Tonight I order my notebook!

[papasmurf]

tonight I'm ordering my inspiron 600m

it's specs are 1.7ghz centrino, 768mb ddr, the 64mb m9000 and 60gb hdd and I'm springing for the dvdrw too now if I can just wait a month for it's delivery...

Join the TomsHardware IRC channel <A HREF="http://skulls.sytes.net/tom/ " target="_new">http://skulls.sytes.net/tom/ </A>

 

[superboss]

Cool man,
I just ordered the 8600 15.4 WSXGA
1gig ram, 128 Nvidia, 64gig hdd(7200rpm)
now for my long wait

 

[superboss]

Surprisingly I ordered mine On a monday
and it was shipped on the wednesday?
Im not complaining so far,.....so far

 

[RaPTuRe]

...mmm, you can get fangui at <A HREF="http://www.diefer.de" target="_new">Diefer's Website</A>. I would DEFINITELY recommend it. It is an invaluable tool for any Dell. While you are there, get SpeedSwitchXP - also invalueable.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[superboss]

Cool thanks guys.

**update**

My Inspiron arrived Tuesday!! Weird, took only 8 days from order to arrival?

So far I am extremely happy with my laptop. The 1680 X 1050 screen is more than big enough.

The screen definately does not have a lack luster look to it. Especially once you set the Contrast/Brightness and million of other fine tuning settings for the graphics card.

So far my only complaints about the laptop is not related to the Inspiron but rather all laptops. I now have to pack up and carry my pc around again. Oh well at least I can continue my 3d games at work if I get a chance.

It is very quite and fast.

If anybody wonders what to buy, I can recommend this laptop.
And dont let the nvidia slams worry you. A few percent less performance will not be noticeable anyway.

any questions I would be glad to answer,

see ya

 

[RaPTuRe]

Awesome!

That is cool. Is it the 1.7GHz one (you didn't say), give us a few benchies of that GFFXGo. Thanks man,

RaPTuRe

Don't forget that you will only get full battery life after about 10 - 15 charge/discharge cycles

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[RaPTuRe]

Awesome!

That is cool. Is it the 1.7GHz one (you didn't say), give us a few benchies of that GFFXGo. Thanks man,

RaPTuRe

Don't forget that you will only get full battery life after about 10 - 15 charge/discharge cycles

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[superboss]

Its the 1.6.

I did a benchmark using the default nvidia settings set for quality and not performance and it got 9843 3D MARKS
using dx 8.1

so thats amazing enough for me.

I will also download the latest nvidia drivers
and also dx9 and set the nvidia settings to performance and post the results

bye for now

 

[superboss]

OK, I am totally fu%@ing impressed now.
I installed dx9b and set nvidia to performance as apposed to
quality, and it got 10201 3D Marks

wow!!

I dont really know what that means, except people
say breaking the 10k limit is hard.

see ya


Opel Superboss, now that was a car!

 

[superboss]

My previous 3dMark results were based on 3dmark2000,
I have just re-ran the tests in 3dmark2001 se build 330, and
now my results have dropped a bit. It now scores
a 10048 3d marks using 1024 X 768, 32Bit color.

Is this considered good?

thanks


Opel Superboss, now that was a car!

 

[RaPTuRe]

Yes, but 3DMark 2001SE is not really the GFFX's strong point. I mean my latitude D800 gets 12000 3DMarks in 2001. See what score you get in 2003 (which in itself isn't a very good benchmark, but it is good for comparing dx9 compliant cards). Thats awesome. Do you think u could run HDTach on your HDD and tell us what the maximum throughput is of the 7200rpm monster (well, little monster )?

Sounds superb, I am glad you are impressed.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[superboss]

ok, I will find the program on the net somewhere and run it.
I partitioned my HDD to 5gig:C and 55 well actually 51gig, will that make a difference on the HDD benchmark tests?


Opel Superboss, now that was a car!

 

[superboss]

HDD Results.
I used HD Tach 2.7
I ran the test about 10 times.
Mostly the results were roughly the same, but sometimes
the results were quite lower???

Anyway here is my best test run.
Random Access Time 14.1 ms
Read Burst Speed 85.4 MB/s
Read Speed Max 42.1 MB/s
Read Speed Min 20.8 MB/s
CPU Utilization 5.0

Please let me know how this compares to
4500 and 5400 rpm drives?

thanks


Opel Superboss, now that was a car!

 

[okietex]

Tested on my PowerPro C3:16 .. Pentium M 1.5 Ghz, 512 MB Ram, 40 GB 5400 RPM hdd

Ran 11 tests ... here's my best ...

