 Jul 2011 at 4:52pm
Budget:
$2000ish

Expectations:
I want a good computer which will last me 3+ years...

Usage:
70% Gameing
30% Other

Special Needs:
I need a lot of storage space, and i like the idea of a hybrid drive (although i have heard issues with using a HHD in RAID, does anyone know if this is possible?)

Saved Ticket #: 579549

Specifications:
Do you think this is too much? Also how worried should i be about overheating? I use a desk which puts like an inch of space between the bottom of the computer and the desk itself...
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alofnc View Drop Down
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Posts: 12 		  Quote alofnc Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Aug 2011 at 2:44pm
I;m in the market for a similar laptop and have played with a lot of X17 configs.  IMO I think you could drop the processor down to the 2720, replace the first drive with the 80gb ssd or 120gb ssd and add the 750gb hdd as you second drive and have a much faster system overall.  Unless you have a need for 12 gigs of ram I think 8 is more than enough for any software or games.  I think the ssd/hdd combo with the 2720 will price out about $200 lower than yours with the 2820.
Good luck
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Unlicensedhitman View Drop Down
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Posts: 292 		  Quote Unlicensedhitman Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 01 Aug 2011 at 7:31pm
These laptops can last for 3+ years if you take care of it well.

Why not get the DS x15 with a GTX 580m and buy a HDD cady to add another hard drive, but you lose the DVD-drive.
Digital Storm xm15 laptop
-15.6" (1366x768)
-Windows 7 HP 64-bit
-Intel Core i5 2.4 Ghz
-Nvidia GeForce 330GT 1GB + Intel HD w/ Nividia Optimus
-6GB DDR3 ram
-Intel 80GB SSD
-Intel Wireless N 6300
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ablahblah View Drop Down
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Posts: 2312 		  Quote ablahblah Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Aug 2011 at 1:57pm
hybrid drives are nice concepts, but have proven to not be very effective in terms of practicality. It's either go the full SSD, or stick to regular hard drives.

Also, in terms of storage, WD and Toshiba have both recently developed 1TB drives for laptops in a 9.5mm height form factor, so that they will actually fit inside a laptop. Therefore, you're not limited to 750GB in a laptop hard drive anymore Strong It's available on both Newegg and Amazon, though Newegg seems to have burned out of its stock right now. Here's the Amazon link, in case you were interested in having DS special order it (which is something they're usually willing to do) : WD 1TB Caviar Blue, 9.5mm Height

Couple of questions to decide on where to focus :
Do you already have a desktop, or is this purchase going to sort of bridge between your home computer and mobile computer?

Are you looking to get high quality settings on games, or are you fine with toning down the graphics a bit (given that this is a laptop, after all)?

Are you connecting another monitor to the laptop, or are you going to game with the built-in screen?

Do you want to have a solid-state drive, or are you willing to instead get better graphics performance?


Edited by ablahblah - 02 Aug 2011 at 2:05pm
R4D4RPR00F
Core i7 920 @ 3.9Ghz
Asus Sabertooth X58
EVGA GTX 570
Mushkin 6GB 1414Mhz
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DST4ME View Drop Down
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Posts: 36758 		  Quote DST4ME Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 02 Aug 2011 at 3:25pm
Forget hybrid it won't hold a candle to a ssd.

Nvidia Drivers----AMD Drivers
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Mattelot View Drop Down
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Posts: 8 		  Quote Mattelot Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Aug 2011 at 7:49pm
I know that hybrid drives are not as great as SSD, but are they bad or what?  I've read good reviews of them.
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Norswedegian View Drop Down
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Posts: 3 		  Quote Norswedegian Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Aug 2011 at 8:45pm
Honestly I'd say the 2820 isn't worth it; for gaming and general use you probably won't see much of a difference.  Also, 12 gigs of RAM seems a bit overkill; 8 would be plenty unless you plan on playing Metro 2033 while listening to music and using photoshop...  Also, 1600 MHz RAM is probably kind of unnecessary.  If you want to shell out extra cash go for the 580m, not 12 gigs of 1600 mhz ram or the 2820 processor



I just ordered a laptop with these specs and I plan on using it for all 4 years of university:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm x15 Laptop (Model: 8150)
Display: 15.6 Inch (95% NTSC Color Gamut) (Glossy Surface) (16:9) (1920 x 1080) LED-Backlit Display
Processor: Intel Core i7 2630QM (2.0 GHz Turbo Mode to 2.9Ghz) (Quad Core) (6MB Cache)
Thermal Compound: Premium IC Diamond CPU and GPU Thermal Compound (Reduces Thermal & Laptop Noise)
Memory: 8GB DDR3 1333MHz
Primary Hard Drive: 500GB 7200RPM (SATA 3Gb/s)
Secondary Hard Drive: - Not Available
Optical Drive: DVD/CD 8x Multi-Drive (Writes and Reads DVDs, CDs)
Wireless Card: Intel Advanced-N 6230 Wireless LAN Module
Video Card(s): NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560M 1.5GB
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit Edition)
Warranty Plan: Life-time Expert Customer Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty


Edited by Norswedegian - 03 Aug 2011 at 8:47pm
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Dragoonseal View Drop Down
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Posts: 2247 		  Quote Dragoonseal Quote  Post ReplyReply bullet Posted: 03 Aug 2011 at 10:08pm
Originally posted by Mattelot

I know that hybrid drives are not as great as SSD, but are they bad or what?  I've read good reviews of them.

They're not terrible by any means, but they just end up having standard conventional HDD performance the vast majority of the time. The SSD cache doesn't do anything the first time you open up files, it is only of use on subsequent access of the data later on, assuming it is still in the cache. Unfortunately the 4GB cache goes surprisingly quick and data will be frequently purged from it as more recently accessed data replaces it, so it just ends up not utilized very often. Also the SSD space sadly isn't utilized as a write cache, which would of made it more useful.

The real issue is its price. It has come down in price over time, but considering its performance is indistinguishable from a normal HDD most of the time I wouldn't really consider it worth +$63 more than a standard drive. Especially when you could put that $63 toward an actual SSD for OS/apps/games and have a normal HDD for movies/music/media. SSDs have gotten cheap enough that it should be a crime to have any laptop without a SSD these days, they just do so much for laptops. Hahaha
Lilim
Intel Core i7 920 @4.2GHz
HAF 932 - Dual SLI Nvidia GTX 480s
3x Intel X25-M G2 (80GB) SSD RAID0
R.I.P. Sinbad the cat (November 16, 1996 - April 18, 2011)
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