Clevo Help - Optimus III

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Sam

Sam

Sam

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Hi Chaps

I’m currently running a Dell Studio XPS with the following spec -

Base Intel® CoreT i7 Processor 720QM (1.60Ghz, 6MB cache)
Memory 8192MB 1333MHz Dual Channel DDR3 SDRAM [2x2048]
Video Card 1GB ATI® RadeonT HD 4670 graphics card
Hard Drive 128GB Solid State SATA Drive
15.6" high res full HD SCREEN 1920x1080

I have recently tried to play the Planetside 2 beta and have realised that the laptop although no slouch is graphically very weak and therefor i want to look at purchasing a replacement. After reading around it looks like the Clevo make some good laptops at a decent price but I’m still not up on the latest and greatest specs so what does the below look like -


Optimus Series: 15.6" Glossy Full HD LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-3210M (2.50GHz) 3MB
8GB KINGSTON HYPER-X GENESIS 1600MHz SODIMM DDR3 (2 x 4GB)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 650M - 1.0GB DDR5 Video RAM - DirectX® 11
250GB SERIAL ATA II 2.5" HARD DRIVE WITH 8MB CACHE (5,400rpm)
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack
GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® N130 802.11N (150Mbps) + BLUETOOTH
Optimus/Voyager Series 6 Cell Lithium-ION Battery (48.84WH
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED

£525 + VAT

I would also look at sourcing my own SSD drive to replace the 250GB that comes with the above

Feedback and suggestions are much appreciated

Thanks

Sam
 
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Another question -

Do you think I would be better off going for a Vortex III as this offers a better graphics card, the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 660M

Is there a big difference between the 660M and the 650M?

Cheers

Sam
 
I have an Optimus III with similar specs. It runs all games I have at full settings on native resolution, aside from metro 2033 and BF3, they require medium to high to get a good frame rate.

The quality of the laptop is great and the screen is incredible. My advice would be to get the silver warranty when buying it.

Overall I am very pleased with it, I had a battery issue but got a brand new one sent to me in less than 24 hours.

Edit: I think the 8GB of 1333Mhz Samsung ram was a bit cheaper than the kingston, without much performance difference. :)
 
Sam said:
Another question -

Do you think I would be better off going for a Vortex III as this offers a better graphics card, the NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 660M

Is there a big difference between the 660M and the 650M?

Cheers

Sam
Click to expand...

IIRC the only major difference between the GTX660M and the GT650M is the fact the former comes in the MXM format whilst the latter is soldered onto the MB.

This only makes a difference if you plan to upgrade the GPU.

Other than that it has minor clock differences (The GT650M in the Optimus III is the GDDR5 variety).
 
Harvey616 said:
I have an Optimus III with similar specs. It runs all games I have at full settings on native resolution, aside from metro 2033 and BF3, they require medium to high to get a good frame rate.

The quality of the laptop is great and the screen is incredible. My advice would be to get the silver warranty when buying it.

Overall I am very pleased with it, I had a battery issue but got a brand new one sent to me in less than 24 hours.

Edit: I think the 8GB of 1333Mhz Samsung ram was a bit cheaper than the kingston, without much performance difference. :)
Click to expand...

Cheers for the feedback, i think im going to go with a Clevo and i will make sure i get the extra warranty. I think i had looked and the kingston was only a few £ more so thought it may be worth it?.

Fallen god said:
As said above get the silver warranty was only £5, had a look the difference between the 650m and 660m isnt a huge amount, for the price the 650m is amazing card, NV have really stepped up the game and it is a really nice card.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GT-650M.71887.0.html

http://www.notebookcheck.net/NVIDIA-GeForce-GTX-660M.71859.0.html
Click to expand...

oweneades said:
IIRC the only major difference between the GTX660M and the GT650M is the fact the former comes in the MXM format whilst the latter is soldered onto the MB.

This only makes a difference if you plan to upgrade the GPU.

Other than that it has minor clock differences (The GT650M in the Optimus III is the GDDR5 variety).
Click to expand...

You have both contributed to answering my question, the GT650M seems like the better option for me not because of the minor speed increase but because of the fact its upgradable.

If im honest ive always been a desktop builder so know very little when it comes to laptops. How easy are these things to upgrade, lets say in a years time i decided to upgrade will i just be able to purchase a new card and slot it in?

Thanks
 
Sam said:
Cheers for the feedback, i think im going to go with a Clevo and i will make sure i get the extra warranty. I think i had looked and the kingston was only a few £ more so thought it may be worth it?.

You have both contributed to answering my question, the GT650M seems like the better option for me not because of the minor speed increase but because of the fact its upgradable.