Random Access Time 18.8 ms
Read Burst Speed 82.8 MB/s
Read Speed Max 27.1 MB/s
Read Speed Min 9.5 MB/s
CPU Utilization 4 %

-ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

 

[RaPTuRe]

Thats not bad. 40MB/s thats slightly better than desktop 5400rpm drives. I'm impressed!

My 40GB 5400rpm:
Random Access: 17.6ms
Read Burst Speed: 86MB/s
Read Speed (beginning): 28.3MB/s
Read Speed (end): 8.4MB/s
CPU Utilization: 6%

Dell Latitude D800 - Pentium M 1.6GHz, GeForce 4 Go 4200, 640MB PC2700, 40GB 5400rpm IBM TravleStar

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[okietex]

Rapture, Superboss -

I find all this stuff so much fun!!! I installed that HD Tach on a desktop system I just built ... geez, look at these scores:

P4 2.8 HT, 1gb PC3500 (2x512) dual channel, 2x160gb SATAs in RAID1, etc... fairly nice sys!

Random Access Time: 13.7 ms | 14.1 ms
Read Burst Speed: 109.6 MB/s | 80.2 MB/s
Read Speed Max: 64.9 mb/s | 60.3 mb/s
Read Speed Min: 16.1 mb/s | 29.2 mb/s
CPU Utilization: 3.1% | 11.5 %

the numbers to the right above past the "|" sign are on a Dell Dimension 8100 P4 1.3 Ghz w/ a brand new 160 GB IDE HDD and is very clean -- running 1gb RDRAM etc... Actually, those numbers aren't too bad. We ran it against an "old-used" hard drive that has tons of usage and the speeds are about 1/2 (and not in a "good" way!!)

Then, I ran this on an older lappie with a 4200 rpm drive.

--edit-- PIII 800mhz, 512mb ram, 20 gb 4200 rpm HDD (2+ yrs)

Random Access Time: 18.8 ms
Read Burst Speed: 31.2 MB/s
Read Speed Max: 18.3 mb/s
Read Speed Min: 5.4 mb/s
CPU Utilization: 4.9%

So -- what other benchmarking software should we use to test these babies out. I don't want to pay for any of it and I know the following:

3DMark
Sandra
and there's a new one out but can't find it.

any others we should try out?
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by okietex on 11/15/03 00:03 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[RaPTuRe]

P4 2.8 HT, 1gb PC3500 (2x512) dual channel, 2x160gb SATAs in RAID1, etc... fairly nice sys!

Random Access Time: 13.7 ms | 14.1 ms
Read Burst Speed: 109.6 MB/s | 80.2 MB/s
Read Speed Max: 64.9 mb/s | 60.3 mb/s
Read Speed Min: 16.1 mb/s | 29.2 mb/s
CPU Utilization: 3.1% | 11.5 %

Wait a minute... those 2 SATA 160GB HDDs, they are in a RAID1 config. Shouldn't that effectively almost double read performance? I mean, I am setting up a RAID 0 system on my main server in mid December with 2 Western Digital 60GB 7200rpm HDDs. Just one of them is capable of reaching 62MB/s Read Speed at the beginning of the drive. I'm really hoping for about 100MB/s Read to compliment it's Gigabit NIC (140MB/s).

Anyway: Do you mean to bench HDDs? or to bench the Entire System.

For HDDs, you can use ZD Winbench (is quite cool)
For Everything else, there is MetaBench - is actually a nice suite for CPU/Chipset Performance - ScienceMark, Cinebench and CacheMem.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[okietex]

Hey RaPTuRe ... RAID1 will be slower than RAID0 ... as RAID1 will have some redundancy if one disk fails then you can replace and rebuilt the RAID. But, you do take some performance loss with RAID1 ... but on RAID0 it stripes and is supposed to be faster on RAID0 BUT you lose redundancy. So, if a drive fails ... you lose data on each drive.

If you do RAID0 on those drives in theory you should achieve faster i/o speeds but you don't gain any redundancy.

And, i think you're right on the read performance as it should be doubled on a RAID1 .. but I am somewhat skeptical of really achieving what they say you can. If they say 150 mb/s then i'd say 80% of that would be good. (that % is just out of my head ... only what I think ... don't have any data to back it up - just thinking out loud here)

So, I know on my other system (in my sig) is on RAID0 and it didn't perform as well as the system I tested that I just built. However, I think that HD TACH program and the hard drive(s) really has a difference when the HDD is used a lot and/or fragmented etc. That's my excuse to myself anyway!!

As far as benches is concerned ... I was thinking about SYSTEM BENCHES ... not just HDDs.

