Dual 512MB ATI HD 3870 CrossFireX vs Dual 512MB NVIDIA GeForce9800

ill keep this short, my alienware laptop was stolen i had 2 nvidia 7900 gs with 512mb

i only play world of warcraft but i want higher frames then my laptop had before

so im looking to order a new laptop and trying to decide between a few options

so can someone marks these from best to last for me

1) Dual 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® Go 8600M GT – SLI Enabled
2) Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT – SLI Enabled
3) Dual 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 - CrossFireX™ Enabled!

i think i need to try to look around more and see whats out there, i really did love my alienware thats why im leaning to them again

i need to find out what else is out there see if i can find something i like

thanks you have been very helpful

my alienware laptop that was stolen was an aurora m9700

- amd turion 2.2ghz 35w L2 1mb
- PDP 1gb ddr pc3200 sodimm aw90 x2
- 9700 nvidia 7900 gs with 512mb x2 with sli
- vista 32bit

the 2gigs of ram hurt pretty bad with vista because i run a ton of mods on wow and use vent at the same time, so i dont want to go any lower then 4gigs this time

all i do on my laptop is play world of warcraft use ventrilo sometimes aim and browse the internet thats all. All my music pics and so on is on my desktop

soo iv never heard of sager but i looked over there site and they look pretty nice


so this is the 2 i am considering right now

SAGER

Display: 17" Wide Viewing Angles WUXGA LCD with Super Glossy Surface (1920 x 1200)[+$95.00]
- Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor E8500 / 6MB L2 Cache, 3.16GHz, 1333MHz FSB
- Video & Graphics Card: Dual Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTX Graphics with 1GB DDR3 Video Memory in SLI mode[+$745.00]
- Operating System: Genuine MS Windows® VISTA Home Premium 32/64-Bit Edition
- Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 800MHz - 2 X 2048MB
- RAID Storage Options: Non-RAID Storage
- Primary Hard Disk Drive: 250GB 7200rpm SATA 300 Hard Drive
- Optical Drive: 8X DVD±R/RW/4X +DL Super-Multi Drive & Software
- Wireless Network Card: Intel Wi-Fi Link 5300AGN - 802.11A/B/G/N Wireless LAN Module
- Bluetooth: Internal Bluetooth Module
- Primary Battery: Smart Li-ION Battery Pack
- Microsoft Office: Microsoft Office Ready with Free 60-Day Trial
- Warranty: Sager 1 Year Limited Parts and Labor Warranty with Three-Day Shipping Both Ways Paid
- Carrying Bag: Standard Carrying Bag

Sub-Total:$3,389.00

Alienware

-17" WideUXGA 1920 x 1200 LCD (1200p) with Clearview Technology –
Black Includes AlienFX® Illuminated Keyboard
- Dual 512MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 9800M GT – SLI Enabled
- Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T8100 2.1GHz (3MB Cache 800MHz FSB)
- 4GB« Dual Channel DDR2 SO-DIMM at 667MHz – 2 x 2048MB
- Windows Vista® Home Premium with Service Pack 1
- Single Drive Configuration
160GB 7,200RPM (8MB Cache) w/ Free Fall Protection
- 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
- Intel® Turbo Memory (1GB) – Accelerate Data Transfer Speed
- Internal Intel® Wireless 4965 a/b/g/Draft-N Mini-Card
- Internal High-Definition Audio with surround sound

Subtotal: $3,299.00

The 9800mGTX is about equivalent to a 9800GT on a desktop, I think, which can trump the 8800GT by a fair amount.

The 9800mGTX's on the Sager unit are each equipped with 1GB of RAM, making the total 2x1GB. The alienware unit DOES NOT have 1GB of VRAM - this is the most common mistake when considering SLI setups! Even though you have two cards that have 512MB of memory, you do not have 1GB of memory at your disposal, as each card can only use 512MB of it. Therefore, to be correct, you have 2x512MB of memory. The Sager unit, therefore, has more VRAM and more powerful GPUs.

Mat.... Warcraft can run adequately on Intel integrated graphics. You don't need SLI....

To put things in perspective, about a year ago, my father had me fix a driver issue he had on a cheap ass Dell laptop he purchased for about 600 dollars refurbished. It had an an ATI graphics card in it, but not a gaming class card or anything... something around a HD 3450. The laptop was able to run WoW perfectly at native res, with the details turned up.

If you look at this chart:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobil [...] 844.0.html

Anything posting a 3DMark of 4000 or higher will run WoW smoothly.

That said, most "gaming" laptops have at least a 9600m GT in them, and will produce a 3DMark of at least 5k or so.

For the games I play personally, which includes a few that are more shader intensive than WoW is, I wouldn't go with anything less than a 9800m GS... but don't even consider SLI an option since it adds too much heat, power consumption, size, and noise to a laptop.

About your brother's laptop, according to Crucial the Aurora m9700 can only take 2gb of RAM MAX. It has two DIMM slots, but they can only take up to 1gb sticks each.

For the GPU's it is not likely. He may be able to upgrade to 7950GTX's, but I would not expect anything more. He is also going to pay an arm and a leg for them.

hi , sorry for jumping like this ,

I wanne buy a laptop for playing games and I was looking at alienware laptops
and found this :
[1] M17®

Design & Display: Black Ripley Design
Display: 17-inch WideXGA+ 1440 x 900 LCD (720p)
Graphics Processor : Dual 512MB ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 3870 – CrossFireX™ Enabled!
Processor: Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T9400 2.53GHz (6MB Cache 1066MHz FSB)
Fingerprint Reader: Integrated Biometric Fingerprint Reader
Keyboard Options: Non-Illuminated Keyboard - English
Memory: 4GB Dual Channel DDR3 SO-DIMM at 1067MHz - 2 x 2048MB
System Drive: Single Drive Configuration - 160GB 7200 RPM SATA with Free Fall Protection
Operating System: Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium - English
Optical Drives: 8x Dual Layer Burner (DVD±RW, CD-RW)
Wireless Network Card: Internal Realtek Wireless LAN b/g Mini Card
Sound Hardware: Internal High-Definition Audio with Surround Sound
Warranty: AlienCare 1-Year Free Phone 24/7 and Collect & Return
AlienContact: Added Bonus with any AlienSupport Selection
AlienContact - Remote Alienware Support
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mobile Binder
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Owner Identification Card
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mesh Cap
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Mousepad
Alienware Extras: Alienware® Sticker
Alienware Extras: M17 Keyboard Diagram Overlay
Alienware Extras: M17 Protective Cloth Sleeve
Avatar: Alienhead 3D
Window Style: Default Vista Window Style
Mouse Pointers: Standard Mouse Pointers
Power Plan: Balanced
Automatic Updates: Automatic Updates On
Time Zones: (GMT + 00.00) Dublin, Edinburgh, Lisbon, London

costs 1927.53 euro

and an other
G71 C2D dual core whit 4 gb ram 6404 n9700M a 1830 euro

whats best to buy cos aim afraid of the costumer support at alienware the last 1 has 3 y warranty included the alien ware 1 not.

... any suggestions.

Go for the SAGER NP9262 instead,its more powerful + better build quality and cheaper.

www.xoticpc.com