Gaming Laptop: 2.6GHz Dual vs 1.8GHz Quad

[BradyT88]

I am looking into purchasing a gaming laptop as I will be away from my desktop for a year or so. I was curious should I go for a higher clock rate or more cores for gaming? ie. a dual core 2.66 GHz i7 620M vs a quad core 1.86GHz i7 840M.

Few games are optimized to take advantage of 4 cores and so I was wondering if it would be better to take the higher clock rate.

I just had a thought though. On the i7 840M, does turbo boost kick in when only 1 core is used or can it work for up to 3 of the cores? If it can work for at least 2 cores then my question is answered. haha.

 

[amk09]

i would like to know this too

 

[ares1214]

well, with turbo boost, the difference is nullified. also, get eh i7 720m, not the 840. the 720m is gonna be the better buy over both of them.

 

[BradyT88]

does Intel's Turbo boost support boosting 2 cores? Last time I checked Intel's turbo boost only boosted a single core on single threaded apps. So If I am playing a game optimized for dual cores, I will have 2 cores at 2.66GHz vs 2 cores at 1.66GHz (using the 720QM).

 

[ares1214]

not so, the i7 actually runs at 2.46 GHz when dual core applications are detected. however, there is also a large difference in architecture, and just because the i7 has 4 cores/ 8 threads and something only uses 2 of them, it doesnt make the rest useless. theres a lot more running in the background when you are gaming than you think.

 

[BradyT88]

Haha. I didn't think about the background operations. I was still concerned with the 1GHz loss, but 2.46GHz does nullify that. A 720QM it is. Well we'll see. I'm still browsing brands and models.

 

[ares1214]

yeah, just take my word for it :lol: know where you will be buying this laptop?

 

[BradyT88]

online. As far as what website, I am unsure. Any advice there?

 

[BradyT88]

Best answer selected by BradyT88.

 

[ares1214]

whats your budget? and id say cyber power and xotic pc. both are great.

 

[BradyT88]

I'm actually looking at xotic right now. I'm not sure yet, I may go as high as $2300. It depends on what the right parts start to cost me. I will be content with a 15 to 16 inch screen. There is a large price jump to get those 17's and 18's.

 

[ares1214]

cyber power you can get a 17incher, 1680x1050 (good res for laptop gaming) a 5870, i7 720qm, 4 gigs of ram, and a 7200 rpm 500 gig hdd for just under 1500$. of course you could get a ssd and more ram if you wanted.

 

[BradyT88]

That's not a bad deal. I think SSD's are great for productivity, but too expensive for gaming, unless you don't mind constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games and 4GB's of ram should be plenty.

 

[ares1214]

yeah. heres some good ones from newegg:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152192

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220695

 

[BradyT88]

What do you know about Sager's? I found one on Xotic, Sager NP8690. It was just over $1600, with a 15.6 inch LED screen, 740QM, 5870m, 4gb, 500gb hdd.

 

[ares1214]

looks good, but not as good of a deal as the others. this is good too:

17.3" FHD LED Backlit 16:9 "Glare Type" Super Clear Ultra Bright Glossy Screen (1920x1080)
- Standard Dead Pixel Policy
- Intel® Core™ i7-740QM, 1.73-2.93GHz, (45nm, 6MB L3 cache)
- -Stock OEM Thermal Compound
- ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD5870 1024MB PCI-Express GDDR5 DX11
- No Video Adapter
- ~ 4,096MB DDR3 1066MHz Dual Channel Memory (2 SODIMMS) (Requires 64-Bit to utilize Full 4GB) -
- Standard Finish
- ~Combo 8x8x6x4x Dual Layer DVD +/-R/RW 5x DVD-RAM 24x CD-R/RW Drive w/Softwares
- ~ 500GB 7200RPM (Serial-ATA II 300 - 16MB Cache)
- None Standard -
- HDD Raid Settings - OFF
- No Back Up Hard Drive
- No Back Up Software
- No Floppy Drive
- Internal 7-in-1 Card Reader (MS/MS Pro/MS Duo/MS Pro Duo/SD/Mini-SD/MMC/RS)
- Internal Bluetooth + EDR
- Built-in 802.11 Wireless A/B/G/N - Stock Wireless Card
- No Network Accessory
- Built in 2.0 Megapixel Camera
- No TV Tuner
- Sound Blaster Compatible 3D Audio - Included
- Basic Black Business Case - Included
- 11.1V Smart Li-Polymer battery pack 3800mAh, 42.18Wh
- No Car Adapter
- None Standard*
- No Dock/Hub/Adapter
- Integrated Fingerprint Reader
- No External Keyboard or Mouse
- No Notebook Cooler
- No Operating System Standard - Drivers & Utility Software Only
- No Office Software
- No Software Bundle
- 3 Year Labor* 1 Year Parts Warranty Lifetime -24/7 DOMESTIC Based- Toll Free Telephone Tech Support (Labor Warranty through Xotic PC)
Includes FREE Shipping Both Ways for Warranty Repairs
- No Xotic PC Gear

just over 1550$ NP8670.

 

[BradyT88]

That is pretty much a 17 inch version of the Sager NP8690. haha sweet. That may be the one.

EDIT: It's the 8760 and not the 8670 right?

 

[ares1214]

right, 8760. and some other laptops i linked MIGHT be a better deal.

 

[BradyT88]

I think I'm going to go with the 8690 that I first saw. After I take the OS off (I can get a student discount and get win 7 pro for $30) it is $1450 and all I lose from the 8760 is a couple inches on the screen. Thanks for all your help. I'm going to browse a bit more before I buy it though.