Some questions about the 9262/5793

[GroundLuminous]

Hey everyone, I'm considering buying either the NP5793 or the NP9262, and I had a few questions about them of varying degrees of stupidity.

My major concern with my purchase is long term viability. Ideally, I'd like it to run games well for the next two years or so. To that end, how flexible exactly are either of the above laptops when it comes to future technology upgrades? If, for instance, a quad core penryn comes out next year, or god forbid the inevitable 9800m gtx (or even an 8850 gtx) comes out, how easily could they be adapted to either of the above laptops, hypothetically speaking? It seems to be largely sensitive to chipset, so is it realistic to assume that there will be very little upgradeability aside from the choices offered with the models right now?

The other question along the lines of long term viability is SLI. It seems that an 8800m SLI is available only for the 9262, while the 5793 lacks room. I'd probably end up going with one 8800 to begin with while uprading to SLI in the future. I also noticed that it's an additonal 695 dollars to do this. Do you envision the price dropping down the road (over the next 6 months to 1 year?) for the additonal 8800 and if so, any indication as to how much based on similar patterns?

My other question regarding SLI is as to its own viability to begin with. How well do expect the capacity of the two cards to "scale". I saw some preliminary 3d mark scores for the Dell laptop with the 8800m SLI, and it scored into the 13k range if I'm not mistaken. How well will this actually translate into upcoming games on the Sager? The major red flag that concerned me is Crysis, which seems to substantially ignore SLI. Hopefully this will be the exception and not the rule when it comes to future games (Far Cry 2, Fallout3, Battlefield 3 etc.) I guess what I'm asking is whether the 8800m SLI is "worth it", all told.

On a related note, I've also noticed that quad core processing is wholly irrelevant. Not just at the moment, but in the forseeable future. I have seen next to zero upcoming games that claim to support it in any meaningful way aside from Alan Wake. Even if more were to crop up, Crysis again teaches us that quad core support could end up being largely inefficient, if not outright lip service. Everyone is continually touting quad core processing as"the future", but at this point it seems vague in the extreme. Perhaps people better versed in the gaming/pc industry know something I don't about what is realistically expected in the future?

Anyway, that's all I have for the time being. I'm sure I'll have a few more questions on the way. Thanks in advance for the help everyone.

Cheers!

~Dan

[TheOaKMaN]

Hi Dan. I purchased a Sager 9262 fomr Xoticpc. I had a wonderful experience (besides the wait, its not xoticpc fault though). Ok, to the question then. :D

I'm not certainly sure about which model is more adaptive to new upcoming hardware upgrades. But i'm leaning towards the 9262 since its much bigger and has more room. The quad core penryn wont be out for the 9262 for a while, long as in 1 year + since they're having problem making the 8800GTX in SLI at the moment. I personally thinks 649 dollars arnt worth the addition 8800GTX in SLi since the performance boost wont be double/100%. it will only be merely 50% performance boost. But if your a rich bastard and have 649 to spend for "the best of the best" then i would get it. SLI do help for all games i believe (although i dont have proove for you) but after seeing youtube videos with ppl using 3 of 8800 ultras in SLI allowing them to run crysis on very high, i think SLI helps.

Ok, now the processor question. I purchased my 9262 with a Q6600. i wouldn't say its a complete waste. I think its very useful. Since i use a lot of multitasking, itunes, high-end games, moveis, and other fun stuff. Plus its great for windows application like photo editing, movie editing, etc..... Plus i use a gadget that shows me all of my 4 core usage. When im playing UT3 or Crysis, all 4 cores are used. I duno how ppl claims that only 2 cores are being used.... its either my CPU Usage is wrong or the other ppl that claims only 2 cores are being used are wrong. But i'm not sure if higher processor speed gives more performance than the quad core, but some benchmark shows that higher speed dual core perform slightly better than the slower speed quad core in gaming. Alan Wake will definitely be taking advantage of the quad core, and ive also read that some other games might be too..... i dont recall their names at the moment but ill have to look them up. Its all up to you to decide.

I hope this helps u decide on what ur going purchase. BTW: Crysis isn't suppose to run on very high on a laptop........ atleast not now :x :cry:

[OregonCoastGamer]

Its really a question of mobility when it comes to deciding what moel you want. The bigger one is faster, but the smaller one is more mobile. I sit in my bed and use my laptop all the time. If I had the NP9262 that would be impossible. I also take it to school, friends' and family's homes, and most anywhere else I go. The NP5793 is still very fast and I can play almost any game on high settings (cept Crysis of course). Just some things to keep in mind depending on your use. I am only expecting to upgrade my GPU once before this laptop has reached the end of upgradability, but so far I am sure it will last me for atleast 5-10 years before I look for a new model.

[GroundLuminous]

Thanks for the responses guys- they were indeed quite helpful and are swaying me toward the NP5793.

A question for OregonCoastGamer: you say that you plan on upgrading the GPU only once, but also that you expect your laptop to last a minimum of 5 years. When precisely would you expect to upgrade- a year, two, more? Further, what would you expect to be able to upgrade to from the 8800M, precisely? The equivalent 9800m? I'm just trying to get a feel for the length of time that upgrades are viable in a typical laptop. Thanks!


Edit: Also, for anyone in particular: to be clear on the matter- SLI will not be possible in the 5793, correct?

[robamb2002]

The 579x series does not support a second gpu due to the size limitations :( however it is still a wicked awesome machine!

[OregonCoastGamer]

I plan on upgrading the video card to the highest model possible after the next incompatible GPU comes out. I can't say for sure how long it will be before an incompatible GPU comes out on the market, 2-3 years hopefully. The 8800M GTX should last that long anyways.