8 gig vs 6 gig of ram

[tridon52]

Hello,
Looking at a new toshiba qosmio laptop with the new sandy bridge intel (2ghz i7 2630QM) chip and windows 7 64bit. Also has the nvidia 460 m 1.5 gb gddr5 video card. Anyone see a benefit in spending 300 more dollars to upgrade from 6 gb of ddr 1333 to 8 gb of ddr 1333? The hardest thing i will do with the laptop is play world of warcraft. Hopefully on ultra settings. Basically TOSHIBA Qosmio X505-Q8104 for 1900.00 v/s TOSHIBA Qosmio X505-Q8102 for 1600.00 Thanks...

 

[WR2]

$300 for 2GB more RAM will not get you anything like an extra $300s worth of overall performance increase.
If all else is pretty much equal it's not a good value for you.

 

[tridon52]

Thanks for the feedback. The 1900.00 Qosmio comes with another hard drive to total 1 TB but the single is already 640 GB. I REALLY dont need more than 640 GB.

Toshiba forces you to make a decision now because they fill all the ram slots with the 6GB config. To upgrade later means replacing all your ram.

 

[WR2]

For $300 I'd suggest looking into getting a nice SSD for your boot drive. That would get you a nice performance boost in many scenarios.
What other CPU options do you have? And what prices do they want for the upgrades?

 

[tridon52]

These were just released on monday so no options for CPU or SSD upgrades yet. I'm sure they will come along in the next few weeks though.

 

[tridon52]

The laptop has 2 HD bays so i could add an SSD myself. Would you suggest a small SSD for just the OS then everything else on the SATA HD? Or OS and all programs installed on the SSD and storage on the SATA HD?

 

[tridon52]

These are the specs. I hope it formats correctly. COPY AND PASTE.
Brand TOSHIBA
Series Qosmio
Model X505-Q8102
Part# PQX34U-00M00V General
Color Black
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU Type Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz
Screen 18.4"
Memory Size 6GB DDR3
Hard Disk 640GB
Optical Drive BD Combo
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Video Memory 1.5GB GDDR5
Communication Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card slot 1 x Express Card
Battery Life 3.5 hours
Dimensions 17.40" x 11.60" x 1.63" - 1.83"
Weight 10.1 lbs. CPU
CPU Type Intel Core i7
CPU Speed 2630QM(2.00GHz)
CPU Support 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost Technology
6MB L3 Cache Chipset
Chipset Intel HM65 Display
Screen Size 18.4"
Wide Screen Support Yes
Resolution 1920 x 1080
LCD Features TruBrite technology Operating Systems
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Graphics
GPU/VPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Video Memory 1.5GB GDDR5
Graphic Type Dedicated Card Hard Drive
HDD 640GB
HDD RPM 7200rpm
HDD Interface SATA
HDD Spec TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor) Memory
Memory 6GB
Memory Speed DDR3 1333
Memory Spec 4GB x 1+2GB x 1
Memory Type 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM
Memory Slot (Total) 2
Memory Slot (Available) 0
Max Memory Supported 8GB Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type BD Combo
Optical Drive Interface Integrated
Optical Drive Spec Blu-Ray Disc (BD-ROM) and DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 12 formats
- Maximum speed and compatibility: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (24x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-R DL (8x), DVD-RW (8x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+R DL (6x), DVD+RW (8x), DVD-RAM (5x), BD-ROM (6x)
- Supports Labelflash media to burn high quality labels directly on the disc. Communications
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN
Bluetooth Bluetooth version 3.0 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Ports
Card Slot 1 x ExpressCard slot (ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54)
USB 4 x USB (3 USB + 1 eSATA/USB combo)
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port 1 x VGA
HDMI 1 x HDMI
Audio Ports 1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack Audio
Audio Dolby Home Theater
Built-in microphone
Speaker Built-in harman/kardon stereo speakers Input Device
Touchpad Touch pad pointing device with multi-touch control
Keyboard Premium LED Backlit Keyboard with 10-Key (Black) Supplemental Drive
Card Reader Memory Card Reader
Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card [shared slot]
Webcam Yes


Brand TOSHIBA
Series Qosmio
Model X505-Q8104
Part# PQX34U-00N00V General
Color Black
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
CPU Type Intel Core i7-2630QM 2.0GHz
Screen 18.4"
Memory Size 8GB DDR3
Hard Disk 1TB
Optical Drive BD Combo
Graphics Card NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Video Memory 1.5GB GDDR5
Communication Gigabit LAN and WLAN
Card slot 1 x Express Card
Battery Life 3.5 hours
Dimensions 17.40" x 11.60" x 1.63" - 1.83"
Weight 10.1 lbs. CPU
CPU Type Intel Core i7
CPU Speed 2630QM(2.00GHz)
CPU Support 2.9GHz with Turbo Boost Technology
6MB L3 Cache Chipset
Chipset Intel HM65 Display
Screen Size 18.4"
Wide Screen Support Yes
Resolution 1920 x 1080
LCD Features TruBrite technology Operating Systems
Operating System Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Graphics
GPU/VPU NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M
Video Memory 1.5GB GDDR5
Graphic Type Dedicated Card Hard Drive
HDD 1TB (500GBx2)
HDD RPM 7200rpm
HDD Interface SATA
HDD Spec 500GB (7200 RPM) Serial ATA hard disk drive
500GB (7200 RPM) Hybrid 4G Serial ATA hard disk drive
TOSHIBA Hard Drive Impact Sensor (3D sensor) Memory
Memory 8GB
Memory Speed DDR3 1333
Memory Spec 4GB x 2
Memory Type 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM
Memory Slot (Total) 2
Memory Slot (Available) 0
Max Memory Supported 8GB Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type BD Combo
Optical Drive Interface Integrated
Optical Drive Spec Blu-Ray Disc (BD-ROM) and DVD SuperMulti drive with Labelflash supporting 12 formats
- Maximum speed and compatibility: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (24x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (8x), DVD-R DL (8x), DVD-RW (8x), DVD+R (8x), DVD+R DL (6x), DVD+RW (8x), DVD-RAM (5x), BD-ROM (6x)
- Supports Labelflash media to burn high quality labels directly on the disc. Communications
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
WLAN 802.11b/g/n wireless LAN
Bluetooth Bluetooth version 3.0 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR) Ports
Card Slot 1 x ExpressCard slot (ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54)
USB 4 x USB (3 USB + 1 eSATA/USB combo)
IEEE 1394 1
Video Port 1 x VGA
HDMI 1 x HDMI
Audio Ports 1 x Microphone jack; 1 x Headphone jack Audio
Audio Dolby Home Theater
Built-in microphone
Speaker Built-in harman/kardon stereo speakers Input Device
Touchpad Touch pad pointing device with multi-touch control
Keyboard Premium LED Backlit Keyboard with 10-Key (Black) Supplemental Drive
Card Reader Memory Card Reader
Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO, Multi Media Card [shared slot]
Webcam Yes

