"gaming" laptop recommendations?

Chowdy · Apr 19, 2005

Hey all.

I'm totally new to the laptop world. I've established that i want a windows xp based notebook. I'm looking at an around ~$1k-1.3k notebook with light gaming abilities. By light i mean all of the games of yesterday. Counter-strike 1.6, WC3, ROSE Online (more of a today's game, but old looking), and maybe UT2K4.

I definitely want 512MB of RAM, as it fits nicely @ the $1k pricepoint. The best it seems that i can afford is an X300 setup. I do not understand how mobility GPUs work, as "Mobility 9700" i've heard is actually an overclocked core similar to the 9600 desktop version.

Can an X300 run these games? If not, what will at good resolutions and FPS?

PS: The rest will be composed of probably a 1.5Ghz P-M.

gigahertz · Apr 19, 2005

laptops are not meant for gaming you know .

So dont buy a laptop based on what games it can play

gigahertz · Apr 19, 2005

unless you spend $3000 + for Dell XPS 2

Tebore · Apr 19, 2005

Take a look at the Asus Z71V it runs on the Sonoma platform. DDR2 dual channel, Able to use Pentium-M and has a 6600GT in it. People overclock it and usually get ~4500 points in 3D2K5.
It was one of the laptops I was looking at while shopping but it's slightly heavier then I would have liked.

enduro · Apr 19, 2005

unless you spend $3000 + for Dell XPS 2

Come on guys dont talk about stuff you don't know.............

I have a Dell i8600 that I bought for 1300........Mobility Radeon 9600 and I can play UT2004, Half Life 2 ( on low albeit), and Doom III ( needs a gig of ram). My friend has a 9200 with the Mobility 9700 and he can play Far Cry on max settings and still get 40 fps.

The new 9300 with the 256 Mb 6800 Go will kill anything that dell had out before IMO. Do a search on the 3DMark scores coming from this laptop. It is a direct desktop replacement. Hell it scored better in 3DMark01 than my first computer did. The cost..........with one of the coupons that you can find probably 12-1400 bucks and well worth every cent. It will play every game out right now.

Edit: Just a hint but if you want a gig of ram. Buy a 256 stick from Dell.......sell it on the forums for like 25 bucks.........buy a gig from Newegg for 150............and you'll save 100 bucks over Dell's price.

Also look around for the coupon deals that Dell puts out. There was one two days ago that was 750 bucks off of a $1999 or higher laptop. Which means you could have had a 9300 with some kicking stuff for 1300..........

Mr B · Apr 19, 2005

enduro said:
Come on guys dont talk about stuff you don't know.............

I have a Dell i8600 that I bought for 1300........Mobility Radeon 9600 and I can play UT2004, Half Life 2 ( on low albeit), and Doom III ( needs a gig of ram). My friend has a 9200 with the Mobility 9700 and he can play Far Cry on max settings and still get 40 fps.

The new 9300 with the 256 Mb 6800 Go will kill anything that dell had out before IMO. Do a search on the 3DMark scores coming from this laptop. It is a direct desktop replacement. Hell it scored better in 3DMark01 than my first computer did. The cost..........with one of the coupons that you can find probably 12-1400 bucks and well worth every cent. It will play every game out right now.

Edit: Just a hint but if you want a gig of ram. Buy a 256 stick from Dell.......sell it on the forums for like 25 bucks.........buy a gig from Newegg for 150............and you'll save 100 bucks over Dell's price.

Also look around for the coupon deals that Dell puts out. There was one two days ago that was 750 bucks off of a $1999 or higher laptop. Which means you could have had a 9300 with some kicking stuff for 1300..........

^^ The correct answer...

^^

You don't have to spend a ton of $$ to get a laptop that will play games well. Also consider the Compaq x6000. Hardware-wise, not as good as the Dell i9300, but still a very good system.

Also consider browsing Dell's Refurb laptops. I was mentioning to someone the other day they had an i8600 in there, with a P-M 1600, 512MB of ram, CDRW, 60 gig drive, 9600 Pro 128MB, for under $800!!!! (I'm sure that's long sold, but stuff like that appears now and again, if you watch for them...

)

YES..that's Eight Hundred U.S. Dollars. Upgrade the ram @ newegg, and when the warranty runs out, do the same for the CPU.

When I can afford it, I plan on getting an i9300, to replace my "gaming desktop" with...

The way I hear tell, one of those with a P-M 1800, a gig of ram, the Go 6800 video, and a 60 gig 7200 RPM drive will blow the doors off of my "gaming desktop" (P4 2.8 @ 3.2, gig of ram, 9800XT, 40 gig 7200).

ozzlo · Apr 19, 2005

I triple "DITTO" the motion the motion that laptops can easily play games on the one restriction that a p4 laptop should not...

I got a i8600 with a geforce go 5200 and I can play HL2 on low to medium settings

enduro · Apr 19, 2005

lol completely off topic but what happened to your old avatar Chowdy............it was that cartoon with the guy with the flag behind him...........I liked him lol................

Athlonight · Apr 20, 2005

Chowdy said:
Hey all.

I'm totally new to the laptop world. I've established that i want a windows xp based notebook. I'm looking at an around ~$1k-1.3k notebook with light gaming abilities. By light i mean all of the games of yesterday. Counter-strike 1.6, WC3, ROSE Online (more of a today's game, but old looking), and maybe UT2K4.