BTW, I bought a SAGER 5680 ... yeah, I know - call me nuts but I bought it for my dad. Got it yesterday -- so far, this is an unbelievable machine. Running Wi-Fi G right now on a P4 3.0 Ghz HT, 1gb DualChannel Ram (PC???) and this super-sweet UXGA screen @ 1600x1200 which is just pretty!!! Also, running on dual batteries and weight-wise, this isn't bad. I'm measuring the battery life as I type this to see what I can really expect.

If I get a chance and don't know if I will, I want to bench this with my other PowerPro system as well.

I'll check out that MetaBench ... thanks.

-ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

 

[RaPTuRe]

Yes well the performance is somewhat dependant on the controller in a RAID 1 config. I don't give a damn about data redundancy, I mean RAID 0 isn't really "RAID" at all. But it is fast - and that's what I need. The system that it is for is the server that I use at LAN parties, so it needs about 100MB/s of ideal disk throughput if some 50 or 60 odd people are going to be simultaneously accessing its files. I don't care much about redundancy, just speed.

It also depends on how its set up, I mean if it is a standard ATA set up, to get anything more than 100MB/s you would need to use two separate IDE channels.

HDTach doesn't care about fragments, it just reads data from start to finish of the drive - i.e. fragments don't make a diff. lol, I think u need to find a new excuse...

About the Sager... At least it seems to be pleasing you. But you can't tell me that that thing isn't heavy or hot. What I really want to try out is one of those Voodoo Athlon64 MTR (M:855 i think it is), Mobility Radeon 9600 Pro notebooks -those things FLY!

cool, bring in the benchies...

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[okietex]

makes sense for you on the raid0 then ... and you're right, the controller does make a difference.

the controllers i'm using for both of these desktop systems are on the abit ic7-g mobo and then the ic7-max3 mobo. using the south bridge/intel raid ...
And, if you have other systems around, try using hd tach and seeing how it performs on an used/older hdd that has data, frags etc... and see how it performs compared to a brand new one -- there's a difference. Even on the same machine using two separate ports, there was a ton of difference on the performance compared to the new drive and the old drive.
Also, THG has an article out on SATA RAID compared to SCSI ... haven't read it all but looks really interesting.

From my use of the SAGER ...it isn't heavy. I could put this in a bag or backpack and walk around with it -- it's not that bad. And, for heat .... it's not hot. I got 2 hrs of battery life out of it last night running on the dual battery setup and that's not great but it's better than I expected and I didn't expect good battery life on this system. But, the system seems solid, build quality seems solid and very sturdy ... and the screen is beautiful.

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

 

[RaPTuRe]

yeah, I read the article on SATA RAID last night - great timing Tom! But anyway, It is very interesting, and got tons of good information. Took almost 2 hours to go through it all.

I don't want to disagree with you here, and I know its just a personal opinion, but the Sager 5680 is heavy. You can't deny that it is a bulky notebook! It is all very well to "put in a bag or backpack and walk around with it", but the main reason for a notebook isn't just so you can use it in one room or another, it is supposed to be portable. I'm not saying that Sager Notebooks aren't, but ANY notebook that weighs over 3kg is heavy, let alone a Sager 5680 that weighs in at almost 5kg with 2 batteries.

If I've been walking around campus with just my notebook in the bag (no charger), for the better part of the day - I definitely feel it, plus I sometimes put books in the bag too which doesn't exactly 'aid' my shoulder. The point is, my D800 is only 2.9kg and it gets heavy after a long day, can you imagine a Sager 5680 after that? Not to mention that you would have to take the ac adapter everywhere you go anyway.

As for heat, it all depends on usage. The only reason I could fathom anyone having a 3GHz notebook is because they really need the processing power. Thus if you 'really need the processing power', you are going to utilise the CPU to its capacity. And when you do, it will get hot - it has to: you have a 3GHz cpu with a thermal footprint greater than that of the hottest running AthlonXP?? I mean those things require 500g HSFs just to keep them running at 40'C (at full usage)!

No matter though, everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

Now how about some benchies?

RaPs

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

 

[okietex]

Patience on the benchies ... I'll get to them.

Well, I don't run around mobile a lot anyway - basically use it on my lap (with a lapdesk for all my notebooks) and don't walk around a ton SO i really don't have that experience. I'd probably agree with you if I had to walk around campuses or airports etc... all week and tote "whatever" around, it would get tiresome and I'd feel the weight.

But, just comparing it while going from room to room in my house and comparing my 4 lb to the 8 lb ... there is a difference but in my opinion it's not that bad! However, I'm going a few feet and not hundreds of yards or even a mile or so like you on campus.

ok ... will try to bench some today/tomorrow and see what happens!!

peace out... -ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

 

[RaPTuRe]

Cool, thanks.

The new 5680s got the 9600Pro in right? Pay special attention to that

RaPs

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?