Overview Of Our Test Systems
By
Tom's Guide Team,
published on June 17, 2006
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: 3d, gaming, notebooks, all
Source: Tom's Guide US | Keywords: 3d, gaming, notebooks, all
Contents
- 1. 3D Gaming On A Notebook PC: Fantasy Or Reality?
- 2. Bread And Circuses: Test Scenarios And Benchmarks
- 3. Overview Of Our Test Systems
- 4. Overview Of Our Test Systems, Continued
- 5. First Impressions Of The Acer Aspire 5672WLMi
- 6. Acer Aspire 5672 WLMi Support
- 7. Touchpad And Keyboard
- 8. First Impressions Of The Hewlett Packard Compaq Nx9420
- 9. Graphics Drivers: Internet Support
- 10. HP Compaq Nx9420 Support, Continued
- 11. Touchpad And Keyboard
- 12. First Impressions Of The Asus A7J
- 13. Graphics Drivers: Substandard Internet Support
- 14. A7J Support
- 15. Analog And Digital TV Plus FM Radio
- 16. Webcam As Notebook Watchdog
- 17. Sound Quality
- 18. First Impressions Of The Alienware Aurora M7700
- 19. Graphics Drivers: Excellent Internet Support
- 20. Alienware Aurora Support
- 21. Alienware Aurora Support, Continued
- 22. A Collection Of Sensible And Senseless Accessories
- 23. Sound Quality
- 24. The Graphics Processor Can Be Upgraded, But Be Careful
- 25. System Restore And Recovery Is Not For Wimps
- 26. An Overview Of Graphics Subsystems
- 27. Display Quality: Static Images
- 28. Display Quality Assessment: Static Images
- 29. Display Quality: The Motion Of Gaming
- 30. Is Gaming Possible At Native Resolution?
- 31. System Temperatures And Noise Levels While Gaming
- 32. Noise Levels For Various Usage Scenarios
- 33. Install And Load Times For Games
- 34. Benchmarks And Settings
- 35. Synthetic Game Performance
- 36. Real-World Game Performance
- 37. Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
- 38. Spellforce 2
- 39. Need For Speed: Most Wanted V1.3
- 40. System Performance
- 41. MobileMark2005: System Performance And Battery Life
- 42. Gaming Battery Lifetimes
- 43. Which Graphics Notebook For Whom?
- 44. Is Notebook SLI The Future?
- 45. Summary And Conclusions
3. Overview Of Our Test Systems
The tables on this and the next page present a complete overview of the configuration of each of our test systems. In the next section, two pages over, we share our impressions of each of these notebooks, based on our experience working with them in the first few hours after we unpacked them and before we began testing and benchmarking.
| Manufacturer | Acer | Alienware |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Aspire 5672Wlmi | Aurora M7700 |
| URL | www.acer.com | www.alienware.com |
| Type | 2-Spindle / Fixed | 4-Spindle / Modular |
| Dimensions & Weight | ||
| Width x Height x Depth | 14.3 x 1.4-1.6 x 10.9"
36.3 x 3.5-4.1 x 27.8 cm |
15.6 x 2.1-2.4 x 11.65"
39.7 x 5.4-6.2 x 29.6 cm |
| Unit & Battery | 3021 g / 6.66 lb | 5810 g / 12.81 lb |
| Battery | 426 g / 0.99 lb | 650 g / 1.43 lb |
| Charger & Cable | 622 g / 1.37 lb | 1380 g / 3.04 lb |
| Drives | n/a | n/a |
| Total (Notebook & Charger) | 3643 g / 8.03 lb | 7190 g / 15.85 lb |
| AC Adapter & Battery | ||
| Battery I Capacity | Li Ion 8 cells (14.8 V, 4800 mAh, 70 Wh) | Li Ion 12 cells ( 14.8 V, 6600 mAh, 98 Wh) |
| Battery II Capacity | none | none |
| AC adapter | 90 W | 220 W |
| Pointing Device(s) | Touchpad | Touchpad |
| Display and Graphics Controller | ||
| Display Size | 15.4" (39.1 cm) | 17 " (43.2 cm) |
