Toshiba gives Qosmio X305 quad-core, 9800M
updated 08:35 am EDT, Tue October 21, 2008
Toshiba Qosmio X305 Quad
Toshiba this morning gave the Qosmio X305 a major upgrade by updating nearly all its architecture. The 17-inch gaming system's new Q708 variant adds a 2.53GHz Core 2 Extreme quad-core chip and upgrades from the GeForce 9700M video hardware of before to dual GeForce 9800M GTS graphics chipsets that should provide more desktop-like 3D performance than before. Like the MacBook Pro, however, the X305 also uses a GeForce 9400M as its mainboard chipset and so is not only more space-efficient but can switch to integrated video to save power when the system isn't attached to a wall outlet.
The company is also taking one of its first ventures into an HD/SSD hybrid for Qosmios: a primary 128GB solid-state drive speeds up access for the core operating system, while a 320GB rotating hard drive holds less speed-intensive games and large content.
Toshiba's new range-topping configuration ships for $4,200 but comes with 4GB of DDR3 memory, Bluetooth, 802.11n Wi-Fi and a unique dual-boot environment that lets owners boot into either the stock Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit operating system for full access to RAM or Vista Ultimate 32-bit for slightly faster performance and greater compatibility with legacy apps and hardware. It should be available today both through Toshiba's website and through retail.
