Gaming Laptop Roundup

Sager NP9262 - Overview

The final entrant in our roundup of gaming laptops comes from Sager, a company that focuses exclusively on laptops. That makes navigating their website a little easier, since you don't have to sort through various desktop and notebook options, and they might have a slightly better feel for the mobile environment. Sager currently has seven shipping notebook models, all based on Intel platforms, and we received their maximum performance NP9262 for review.

We received our test laptop several months ago, so the component selection is a little outdated compared to what is currently available on Sager's website. Other than upgrades to the CPUs and GPUs, however, the platform remains the same. Current models now ship with Penryn processors and GeForce 9800M graphics cards, which should only improve performance relative to what we received (and perhaps improve battery life slightly, although that's clearly not the primary concern).

This is without a doubt the 800-pound gorilla of gaming notebooks - literally. Okay, so it only weighs 11.5 pounds, but compared to most other laptops this thing is huge. It also ships with pretty much the most powerful mobile computing components currently available. It competes with notebooks such as the Dell XPS M1730, with SLI graphics cards and up to three internal hard drives (with RAID 5 support). Combined with the decision to use desktop processors instead of the typical mobile processors, the NP9262 is firmly in the realm of desktop replacement (DTR) notebooks.

Besides being the largest laptop we've ever tested, the Sager NP9262 also holds the distinction of having the largest power brick we've ever seen. If you pack everything up in a carrying case, you're easily looking at lugging around over 15 pounds of notebook. (We measured 16.8 pounds for the laptop, carrying case, and power brick.) Sager does include a notebook bag with the laptop, so at least you won't need to look around for a separate bag. Despite the size and weight, it's also interesting to note that the Gateway P-series notebooks won't fit into this laptop bag, as they are wider and deeper than the NP9262 but only about half as tall.

Dissecting the Sager NP9262 is a relatively straightforward process. Looking at the bottom, the three hard drives are located towards the front of the notebook, two in a small cage and the third underneath the battery. Worth mention is that the battery is actually screwed into the chassis, so if you want to swap batteries you will need a screwdriver or coin in order to remove the battery. Despite the relatively large size of the battery, you're still looking at 60 to 90 minutes of battery life tops, so we don't expect most people will be looking at battery life as a major selling point. This notebook's intended to be carried from one location to another and then plugged in rather than something you would want to use on the road.

Getting at the remaining components involves the removal of a large cover that hides the CPU, GPUs, memory, and fans. The memory is beneath one of the fans, which makes upgrading memory more difficult than on many other notebooks, but as long as you go with 2x2GB of memory on your initial configuration, that won't matter. Removing the CPU heatsink requires that you remove the fan that covers the memory as well as the CPU heatsink, which is relatively simple. It's possible to get at the GPU MXM modules in a similar manner, although without the ability to upgrade modules there's not much point in doing so. Considering the cooling configuration and size of the notebook, however, we can only hope that Sager and their partners will eventually offer upgraded MXM modules for users who purchase the current systems.

One potential concern with desktop replacement notebooks is whether they will be able to handle the cooling requirements of high-end components. It's interesting to note that the NP9262 is currently shipping with dual 9800M GT cards (essentially the same as the 8800M GTX but with a 20% higher GPU core clock) or a single 9800M GTX (112 SPs compared to 96 SPs on the 9800M GT). Dual 9800M GTX cards are not currently supported in the online configurator; whether that's simply an issue with the supply of 9800M GTX or a power/heat limitation is unclear. Looking at the cooling arrangement, we are inclined to rule heat out as a potential cause for concern, but power requirements at full load are already very high so that seems a likely limitation.

The NP9262 is a thick laptop with four very large heat sinks and cooling fans. Two of these are for the graphics chips, one is for the memory and CPU, and the third is for the chipset and additional cooling for the CPU. Even with a desktop CPU, we never had any serious concerns with the laptop overheating - just make sure the four vents on the bottom of the notebook are not obstructed and you should be fine. As a corollary to that, we would not recommend using the NP9262 on your lap for long, as it can get quite warm - and the same applies to the other three notebooks in this roundup, which in some cases actually get hotter than the Sager.