Opinions and advice needed.

afie · 4th April 2005, 8:10 PM

Still in the market for a laptop. Waiting for sonoma's to come along. A couple of questions.

1. How overclockable are laptops? i.e is it worth spending $65 to go from a PM 1.6 to a 1.7, if I can easily change it?

2. 512 or 1024MB of RAM? What would I use 1 gig for? HL2 works well with 512mb on the desktop. Is the extra 512mb worth $175?

3. Can I replace components (cpu, hdd, memory) myself without voiding the warranty?

4. How noticable is the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm?

5. A 128mb 6600go is faster than a 256mb 9700, right?

silver6 · 4th April 2005, 8:37 PM

1. Most, if not all notebooks are not overclockerable (CPU).
2. I find 1GB of RAM is better
3. You can replace the components, but will void the warrenty
4. Not much
5. A 6600 Go will kill a 9700.

Sonoma's are already out and they are Pentium-M CPUs not Pentium 4-M

afie · 5th April 2005, 4:29 PM

Does anyone have any opinions on the following two that I am trying to choose from:
- ITC melinnia 6200
- powernote Z71VP

FlameTheFire · 6th April 2005, 10:39 AM

I'm a little biased as I work for Digital Star however the itc 6200 appears to be the same as our 259IA http://www.digitalstar.com.au/_PowerNote_259IA_BTO.aspx which is a Uniwill notebook. Good quality but at the moment I haven't had time to play around with the Z71VP so don't ask me to compare the two apart from the obvious Dothan Vs Sonoma DDR2 vs DDR and 6600 128mb vs 256mr 9700.
But if you google on the model no. should be able to find some reviews - Asus are also selling this notebook (i think perhaps without the P on the model no. Z71V)

afie · 6th April 2005, 11:07 AM

I was actually looking at the ones from Digitalstar. I am planning to come in next week to take a look.

PogiPinoy · 6th April 2005, 11:13 AM

1. All laptops are overclockable, you just need the software that pushes the cpu that extra yard, not too sure about the old old old laptops tho

2. Yes grab the extra ram, as the performance of ram is different for both desktops and laptops.

3. It depends on the laptop manufacturer's policies, you will need to get them check out first. Or theres are work around by reinstalling all the original parts and removing the after market parts before you claim it on warranty

4. It is noticable when you are burning a dvd, playing a video game and downloading all at the same time. My 5400rpm struggles with the above slightly. Plus you'll notice your laptops battery die quicker when you have a 7200 rpm hdd.

5. The 6600 go is definitely faster, note that the 9600 and the 9700 perform at the same clock speeds, the 9700 is only very marginally faster, but not by much!

FlameTheFire · 6th April 2005, 11:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afie

I was actually looking at the ones from Digitalstar. I am planning to come in next week to take a look.

Well Come in and say Hi - my names Peter and am here monday to friday.

Plus please ignore PogiPinoy post we won't except warranty trickery

However if you are competent at installing Ram CPU and Hard Drive we have no issue with you doing it its only if you stuff something up when installing that we won't except warranty if something else is a problem (motherboard etc.) have no problem doing RA on it.

Varuna · 6th April 2005, 12:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PogiPinoy

5. The 6600 go is definitely faster, note that the 9600 and the 9700 perform at the same clock speeds, the 9700 is only very marginally faster, but not by much!

Yes, the cards are pretty much identical, except that the 9700 is clocked between 25-50mhz faster than the 9600 pro turbo.

afie · 6th April 2005, 12:43 PM

Can I put a Dothan CPU into the newer 915 Sonoma boards?
Can I put a Sonoma CPU into the older 855 boards?

Also, any point in putting 400mhz ram into a 855 board (I think they run at 333mhz)

FlameTheFire · 6th April 2005, 1:03 PM

All the 915 models i've looked at say they support the Dothan Processor but i haven't tested it.
No Sonoma will not run on any 855 models.
855 Chipset only supports DDR333MHZ standard but if you go up to 400 it can give you more room if you are overclocking.

Varuna · 6th April 2005, 4:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by afie

Can I put a Dothan CPU into the newer 915 Sonoma boards?
Can I put a Sonoma CPU into the older 855 boards?

