Alienware 17x vs Asus G73JH-A2

elseven

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Hi all. I'm trying to buy a laptop for 3d animation (Blender), video editing, and gaming. I've narrowed it down to either an Alienware 17x with HD 4870 x 2, or an Asus G73JH-A2 with the new HD 5870. If they both have the same CPU and amounts of RAM, will I really see any performance improvement from the Alienware to justify its higher price? Thanks.
 
Solution
You probably need to look into a system that features a professional video card (e.g. Nvidia FX 3800), like those of Dell Precision and Lenovo ThinkPad W700 lines.Professional video cards are worse than commercial ones in gaming but much better in video-editing applications.

elseven

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Thank you for the reply. I will also be using this for vj work, mixing live camera feeds with video and sending it to a projection system, possibly even going to multiple projectors. Would that cause me to give preference to either GPU configuration? Thanks again.
 

NST

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You probably need to look into a system that features a professional video card (e.g. Nvidia FX 3800), like those of Dell Precision and Lenovo ThinkPad W700 lines.Professional video cards are worse than commercial ones in gaming but much better in video-editing applications.
 
Solution

meatwad53186

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If they both perform well enough for your needs, don't forget about power consumption. I haven't looked it up so I'm not sure, but I would guess that the 5870M would consume far less energy than the 4870X2M, which would give you some extra battery life.
 

elseven

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Thanks to everyone for their advice! After researching, it looks like I should really consider building a desktop that would be dedicated to rendering and video editing, and just forget about the gaming aspect for now. I do think tho that the HD 5870m is probably a wiser choice for a gaming laptop...
Thanks again.
 

elseven

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Your advice pointed me in the right direction to figure out what was the most important to me - editing video and getting into 3d animation. I ended up putting together a desktop system with an Nvidia FX1800 card for well below what I would have had to pay for a laptop. I'll give up the easy transport of a laptop for the horsepower of my new system.
Thanks again.
 

NST

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Your advice pointed me in the right direction to figure out what was the most important to me - editing video and getting into 3d animation. I ended up putting together a desktop system with an Nvidia FX1800 card for well below what I would have had to pay for a laptop. I'll give up the easy transport of a laptop for the horsepower of my new system.
Thanks again.

I am happy that my post was helpful.Hope you 're happy with your new system.I really think that the most important part of a purchase is identifying your needs.If you ever need someone to share views about something computing-related, please mail me.