Sager NP9170 vs MSI GT70?

[barhopper]

Hello. I am considering buying a laptop which will be used mainly for gaming.
For my own reasons I wont get a Desktop, it has to be a laptop and I will be playing on it constantly even though it may NOT be very high demanding games like BF3 or C2
My budget goes up to around $1600-$1700 and after doing some research I came down to these two options:

Sager NP9170 / Clevo P170EM
vs
MSI GT70 0ND-202

I decided to go through Xoticpc to get the redline safe overclock boost as well as the copper cooling upgrades and to have a 3rd party customer service because I have heard some awful things about both sager and MSI customer service (specially MSI's)
Anyways here are the main specs:

Sager NP9170 - Gaming Laptop (Clevo P170EM)

- Sager - 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3630QM (2.4GHz - 3.4GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – S2R174)
- nVidia GeForce GTX 675M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology [User Upgradeable]
- 16GB - DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Memory (4 SODIMMS) (SKU - S4T822P)
- 750gb 7200rpm (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache) (SKU - S5R306)

TOTAL $1,678.01

vs.

MSI GT70 0ND-202US

- 3rd Generation Intel® Ivy Bridge Core™ i7-3610QM (2.3GHz - 3.3GHz, 6MB Intel® Smart Cache, 45W Max TDP) (SKU – X2N300)
- nVidia GeForce GTX 675M 2,048MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11 with Optimus™ Technology (SKU – X3N527)
- 16GB DDR3 1600MHz [SKU-444CP] (Dual Channel Memory (4x4GB SODIMMS))
- 750GB 7200RPM 16MB Cache Buffer (Serial-ATA II 3GB/s) (SKU - X5R303)

TOTAL: $1,683.00

As you can see they are virtually the same, which is why I can't make a decision.
So I would like to have opinions and advices on which one would you chose and why. Given that they are customized to be about the same and the price is also pretty much the same, then the question becomes which brand is better? I read some very nice reviews about the MSI 0ND in newegg but I can't really find many on the Sager one.

PS.
Here are a couple video reviews from the Xoticpc guys in youtube for each PC just in case. They are quite lengthy though, about 30 mins.
Sager NP9170
MSI GT70 - 202US

Thanks in advance.

 

[jackspeed]

I hate to burst your bubble but they may use msi's customer service if you need a repair.

I personally do not trust any company to "safely" overclock a laptop and realistically they will overclock the gpu only and probably by a small amount. I would suggest a cooling pad over some of the internal cooling changes.

The way I see it *if* you are going to make changes to the laptop other then ram go with the sager as they are custom built. I would recommend the gt70 without the changes because I am enjoying mine.

If you make changes and something goes wrong Xotic may send your laptop back to msi and they may make some repair and you could be out an overclock.

Also **Any Customized MSI Ensemble laptop will have a warranty for 1 Year through XOTIC PC on the customized components. XOTIC PC covers return shipping coverage to the customer on any parts under the 1 Year Warranty. XOTIC PC provides a 15 day DOA warranty and will cover shipping both ways for any customized DOA MSI Ensemble Laptop. XOTIC PC provides Lifetime DOMESTIC 24/7 Toll Free Telephone Technical assistance on all customized operating system MSI Ensemble Systems.

 

[scannall]

Personally, I'd go with the Sager just because I have had good luck with them before. Oh, and like the guy above me mentioned don't worry about overclocking a laptop. Those are really fast part already, and you really don't *need* to be able to make pancakes on it because of the heat.

 

[barhopper]

So are you saying that the extra IC diamond thermal compound and the copper cooling upgrade are not worth it?
I was strongly thinking about getting them because I once owned an Alienware and it ended up overheating and I just didnt want that to happen again. Then again I went really hard on it gaming A LOT for a year or so.
But now that I am not probably going to overclock it it makes sense to skip the extra inner cooling stuff.

 

[jackspeed]

With the sager I cant say. Gaming laptops are hot. You should have a cooling pad. It will probably make more of a difference then the inner stuff. I would not change a gt70. Who knows how the "extra" cooling might effect performance it was designed one way. The sager is a custom built machine all that is offered on xotic pc is offered on the sager website. except the cash discount and the accidental dmg warranty.

 

[barhopper]

Yeah thanks for your input jackspeed. I am leaning everytime more towards the MSI gt70 because i'm gonna skip the overclocking and I can get a pretty decen stock gt70 without customizing trough xoticpc and have it pretty much with the same specs above which would save me about $200-$300 from many websites that offer it like Amazon or Adorama. On the other side if I decide to go with the sager I would have to do it through their website (if I wanna skip xoticpc) and the price would still be the same (perhaps I could save almost $100 only) so I don't think the sager is worth it anymore.

