More analysis
Turning the Ixius 3.6 over shows cooling in force. A closer examination of the chassis confirms that Clevo is the ODM for this particular model. The D900T has been taken on by a number of distributors, including MV, and is specifically designed as a premium DTR model. Intel's i915P PCIe Grantsdale chipset is used to provide the brains of the outfit. That automatically infers a PCI-Express GeForce 6800 Go and, perhaps, DDR2 memory.
Removing the central cover shows 2x256MB Corsair DDR2 533MHz SODIMM modules. Note that there's space a total of 4 SODIMMs for a maximum 4GB RAM and MV has installed 2 in single-channel mode. Dual-channel running is achieved by either filling all slots or having equivalent SODIMMs in facing slots. It's a small thing, but not something that should have been overlooked, and running in DC mode can offer up to 5% extra performance for a given clock speed.
Removing the larger section from the bottom shows just how the wattage-eating 3.6GHz Prescott CPU is cooled. An LGA775 copper block leads to a huge heatpipe which is cooled by a fan situated just above it. It evidently works well in practice, as the Ixius 3.6 is near-silent in 2D work and only whirs up to a pleasant hum when in full-blown 3D mode. Good, efficient design. You can also see just where some of the near-5kg weight comes from. The upper slot, if you're wondering, contains Hitachi's excellent 60GB 7,200RPM hard drive. No complaints with its choice, and using it instead of a, say, a larger, slower-spinning drive is a decent thinking. MV gives the user an option of adding a second drive and the possibility of RAIDing them for extra performance.
Again, it's difficult to guesstimate size from an isolated picture, so click here for a visual comparison against what I consider to be a bulky laptop, Dell's Inpsiron 5160. Notice just how much more there is of the Ixius 3.6. A knock-on benefit of specifying such a large screen is the ability to add practically a full-size keyboard, including a number pad on the right-hand side. The keys had just the right amount of travel and the cursor pad had a satisfying smoothness. There's also three customisable shortcut buttons at the very top and a power button with a pleasing blue ring.
It's always difficult to get an appreciation of a screen's quality from a photograph. Having using the Ixius 3.6 for a couple of days, the 1440x900 resolution on a 17-inch TFT is just about large enough to be acceptable. Given a choice, however, I'd recommend plumping for the optional 1680x1050 widescreen resolution. Keen-eyed readers might also notice the inbuilt webcam that's actually surprisingly good.
All in all, £1750 inc. VAT is an awful lot of money to be spending on a laptop. The MV Ixius 3.6 is an awful lot of laptop, both in size and sheer power. It's firmly based on top-end desktop technology, right down to Intel's i915P motherboard, DDR2 RAM and potent storage and optical potential. We already know it's going to be fast, but just how quick is it, and how good is the undiscussed GeForce 6800 Go 256MB adapter?. Let's find out.
