General Forum

I going to spend about 2G's.

Gameing laptop, something that will play Diablo3 and starcraft2 when they come out like a champ.

I got a basic idea of hardware i want, just not familier with graphic cards, chipset, stuff like that.

So, if anyone could throw me ideas, or anything.

Btw, im using newegg to buy, i have a 10 or 15% discout with them though a friend.

Get a Mac!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834114558
SLI'ed 9800M's. $2000. CPU is a bottleneck, at only 2.3 ghz. But that has the best graphics setup of any laptop for the price.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834147924
Quad core, but only 2 ghz. 9600M GT. Games like SC2 and D3 will probably be CPU-heavy, since they have a lot of units, but not a lot of different textures. $1850. Fastest quad core CPU available in notebooks on Newegg for under 2k. Still I think the video card is a bit weak.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220483
2.5 ghz dual core, 9800M GS GPU. $1300.


Those are 3 that are all interesting. There are obviously ones in between that will be good.


Here are the graphics cards you should look for. Do not consider anything not on this list.

Nvidia 9800M GS, GTX, GTS, or GT
Nvidia 8800M GTX or GTS

Ranked in order of power:
9800M GTX
9800M GT = 8800M GTX (exact same chip)
9800M GTS
8800M GTS
9800M GS

The 9800M GTS and 8800M GTS are essentially the same, except newer 9800M GTS's will run cooler and use less power due to better technology. The 9800M GTX is by far the best card, but it's also bound to be expensive. The rest of Nvidia's mobile cards are way behind this pack. There aren't many laptops on Newegg with ATI GPUs. There's one with a Mobility 3850, which is roughly equal to a 9800M GTS, but the CPU it's coupled with is massively underpowered, and the laptop's brand is trash (MSI). There are some really nice ATI mobile GPUs, like the 4850X2, but Newegg doesn't carry laptops with those installed.



Once you've found the GPU, look at the CPU. Core 2 Duos are the best. You can get a quad core, but the only ones within your price range have bad graphics, and 2 ghz isn't really that great when you're using apps which can only use one core (most of them). Get the fastest CPU you can afford. Intel mobile CPUs are terrifying to identify. Consult this site.
http://processorfinder.intel.com/List.aspx?ParentRadio=All&ProcFam=2643&SearchKey=
You're looking for:

1066 mhz bus speed, 800 is okay as long as the other 2 conditions are satisfied.

45 nm Mfg tech. I don't advise 65nm as it runs hotter.

6 mb cache ideally, 4 backup. 2 is not enough.

At least 2.4 ghz.





For everything else, it doesn't matter a whole lot. 4GB is fine, and most hard drives are more than enough for a laptop. Onboard Wifi is standard. Bluray, who cares. Laptop drives are so crappy and loud you won't want to use it. Screen size is important though. Look for 1680x1050 res and a 17" screen at least, imo. If you're worried about weight, well, forget a gaming laptop lol. Get a backpack for it and you won't care how heavy it is.



Any more questions, and I'll be happy to help.

Get a Mac, you wont ever have to worry about viruses.

Busty you're making me wish I didn't have a Mac just so I wouldn't be associated with you.

You sure you want a Mac?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3126/2568040903_fc5da3052f.jpg?v=0

Alright riddle me this, why is it a quad core has lower gigahertz then a dual?


and 2.4 is a good processor speed for a laptop?


I was looking at desktops and jesus i might think about one of them. But i cant take desktops for travel...

Quad core generates more heat (~2x as much) so it has to run slower to meet thermal specs. If you take a dual core that outputs 60W at 3 ghz and 1.3 V, you're basically going to have a 120W output if it's a quad. That's a huge increase. In a desktop that's okay because you can strap a huge heatsink to it or a waterblock. You can drop the quad core to 2.6 ghz and reduce the power requirement (thus heat output) to maybe 90-100W, while still having a big increase in performance (assuming applications can use all 4 cores, which few can, which is why a fast dual core > a slower quad core for most tasks). Also, it's more cost effective to accept lower speed cores because a lot of quad cores are just 2 dual cores stuck together with some fancy circuitry. The dual cores are cut from the same wafer side by side, so if you have 70% of the dual cores cut from your wafer capable of running at 3 ghz but 95% at 2.6 ghz, then you're going to be able to make a lot more quad cores when you can take nearly any 2 random dual cores from the wafer and use them.



