The Highest-End Notebooks, 2009
by Jarred Walton on October 14, 2009 3:10 AM ESTTest Setup
We've already looked at performance on these notebooks, but this time we're going to include our complete benchmark results. Obviously, SSDs -- or the lack thereof -- will affect performance in certain applications. Don't let PCMark results fool you into thinking one system is substantially faster without accounting for the SSDs, because you can easily purchase any of these notebooks with one or two high-end SSDs if you so desire. Graphics and CPU performance on the other hand won't get any better than what we're showing today, at least for these models. Each one includes the fastest GPU and CPU available, with the possible exception of the M980NU where a faster dual-core processor could improve gaming performance by up to 20%. Needless to say, Core i7's Turbo modes negate such arguments, but the two Core i7 laptops only support single GPUs.
We will dispense with commentary on many of the benchmarks, as the charts should be self-explanatory. We will also include gaming results with and without SLI on the M980NU, just so you can see where the system is CPU limited. Here are the configurations of the laptops we are testing.
| Clevo W87CU Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-920XM (2.0GHz 55W TDP) (Quad-core + Hyper-Threading, 45nm, 4x256K L2, 8MB L3) |
| Memory | 2x2048MB PC3-10700 @ DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 |
| Graphics | 1 x NVIDIA GTX 280M (Driver Version 186.81) |
| Display | 17.3" Glossy WXSGA+ (1600x900) |
| Hard Drive | OCZ Vertex 120GB SSD |
| Optical Drive | 8x SATA DVDR |
| Battery | 6-cell, 11.1V, 3800mAh, 42.18Wh |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit |
| Eurocom M98NU XCaliber Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Core 2 QX9300 (2.53GHz, 45W TDP) (Quad-core, 45nm, 2x6MB Shared L2) |
| Memory | 2x2048MB PC3-10700 @ DDR3-1333 9-9-9-24 |
| Graphics | 2 x NVIDIA GTX 280M (Driver Version 186.03 SLI/186.81 No SLI) |
| Display | 18.4" Glossy 1080p (1920x1080) |
| Hard Drive | Seagate 500GB 16MB 7200RPM (Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420ASG) |
| Optical Drive | 8x SATA DVDR/BD-ROM |
| Battery | 9-cell, 14.8V, 4650mAh, 68.82Wh |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit |
| AVADirect Clevo D900F Test System | |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-975 (3.33GHz, 130W TDP) (Quad-core + Hyper-Threading, 45nm, 4x256K L2, 8MB L3) |
| Memory | 3x2048MB PC3-8500 @ DDR3-1066 7-7-7-20 |
| Graphics | 1 x NVIDIA GTX 280M (Driver Version 186.81) |
| Display | 17.0" Glossy WUXGA (1920x1200) |
| Hard Drive | 2 x OCZ Vertex 30GB SSDs in RAID 0 Seagate 500GB 16MB 7200RPM (Momentus 7200.4 ST9500420AS) |
| Optical Drive | 8x SATA DVDR |
| Battery | 12-cell, 14.4V, 6600mAh, 95.04Wh |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium SP1 64-bit |
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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.