I definitely want 512MB of RAM, as it fits nicely @ the $1k pricepoint. The best it seems that i can afford is an X300 setup. I do not understand how mobility GPUs work, as "Mobility 9700" i've heard is actually an overclocked core similar to the 9600 desktop version.

Can an X300 run these games? If not, what will at good resolutions and FPS?

PS: The rest will be composed of probably a 1.5Ghz P-M.

Gaming Laptop = oxy moron.. no one needs to game on the way to school or on the bus.. i mean seriously..

enduro · Apr 20, 2005

Lol wow, talk about generalization there. I take it your in JH or HS? I hate to break it to you but when you are in college you actually use your laptop. I use mine all the time. Whether it's for programming or if I just want to use the wireless network at my school to game or surf the net. They're awesome to have and no it's not a oxymoron. I can play any game out on my laptop. The 9300 from Dell is a desktop replacement and probably get's a better score than you're setup

Chowdy · Apr 20, 2005

Athlonight said:
Gaming Laptop = oxy moron.. no one needs to game on the way to school or on the bus.. i mean seriously..

Hey buddy, chill. I guess you didn't totally read my post. I have a friend w/ a $500 laptop 1.4 Celeron M, 256MB RAM, Integrated intel graphics, and it plays ROSE Online at lowest settings fine. I don't want a gaming laptop, that's why my thread is titled "gaming" laptop. It's meant for school, but i want it to be able to do some light gaming like counter-strike 1.6, which my friend's laptop is ever so close to being able to play. Since all we play @ our LANs are old RTSes (CnC + RA etc...), ROSE online, and CS 1.6, i think it'd be awesome to just have to bring a lappy to a LAN

. I'm in no way going to splurge on a 6600 or something, that's a bit more than i need or afford.

enduro said:
lol completely off topic but what happened to your old avatar Chowdy............it was that cartoon with the guy with the flag behind him...........I liked him lol................

Heh, that's Gabe from www.penny-arcade.com. He'll be coming back when i find another cartoon to rip his image from that i like a lot

ANYWAYS. I'm torn between a mobility 9000 and an X300. The rest of the system will be the same. Which is better? can either play CS 1.6 / WC3?

enduro · Apr 20, 2005

Well from personal experience I would honestly spend a bit more money and at least get the 9600 Pro that I have. It will play UT2004 at normal settings 1280*800 ( Widescreen). Anything below that and I'm not sure about the frame rates that you'll be getting. I'm in a competetive clan in UT though so I needed to get about 35-40 fps at least in the game. It does that and I've been holding my own. The reason I say buy a nice vidcard though is that it's the hardest thing to upgrade in a laptop and usually impossible so buy a vidcard that will last you several years. With a coupon you should be able to get a i8600 for a great price..............barring that I would do some research on the frame rates of the two because I haven't done any research on them. I was only looking at the 9600, 9600 Pro, and the 9700 Pro.

Mr.Guvernment · Apr 21, 2005

my imspiron p4 3.2pressy /512 ram and radeon 9700 64mb plays HL2 @ 1024 x 768 - only reason it stutters is becase of 5400RPM HD and 512 of ram.

Laptops can play gaem just fine now a days. - i can get a radeon 9800 256mb card for this laptop if i wanted to.

Chowdy · Apr 21, 2005

I'm not interested in super high end gaming. heh. of course from an OC forum the extremes are always preferred (

) but in this case i am going for moderation. Could anyone help me find some benchies for the mobility X300 and Radeon 9000? Or know which is better? I jus twant to play warcraft 3 and couner-strike, at BEST!

Chowdy · Apr 21, 2005

One big edit:

Okay, it's basically between a 1.8 Centrino 600M w/ Mobility 9000 and 512MB of ram

or

1.6 i9300 X300 w/ 512MB of RAM.

i9300 is abt $100 more.

Cornel · Apr 21, 2005

Here's another sweet looking machine: click here

enduro · Apr 21, 2005

Compared to the 9300 though it has a smaller screen, a SXGA versus the 9300's Brightview, and the cpu is slower......and no vidcard from what I saw but I just glanced at it.

Chowdy........how soon do you need this laptop? Check this website everyday because they get Dell coupons all the time:

http://www.techbargains.com/dellcoupons.cfm

The coupons you can get are incredible. Between those two though I'd get the i9300 because it will have faster ram and a better vidcard which since you'll have the 9300 you can upgrade to the 6800 Go later when you have the money. That's something that is really easy to do. I've taken my laptop apart in about 20 minutes and it's just a few screws. I wanted to put some AS5 on the cpu when I was trying to overclock it.

nikeair · Apr 21, 2005

Inspiron 9300:
1.6ghz pentium M($100 more for each ~.13 ghz up)
512mb(cheaper to upgrade aftermarket to 1gb)
60gb 7200rpm
DVD/CDRW
Nvidia 6800 Go -scores in the 4500 range in 3dmark 05
17" Widescreen

$1380 with tax and free shipping after $750 coupon off $1899(available right now) and $75 off $999(from my catalog) big bucks coupon at dell.com.

To me the best deal in gaming laptops right now.

enduro · Apr 21, 2005

Can you save up for a while longer Chowdy? Or do you need it now? Although I'm not sure why because the summer is coming lol. Get a summer job and by a kickin 9300 that will be able to play any game for the next two years lol. Then you'll be set.

Mr.Guvernment · Apr 21, 2005

^^^ 2nd that one.

"gaming" laptop recommendations?

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Senior Admin Emeritus

Senior whose title will pier

Member

Disabled

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Member

Registered

Member

Member

Similar threads