Can SLI in a Notebook Beat Desktop Graphics?
Introduction
The world of mobile computing has been evolving over the past few decades. There are many variations to fit the nature of the need. Some are highly portable, with extended battery life. But while portability has been the aim of most designs, some users find power wanting.
Desktop replacement notebooks are the most powerful portable systems available, but they represent the smallest segment of the mobile computing market..We have seen the power mobile systems such as the Dell XPS M1710 and the Eurocom D900K F-Bomb offered, which could meet the performance requirements of those looking for maximum frame rates while on the road. While those two notebooks employed a single graphics processor, how well does a system with dual graphics perform? That answer comes in the form of Nvidia's Mobile GeForce Go 7800GTX processors in SLI. We received iBuyPower's Battalion-101 SC-650 SLI notebook for testing and the numbers show that this is no ordinary product. It is the largest notebook and by far has the most graphics firepower of all the mobile systems we have tested thus far.
About IBuypower And Battalion SC-650 SLI
The Battalion SC-650 SLI is one hell of a notebook: It is large and heavy.
Located in Monterey Park, Calif., iBuyPower is a subsidiary of the American Future Technology Corp. With seven years of experience in the computer industry, iBuyPower is a high-end system manufacturing company that offers gaming desktops, workstations and you guessed it, notebooks. iBuyPower has a wide range of mobile platforms ranging from lightweight ultra-portable laptops to power-hungry desktop replacements such as the Battalion SC-650 SLI.
Systems such as desktop replacements are just what their name implies: substitutes. The ability to have the same computational horsepower with you 24/7 and wherever you are can be a comfort to those who need such a machine. Gamers like systems like these when their need for portability is a must. It is more common to see gaming notebooks at events like LAN parties and even professional tournaments.
Here is a closer look at the cooling solution for the processor and the graphics cards. This is also one reason it weighs so much.
Desktop replacements not only have sufficient CPU capabilities, but offer features such as large displays, RAID arrays and even dual-graphics solutions. Desktop replacement systems usually come equipped with either a desktop processor or the most powerful mobile processor. Armed with an AMD Mobile Turion 64 ML-44 running at 2.4 GHz and 2 GB of memory, the Battalion is ready for anything that comes its way.
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As we mentioned earlier, the system has dual Nvidia GeForce Go 7800GTX graphics processors connected together via SLI to give the blistering performance for gaming on the road. The Battalion has many other components to make it just as versatile as its smaller mobile systems, which we will look at next.