Kobalt G860

Specifications

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Reviews for the Kobalt G860

80% Kobalt G860 Laptop
Source: Bit-Tech Archive.org version
We weren't really sure what the new range of mobile Core i7 CPUs would be like. In it's closed position, it might looks like a Liquorice Allsort but the idea of an eight-thread CPU in a laptop sounded even more extravagant, and the clock speed of 1.6GHz had us worried after previous experiences with slow multi-core CPUs. We needn't have worried, though, as Turbo Boost rescued the i7-720QM, typically ramping the frequency up to 2GHz. As a result, the Kobalt G860 stormed through our Media Benchmarks in one of the few gaming chassis that actually deserves the title of 'portable'.
Single Review, online available, Long, Date: 01/12/2010
Rating: Total score: 80% price: 80% performance: 80% features: 80%

Comment

NVIDIA GeForce GTX 280M:

The GeForce GTX 280M is based on the G92b chip with all 128 pipelines and, as a result, shares more similarities to the desktop 9800 GTX+ than the desktop GTX 280. Regardless, the high clock rate makes the GTX 280M considerably faster than the 9800M GTX.

Modern games should be playable with these graphics cards at low settings and resolutions. Casual gamers may be happy with these cards.

» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Graphics Cards and the corresponding Benchmark List.

Intel Core i7: The Intel Core i7 for laptops is based on the LG1156 Core i5/i7 CPU for desktops. The base clock speed of the CPUs is relatively low, but because of a huge Turbo mode, the cores can dynamically overclock to up to 3.2 GHz (920XM). Therefore, the CPU can be as fast as high clocked dual-core CPUs (using single threaded applications) but still offer the advantage of 4 cores. Because of the large TDP of 45 W / 55 W, the CPU is only intended for large laptops.  

720QM: The Core i7-720QM is the slowes Core i7 Quad Core in 2009 and clocks between 1.6 and 2.8 GHz (due to the Turbo Mode). Therefore, it combines the advantages of a slow quad core CPU with a fast single core one. Compared to the faster Core i7 mobile CPUs, the 720QM only features 6MB L3 Cache.» Further information can be found in our Comparison of Mobile Processsors.

15.60":

15-inch display variants are the standard and are used for more than half of all laptops.

The reason for the popularity of mid-sized displays is that this size is reasonably easy on the eyes, often allows high resolutions and thus offers rich details on the screen, yet does not consume too much power and the devices can still be reasonably compact - simply the standard compromise.

3.4 kg:

A laptop with this weight is comparatively heavy and less designed for mobility than for use at the desk. Therefore, the devices tend to shine less with battery life than with a large screen and higher performance.

Kobalt: Kobalt Computers Ltd was incorporated in April 2004 to provide consumers and businesses with computer systems. Nearly into the fifth year of providing cutting edge desktop systems they expanded the range to include custom gaming and CAD (Computer Aided Design) Notebooks.

80%: This rating is not earth-shattering. This rating must actually be seen as average, since there are about as many devices with worse ratings as better ones. A purchase recommendation can only be seen with a lot of goodwill, unless it is about websites that generally rate strictly.

» Further information can be found in our Notebook Purchase Guide.

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