The Highest-End Notebooks, 2009
by Jarred Walton on October 14, 2009 3:10 AM ESTGaming Performance
Here are the complete gaming results, using 1680x1050 as the baseline for comparison with other laptops. We're including the ASUS W90Vp (Core 2 Q9000 @ 2.20GHz with 4870X2), Clevo D901C (Core 2 E6850 with 8800M GTX SLI), and a desktop system (Q6600 @ 3.30GHz with 4870X2) as a point of reference.
We include the native resolution results for each LCD as well, which means HD+ (1600x900) for the W870CU, 1080p (1920x1080) for the M980NU, and WUXGA (1920x1200) for the D900F. In some cases, we run into CPU limitations; this will be apparent when both 1680x1050 and the native resolution deliver similar results. This is most likely to occur with the M980NU SLI configuration, but it may be present elsewhere. 1680x1050 has 22.5% more pixels than 1600x900, 1920x1080 has 17.5% more pixels than 1680x1050, and 1920x1200 has 30.6% more pixels than 1680x1050. If we are purely limited by the number of pixels the GPU(s) can render, we will see similar scaling to these percentages. Most of the time, other factors such as GPU memory bandwidth, GPU geometry, and CPU performance will also influence the frame rates.
Gaming performance is about what you would expect for the most part, with the Eurocom M980NU taking top honors among the notebooks in the majority of games. However, there are definitely games where we are CPU limited with GTX 280M SLI. Assassin's Creed is the most obvious example, showing essentially no difference between SLI and single GPU mode, other than a slight increase in performance with SLI at 1680x1050. Call of Duty: World at War doesn't appear to scale very well with SLI at present -- whether this is a CPU limitation or a lack of updated SLI profiles isn't entirely clear. Crysis also appears to be running into CPU limitations, particularly at medium detail settings. Far Cry 2 with SLI could benefit from a faster CPU, and so could Mass Effect, Oblivion, and Race Driver: GRID.
On the other side of the table, we have games that scale extremely well with SLI. Dark Athena is almost completely GPU limited, along with Empire: Total War, F.E.A.R 2, and STALKER: Clear Sky. One of the interesting points is that the HD+ resolution on the W870CU is beneficial in several titles, with performance scaling almost linearly with the decrease in resolution. Any of the GPU limited titles we just mentioned should fall into this category.
On a final note, it's interesting to compare performance between the desktop system and these gaming laptops. We have to account for the fact that we are comparing ATI and NVIDIA hardware, which can definitely influence the results, but a system that now qualifies as a "midrange desktop" still comes out on top in the vast majority of these games. The only place where the desktop doesn't lead is in CPU limited titles (Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty, Crysis, and Far Cry 2), while in other titles the lead is substantial. Something the results don't show is how much easier it is to get updated drivers for the desktop. NVIDIA is doing better now with mobile reference drivers coming out quarterly, and sometimes even more frequently, but you can easily find updated desktop drivers every month for ATI cards, and just about as often for NVIDIA cards if you're willing to use beta drivers. It's possible to install unofficial beta drivers on laptops, but our experience is that performance often drops dramatically since they don't have all of the mobile hardware optimizations in place -- and don't even bother with unofficial drivers on SLI notebooks.
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MonicaS - Friday, October 30, 2009 - link
I think the best way to get a high end laptop is to build one. Obviously you are very limited in what you can with a laptop over a desktop, but still the options are enough. The obvious upgrades are HD and Ram. On that note you can Raid to SSD's and put in some serious ram on a 64 bit machine and have a incredibly fast machine. The other benefit of this is that you can basically pick your own laptop to upgrade and not have to buy fugly one.Monica S
Los Angeles Computer Repair
http://www.sebecomputercare.com">http://www.sebecomputercare.com
Shadowmaster625 - Thursday, October 22, 2009 - link
"Unfortunately, 60GB isn't enough space to install even a small subset of our gaming benchmarks"All you have to do is move the game folders to the big drive when you're not using them, and move them back over to C:\Program Files when you need to use them. It takes all of 2 minutes (or 10 seconds for a multitasker) and is surely smarter than wasting hundreds of dollars on bigger SSDs, no? Are we that lazy?