| Display Resolution | 1280 x 800 | 1440 x 900 |
| Graphics controller | ATI Mobility Radeon X1400 | Nvidia Geforce Go 7800 GTX |
| Core clock | 446 MHz / 391 MHz / 128 MHz | 398 MHz / 200 MHz / 100 MHz |
| Memory | 512 MB DDR2 | 256 MB DDR3 |
| Memory clock | 342 MHz / 252 MHz / 135 MHz | 548 MHz / 300 MHz / 100 MHz |
| System | ||
| BIOS | Acer v1.3219 | Phoenix 4.06CJ15 01/09/2006 |
| CPU | Intel Core Duo T2300
(1.66 GHz, 2 MB L2-Cache) |
AMD Athlon 64 FX-60
(2.6 GHz, 1 MB L2- Cache) |
| Northbridge | Intel 945 PM | VIA K8T890 |
| Southbridge | ICH7-M DH (Intel 82801GHM) | VIA VT8237 |
| Memory | 2x 512 MB DDR2-667
Samsung (CL4-4-4-11) |
2x 1 GB DDR-400
PDP Systems (CL3-3-3-15) |
| Hard Drive | ||
| Manufacturer & Model | Hitachi Travelstar 5K100 HTS541010G9SA00 | Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 HTS721080G9SA00 |
| Size | 100 GB | 80 GB net (2x 80 GB as RAID 0) |
| Performance | (S-ATA / 5400 rpm / 8 MB / 12ms) | (S-ATA / 7200 rpm / 8 MB / 10ms) |
| Optical Drive | ||
| Manufacturer & Model | MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-845S | NEC ND-6750A |
| Speed DVD/+R/+RW/RAM/+DL (read/write/write/write/write) | 12x/8x/4x/5x/2.4x | 8x/8x/8x/-/4x |
| Speeed CD/R/RW (read/write/write) | 24x/24x/10x/ | 24x/24x/24x/ |
| Floppy Drive | none | 3.5" USB |
| Hard drive bay | 2.5", 9.5 mm height | 2x 2.5", 20 mm height |
| Connectors
B=Back side, F=Front, L=Left side, R=Right Side |
||
| PS2 Mouse/Keyboard | none / none | 1x /1x (B) |
| USB 2.0 | 2x (L) 2x (R) | 4x (L) |
| IEEE1394/Firewire | 1x (R) | 2x (L) |
| Serial COM Port | none | 1x (B) |
| Parallel LPT Port | none | 1x (B) |
| Microphone | yes | yes |
| IR port | yes (F) | yes (L) |
| Bluetooth-Radio | yes | none |
| VGA / DVI out | none / 1x (B) (vga adaptor) | none / 1x (B) |
| TV out | S-Video-Hosiden (R) | 1x S-Video-Cinch (B), 1x S-Video-Hosiden (L) |
| AC Power | Yes (L) | Yes (B) |
| PC-Card / PCIe-Card Slots | 1x (R) / 1x (R) | 1x (L) / none |
| LAN | Broadcom NetLink (TM) Gigabit Ethernet | Realtek RTL8169/8110 Family Gigabit Ethernet |
| WLAN | Intel PRO/Wireless 3945ABG | WLAN a+b+g mini-PCI Module Atheros Wistron CM9 |
| Audio Connectors | Mic (F), Headphone/SPDIF ( F ), Line-In (F) | Mic (L), Headphone (L), SPDIF ( L ), Line-In (L) |
| Audio Chip | Realtek ALC883 | Realtek ALC850 |
| Modem/Model | HDAUDIO Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP | AC97 Soft Data Fax Modem with SmartCP |
| Card-Reader: | SD, MS/ MS Pro, MMC, XD | SM, CF, Microdrive, SD, MS/ MS Pro, MMC |
| miscellaneous | 5-in-1-card reader, 1.3MP Videocam | 2 hds configured as RAID 0, standalone audioplayer |
| Software | ||
| OS | Windows XP Home | Windows XP Home |
| Application Software | Acer Tools, NTI CD/DVD-Maker, CyberLink PowerProducer (OEM), Software Norton AntiVirus (OEM) | Kaspersky Anti-Virus Personal Pro, PowerDVD 6.0 |
- Previous page Bread And Circuses: Test Scenarios...
- Next page Overview Of Our Test Systems, Continued
Oblivion has got to be the best MMORGP I have ever played. WOW can not compare to how well the game fells and plays. The Ups: Awsome Graphics is a complete understatement, the game offers vanity mode and 1st person vew, costomizeable characters, and loads of weapons and quests and guilds. The Downs: Glitchy combat when rendering wolves and dogs... and thats it... BUY THE DAMN THING... YOU'LL LOVE IT!!!!!!!