 

[WR2]

To be honest I'd suggest just waiting till you have the system in hand, running and tested to see how well it performs for you. If you're happy with how it runs (and I think you will be) there won't be any reason to spring for the SSD. You can always do the upgrade later.

Does the 1TB model have two 500GB Momentus XT Hybrid Flash HDDs?

 

[WR2]

500GB (7200 RPM) Hybrid 4G Serial ATA hard disk drive

Yes they are. There is 4GB Flash storage in addition to the 500GB mechanical storage. That accounts for about half the $300 price difference right there.

 

[WR2]

Seagate Momentus XT 500GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache 4GB SLC Flash Solid State Hybrid Drive
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148591

 

[tridon52]

I missed that. So with this config you would install the OS on the 4GB SLC Flash Solid State Hybrid Drive?

 

[JackNaylorPE]

New Sandy Bridge laptops are out

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/65313-35-sandy-bridge-laptops

 

[tridon52]

JackNaylorPE - Thanks for the info.

 

[WR2]

No, you'd use the Hybrid drive just the same as any HDD. It just has that added 4GB of flash storage and it 'learns' how you use your OS/software and keeps frequently used stuff in the flash storage.
Seagate's Momentus XT Reviewed, Finally a Good Hybrid HDD

 

[tridon52]

I see. I really appreciate all of the good info. All in all it sounds like the 1900.00 Toshiba will be a little faster but not because of the extra ram. The speed comes from the Hybrid drive.

 

[WR2]

HP dv7-4290us Core i7-2630QM 2.0Ghz SB CPU 17.3" 1600x900 LCD & Mobility Radeon HD 6570 6GB RAM 1TB HDD $1150

Mobility Radeon HD 6570 review; performance close to Mobility HD 5730/5770 and not too far off GTX 260M

 

[deathking]

Hi Walmart has the X505-Q8104 for $1,698.00 so that is the one I went with. I don't think you can go wrong with either. My thought was the 8102 $1599.00 with $100.00 for 8GB RAM is the same cost and still would not have the extra hard drive.

 

[tridon52]

Thanks for all the good info everyone. While I was in the Walmart shopping cart newegg called and offered free shipping and 100.00 off. I went that route and avoided 160.00 in taxes. LOL

DeathKing: How do you like the new Qosmio?

 

[stpdiddy]

Hello!

I want to buy Qosmio Q8104 through a friend who lives in US. I live in Turkey, prices here are about $3500-4000.

8 GB of RAM and 1TB HDD sounds great.
Do you have any idea when those prices are going to be lowered in US?

 

[tridon52]

I'm not sure. Some of the 1st gen i7 Qosmios are still the same price as these new ones.

 

[rogueknight]

Toshiba Laptops

I can easily solve this issue, The 8102 is recalled for the faulty sandy bridge chip and is no longer offered by toshiba. I had the 8102 (which was an AWESOME laptop and I never had any problems with it, ran so well I thought it might have been a mac lol). I had to send it back due to the recall. There are two new choices the x505 8104 and the x500-930x. The only differences between the two are the 8104 has one 7200 hybrid hard drive and a regular 7200 hard drive where the 930 has two regular 7200 hard drives. The 930 does however come with windows 7 professional and the 8104 come with windows 7 home (which is what the 8102 came with and I have the upgrade to pro so wasn't a selling point for me). And for those that want to get nit picky the 930 is 99 cents cheaper than the 8104. Needless to say I replaced my 8102 with the 8104. Note anyone having to send thier 8102 back can get toshiba to discount the price of the 8104 or 930 (930 is back ordered 4 weeks where 8104 is currently in stock) where you only pay about $110 (1709.10 for the 930 and 1709.99 for the 8104) more for the new laptop. They won't offer it you gotta ask for the reduced price. I don't know where you guys found one at walmart I have checked and they don't have these models in the walmart inventory that I can find.

Good luck all!

 

[NickNC100]

No, you'd use the Hybrid drive just the same as any HDD. It just has that added 4GB of flash storage and it 'learns' how you use your OS/software and keeps frequently used stuff in the flash storage.
Seagate's Momentus XT Reviewed, Finally a Good Hybrid HDD

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/seagatemomentusxt_052410010728/23019.png

Google "Momentus XT Problems" to get a feel for all the problems you're in for with that hybrid drive -- chirping, power consumption, unreliability, wake from sleep problems, and outright failures, to name a few.