alright, peenylickers. as promised, i benched the latest in my ongoing rotation of gaming laptops: the sager np6110 (a branded version of the clevo w11er). it's an 11.6" netbook-sized gaming rig that takes a screaming dump in the mouth of whatever you are using right now unless you're posting from one of those archaic desktop things that no-one with any class or taste uses, because they are wholly unnecessary. yuck, desktop dirtpeople. why are you allowed to vote in my america.
here’s the specs:
11.6" form factor with 1366x768 display
core i7-3610qm quad-core (ivy bridge) cpu @ 2.3 ghz
nvidia 650m w/ 2GB GDDR3 VRAM
8 GB 1600 MHz DDR3 RAM
240 GB intel 520 (SATA 6.0) SSD
intel centrino advanced-n 6235 wifi/bt 4.0
http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_info&model_name=NP6110 -- the baseline spec with an HDD, 4 gb ram and a sandy bridge dual core is $899. you still get the 650m, which is what matters for games. my rig as configured was just shy of $1500.
now, i'm really obsessed with portability and cramming as much power into a small form factor as possible. netbooks and ultrabooks alike have failed me, because they lack the horsepower i need when i'm stuck in some third-world part of the coutry, like oklahoma or clallam bay, wa. I DESIRE TO PLAY THE GAMES WITH FEW COMPROMISES.
this machine pleases. running furmark and prime95, i spiked cpu temps with all cores active at 89 degrees celsius, which isn't bad. with a cooling mat (zalman), i dropped them down to 82 at peak. here's some peak temps (as reported by cpu-z hwmonitor pro) WITHOUT the mat:
kingdoms of amalur: 76 degrees C
sf x tekken: 73 degrees C
crysis 2: 78 degrees C
dragon age: origins (a real cpu hog, puts very little on the gpu relatively): 81 degrees C
beats out my alienware m14x (which went to my wife, it spiked da: origins at 88 degrees C), and that machine was rock solid despite the heat. (i had to repaste and repipe it, and disable turboboost, though, otherwise it went into the late 90s C.)
running it on a cooling mat drops everything by 5-7 degrees. i only bother with the mat at home, of course, so the temps off it are more important.
perf is great. the gpu -- the 650m -- is the gddr3 model, which means the vram is slower than the gddr5 variant, but it's been clocked up by 125MHz on the shader cores, and as a result, it's apparently in the same ballpark. gpu performance is largely equivalent to that of a 560m (nvidia) or 6870m (amd) from the last generation, or a GT550 desktop card.
some fps numbers w/ settings. ALL games are run at 1366x768 (native res) with 4x MSAA and 8x AF.
street fighter x tekken. all settings maxed. with vsync, ~60 fps. without vsync, ~130 fps.
crysis 2. all settings high. with vsync, ~42 fps. (lol consoles)
skyrim. all settings high. with vsync, ~45 fps. (lol consoles)
kingdoms of amalur. all settings maxed except shadows (high). with vsync, ~60 fps.
saints row 3. all settings high. with vsync, ~40 fps. (some fluctuations. lol consoles)
mass effect 3. all settings maxed. with vsync, ~60 fps. (lol consoles)
it has both an hdmi port and a vga port (as well as 2 usb 3.0 ports and 1 usb 2.0 port). i ran skyrim out to my projector at 1080p with the same settings and got ~38 fps.
the build quality is good if plain and homely. hipster girls will not want to touch it when you are slumming at your organic coffeehouse. the rubberized plastic feels super sturdy and solid. the island keyboard has minimal flex, and while the keys are 90% sized, they have good throw, albeit requiring a little pressure. hinge is sturdy. power button is accessible. tiny right shift key and bonaduce-sized arrow keys suck.
battery life on moderate power settings (screen half brightness, integrated gpu) is a little north of 4 hours, which isn't very good. (i am used to 10+ on my samsung series 7 work machine. even the m14x got a little past 6 hours off power.)
an optimized install plus ssd pegs the boot time for Win7 at about 8 seconds. (lol macbooks) i'mma slap win8 on a small second partition and watch it uefi boot in under three. AHUAHUAHUAHUA.
tl;dr homers, here's the LIST:
BUENO:
+ fuck amazing gaming performance in a perfectly mobile form factor
+ good build quality
+ decent 90% keyboard
+ LOTS OF PORTS (VGA and HDMI out! 2x USB 3.0!)
+ makes your gross consoles seem even more pathetic
+ synaptics touchpad is surprisingly decent, buttons don't suck
EHHHH:
? battery life is kinda weak
? rubber-coated exterior feels tough but looks kinda cheapy-dull
? temps are passable but this is still a fairly warm rig
LE POO:
- screen quality overall is naff; crappy contrast ratio and middling lux levels
- 1366x768 is PASSABLE for an 11.6" screen -- IF THIS WAS 2010. the ghost of steve jobs says FUCK THIS SHIT.
- the 120W power brick is kinda big. you can order it with a 90W which is fine (no throttle on max draw), but won't charge yer laptop while it's in use.
WISH I HAD GOTTEN:
> the core i7 3612qm -- it's a 35W cpu (albeit at 2.1 ghz instead of 2.3, who the fuck cares), but it runs a little cooler and you pick up an extra 1-2 hours battery life.
> a matte screen, which mythlogic and xotic-pc have as an option that sager doesn't.
OVERALL: 8.5/10. I AM HAPPY WITH IT, THIS MEANS I WILL KEEP IT FOR THE MAXIMUM ALOTTED PERIOD OF THREE MONTHS.
