Truly Custom Laptops

[TheGreatSatan]

I would love to order a custom laptop. The problem is that every site I go to that supposedly has custom laptops, really doesn't. They all start off very high ($800 range) and you can only add to the price. I would love a basic dual core with 2GB RAM, 100GB drive tops and good graphics. I've been to cyberpowerpc, ibuypower, and pctorque, overram, and powernotebooks.com. All are the same....

[Luke122]

Didnt OCZ offer some barebones laptop kits?

[Outlaw]

OCZ Barebones on Newegg. Just add CPU, RAM and HDD. Oh and OS of course.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16856172010

CPU Supported: Intel Core 2 Duo / Core 2 Extreme / Core 2 Quad
Graphics Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 9600GTS
Memory Slot: 2 x SO-DIMM
Memory Type: DDR3 1066 (4GB MAX)
HDD: SATA

[Luke122]

If it used a swappable GPU, then it would be MORE custom.

*edit: Spelling. WTF is a "swapple"? hehe

MXM gpu's are what I'm talking about.

[Outlaw]

That is pretty slick. The only problem I could see is with the heatsinks. If they make the cards interchangeable, the heatsink for one card may not work for the other or may not cool enough.

At least in my HP, they connected the CPU, GPU and chipset heatsinks with heat-pipes to make one big one.

::Update::
Found a site where they did the upgrade in an Alienware.
http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/m15x.html
Two links at the bottom allow you to purchase an MXM-260 or MXM-280 and starts at a low low price of 350€ ($478.5 US) for the 260 or 450€ ($615.28 US) for the 280.

I think pricing is still an issue.

Here's a LINK to few PC's, their models and which version of XMX is supported. Some of them also have a 'Buy' link to show a purchase price. **Keep in mind, this is not a US based company so prices are not in Dollars**

[x88x]

From what I've seen of the (much too infrequently used) MXM format, the heatsink is part of the unit. It's a lot like a graphics card for a desktop, really, just smaller and a weird shape.

[Outlaw]

At least in the case of the Alienware and what I've seen in my searches, it is just the chip requiring the use of the OE heatsink.. The Alienware review stated the OE heatsink was not enough for the card they put in and if it wasn't for the 22c ambient room temp, it would have shutdown to overheating.

I think my update was done while you were posting. The link to the website for a list of laptops and mxm compatibility show just the chips without heatsinks but I am by no means an expert on this.

Picture from mxm-upgrade (Type B ATI HD4870 - 1GB GDDR3)

[x88x]

Interesting; good to know.

[crenn]

If Manufacturers actually had a low spec laptop with high end GPU, they wouldn't make any money ;P

[x88x]

You can get a Geforce 9400 or a GTS 230 with low end CPU, but that's about as high as you're gonna get.