Current Gaming Laptop Advise

[Tenken667]

Hello everyone,
I?m pretty experienced with gaming PC desktops (been messing around on them since they first became consumer-available) and I currently need a gaming laptop. I play games like WoW, Half life 2, and some other FPS games. Graphics settings and FramesPS are critical for some of these, so a good build is worth the $ to me.

Two problems?I know nothing about laptops, and the research I?ve done over the last few weeks is TOTALLY contradictory. Half the people say alienware is great, half say terrible. Quad processors seem to be pointless for gaming. Ram Mhz speed correlating to processor speed? No idea. Do laptops overheat? Maybe. Does that mean I can?t put a ?laptop? on my lap to play? No idea.
I?ve recently heard that no power supply exists which is strong enough to power a laptop, so getting high end gear is pointless.

My questions: Assuming I?m willing to drop around 3 grand (Less is definitely better), Is a laptop usable for these games without FPS lag?

If so, which laptops (specs are a huge plus) would you recommend at the moment?

 

[Denithor]

For MMORPGs (WoW and the like) CPU speed & RAM amount are king, pretty much trump the video card. For FPS at higher resolutions (16x9 or higher) the GPU mostly trumps the CPU.

Best gaming system will have a 2GHz or faster dual-core CPU, 3-4GB DDR2 (speed is irrelevant) and the best mobile GPU you can find. A system like this will easily handle WoW and older FPS at reasonable settings. Just don't expect 60fps in Crysis with any laptop system, the video cards just aren't up to the task.

 

[betasub]

Although decent high res/detail mobile gaming is possible at a price (I guess your budget has it covered), and mobile GPUs have greatly improved, the GPUs are still poor cousins to their desktop namesakes. Lower power/heat envelopes are obtained not only by severely limiting clock speeds, but also by disabling segments of the GPU. Even then, gaming notebook exteriors tend to get very hot as they attempt to disappate heat with minimal internal fans/airflow - and that's partly why the vendors don't call them laptops (has anyone heard of damages being awarded for burns?).

 

[Tenken667]

Oh i see...So i'm better off spending the money on a desktop and perhaps buying some new furniture for the computers instead of sitting the damn thing on my legs =)

I just hope that moving the system from house to apartment every week for 6 weeks won't ruin the cords and short out half the gear!

 

[0roo0roo]

gaming for laptops is possible. sorta
its not economical, any extra speed comes at a disproportionately high price.
if you have the cash, go for it.
gpus in pc's suck down 100+watts by themselves. makes it rather impossible to make that kind of power portable. an expensive gaming laptop will have the performance of a low mid range pc
it is performance at any price.

 

[DaveSimmons]

You can buy a better desktop for $800-900 than a $2,000 laptop -- so you -could- just buy 2 x desktops instead