1. Yes, without issue.

2. On a laptop, no. Desktop 855 boards may work, but might need a bios patch. I know a DFI 855GME-MGF will work.

4th April 2005, 8:10 PM	#1
afie Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Not there! There! Posts: 712	Opinions and advice needed. Still in the market for a laptop. Waiting for sonoma's to come along. A couple of questions. 1. How overclockable are laptops? i.e is it worth spending $65 to go from a PM 1.6 to a 1.7, if I can easily change it? 2. 512 or 1024MB of RAM? What would I use 1 gig for? HL2 works well with 512mb on the desktop. Is the extra 512mb worth $175? 3. Can I replace components (cpu, hdd, memory) myself without voiding the warranty? 4. How noticable is the difference between 5400rpm and 7200rpm? 5. A 128mb 6600go is faster than a 256mb 9700, right? __________________ "Since everyone dies, I am suprised I dont know more dead people" - Charlie, Exit 57 "We live in a world where people are prepared to see entire countries wiped out rather than disrupt their own pleasures." George Friedman Last edited by afie; 4th April 2005 at 8:50 PM.

4th April 2005, 8:37 PM	#2
silver6 Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: Sydney Posts: 921	1. Most, if not all notebooks are not overclockerable (CPU). 2. I find 1GB of RAM is better 3. You can replace the components, but will void the warrenty 4. Not much 5. A 6600 Go will kill a 9700. Sonoma's are already out and they are Pentium-M CPUs not Pentium 4-M Last edited by silver6; 4th April 2005 at 8:43 PM.

5th April 2005, 4:29 PM	#3
afie Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Not there! There! Posts: 712	Does anyone have any opinions on the following two that I am trying to choose from: - ITC melinnia 6200 - powernote Z71VP __________________ "Since everyone dies, I am suprised I dont know more dead people" - Charlie, Exit 57 "We live in a world where people are prepared to see entire countries wiped out rather than disrupt their own pleasures." George Friedman

6th April 2005, 11:07 AM	#5
afie Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Not there! There! Posts: 712	I was actually looking at the ones from Digitalstar. I am planning to come in next week to take a look. __________________ "Since everyone dies, I am suprised I dont know more dead people" - Charlie, Exit 57 "We live in a world where people are prepared to see entire countries wiped out rather than disrupt their own pleasures." George Friedman

6th April 2005, 11:13 AM	#6
PogiPinoy Member Join Date: Jan 2002 Location: Sydney (No Cable) :( Posts: 1,300	1. All laptops are overclockable, you just need the software that pushes the cpu that extra yard, not too sure about the old old old laptops tho 2. Yes grab the extra ram, as the performance of ram is different for both desktops and laptops. 3. It depends on the laptop manufacturer's policies, you will need to get them check out first. Or theres are work around by reinstalling all the original parts and removing the after market parts before you claim it on warranty 4. It is noticable when you are burning a dvd, playing a video game and downloading all at the same time. My 5400rpm struggles with the above slightly. Plus you'll notice your laptops battery die quicker when you have a 7200 rpm hdd. 5. The 6600 go is definitely faster, note that the 9600 and the 9700 perform at the same clock speeds, the 9700 is only very marginally faster, but not by much! __________________ BLAQUE - Believing in Life and Achieving a Quest of Unity in Everything OCAU Club PDA Member #6 Nintendo Club Member #4 OCAU iPod Owner #65 ASUS Owners Club \|\|Dr. Pepper Club Member #21\|\| Motorola V-Club Member - V3i DELL Laptop Owners Club

6th April 2005, 10:39 AM	#4
FlameTheFire Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 196	I'm a little biased as I work for Digital Star however the itc 6200 appears to be the same as our 259IA http://www.digitalstar.com.au/_PowerNote_259IA_BTO.aspx which is a Uniwill notebook. Good quality but at the moment I haven't had time to play around with the Z71VP so don't ask me to compare the two apart from the obvious Dothan Vs Sonoma DDR2 vs DDR and 6600 128mb vs 256mr 9700. But if you google on the model no. should be able to find some reviews - Asus are also selling this notebook (i think perhaps without the P on the model no. Z71V)

6th April 2005, 12:43 PM	#9
afie Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Not there! There! Posts: 712	Can I put a Dothan CPU into the newer 915 Sonoma boards? Can I put a Sonoma CPU into the older 855 boards? Also, any point in putting 400mhz ram into a 855 board (I think they run at 333mhz) __________________ "Since everyone dies, I am suprised I dont know more dead people" - Charlie, Exit 57 "We live in a world where people are prepared to see entire countries wiped out rather than disrupt their own pleasures." George Friedman Last edited by afie; 6th April 2005 at 12:46 PM.

6th April 2005, 1:03 PM	#10
FlameTheFire Member Join Date: Jun 2004 Posts: 196	All the 915 models i've looked at say they support the Dothan Processor but i haven't tested it. No Sonoma will not run on any 855 models. 855 Chipset only supports DDR333MHZ standard but if you go up to 400 it can give you more room if you are overclocking.