cool...

how about SSD? should I get lower capacity(120GB) for SSD and another normal HDD in optical drive bay?

I don't think 120Gb is enough to install some games but is there any noticeable performance in gaming? Or I can install game into normal HDD?

They always say SSDs are worth investing in Significantly faster boot time compared to a HDD. Gaming wise, I dont think it'll help much. Maybe for loading time? But if you want to get higher FPS, then invest in better gpu. But i see that you already have the amd 7970, now that's a pretty sweet card Personally, if you have the budget then go for the bigger capacity SSDs. But like me, I only want to put my OS and maybe a few 3D programs. So i guess 120gb is perfect for me.

My experience of using Kingston HyperX 240GB and Corsair Force 3 120gb.
- OS boot time average 20 secs from cold boot
- Load Battlefield 3 game about less than 30 secs compared to standard HDD which takes about more than 1 minute
- game performance depends on Processor and graphics.

120gb is enough to install couple of games and several programs.
if you a game maniac, pick higher capacity SSD

should i ditch the dvd rom and put normal HDD drive as 2nd HDD?im not sure whether i need the dvd rom or not
i already set the budget for the laptop but then i realised the SSD speed is just drooled me so is kinda tempting for me

higher capacity = higher money

looks like i don really need to put games into ssd.

i have external 320GB HDD lying around but i can hear the "ngek ngek" sound from it. not sure it's the external casing problem or hdd itself. else i can use that hdd as 2nd hdd

I honestly cant answer that for you if you don't need it, then you ditch it but yeah, basically higher capacity you'll need more money for that. Or maybe you can just get another external HDD? I think they're selling 500gb or 1tb HDD pretty cheap now. Just a suggestions.

you can ditch optical drive and install HDD on optical drive.
If u need optical drive, can buy external one

if you hear normal hdd got "krekk kreek" sound and have problem accessing the drive, it means the HDD is going to die.

i just bought wd 1tb passport last month though

i rarely use that external HDD and that could be the reason it starts to die. i will try to format it and see how it goes.

i store lot of musics and pictures into hdd and external hdd kinda troublesome for that. also,i will run VM too

i will need to think carefully on what i need, again...

decision is killing me

decision decision

i'm currently deciding which to get, between alienware, sager or stick with my asus G55 that i ordered since may 1st and still no news about it. Anyway, hope you make a good decision

kinda interested with crucial m4 256GB($200). any comments with that brand? i heard it is reliable although the write speed is slower

Indeed, Crucial is a good brand samsung is good too.

how about write speed? is there any big difference with other SSD?

GTX 680m ? Can that fit inside np8170 or is it compatible ?

I know that samsung will have the better speed, but then again.. Once you have a SSD, it'll be a huge difference. As long as it is a good brand

can't believe i just pull trigger and purchased crucial 256GB ssd lol...

i am $2k poorer in total now

I don't care much about write or read speed, as long as it operates on sata 3 6gbps and can boot within 20 secs from cold boot

i still new to SSD but like you said, if it performs well or about the same with others(intel,etc) in real world then im happy enough.

anyway,moving from my 4 years old dell laptop to this exp machine will sure makes my jaw drop.

I admire your will.

Indeed indeed

Got a bit of difference of SATA2 and SATA3 SSD. Single SSD do the job just fine, unless you want to RAID to enjoy double write/read speed
Once your hands touch Sager, you won't go for other brand. Trust me

lol at the song felt like i was watching Jason Bourne's trailer in the cinema with my headphone