The launch of the Radeon HD 5800-series desktop parts puts the Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 three generations behind, yet cancellations of Asus' ill-fated Radeon HD 4870 X2-based W90VP notebook models may have once again put it at the top of AMD’s mobile graphics portfolio. It’s not like the competition has gotten tougher, since Nvidia's GeForce GTX 200M-series offerings are re-branded two generation-old desktop parts. And while we expect AMD to eventually put its newfound 2D energy efficiency to good use in a notebook GPU, we don’t like to hold our breath waiting for product announcements (an editor once popped a blood vessel doing this).
This was the harsh climate buyers faced a few months ago when Nvidia launched an efficiency-enhanced version of its desktop 8800 GTS 512 as a 1GB model named GTX 280M. The article that claimed high praise for its brutal honesty was equally panned for its lack of comparison to Mobility 4870 X2—a solution that, as ATI's mobile product page indicates, no longer technically exists. Several editors continued scouring the industry for anyone willing to pony up with ATI’s most powerful mobile graphics solution, and a multitude of requests were finally answered by an unlikely source when white-box supplier ASI stepped up to the plate.
Available with dual Mobility Radeon HD 3870 graphics cards for around $1,300, the only “catch” to the ASI IQ17 gaming notebook is that buyers must be willing to either install their own Socket P mobile CPU, DDR3 memory, and hard drives or source their system through one of ASI's reseller partners.
That values the hardware of our as-delivered test system to around $2,480, complete with a Core 2 Extreme X9100 CPU, two Toshiba MK3254GSY 320GB hard drives, and two Crucial CT25664BC1067 DDR3-1066 memory modules. If you have someone else order the same parts and add the operating system, expect to pay around $2,800-$3,000, including installation fees.
| ASI IQ17-D2 Configuration Options | |
|---|---|
| CPU | Intel Core 2 Duo/Quad/Extreme (Socket P Mobile) FSB-800/1066 |
| Chipset | Intel PM45-ICH9M-Enhanced |
| RAM | Up to 4GB DDR3-1066 or DDR3-800 |
| Graphics | ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 |
| Display | 17" WUXGA (1920x1200) |
| HDD | Up to two 2.5” (9.5mm thick) SATA 3.0 Gb/s HDD, RAID 0/1 |
| Sound | Integrated HD Audio |
| Wired LAN | Integrated Gigabit LAN |
| Wireless LAN | Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11n |
| Telephony | None |
| Bluetooth | Internal Bluetooth Module |
| Optical | H-L Data GSA-T50N 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD±RW, 5x DVD-RAM |
| Media Reader | Multi-format flash card interface |
| Webcam | 2.0 Megapixel |
| Expansion | ExpressCard/54 |
| USB 2.0 | Three ports (1-rear, 2-right) |
| IEEE-1394 | 1 x FireWire 400 (right-side) |
| eSATA | 1 x eSATA 3.0 Gb/s (rear) |
| Audio I/O | Headphone, Microphone, Digital Optical Out (right-side) |
| Video Out | 1 x VGA, 1 x HDMI (rear) |
| Battery | 12-cell 14.8V 6600mAh |
| Weight | Notebook 10.0 lbs (filled), Power Adapter 2.8 lbs, Total 12.8 pounds |
| Warranty | One-year parts and labor |
| Support | One-year online and telephone |
| Total Price | Approximately $1,300 w/o CPU, RAM, HDD |
- Introduction
- ASI IQ17 Details
- Hey ASI, Make It A D2, Please!
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: Crysis And Far Cry 2
- Benchmark Results: Clear Sky And World In Conflict
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Power, Efficiency, And Battery Life
- A Great (But Late) Start

Since the desktop versions already don't use a lot of power
but gives really good performance, they could totally rape Nvidia in a year
1920 x 1200 resolutions run smoothly,
i just have to tone the antialaising to like 2x or off on a few games like re5
its got pretty decent battery life (3 hours) and it doesnt hurt the wallet that much anyway.
Since the desktop versions already don't use a lot of power
but gives really good performance, they could totally rape Nvidia in a year
But the Power efficiency, and battery life page tells me enough that this is not a notebook I'm looking for,or ever buy!
45 minutes under load???
I hope you understand after a year the battery will have 80% of it's capacity.
A year later it's only 66%.
That means after 2 years you'd only get 25 minutes of battery life out of this machine!
"I would never buy a laptop with this poor of battery life"
or "Why would anyone try to play anything but solitaire on a Laptop? I could build a Desktop for far less".
Well, congratulations, a DTR style laptop doesn't suit your needs. There's still a market filled with people who relocate often (e.g. Military), or need a powerful machine to take to customer sites (which will have a power outlet btw), or even would buy one because they wipe their ass with 100s and just wanted something to take a friend's houses so they could game together.
hahahaha this is great
This laptop is actually a year old now, ASI is just new to selling it. It is the Alienware M17 (which can be bought for $700 now as a "recertified" (but brand new) system so screw ASI and their pricing...) as well as the now gone OCZ whitebook. Long story short, it is the Arime/Flextronics W840DI which has been out for a while. The best GPU's that will fit this notebook are a pair of 4850's which ONLY Alienware sold and ONLY for a short time (to clear stock of the laptop I think)
3870x2 Mobility will crush a GTX 280m so that is why I belive you did this test with Crossfire off (I can provide numbers if you need proof - I had an OCZ whitebook for about 6 months and now have an Alienware M17x)
As was stated by another user, except for very rare cases, the 3870x2 Mobility is easily enough for most modern games at high settings - I can provide sources for this as well.
Tom's needs to jump over to Notebook Review Forums and do some research themselves to make sure that their results seem right