Sager NP9262 - Features and Specifications
| Sager NP9262 Configuration Options | |
| Processor | Core 2 Duo E8500 Core 2 Duo E8600 Core 2 Quad Q6600 Core 2 Quad Q6700 Core 2 Quad Q9550 Core 2 Quad Q9650 |
| Chipset | Intel P965 + ICH8-R |
| Memory | 2x1024MB DDR2-800 1x2048MB DDR2-800 2x2048MB DDR2-800 2x4096 DDR2-667 |
| Graphics | 1x or 2x NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GT 1x 8800M GTX 1x Quadro FX 1600M |
| Display | 17" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) Glossy 17" WUXGA (1920x1200) Glossy |
| Hard Drive | Three HDD bays supporting: 5400RPM: 160GB, 250GB, 500GB 7200RPM: 200GB, 320GB HDDs can be non-RAID or RAID 0/1/5 |
| Optical Drive | 8x DVDRW 2x Blu-ray Recorder/DVDRW |
| Networking | Integrated Gigabit Ethernet Intel 4965AGN WiFi Bluetooth v2.0 |
| Audio | 6-Channel HD Audio (2.0 Speakers) |
| Battery | 12-Cell 97WHr |
| Front Side | Front LCD Latches 5.1 Audio plus Microphone |
| Left Side | Optical Drive VGA Port Multi-function TV Out (S-VIDEO, Composite, Component) CATV Jack Gigabit Ethernet 56K Modem Mini FireWire 1394A ExpressCard/54 Flash Reader (MS, MS Pro, MMC, SD, xD) |
| Right Side | 4 x USB 2.0 |
| Back Side | Power Connector Dual-Link DVI TV Input CPU Cooling Exhaust GPU(s) Cooling Exhaust |
| Operating System | Windows Vista Home Premium 32/64-bit Windows Vista Business 32/64-bit Windows Vista Ultimate 32/64-bit Windows XP Professional 32-bit |
| Dimensions | 15.5" x 11.75" x 2.35" (WxDxH) |
| Weight | 11.55 lbs with battery |
| Extras | 2.0MP webcam Optional HDTV Tuner |
| Warranty | 1-year standard $200 2-year $360 3-year $200 30-day No Dead Pixel Insurance (No Dead Pixel Insurance can be bundled with extended warranty to save $100) |
| Price | Starts at $2249 for 2GB RAM, E8500, and a single 9800M GT Maximum price exceeds $5500, not counting peripherals and software |
The Sager NP9262 has plenty of customization options available, with starting models offering a moderate gaming experience all the way up through the top-end configurations that are the absolute fastest DTR notebooks currently on the market. (Yes, we know you can find pretty much the exact same laptop at other manufacturers. If you use the same components, you'll end up with the same performance.) Of course, there are all the standard items that you see in modern notebooks: wireless networking, webcam, and integrated audio. The NP9262 does support 5.1 audio output along with a microphone jack if you want to hook up external speakers (or a 5.1 headset), which is good to see. Let's talk about the other areas.
Our test system shipped with the now "outdated" E6850 (3.0 GHz, 4 MB cache, 1066 FSB). Current options are mostly focused on Penryn processors. You can get the E8500 or E8600 (3.16/3.33 GHz, 6 MB cache, 1333 FSB) for dual-core processing, or you can sacrifice CPU clock speed and move up to some of the quad-core processors. At the low end are the Q6600 and Q6700 (2.4/2.66 GHz, 2x4MB cache, 1066 FSB) using the older Kentsfield core, or you can get the Q9550 or Q9650 (2.83/3.0 GHz, 2x6MB cache, 1333 FSB) using the newer Penryn core. If you're looking to build a transportable workstation, one of those quad-core processors would definitely do the trick.
There are four graphics card options presently available: a single Quadro FX 1600M, 9800M GT, or 9800M GTX; or you can opt for dual GPUs with two 9800M GT cards in SLI. Besides having more SPs (112 versus 96), the 9800M GTX also comes with 1 GB of graphics memory. With most games still targeting 512 MB cards, however, that may not be terribly important. In terms of raw performance, the 9800M GT SLI configuration is definitely going to be faster, and it only costs $130 more than a single 9800M GTX. Again, we are unsure if the notebook is not capable of supporting two 9800M GTX cards or if that will be held off as a future option (pending further testing, perhaps). We also have to wonder about the power requirements of a top-end configuration; with two 8800M GTX cards and a dual-core E6850, maximum power draw is already very high. We have concerns that a Q9650 and dual 9800M GT cards might end up drawing too much power at maximum load. (The power brick is "only" capable of providing 220 W of power.)
Besides the CPU and GPU(s), Sager provides a lot of options for your hard drive(s). For the primary hard drive, you can choose a 160 GB, 250 GB, 320 GB, or 500 GB 5400 RPM hard drive. If you prefer faster performance over capacity, 7200 RPM hard drives are available in 100 GB, 200 GB, or 320 GB sizes. The same seven hard drive options are available for the remaining two hard drive slots, but additionally you can select whether you want the drive(s) to be part of a RAID configuration - RAID 0, 1, and 5 are supported. Two or three hard drives are necessary for RAID 0, only two hard drives are supported for RAID 1, and RAID 5 naturally requires all three hard drive bays to be populated. It's somewhat interesting that SSDs are not listed as an option, although available upgrades tend to come and go over time. Optical storage provides two options as well: your standard 8x DVDR and upgrade to a Blu-ray recorder. Unfortunately, a Blu-ray reader/DVDR combo drive is not an option at present (which could save you several hundred dollars if all you want is the ability to watch Blu-ray movies).
