Sandy Bridge-E processors fuel new high-powered gaming laptops

Intel filled out the Sandy Bridge high-end last November with a pair of six-core desktop offerings: the 3.3GHz Core i7-3960X Extreme Edition, and the 3.2GHz Core i7-3930K. We’re now seeing the duo show up in some rather heavy-duty laptops, with products from Clevo, Eurocom, and Maingear being announced in the past few days. Clevo’s P270WM is a refresh of its X7200 model, and is being offered by retailer AVADirect with both Intel processors as BTO options. The machine features a 17.3-inch 1920 x 1080 display and Nvidia’s GeForce GTX 580M as the standard graphics card. The laptop can be equipped with dual 580Ms if you desire, and features a total of three hard drive bays for your storage needs. The standard configuration, upgraded to an i7-3930K, retails for $3131.77, and is available for pre-order from AVADirect now.

The Maingear Titan 17 and the Eurogear Panther 4.0 both utilize the same chassis as the P270WM, with a choice of either Sandy Bridge-E processor. The Titan 17, which starts at $3499, is roughly comparable on specs to the Clevo machine, though it does offer the option of a 3D display as a differentiator. The Panther ups the ante altogether with the option of a fourth hard drive in lieu of the optical drive, while also supporting 16GB SO-DIMMs — bringing the total potential RAM up to 64GB. Unfortunately there’s no pricing information yet on the Panther — both laptops will be available in March — but we can’t imagine those high-end configurations will come cheap. It’s also important to note that these kind of specs come with significant physical trade-offs: all three machines weigh in at over 12 pounds. That said, if pure performance is your gaming goal, they’re definitely worth a look.

See how the models stack up with one another using our comparison tool!