The Highest-End Notebooks, 2009
by Jarred Walton on October 14, 2009 3:10 AM ESTSynthetic Graphics Performance
This is a recap of the original article; there are no new results here but we include this for the sake of completeness. By no means do we consider 3DMark to be a great representation of actual gaming performance - we will look at actual games in a moment. However, it can be somewhat useful in making sure the system is working properly. For all of our graphics tests, we tested the Eurocom M98NU with and without SLI mode enabled.
The 3DMark results are scattered, especially in the older titles. The ASUS W90Vp has a clear lead in 3DMark03 over everything but the SLI configuration, but the Core i7-based systems turn the table in 3DMark05. There they manage to outperform everything including the dual GPU configurations. 3DMark06 still has the D900F in the lead, but the dual GPU notebooks are right behind. Once we hit 3DMark Vantage, graphics becomes a far bigger influence on the overall score and the SLI and CrossFire systems jump to the front with all of the GTX 280M setups essentially tied.
Based on 3DMark results, we can guess that gaming performance will favor i7 in certain situations and faster GPUs in others. Let's see if that actually holds true.
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psonice - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
These things aren't really mobile - they're huge, weigh a ton, and have totally inadequate battery life. So what you have really is a desktop machine with a built-in keyboard and monitor. I'd call that an all-in-one :)gstrickler - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
[quote]The only reason to avoid such a large battery appears to be weight, and the W870CU is 3 pounds lighter than either of the other notebooks if that matters to you -- but it still weighs almost 9 pounds.[/quote]If it's over 7.5 pounds travel weight (including battery and AC adapter, excluding carrying case), it's not a notebook or laptop. You can call it a transportable, an all-in-one, or a even a portable computer, but please don't refer to them as notebooks.If it doesn't get at least 2 hours runtime on battery, it's definitely not a mobile or portable computer, although the transportable or all-in-one name works.
We really need some industry standard definitions for these, but until we have them, please refrain from using notebook to refer to 9 to 12 pound computers.
strikeback03 - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
I'd say we need less artificial market segmentation with dumb terms. For example, "netbook" was originally used to refer to cheap, small, light, low-powered laptops. However, you now have "netbooks" in 11-15" screen sizes and at prices pushing well into mainstream laptop territory. I'd argue that laptop/notebook should just refer to the basic form factor, and don't bother trying to differentiate on other features such as size and battery life.IlllI - Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
what that comment about something being beaten with an ugly stick?these machines are the epitome of function over form. well, i guess it does what its suppose to do.. but i'd be embarrassed to be seen in public with something that has all the aesthetics of a mobile phone from 1988
- Wednesday, October 14, 2009 - link
LOL!!Whoeverulike - Monday, September 22, 2014 - link
The D900F is a great machine. We have run virtually ours 24 hours a day since 2009 so that some going. Now though, its time for some spares to protect our investment so we can earn the value from buying premium hardware. But guess what? Hardly anyone can help us with simple things like screen inverter or chassis feet, not even a cable to rewire the 4-pin DIN power jack lead to the inverter brick. Isn't that surprising? Maybe it isn't to those here but I am a little shocked by it. And now at a time when people like me come looking at sites like this, we are expecting to see something about long term use cases. The D900F and machines like it, before and since are about the nearest that [gaming] laptop users who also possibly have another use for the machine as well, are likely to come to a custom build. But as MonicaS says below building one, if you can do it - if you can know how you are buying for long term return on investment is about the only way one can actually justify some pretty hefty prices especially when we talk about no stripped down power unit but full monty desktop processors like the core i7 in the D900F. It will be interesting if someone else posts in response to this. I didn't see a button to alert me if there is another post to look at. Originally I came by to see if there was a direct contact at Anandtech who may know how to help us in our quest.