Shopping for a new AMD Toshiba 17" Laptop

[Knight71]

Good afternoon everyone,

I am looking for a new laptop to take on the road with me. It has to have a AMD CPU w/ATI Radeon HD graphics. I hate Intel for personal/political reasons. I was looking at the Toshiba Satellite P770D-BT4N22 Customized. I would like to get a AMD A8-3550MX with AMD Radeon HD 6620G Graphics but I can't find them for sale. Does anyone know if they will be releasing them for sale to the general public. I'm not sure about the memory. Do I want 4 or 8. I would like to get memory from Corsair or Crucial. If I did just get 4 I am sure that Toshiba would probably fill up the 2 memory slots then I am stuck with 2GB sticks. I have included before and after specs and the 3 programs with specs that I want to use on this laptop.

Thanks in advance for the help!

Minimum Specs (before customization):

AMD Quad-Core A6 Accelerated Processor
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium
3GB memory
320GB hard drive
AMD Radeon™ HD graphics
DVD SuperMulti drive
1600x900 native screen resolution
Premium raised-tile keyboard
802.11n wireless
Integrated webcam
HDMI output
Premium harman/kardon® speakers
Fusion® X2 Finish in Platinum

Laptop Cusomized:

AMD Quad-Core A8-3520M Accelerated Processor 1.6 GHz base (2.5 GHz with AMD Turbo Core Technology), 4MB Cache
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit, SP1
4GB DDR3 1333MHz SDRAM (2048MBx2)
500GB HDD (7200rpm, Serial-ATA)
500GB 2nd HDD (7200rpm, Serial-ATA)
DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive
Glossy Black LED Backlit Tile keyboard
High Capacity Lithium Ion Battery (12-cell/98Wh)
Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n) with Bluetooth® v3.0 + Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)
Microsoft® Office 2010 Starter
Norton Internet Security Suite (NIS) 2012 (30-day trial)
3 Years Standard Limited Warranty

PRIMARY USE:

Chief Architect
PC Minimum*

Windows 7 / Vista / XP**
2.4 GHz processor
2 GB of Memory (32 bit)
4 GB of Memory (64 bit)
5 GB of available hard disk space
256 MB dedicated video card
Monitor resolution 1024 x 768
OpenGL: 2.1 or higher
Internet: High speed for Registration, Video access, and Library downloads

**Chief Architect Premier X4 (64-bit) is not supported on Windows XP

PC Recommended

Windows 7 64 bit
Multi-Core CPU (e.g., Intel i5, i7)
6 GB of Memory
50 GB of available hard disk space
1 GB high performance video card (e.g., NVIDIA or ATI)

Blender
Operating Systems

Windows XP, Vista or 7
Mac OS X 10.5 and later
Linux
FreeBSD

Minimal specs for Hardware

1 GHZ Single Core CPU
512 MB RAM
1024 x 768 px Display with 16 bit color
3 Button Mouse
Open GL Graphics Card with 64 MB RAM

Good specs for Hardware

2 GHZ Dual Core CPU
2 GB RAM
1920 x 1200 px Display with 24 bit color
3 Button Mouse
Open GL Graphics Card with 256 or 512 MB RAM

Production specs for Hardware

64 bits, Multi Core CPU
8-16 GB RAM
Two times 1920 x 1200 px Display with 24 bit color
3 Button Mouse + tablet
Open GL Graphics Card with 1 GB RAM, ATI FireGL or Nvidia Quadro

EQ2 - EverQuest 2
The minimum system requirements are for EverQuest II are:

Operating System: Windows 98/2000/ME/XP
Processor: 1GHz
RAM: 512 MB
Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible. Pixel shader and vertex shader compatible hardware with 64 MB of texture memory
Sound Card: DirectSound compatible audio hardware


The recommended system requirements are:

Operating System: Windows XP
Processor: 2 GHz or greater
RAM: 1 GB
CD-ROM: 16x CD-ROM or DVD-ROM
Video Card: DirectX 9 compatible. Pixel shader and Vertex shader compatible hardware with 128mb of texture memory or greater
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Audigy

EverQuest II is a game that was created with many options that offer balance between quality and performance, so even if a consumer does not have the most advanced computer system, they still will be able to enjoy the game without frustration.

 

[WR2]

I would like to get a AMD A8-3550MX with AMD Radeon HD 6620G Graphics but I can't find them for sale. Does anyone know if they will be releasing them for sale to the general public. dv6z Quad Ed. A8-3550MX

HP was selling it's dv6z A8-3550MX early last month.
Google isn't picking up any other A8-3550MX equipped laptops which is kinda surprising.
You'd of thought a few of the others would have stepped up.
Maybe there is backlog of the earlier APU models?

 

[Knight71]

Yeah I seen the HP...It would be nice if it was a 17". Do you think that the AMD Quad-Core A8-3520M will do the job WR2?

 

[WR2]

It's not a terrible option (certainly better than the 1.5Ghz A8-3500M). And it will get the job done, no question about that.
But the 2.0Ghz APU doesn't quite measure up (overall) to the fast dual core i5 from the 'other side of the fence'. It does some things well but lags in other areas.
Big List of Mobile Processors (CPU Benchmarks)
AMD A8-3550MX ranked #108 vs Core i5-2450M @ #48.

In terms of IGP - HD 6620G is far ahead of the HD 3000.
And when you run the IGP (during gaming) there is no thermal headroom for TurboCore operation.

 

[Knight71]

So the Toshiba Satellite P770D-BT4N22 Laptop with the AMD A8-3520M 1.6 GHz base (2.5 GHz with AMD Turbo Core Technology) will do for now until they release the AMD A83550MX. And do you know of a way to overclock it to maybe 2.2 or 2.3 WR2?

 

[WR2]

I've checked out the HP A6 & A8 overclocking/K10Stat guides online.
But haven't seen any for the Toshiba notebooks.

 

[Knight71]

Ok...Do you think that the AMD A8-3520M when it needs it, that it will go in to 2.4 GHz Mode?

 

[WR2]

It's more likely to hit 2.4Ghz when it has 2 APU cores shut down.
But the whole APU line has a reputation of not using TurboCore all that much.
The AMD Llano Notebook Review

 

[Knight71]

2.4Ghz it better then 1.6Ghz that's for sure. Do you think that they will release the AMD A8-3550MX in 6 months or sooner so that I could upgrade. I mean they will sell it to the public right. It would be more money for AMD.

 

[WR2]

I can't say. I would have thought that if there were ever going to offer that APU they would have done so already.

But Toshiba isn't in the business of making money for AMD. They'll do what make the most money for Toshiba.

 

[Wave Fusion]

I thought the same thing at one point.
For my needs I settled on an Intel CPU and an AMD GPU combination.

Because I distrust Nvidia more than either of them.

That said, my sister has the dv6t with a A6 onboard and she can play Skyrim and SWTOR.

If you choose an A8, I have little doubt you could play EQ2
Unfortunately I don't know what the other two programs do.

Also, the dv6 has an optional 1080p upgrade (if that was a factor towards seeking a 17 inch model)

 

[Knight71]

Very true WR2...

I feel your pain Wave Fusion. I hate Intel and I am not to crazy about Nvidia. They kind of go hand in hand...lol. The other 2 are like CAD. Chief Architect is for Homes and Blender is for 3D rendering. My wife has a 17" Dell...I just like the screen size. More Desktop area...

 

[Knight71]

Best answer selected by Knight71.