Question on choosing a processor

[Koswus]

Hey guys I had a question I wanted to submit to the experts, I'm buying a laptop (asus g73jh) and was up grading two things the processor and the memory. I wanted to increase the processor the the 8xxQM series. The seller has two option a 820qm for 175 and a 840qm for 260.

I wanted to get the 840qm but I was told by the seller that it is a qualification sample (QS) because he has not been given any oem models. The 820qm would be a oem model. He did say that for either processors would come with a 3yr replacement warranty with 2 way shipping. I was wondering if this is a good offer because I remember reading some where that if a processor was going to have problems it would be within the first 6 months of use. I also read that sometimes QS sample are put through extreme stress so it might be damaged. In anycase I was just wondering if anyone had advice on the matter.

In terms of the memory i wanted to get a SSD but is stuck between a Samsung with a read/write of 200/120 vs a Crucial Real SSD C300 with a read/writ of 355/70. however I think the laptop only has sataII so the fastest it can do is 265, either way the read would be faster on the Crucial but the write is faster on the samsung. Also wanted some advice on this. Crucial costs a little more by about 45 but not a big deal just wanted better performance for a primary gaming/internet browsing.

Thanks for any help you guys can provide!

 

[DrMrLordX]

The C300's power consumption might be an issue if battery life is important to you (well, not really, but it does chew up more power than the OCZ Vertex 2). That being said, write performance on the C300 can certainly exceed 70 MB/s as seen here:

http://www.anandtech.com/show/3812/the-ssd-diaries-crucials-realssd-c300/2

I would recommend all of Anandtech's articles regarding the C300, as you may find them to be very interesting. You might also try asking around in the Memory and Storage forum for more opinions.

As far as the 840qm QS goes . . . who exactly is the seller here? Are you buying direct from Acer, or is this a licensed Acer dealer or what? Something smells fishy. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

 

[Koswus]

thanks for responding DrMrLordX, yeah i realized the harddrive was the wrong forum after i posted it, they company is an authorized asus reseller and is reputable, but the processor warranty would be from the company not asus i think

 

[jvroig]

company is an authorized asus reseller and is reputable, but the processor warranty would be from the company not asus i think

Less fishy now that you've mentioned it's an authorized reseller. Personally, though, I'd rather not go for the QS since you are concerned about its condition. The difference between the two processors is just a tiny clockspeed bump, nothing you'd notice in real-world usage, not worth 100 more of your cash, and not worth any anxiety on your part regarding its quality.

In short: go for the OEM model 820QM and forget about the 840QM. It's just more hassle-free that way.

 

[DrMrLordX]

Acer/Asus duh. Sorry.

Yeah, since they're licensed, the likelihood that they'll do something to damage their relationship with Asus is pretty low. That being said, I'd still go with the 820QM for the reasons jvroig outlined; saving money on the CPU and spending it on the faster C300 would make a bigger overall difference in system performance, more likely than not.

 

[Koswus]

thanks again for the advice, i think imma get the 840qm, not that i don't value ur opinions just i feel that from what im getting from you guys is that the seller seems safe to get a qs from since he's a reseller and would honor the warranty should anything go wrong, i figured that the ssd would be a more worthwhile upgrade but i was gonna get both the ssd and the processor just wanted to see how safe it was to get a QS processor, also if I were to upgrade to the 128gb crucial it would be another $200 and the 85 for the processor seems more worth it because id feel more comfortable changing a ssd then a processor in the future...
I think the mature thing would have been just to go with the 820 but then again my ego needs the 840 for now =)

thanks again for you opinion guys it really helped ease my mind!