Is it worth the graphics?

J

jshrimp3

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Aug 13, 2005
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Ok, so I made a thread earlier some time ago about a laptop, and now I'm unsure about if things are worth the money. I have $2500 at my disposal, any more than that comes out of my pocket, which I'm willing to do to some degree, but I'd rather not spend too much. I'm looking at two laptops, HP Pavilion dv9500t and the Sager 5790. The only differences between the two are that the HP has a TV tuner, it's native resolution is 1680x1050 whereas Sager's is 1920x1200, and Sager sports a 512MB 7950GTX whereas the HP only has an 8600M GS with 256MB dedicated. And if I get the HP, I'll also be getting these speakers: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?item=N82E16836113153. Here are the specs

dv9500t
17.0" WSXGA+ Brightview Widescreen (1680x1050)
Intel C2D T7500 2.2GHz/4MB L2 Cache
4GB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 Dual Channel Memory
nVidia Geforce 8600M GS (256MB, up to 511MB)
Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network w/Bluetooth
Super Multi 8x DVD +/-R/RW w/Double Layer Support
200GB 7200RPM SATA Dual Hard Drive (100GB x 2)
Windows Vista Premium
HP Expresscard TV Tuner for Windows Vista Notebook
Logitech G5
Altec Lansing Portable Speakers Model XT1
$2349.73

Sager 5790
17" WUXGA "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1200)
Intel C2D T7500 2.2GHz/4MB L2 Cache
4GB DDR2 667 PC2 5300 Dual Channel Memory
nVidia Geforce 7950GTX 512MB w/GDDR3
Webcam + Fingerprint Reader
Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network
Bluetooth 2.0 + EDR
Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
160GB Seagate Momentus 3GB/s SATA 300 7200RPM Hard Drive
Windows Vista Premium
Logitech G5
$2865.10

Is this price jump worth the money? It'll only cost me $365.10, but still. Is it worth that money, plus the loss of those speakers (not too important to be honest) and a TV tuner (the Sager's too expensive as is for me to add a TV tuner, it's not too important to me), in order to get a higher resolution and a better video card? I intend to do a fair amount of gaming, so I'm not sure.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for a different laptop, I'm open to them. I'd like 17", 2.2GHz, good graphics, similar to the laptops above.

Thanks.
 
usually going from a 7600 to a 7950gtx is about $500, and it's well worth it since you can play games at 1920x1200, the 7600 will struggle (the 8600gs is on par with the 7600)

i'd have to say that spending $2300 on a 17inch laptop with only a 8600gs is a bit too much money

have you considered the 5760? The only major reason to buy the 5790 is for the 8800m GPU which won't be out for a few months.

you might want to look into laptops in dell's outlet
 
You could most likely save some of that $365 by customizing it with only 1gb of RAM, and then adding RAM you buy off newegg. (Although this depends on the upgrade price of the manufacturer you are purchasing from) Either way, the 7950 is a huge upgrade to the 8600. Since the life of a gaming laptop is often decided by its graphics card, i would recommend you get the best graphics card you can for the amount of money you have.
 
been looking at similar specs and prices and have been liking the dell M90 so far. Seems like the business version of the XPS but has a price cut and some nice components I think.

though it has one of those 256-512MB quadro cards from nvidia, it looks fine but not really sure.


You might wanna give those a try(if you dont have something against dell).



As for the question about it being worth it, I would say "maybe" lol.
 
Absolutely it is worth it! If you plan on gaming at all, the Go 7950 GTX (the highest-end laptop card) is easily twice (or more) as powerful as the 8600M GS (the lower end of mid-range).

I've ordered my Sager NP5790 from XoticPC.com. You can get a configuration like this:

-17" WSXGA (1680x1050)
-Core 2 Duo T7500
-GeForce Go 7950 GTX 512MB
-2GB RAM (2GB should be enough, but if you're set on 4GB, order a single 2GB stick and buy the other 2GB from Newegg or something)
-160 GB 7200RPM hard drive
-Vista Home Premium

Total Price: $2344

If you want the Logitech G5 too, it would be cheaper to buy it online (available for ~$39 AR from Newegg)
 
Yeah I ordered it a few days ago, from the same site. It's practically identical to yours, the only difference is that I got the 1920x1200 option. The resolution doesn't bother me, I can read it fine, and I like the extra space.

And I was planning on buying the mouse on newegg anyway, and I did.
 
How is the gloss on that high res screen? I am terrified at all this super gloss stuff going around. I'd probably jump on that machine in a second if the matte screen also came in 1920x1200 :(
 
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