ASI's IQ17-D2: Is Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 Still Fast Enough?

Test Settings

Our ASI IQ17-D2 configuration falls in price between the $5,000+ GeForce GTX 280M-equipped Eurocom D900F Panther and MSI’s $1,600 Radeon HD 4850-powered GT725-212US.

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Graphics Notebook Performance Details
ModelASI IQ17-D2Eurocom D900F PantherMSI GT725-212US
CPUIntel Core 2 Extreme X9100 3.06 GHz, Dual Cores FSB-1066, 6MB L2 CacheIntel Core i7 Extreme 965 3.20 GHz, Quad Cores QPI 6.4 GT/s, 8MB L3 CacheIntel Core 2 Quad Q9000 2.00 GHz, Quad Cores FSB-1066, 6MB L2 Cache
ChipsetIntel PM45/ICH9EMIntel X58/ICH10RIntel PM45/ICH9M
RAM4GB DDR3-1066 CAS 76GB DDR3-1066 CAS 74GB DDR2-800 CAS 6
GraphicsATI Mobility Radeon HD 3870 X2 660 MHz GPU, GDDR3-1700Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M 1GB 580 MHz GPU, GDDR3-1900ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB 500 MHz GPU, GDDR3-1700
HDD2 x Toshiba MK3254GSY RAID 0 320GB, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache2 x Seagate ST9500420AS RAID 0 500GB, 7,200 RPM, 16MB CacheWD Scorpio Black WD3200BEKT 320GB, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache
SoundIntegrated HD AudioIntegrated HD AudioIntegrated HD Audio
Wired LANIntegrated Gigabit LANIntegrated Gigabit LANIntegrated Gigabit LAN
Wireless LANIntel WiFi Link 5300 802.11nIntel WiFi Link 5300 802.11nAtheros AR928X 802.11n
OpticalH-L Data GSA-T50N DVD-RAM 8x DVD±R, 6x DVD±RW, 5x DVD-RAMPanasonic UJ-130 BD-ROM DVD±RW 2x BD-ROM, 8x DVD±R, 4x DVD±RWOptiarc BC-5500S BD-ROM DVD±RW 2x BD-ROM, 8x DVD±R, 4x DVD±RW
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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, No AA
Far Cry 2DirectX 10, in-game benchmark Test Set 1: Very High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra High Quality, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Clear SkyAverage of 4 segments "A-Tested Object' Test Set 1: High Preset, DirectX 10, EFDL, no MSAA Test Set 2: High Preset, DirectX 10, EFDL, 4xMSAA
World In ConflictPatch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo Test 1: Very High Details, No AA / No AF Test 2: Very High Details 4x AA / 16x AF
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes 8Version: 8.1.0.52 (x64) Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 min. Default format AAC
Lame MP3Version: 3.98 64-bit (07-04-2008) Audio CD "Terminator II" SE, 53 min., .wav to MP3
TMPG 4.6Version: 4.6.3.268 Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.8.5Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.2.1Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 8.5Version: 8.5.287, Virus database 2094, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90 x64Version 3.90 beta 2, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
WinZip 12Version 12.0, Compression = Best, WinZIP Command line Version 3.0, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1, 3DMark score
PCMark Vantagebenchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra 2009 SP3Version 2009.4.15.92, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
  • i have a 3870 x2 and its still rocking the new games great!
    1920 x 1200 resolutions run smoothly,
    i just have to tone the antialaising to like 2x or off on a few games like re5
    Reply
  • lashabane
    I love ASI's products.
    Reply
  • CoryInJapan
    That not bad for a gaming laptop.Could play COD4 and TF2 on there all day.
    Reply
  • lashabane
    There really needs to be an edit function.
    Reply
  • doomtomb
    Eurocom had some awesome performance but the power consumption is scary. You can't be away from an outlet for more than 45 minutes.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    i like my desktop for gaming but when i have to go someplace and its a long trip i use this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152126
    its got pretty decent battery life (3 hours) and it doesnt hurt the wallet that much anyway.
    Reply
  • curnel_D
    I'm an ASI partner, and I've been reselling these laptops since 2005. Most of their lineup are Brandless Compal (second largest OEM notebook supplier) notebooks. Not many score real high in the looks department, but the quality and durability is head and shoulders above the competition.
    Reply
  • melvis72
    I'd like to see a review on an Alienware M17x with Dual 280's or Dual 4870's just to see if all the money wasted is fast or not.
    Reply
  • liquidsnake718
    Not bad, I wouldnt get a laptop for gaming. Just get a mobile gaming device like a psp or dsi. I would rather play with a regular laptop than spend on a crazy laptop when I can just buy a ps3 or even build another great PC for that insane price. Crysis, COD5, STALKER and Fallout arent meant to be played with Laptops anyway on their max settings. You can play these in low or medium settings which is fine but I would never expect the world with even these mobile beasts.
    Reply
  • Ehsan w
    I suggest Ati drops whatever they have now, and start working on the mobility 5xxx series
    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
    Reply