One thing I did like baout the sager, though, is the fact that it has 2 fans instead of 1 like the MSI (one for GPU one for CPU I believe) which could be useful if I skip the extra inner cooling like I am planing on doing)

Just out of curiosity, where did you purchase your gt70 from?

 

[jackspeed]

its out of stock on newegg. Tiger direct still has it for 1400 but you can find it cheaper maybe $50 on other websites. Sager is a good company as well. I like MSI and I have not used sager but they allow customization and I have heard good things from them.

All gaming laptops run hot after a while. So I would suggest a cooling pad.

 

[jonathan_569]

for the copper cooling from Xoticpc, I read from NBR forums that it's overpriced and also does help that much.. although there is a mod which is the aluminum foil mod that is cheap and acts similar to the feature that Xoticpc is giving...

 

[barhopper]

Thanks for the input. I found a very good deal from GenTech PC where they give me the 16GB of Ram instead of the 12GB for the same $1400 free shipping. Best deal I found and I think that's what I am gonna end up buying.

Thanks again to all.

 

[captainblacko]

i know you dont want to but i would still choose an alienware m17 r4 over either.

 

[cats_Paw]

Alienware is terrible. It cost far more, and works really badly.
I can only give you input on the MSI (as i have a similar model, GT780 DX).

Screen quality is supperb, but so is in the sager.
Keyboard in the MSI requires a lot of force (stronger hits) to register keystrokes than your average laptop, but they keyboard is quite resistant (you can feel it to the touch).
The Audio in the MSI is really great for a Laptop, no idea on the sager thou.

Msi has 1 big flaw: the screen is too heavy for the claps. This means that if you are not VERYYYY carefull when you carry your laptop, the claps at the screen will degrade, and eventually brake (happened to me under 1 year, but i treated the laptop a bit badly. Still MSI replaced the whole screen).

The cooling of the MSI is very good, but i especially went for a dual core CPU to lower the heat output, and so far it still works great.

The iluminated keyboad is "fun", but not really that important after a while.

 

[jackspeed]

1400$ for 675M?
you can find it for less

\
Best you can do really is $1300

i know you dont want to but i would still choose an alienware m17 r4

The m17 R4 is about 2k for a full hd screen and similar specs.

Thanks for the input. I found a very good deal from GenTech PC where they give me the 16GB of Ram instead of the 12GB for the same $1400 free shipping. Best deal I found and I think that's what I am gonna end up buying.

Don't know if you've bought it yet but the sites down. If you don't want the 16GB of ram here's one for 1353 with free shipping.

http/www.buy.com/prod/msi-gt70-0nd-202us-17-3-notebook-intel-core-i7-i7-3610qm-2-30-ghz/231795248.html

 

[barhopper]

The site is back up, but if i dont know if 12gb should be enough for the $50 I could save.

BTW, is there a specific brand of cooling pads that stands out that I should buy? Must be for 17" of course.

 

[barhopper]

What can anyone tell me about the Valkyrie CZ-17?
I hadn't seen it before...

 

[jackspeed]

The valk has the same msi barebone case as msi but only has blue for a backlit keyboard. THe halloween special isn't bad either. My only concern is the support it would get. 1yr warranty with no accidental.

 

[barhopper]

Thanks.
What about cooling pads? any brand that stands out? or any 2-fan for 17" should do the trick?

 

[jackspeed]

Can't help with a cooling pad sry

 

[Yuka]

I have a Sager with the regular compound offered and no issues at all. The notebook is kind of new, but it doesn't get hot while playing Guild Wars 2, so I'd say that the special compound is a waste of money.

Also, is you can wait for Sager to swap the 675M for the 670MX, you'll be way better of buying that. Should be cheaper and perform about the same. Mine has the 675M and is a beast of a card.

If you want a little more portability, the i7 + GT650M (Kepler) in a 14" chassis is not bad either. Also, Sager includes back-lit keyboards in almost all of its models; I love it.

www.sagernotebook.com

Cheers!

 

[gatewayfx]

Barhopper, what did you end up going with? One thing that no-one noted - All MSI's come with a matte screen, I have looked and the Sager's give the option of glossy or matte. I purchased the MSI GT70 from prostar, but the screen to me was really weird. It almost seemed as the matte was defracting way too much light. I was also having an issue with the GTX not being detected, and only the intel video being detected - I went through the updating driver process like people have mentioned in forums, but to no avail. Prostar was great and gave me a refund upon return.

I have a Gateway FX still chugging along, but WoW is starting to bog it down. I love the glossy screen, and that it a requirement of mine.

Anyone have the NP9170? I'm interested to hear more reviews on it.

 

[Brett928S2]

This topic has been closed by Brett928S2