Eurocom’s Core i7 Notebook: Walking The Panther

Features
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Conclusion

Eurocom’s Core i7-based D900F Panther takes a huge performance lead over mobile Core 2 Quad based technology, but at the cost of some battery run time and some portability. Yet, what many buyers might not have expected is that its graphics solution didn’t provide the same level of superiority, leaving this $5,000+ “ultimate performance” notebook behind even our low-cost portable desktop PC. It’s no small wonder then that when Eurocom pairs the best notebook graphics with the best desktop processor, it labels the system a mobile workstation rather than the ultimate gaming platform. Kudos to Eurocom for playing that one upfront.

But where does that leave MSI’s gaming notebook? Unfortunately, GT725-212US buyers must further sacrifice game detail levels below even the moderate settings supported by the D900F to achieve playability. But MSI does have one advantage over Eurocom:

A 71% performance increase adds 235% to the price of Eurocom’s D900F Panther, leaving it with only half the value of MSI’s GT725-212US. Once again, Eurocom probably made the right choice by labeling its gamer as a workhorse.

With a Core i7 CPU and triple-channel memory, the D900F Panther is nearly a perfect match to its mobile workstation theme, lacking only the Quadro FX 3700M option Eurocom said it would offer. Those who don’t need Quadro FX graphics may still want to wait until Eurocom finds a solution to its dual-link display capability, however.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
33 Comments Comment from the forums
  • lemonade4
    I really don't understand the point of this review. The two products in here are so different from each other.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    lemonade4I really don't understand the point of this review. The two products in here are so different from each other.
    Second fastest mobile processor vs second-fastest desktop processor, it shows the weakness of mobile CPUs AND the weakness of the latest notebook GPU's.

    It had to be compared to something...and it's the only notebook platform available with Core i7 so you can forget about that type of comparison.

    The real point of picking the MSI notebook was to compare the HD 4850 to the GTX 280m. None of Tom's Hardware's suppliers were able to deliver an HD 4870 notebook.
    Reply
  • the brick: 20 volt x 11 ampere is merely 220 watt?

    I'm not that familiar with those kinds of power supply, but isn't that way to low for these kinds of hardware setups?
    Reply
  • Crashman
    bodyglovethe brick: 20 volt x 11 ampere is merely 220 watt?I'm not that familiar with those kinds of power supply, but isn't that way to low for these kinds of hardware setups?
    Did you look at the power draw numbers on Page 12?
    Reply
  • falchard
    I think the point of the review is to show how much the Eurocon $5000 model is a waste of money. The MSI model should have been so outclassed in every aspect, yet it managed to be competitive at lower power envelops.
    Just look at the game selection, 2 games based on the same engine that heavily favor nVidia Architecture and 1 that is more processor bound.
    Reply
  • mike989
    I think the main problem with this review is, that people forget that Laptop's are designed to be portable, you obviously loose some performance. It’s a compromise between battery life and performance.
    Reply
  • scook9
    These 2 laptop articles today have only made me more and more happy with my Flextronics/Arima W840DI (thats an Alienware M17 for the less informed - I got it barebones though). Coming in at around $2500 now, I have 3870x2, a QX9300 (ES but still latest revision - TY ebay), 4GB DDR3 and 2 320GB 7200RPM hdd's. My system is slightly more capable than the eurocom above for gaming but of course is crushed in the CPU oriented benchmarks (not that mine does badly). Given that I am paying half as much for a smaller and lighter notebook, OK by me.
    Reply
  • sublifer
    Some of the productivity benchmarks are also likely helped by the DF900's RAIDed hdd set up vs the single hdd. Not sure if you forgot about that but I thought it would help to remind people.
    Reply
  • scook9
    well the m17 (w840di) can do raid as well, albeit, only across 2 drives.
    Reply
  • xi1inx
    Eurocom is reputed to lunch big desktop replacement at high cost. The only thing I suppose to be the point on this review, is the hype of the first Core i7 desktop replacement. The worst is the cost of this computer with another g92 derivate whith slighty poor performance. However, you can have 5k$ stover under your hands!
    Reply