Other options include two LCD resolutions (1680x1050 WSXGA+ or 1920x1200 WUXGA), and memory capacities ranging from 2 GB (2x1GB 1x2GB) to 8 GB. 4GB and 8GB configurations require Windows Vista 64-bit, which is available on this notebook although it's not explicitly listed as an option you can customize. (Our particular configuration came with 2GB of memory and Vista 64-bit.) A chipset limitation apparently limits the 8 GB configuration to 6.8 GB usable inside Windows, however, and 4GB SO-DIMMs currently carry a large price premium over 2GB SO-DIMMs. You can also select an extended warranty (up to three years) and add a 30-day guarantee that your LCD won't have any pixel defects, plus a few additional items like software and peripherals.
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yyrkoon - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
Yeah, I would not expect my desktop to beat the laptop performance wise(in games), but with what I have for resolution/monitor wise it does perfectly fine for me.It is just that lately, since we are going 100% green energy(solar/wind), or as close to 100% as possible, I have been on this power consumption 'kick'. I would hope that the Intel motherboard with the desktop G45 chipset, and x4500HD would use half of what I am using power wise now with my current desktop, but I suspect that I would have to get the laptop based mini itx motherboard/CPU/memory for it to be truly where I would like to see things power wise. Even only 100W is roughly 8.33 amps off of the batteries on a 12v system : / Depending on how many batteries you have, that can be substantial.
I do realize that gaming on the Intel mini ITX boards would take the back seat because of performance, but it would be a perfect machine for running almost everything except for games. That is, until Photoshop, Illustrator, etc start leveraging the GPU/parallel processing.
Oarngemeat - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
Good article - but the Alienware is not the first laptop with dual graphics cards like this. Maybe for a gaming laptop, but my Sony SZ is getting close to two years old and can do the same thing. Sounds like it even does things the same way, I have to reboot to switch graphics. I've seen it average at about 50% battery performance increase too.JarredWalton - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
That's why I say the first laptop *we've* tested. Besides, a midrange (at best) GPU that can be disabled isn't quite as useful as a high-end GPU that can be switched on/off.denka - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
I liked the article, but I've been looking on the Internet for a review that could tell me how good are ATI's 3650's, of which ASUS seemingly is a fan seeing how they have 5 models for sale on Newegg :)Still looking.
denka - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
Sorry, must have been a stupid question. Found my answers on www.notebookcheck.netJarredWalton - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
I've asked AMD to get me a notebook with 3000 series graphics, but no one has been able to do so yet. Outside of the 3870, though, graphics performance will be relatively mediocre. I've got a few midrange notebooks with 9500M/8600M GPUs that I'm reviewing, and one with a Radeon 2600. Performance is around 1/3 of the 9800M GTS in gaming. Many games (GRID, Mass Effect, Assassin's Creed, etc.) need to run at 1280x800 and low to medium detail on such laptops before they can get solid frame rates.fabarati - Saturday, August 30, 2008 - link
The performance of midrange laptop cards go: 9600m GT GDDR3> HD3650> 8600m GT GDDR3> 9600m GT=HD2600 GDDR3>8600m GT DDR2=9500m GS DDR2>HD2600 DDR2. Now there are a few more nVidia cards, just to muddle the waters more, but this should give rough performance estimates. 9500m GS is just a rebadged 8600m GT.On my HD2600 DDR2 I play Assassin's Creed with everything on max at 1280x800. On the other hand, my max is for some reason lvl 3 instead of 4. Solid framerates for one person is not the same as for someone else. Some can't stand below 40, som don't see the difference between 30 and 60. For me, over 25 is quite fluid. It helps that Ass Creed has motionblur. That smooths things up.
Oh, And i've OC'd the Graphics memory a bit. That helps too.
flahdgee - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
I grabbed an Alienware laptop 3 or 4 years ago, and I expected to be able to game on it. I had the Geforce 6800 Ultra Go put in it and had overheating problems from the start. I had to send it into the company for repairs to the motherboard from various components burning up. Whether I got a defective component somewhere that was tearing it up, I don't know, but it has turned me completely off to laptops, gaming ones in particular.Wolfpup - Friday, August 29, 2008 - link
I'd just be scared off of Alienware-which I am anyway...I'm shocked that even the build quality is garbage. I don't get the point of that 15x thing. Dell's 1730 is SOOOO much better built, and it's higher end, for basically the same price. Those Gateway models seem to be a lot better built too, for at least $1000 less (or worse...)
cheetah2k - Monday, September 1, 2008 - link
Anandtech, you call this a "gaming laptop round-up"??Wheres the almighty Dell 1730 with dual 8800GTX's in all its glory? The little girls to scared to come out to play??
Who wants an Alienware, Gateway or Sagem-blahh??? Build quality and service is just shocking....
Get a grip fellas