Draxanoth - Thursday, October 22, 2009 - link
I see a lot of complaints for no good reason in these comments. If you don't like them, don't buy them. Complaining about something you don't own nor want sounds like bitterness at the price tag.I have an M570etu, which is the dual core version of the GTX280 Clevo model with the orange trim. It's a lot better looking in person, those pictures are awful. 3.2ghz I think but I'd have to check. My battery life is 3 hours non-gaming. It easily functions as both a mobile and a gaming machine. I don't have any problems with Call of Pripyat in HD either. i7 in a laptop is overkill, and if you want one with a decent battery life that's a poor choice. Why is anyone surprised by that?
Meaker10 - Saturday, October 17, 2009 - link
You can already get official mobile drivers for all laptops for windows 7 the same version as the desktop set for the HD 2,3 and 4 series.JarredWalton - Saturday, October 17, 2009 - link
True, but the real question will be whether this is a one-time thing (because Win7 is launching and ATI has to have valid drivers or they'll be in deep trouble), or if this is a change going forward. I'm inclined to think it's just for the Win7 launch, since they don't provide mobile drivers for anything besides Win7. Vista and XP users are still the vast majority of people and will be for a good while to come, and there are laptop users that literally haven't received updated ATI drivers in years.I'll keep an eye on things, and hopefully ATI will change their stance officially at some point. At present, searching for ATI Mobility Radeon drivers for XP and Vista only gives you the choice of X1800 or earlier GPUs. It looks like perhaps the integrated HD 3200 on laptops might also have up-to-date drivers in XP/Vista, but discrete GPU laptop owners are out of luck for now if they don't upgrade to Win7.
jmhorridge - Saturday, October 17, 2009 - link
I and my work colleagues must regularly fly to other countries for a week or two, and there perform computations (economic forecasting) that can occupy a quad-core for 2 or 3 hours. These big DTR laptops (or luggables) are the only way to get the job done. Battery life is not an issue -- always used plugged in.An mATX system (with monitor) would weigh twice as much, might not suit all voltages, and, in a suit case, would bust the flight weight allowance. However, everyone is allowed to carry on a laptop -- no matter how big.
I'm very pleased to see such machines reviewed.
Mark Horridge
Kishkumen - Friday, October 16, 2009 - link
"it appears most notebook manufacturers are convinced users aren't interested in matte LCDs anymore."Then they are wrong and I will not buy their product. I've passed up some pretty awesome notebooks over the past couple of years. Looks like I'll be passing up many more. If I'm the only one who can't stand glossy displays, then so be it, but I'd rather go without then pay good money for something that is the visual equivalent of fingernails on a chalkboard for me.
EBH - Thursday, October 15, 2009 - link
Falcon NW should have been in the review. Their machines > than any Aienwarehttp://www.falcon-nw.com/">http://www.falcon-nw.com/
JarredWalton - Friday, October 16, 2009 - link
I'm not sure why you say Falcon is so much better than Alienware. They're basically the same thing as AVADirect, but with far fewer options.Fragbox DRX = Clevo D900F with custom paint.
Fragbox TLX = MSI MS-1722 (GX720) with custom paint.
I/O = MSI MS-1361 (X340)with... yup, custom paint.
AVADirect also offers all three of those, with optional custom paint. Pricing definitely isn't in favor of FNW, though perhaps they have better customer service. Let's see, using as close to identical options as I can get (including custom paint on the AVADirect models):
D900F AVADirect = $4545
Fragbox DRX = $6086
MSI GX720 AVADirect = $2229
Fragbox TLX = $2625
MSI X340 AVADirect = $1292
I/O = $1727
I think the main draw of Falcon is if you want a special paint job with some custom image (i.e. not just the Exotix Single Color option). That can add over $1000, but at least then you have something truly unique. Anyway, inasmuch as performance and features are concerned, Falcon was in this review, albeit indirectly. The same goes for WidowPC and ProStar and anyone else that uses whitebook chassis.
nortexoid - Thursday, October 15, 2009 - link
I'm sure most would be better off buying a desktop (of the same caliber) and a cheap netbook for mobility, and for the same price as these ghastly beasts.The only market I can see for these things is someone who goes to LANs more often than he should, and who would rather port around a 10lb+ notebook than a desktop + LCD or all-in-one. But this has to be a very small niche market.