2.4 ghz is fairly fast for a laptop, the fastest being around 2.9 ghz. Remember that laptops are always going to be slower than desktops.


Yeah desktops are way better for gaming. $2000 will get you a VERY nice setup. i7 920 @ >3.5 ghz, 6GB DDR3, GTX 295, etc. Easy within 2k.

Thanks for the lesson.

I know desktops rock at gameing, im just looking for a laptop that will be able to play games almost as good. I travel alot, alot. Hard to lug around a desktop. Though i will be getting one next year. Erm, this one is $2400 how does it look to you. Worth the extra bit of money or should i stick to one of the above suggestions.


Equipped with Nvidia 9800M GTS 1 GB DDR3 VRAM

ASUS G Series G70Sg-A3 Intel Core 2 Duo T9500(2.60GHz) 17.0" Wide UXGA 4GB Memory 640GB HDD BD Combo NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS NoteBook - Retail
Part#: 90NS4A16321A5KQL450T
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
CPU Type: Intel Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6G
Screen: 17" WUXGA
Memory Size: 4GB DDR2
Hard Disk: 640GB
Optical Drive: BD Combo
Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS
Model #: G70Sg-A3
Item #: N82E16834220494


http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2034940032%204086&name=%242000%20-%20%242500

That should handle most games on the market right now at 1920x1200, medium/high detail.


Here's another suggestion.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220405

Smaller screen, lower resolution, weaker GPU/CPU, but $500 cheaper. I expect it would perform nearly the same given that the maximum resolution is lower. I'm not saying to get one over the other, but one is a lot cheaper. If you like good quality sound, you could get a soundcard that plugs into the ExpressCard slot, and a good pair of headphones. I personally don't care about sound quality and would go for the $2400 one, if I could afford that.

http://www.excaliberpc.com/589833/asus-g70sg-a3-17-notebook.html

Wow that's a pretty nice laptop actually. Even comes with a real mouse lol.

I didn't read all the above replies, but I'd just like to point something to you. I've had a Macbook Pro for nearly 2 years now and I'm very happy that it only weights 5 pounds. A few friends of mine carry big 17" laptops in their back every day at school/work. Those weight up to 16 lbs!

If you travel alot, I'd suggest you consider this aspect as a priority, especially if you're looking for powerful machines that usually weights a lot.

My two cents.

heh, having carried nearly a hundred pounds continuously for days at a time backpacking, that can't be that bad.

Ya no kidding. Im carrying a 30lbs daypack on me everywhere now. With flack and kevelar.

Which is light... (i took the useless licoln log out of it)

Btw, that is a really nice laptop on excilber. I might grab that one actualy.

If you come across anymore let me know, it will be the end of march before i got the money for it. im getting 1000 for the trip to thailand, pluss another 600 for being my 1 year mark in usmc. Plus i get about 750 every 2 weeks :P

you suck for not emailing me back. f you. :)

Send us some Thai pic noods already.

Oh then, if you don't mind about weight, the laptops listed above look nice if you want to play games.

Good luck with that!

NOOOOOOOO It's a stumbling 16 pounds! OUCH! Drop your cantene, unstrap your ammo, throw away your nades(Carefully) and get rid of your med kits, this soldier is packing a laptop! A GAMING ONE!

The Russians with their Notebooks have notable strength in their speed advantage, US soldiers beware!

This post DID NOT contain ANY sarcasm AT ALL.

:P

errmmm..

alright ill get the camera inside some clubs :P

Actually the one on excaliberpc.com is the $2400 one you linked. I just Googled for better pics.

I guess I'm lazy then, sideo! :)

Im aware its 2400.

How does this one look. New video card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220503

LOL 4870x2 in a laptop. I imagine the LCD's response time would be too slow to draw the battery bar draining.