If im honest ive always been a desktop builder so know very little when it comes to laptops. How easy are these things to upgrade, lets say in a years time i decided to upgrade will i just be able to purchase a new card and slot it in?

Thanks
Click to expand...

The 660M comes in MXM format - the 650M is soldered to the motherboard. If you do decide to upgrade there will be heatsink compatibility issues, and in the past, BIOS support for new cards has been patchy at best. Go on to the Notebook Review forums as they usually have people who would have worked all this stuff out in advance. :)
 
Thanks mate ill head over and have a look

How important do you think processor is, will an i3 dual core 2370M 2.4GHZ suffice or is it worth spending say an extra £100 and getting the top of the range i5 dual core 3360M 2.8GHZ

Thanks
 
If you are spending extra go for a quad core, otherwise its not really worth it. I have a 3610qm which I will be letting go for around £175 soon.....

The 660M will be upgradable at least to the 680M in future (with a 180W brick too) which is just a downclocked GTX670, but is always going to be a bit expensive. Unless you are really into it the 650M is good now and can be oced and since you are getting the GDDR5 version is very close to the 660M.
 
Hi Meaker

So better off going for an i7 Quad core mobile 3610QM 2.3ghz 6mb rather than the dual core i5s. Do you think processors have a big impact within games?

Sam
 
That is very true, getting rather tempted by Alienware laptops on Dell outlet

Alienware M18x : Stealth Black
Processor: Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600 MHz Memory (4 DIMMs)
500 GB 2.5inch 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Data Burst Cache SATA II Hybrid Hard Drive
Additional Hard Drive : 500 GB 2.5inch SATA II Hybrid Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Display: 18.4in Widescreen Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED LCD
Graphics: Dual 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
Wireless: Dell 375 Bluetooth Card
Wireless: Intel Advanced N-6200 (a/g/n 2x2)
Battery : Primary 12-cell 97W/HR LI-ION
Internal Backlit Keyboard

Surely this would blow the Vortex III / Optimus out of the water, im thinking if i can get £400 for my old laptop i only need to fund a further £750

Old laptop - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18431327

Sam
 
Sam said:
That is very true, getting rather tempted by Alienware laptops on Dell outlet

Alienware M18x : Stealth Black
Processor: Intel Core i7-2670QM (2.20 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
8 GB Dual Channel DDR3 1600 MHz Memory (4 DIMMs)
500 GB 2.5inch 3.0Gb/s, 16MB Data Burst Cache SATA II Hybrid Hard Drive
Additional Hard Drive : 500 GB 2.5inch SATA II Hybrid Hard Drive (7200 RPM)
Optical Drive : 8X DVD+/-RW Drive
Display: 18.4in Widescreen Full High Definition (1920X1080) WLED LCD
Graphics: Dual 2 GB GDDR5 NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580M SLI
English Genuine Windows 7 SP1 Home Premium (64Bit OS)
Wireless: Dell 375 Bluetooth Card
Wireless: Intel Advanced N-6200 (a/g/n 2x2)
Battery : Primary 12-cell 97W/HR LI-ION
Internal Backlit Keyboard

Surely this would blow the Vortex III / Optimus out of the water, im thinking if i can get £400 for my old laptop i only need to fund a further £750

Old laptop - http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18431327

Sam
Click to expand...

GPU wise this would blow it out of the water, but you are buying old tech. The 580M is a very power hungry, hot running card, having two of them will just be more hassle.

if you're going to be spending nearly £1200 on that, why not buy a new alienware(Call dell, put your special hat on and get yourself a 20%+ discount) /clevo machine with a 7970M?



EDIT: There are 7970M Alienwares on the outlet going for under a grand.
 
The ivy quads are pretty fast in dual and single thread applications and then have the grunt when you want to do multi threaded tasks too.
 
roughavoc said:
GPU wise this would blow it out of the water, but you are buying old tech. The 580M is a very power hungry, hot running card, having two of them will just be more hassle.

if you're going to be spending nearly £1200 on that, why not buy a new alienware(Call dell, put your special hat on and get yourself a 20%+ discount) /clevo machine with a 7970M?



EDIT: There are 7970M Alienwares on the outlet going for under a grand.
Click to expand...

Ignore

Sam
 
Last edited:
roughavoc said:
GPU wise this would blow it out of the water, but you are buying old tech. The 580M is a very power hungry, hot running card, having two of them will just be more hassle.

if you're going to be spending nearly £1200 on that, why not buy a new alienware(Call dell, put your special hat on and get yourself a 20%+ discount) /clevo machine with a 7970M?



EDIT: There are 7970M Alienwares on the outlet going for under a grand.
Click to expand...

Any advice on how to get that 20% off through dell ?

Sam
 
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