Sager NP5790 Review – Photos, Benchmarks & Impressions Inside!

[maksin01]

Great review! I notice you are using Vista... Would using XP give you a tiny bit more performance in those games?

[tomstrife]

Hi, sorry if I am derailing your thread, but I'm a newbie, and I just bought the same laptop! I am about 45 minutes away from having the notebook in my hands, and I was wondering if I should install Windows x64 or Windows xp pro or Vista 32/64 bit.

I just wanted to know how it would pertain to this computer (driver compatability, gaming wise, etc).

I've never had a duo core processor, and the last computer I bought was a P4 2.4 / Geforce Ti4800SE which I've had for almost 5 years now, but I decided to spend my parent's money. I have been running XP fine, but I've heard there were performance increases with the 64 bit version, so I wanted to inquire about it before I do the deed and install the program on my new laptop.

I dont really stress my current computer out much, because I mainly play WoW and use my computer to write papers / pda files / study on internet (like Kaptest.com) etc. But I was thinking of trying out some new games too, so I wanted to know how the driver compatability would work.

Thanks! (Shout out to XoticPC and this site for helping me find the right laptop, I was almost about to buy a refurbished Dell xps 1710 like my brother :/)

[Joga]

Hi, sorry if I am derailing your thread, but I'm a newbie, and I just bought the same laptop! I am about 45 minutes away from having the notebook in my hands, and I was wondering if I should install Windows x64 or Windows xp pro or Vista 32/64 bit.

I just wanted to know how it would pertain to this computer (driver compatability, gaming wise, etc).

I've never had a duo core processor, and the last computer I bought was a P4 2.4 / Geforce Ti4800SE which I've had for almost 5 years now, but I decided to spend my parent's money. I have been running XP fine, but I've heard there were performance increases with the 64 bit version, so I wanted to inquire about it before I do the deed and install the program on my new laptop.

I dont really stress my current computer out much, because I mainly play WoW and use my computer to write papers / pda files / study on internet (like Kaptest.com) etc. But I was thinking of trying out some new games too, so I wanted to know how the driver compatability would work.

Thanks! (Shout out to XoticPC and this site for helping me find the right laptop, I was almost about to buy a refurbished Dell xps 1710 like my brother :/)

I'd recommend Vista 32-bit or 64-bit (doesn't really matter, although I'd personally choose 64-bit since it will improve gaming performance in future games (like Crysis) that are optimized for 64-bit). Definitely not 64-bit XP, since it has awful driver support (unlike 64-bit Vista, which is pretty much on-par with 32-bit Vista at this point).

I'm about to buy a M570RU as well, and I'm also struggling over the screen resolution. I'm thinking that 1920x1200 will be an unreasonable resolution to game with, especially as time goes by and the games get more demanding. But at the same time I want the 1920x1200 for work since you can put a lot on the screen at one time.

If you run a game at a reduced resolution of 1680x1050 (or whatever), how does it look on the 1920x1200 screen?

Do you have the option of stretching the smaller resolution across the full 1920x1200 pixels, or can you also just use the center-most 1680x1050 as well?

I'm very glad to hear the 1920x1200 screen looks great.... now if I could just see what it looks like at a non-native resolution :-).

It automatically stretches whatever resolution you choose to fill the whole screen (although I think you can change that), even if it's a 4:3 ratio resolution. 1680x1050 looks just fine. Even though it's a non-native resolution, it's perfectly acceptable for gaming.

Here are some screenshots - it's hard to get a really clear shot of the screen, but it shows that there's certainly not a drastic difference.

- 1920x1200

- 1680x1050

You can just barely tell a difference between the shots - look particularly at the textures on the boxes, they're just a tiny bit sharper at 1920x1200; even then it's very hard to tell from the photos. The difference is apparent in real life right after you switch the resolution, but after you start playing for a few seconds you completely forget that you're running outside of native resolution.

Do you have any photos that you could show us of the case? I also noticed that you have the TV tuner. Have you had a chance to mess around with watching/recording tv yet? I'm curious to know how well that works out. Thanks for the review!

Your wish is my command:

- The outside of the case - it has two main sections.

- The main section. It has straps to hold the notebook in place, and a little inside pocket to put cables and stuff.

- The smaller outside pocket for mice and other accessories.

Alas, I don't have a TV Tuner. The CATV port on the side comes standard, just in case you want to add a a TV tuner card at a later date.

Great review! I notice you are using Vista... Would using XP give you a tiny bit more performance in those games?

It might, but it wouldn't be anything significant, I wouldn't think. Nvidia's Vista drivers have improved drastically in recent months, and from what I hear they're now very close or equal to XP's performance. I wouldn't fret over Vista's performance.

[xindan80]

awesome review, been waiting awhile for this. i was looking at ur oblivion benchmarks and u had shadows turned off. could you run through woodlands w/ everything on (inc shadows) at 1680x1050?

also, do you happen to have medieval 2: total war? haha

thanks

[tomstrife]

Cool thanks for the quick response.

Also one question about Vista 64/32, I have the same config that you have, so how is the notebook's performance with Vista (I've heard that it is a memory hog or something and it is horrid).

[markheus]

'ya Know - At first I thought the orange trim was really ugly. I have to say that is growing on me. It kinda reminds me of the orange trim around the switches on my Atari 2600 - Appropiate for a gaming laptop !

[lukashod]

To optimize oblivion try visiting this site.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/95...mization-guide

Also, my experience has been to go to the nvidia properties in the advanced tab and set frames rendered ahead to 1 or 0. That made a huge difference for me, give it a try.

Let me know how the dual core optimization works.

Cheers

[Romanian]

The differences in screenshots of FEAR are barely visible. The only thing I notice is the edge of the boxes on the sides. I just hope that the higher end 8 series will be MXM-IV (HE) compatible, and I can put one of those in there.

[tomstrife]

Can someone with the base config run wPrime v1.53 and see how fast you finish the 32M? I think I suck and I set my computer up wrong to get such a bad score (I followed that sticky up top too).

[Joga]

awesome review, been waiting awhile for this. i was looking at ur oblivion benchmarks and u had shadows turned off. could you run through woodlands w/ everything on (inc shadows) at 1680x1050?

also, do you happen to have medieval 2: total war? haha

thanks

It's unplayable.

Settings: 1680x1050, 0xAA, 8xAF, All sliders maxed, all settings turned on, including self-shadows, grass shadows, soft shadowing, etc.

Average: 15.85 FPS.

I'm still playing around with the settings. It's strange because the framerate seems alright (on the settings I tested with on the main review - getting 20 FPS) - but it's still stuttering a lot. I think it has something to do with the Frames To Render Ahead as Lukashod said.

I set the iMinGrassSize to 120, and I still got 20 FPS, but there was a lot less stuttering.

*plays around some more*