Exclusive: WidowPC Sting 517D2: GeForce 8800M GTX Benchmarks
by Jarred Walton on January 7, 2008 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Laptops
Closing Thoughts
Anyone with a reasonable amount of computer knowledge could have easily guessed at the results of our testing. Take a selection of the fastest mobile components and put them into a notebook and you end up with a very fast albeit expensive system. For the mobile warriors, faster isn't always better, since speed and performance combat fiercely against battery life. If you're looking for a laptop that can last for hours while you're on a plane or in a car, you'll want to stick with the thin-and-light models and avoid high-performance parts. On the other hand, if you want something to replace your desktop that you can pack up and carry with you, the 517D2 is worth a close look.
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At the end of the day, the WidowPC Sting 517D2 is really about one thing: gaming performance. Helped by the GeForce 8800M GTX, it easily beats out any other single-GPU notebook that we've tested so far. Anyone thinking about picking up a laptop with a GeForce 8700M or Radeon Mobility HD 2600 XT will definitely want to reconsider how important gaming performance is in the list of priorities. We're not even at the level of seventh grader pre-algebra here: the 96 SPs in the 8800M GTX are vastly superior to the 32 SPs in the former DX10 mobile champion, the 8700M GT. Casual gamers probably don't need to run games like Crysis at 1920x1200 at maximum details - and even a single 8800M GTX fails at that task! - but we're still looking at more than twice the performance in many titles. Inevitably, what is currently "fast enough" will be outdated, and the higher power 8800M will be able to stick around longer than the 8700M.
The 8800M also offers a very good feature set in addition to raw performance. You get full H.264 decoding offload (though battery life will be worse when decoding H.264 than when watching a DVD), DirectX 10 support, and the new chip uses less power than last year's top mobile GPU, the Go 7950 GTX. The new part gives you more performance, better features, and lower power? Sign us up! If you've been waiting for the next killer gaming notebook to arrive, now is finally a good time to buy. We were impressed with Go 7900/7950 notebooks when they first launched, but ever since DX10 desktop cards began to appear we've been waiting for a truly fast DX10 part for laptops. The initial offerings utterly failed to match the performance of the Go 7950 GTX, forcing users to either compromise on performance or compromise on features - or to merely continue waiting.
With the 8800M, NVIDIA and their notebook partners can now offer performance relatively similar to what you'll get from a desktop system with an 8800 GT card. Okay, so a desktop system with an 8800 GT 512MB, Core 2 Duo E6550, 4GB RAM, and a 24" LCD can be had for less than half the cost. You still can't pick up such a desktop, stuff it into a carrying case, and head out the door. Whether or not that matters to you will determine if the WidowPC Sting 517D2 is a notebook to consider buying.
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stassas - Tuesday, January 8, 2008 - link
I just cannot believe there are manufacturers of FullHD notebooks not puting HDMI port to their products. Same thing for Dell 1730, I just hope Alienware will not make that mistake.Can you believe that HP do not have Gigabit internet port in their top HDX?
I am happy to spend tons of cash on my gaming/multimedia desktop replacement notebook but I want all standard stuff I could easily pack into my desktop. The only comprimise I can accept is slight performance difference.
fabarati - Wednesday, January 9, 2008 - link
This has Dual-link DVI instead, meaning you can drive a WQXGA screen att full resolution. There are few laptops who can.strikeback03 - Tuesday, January 8, 2008 - link
Depends what display you plan to connect the laptop to. As this doesn't have a Blu-Ray/HD-DVD drive, it is probably more likely to be connected to a true monitor than a TV, and monitors are more likely to have DVI than HDMI. Plus, adapters are cheap.Yahoo - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
Hahaha, I love the add in about the cake being a lie. Portal was fun :)Foxy1 - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
I’m at CES this week. During one of the many presentations, I seated myself behind the cutest guy in the room (as I figured he would be more enjoyable to watch than the presentation). After much eavesdropping, I was able to determine that it was none other than Jarred Walton of Anandtech (the author of this article). I’m happily involved with my own cutie; otherwise I would have made my move. With no wedding ring in site, I’d say he is fair game. A tall, dark, handsome geek, what more could we ask for?Foxy
JarredWalton - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
I'd take you up on the offer, but I too have a new lover. She's short, dark, about 17" wide, and she has this cute spider tattoo. The orange pin-striping seals the deal. What's better, she lets me play computer games like The Witcher and doesn't get jealous (well, not very) when I look at other women. I'd marry her, but the courts are claiming she doesn't have a soul. I keep arguing that there's more soul in some computers than in women - the only souls they have come from the hearts they rip out of their boyfriends.(One silly post deserves another, I suppose. Back to your regularly scheduled comments.)
SiliconDoc - Monday, July 28, 2008 - link
Best two comments I've seen so far. Congratulations, that 'ell teach the hotties that their nerd desires might wind them up with more than they can handle. Outside the box !eye smite - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
It's interesting to see how much the advancements are accelerating in technology. I have an x700pro 256 card in this system. I'll be sticking with it for a while yet. heheGholam - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
Just for the reference, who is it this time? Clevo again?fabarati - Monday, January 7, 2008 - link
Yes it is. It's a Clevo M570RU. Used by many other resellers. So you can get the same Laptop, save the Spider logo, for much cheaper.