Hmmm.
Interesting post by "KillerNotebooks (killernotebooks.com?)". In the 2nd (rather condescending msg post) he
berates resellers of notebooks and then in the 4th msg we find out he is one. Only selling another brand.
Well I guess his point is well taken and we should be skeptical of them and that includes HIM. Incidentaly, just
so you know, I don't sell or distribute computers so I'm not sticking up for any of them including Sager NOR
am I recommending this or any other notebook. I'm just looking to buy a notebook to replace my aging desktop and
at the same time upgrade the performance and gain portability.
But regarding his post...
1. He's right about the 7200 rpm drives vs. 5400 rpm. Big performance hit for saving a small amount of money.
On heat, other reviews on this notebook disagree with his assessment that this thing gets hot. But it will get warm
so you need to keep it on a surface that allows the fans to do their job. It is NOT a laptop. Don't stick on your lap.
It's intended to be a desktop replacement with gamers in mind. Stick it on a desk. The best ventilated system in
the world is not going to stay cool if you block the vents/fans. Anyhow the verdict still out on this heat thing. I'd like
to hear from someone who bought it myself.
2. The battery life is only about 1 hr under load (according to one reviewer)
BUT no one that would be interested in buying the thing cares.
It is a desktop replacement not a laptop. I'm interested in it because it is portable and high end (for a
notebook/dtr) and I can still games (doom3 half life, CS, prey, NFS...etc) on it and not because
I want to pull it out at the bus station and play solitaire. Also, all batteries are subject to degradation
over time or with improper care. It is not unique to this notebook so the final point there is rather silly.
3. A single overclocked GPU is NOT right up there in performance with dual video cards in SLI this claim is
absolutely false. I dare you to produce one benchmark that proves that and I'm not talking about comparing
apples and oranges either. Produce a benchmark that proves a single overclocked 7950 can stay with duals and
not by comparing a 7950 to an 8800 like he did in point 7, which is absurd, or a desktop gpu to a notebook gpu
both of which require different chipsets. Further more overclocking any chip produces MORE HEAT which is one of
the points he makes AGAINSTbuying the 9260 to begin with and it requires more cooling to compensate for the
extra heat.
4. I can't dispute this claim about thermal failure.
I can't know what he tested or how he tested that but I can say I'm
personnally skeptical about it since it means he had to at least buy or otherwise get his hands on at least 3 of the
units to know that 2 of 3 fail. Plus it really implies that he tested even more than 3. And what is HIS thermal test?
He didn't mention how that was done. Frankly, I don't believe it. You'll have to make your own decision.
5. FYI: No serious gamer going to a lan party takes speakers OR uses the built in speakers.
They use headphones so they can hear themselves and not everyone else.
6. A notebook with a notebook chip is a good idea BUT 1st off there isn't another notebook made (at this moment)
that has a notebook chip in it AND has sli dual graphic cards in it that is able to produce the benchmarks this
notebook produces AND there isn't another notebook with a core 2 notebook chip that has dual sli graphics cards.
I've been waiting for one for a year now and this is the first one I've seen in a 17".
Yeah i know there are a couple AMD offerings with 20" screens. I don't want amd and I don't want 20" in a
notebook. (20" !!! holy cow. If you want a screen that big just plug your notebook into an external monitor! You at
least retain the portability factor!) IF they did build this model with a notebook cpu I'd concider that but the question
would remain does it produce the performance. Since no one has done it with this setup suggesting that a
notebook cpu would perform equal or better is pure speculation.
7. Don't mess with sli because...
This is called a logical fallacy. You set up false alternatives then use those false alternatives to prove your point.
Fact is that dual DESKTOP 79xx gpus in SLI don't perform as fast as a single 8800, let alone dual GO 7950s.
The only problem with this little item is that DESKTOP GPUS are NOT available for notebooks. Plus if we follow
this through to it's logical conclusion then basically you shouldn't even bother showing up at a LAN party unless
you have the newest bleeding edge technology. Come on. The point is not is it the fastest thing you can possibly
put in a box. The point is does it do the job based on what is AVAILABLE for notebooks. Available being key here
and the dual 7950's in sli are as good as you can get at this point in time. Future?... We'll have to see.
Technology is always moving on. Plus comparing 79xx notebook gpus to 8800 desktop gpu's is comparing apples
to oranges. Just for those of you who may be thinking that "maybe" the new 8400/8600's GO gpus are going to
change all that, the prelim stuff I've read says a single 8400 or 8600 will not match dual sli 7950s. What you will
get is d3d10 for vista and games but the performance is lower at this time (as he stated in msg 4).
To my knowledge, dual GO 8xxx's haven't been compared yet so can't speak of that AND thus far nVidia has
said the 8800 won't be available for a notebook. It's TOO HOT and TOO power hungry at 135watts+ requiring 3
power connectors counting the bus power and TOO big at around 11" long in the desktop version.
nVidia MADE the GO profile chips deliberately for notebooks because the form factor uses LESS power and
produces less HEAT than the desktop equivs! No they don't perform quite as fast as the desktop equivs but since
you can't get the desktop gpus in a notebook why is this even a selling point? If that's a sticking point for you
then don't buy a notebook, buy a desktop.
The benchmarks I've seen on the dual GO 7950gtx cards in sli on this thing are REALLY impressive.
14981 in 3dmark05 and 9097 in 3dmark06! My desktop has a single 7950 gt card in it and although the cpu is an
older model p4 3gz I only pulled a 6400 in 3dmark05! I can play all the games I want to but wish I had more
horsepower all around. Sometimes it gets sluggish and frankly those scores are nothing to be ashamed of
(http
/forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=133052)
The argument here "seems to be" since you can't get the best desktop gpu in a notebook then you shouldn't buy
this notebook. Instead buy a cheaper notebook. Well if the money is a key factor in your decision making then
you will have to concider whether you maybe should buy a cheaper notebook but don't make the decision
because dual sli gpus in a notebook aren't as fast as the fastest desktop model you can get. They NEVER will be
for obvious physical reasons. This is also silly.
8. quad core? Tests were done on this and at least for now...it is not stable in a notebook.
Let's face it ok... A 100 core cpu in a system with inadequate GPU power is still NOT going to be able to
display the graphics in a smooth fashion. And it's not just all about the gpu or the cpu etc. It's about the whole
system. Ram, disks, bus speeds, cpu, gpu ... all of it. Any weaker component is going to
become a performance bottleneck. Placing a quad core cpu in with a slower video card solution is still not
going to get you the benchmarks or gaming performance you're looking for. And I assume if you looking at
this or a similar notebook that is of interest to you. Otherwise you would be looking at some other lower cost
solution to begin with.
Summary:
Waiting is not a bad idea. I'm not trying to suggest ANYONE run out and buy this notebook (9260) OR any other
(unlike Mr. KillerNotebooks here who seems to want you to wait for HIS notebook solution).
Fact is I've been waiting myself to see what else may pop up. For example the price has dropped several
hundred dollars on the 9260 since it was first release/announced in May/June because of
the costs for some of the components inside have dropped. Plus I want to hear back from some real buyers and
not just ppl selling/reviewing them.
But regarding killernotebooks' post, keep in mind that this guy has a dog in this fight.
So view what he says with the same skepticism that you should view ALL of them.
DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Then make your own decision.
Facebook
Twitter