I am selling my desktop right now on these forums to help pay for a new laptop. I have a Dell Inspiron 2600 right now, but it is not good enough to be my main computer. I am gonna pass that one off the the wife and order a new Dell 9100 or the E-Machines 6805. Which one would be a better desktop replacement? I am a gamer to a point, I mostly play Medal of honor and UT2003 and 2004. I want a good quality screen and the option to upgrade in the future. I also want to be in the 1500 to 1700 range on price. Which would you buy or do you have any other laptops that I should consider? Thanks
Dell 9100 or e-machines 6805 as desktop replacement???
- Thread starter Crazycd1
- Start date
MDE
Lifer
- Jul 17, 2003
- 13,199
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I don't know about the Dell, but I have the eMachines and I haven't had any problems with it. The only minor sticking point is the video - Mobility Radeon 9600 64MB. Even overclocked I have to turn down some graphical settings to get some games to run acceptably. You may want to look for the M6809 which has an 80GB hard drive, DVD burner, and Athlon64 3200+.
I would agree with the 6808 as a good DTR. What exactley do you mean by option to upgrade in the future? I just posed some info on the *ell XPS upgrade option. You may want to look at that post or go to the *ell website and read up on it ur self. Sounds good to start but not when i was done reading. You may want to upgrade the Hdd in the 6809 to a 7200rpm model but that will be up to you. I can't even get the customize it option to work on the 9100.
Will
Will
Connoisseur
Platinum Member
- Sep 14, 2002
- 2,470
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Although I am a very happy M6805 owner, I would recommend the XPS 9100 for your purposes. If i'm not mistaken, it comes with a Radeon 9600 Pro 128meg or even a Radeon 9700 and I'm also pretty sure the screen is either SXGA or UXGA as opposed to M6805's WXGA. Of course, you're gonna have to pay at least $2000+ for the Dell as opposed to $1300 for the 6805. Furthermore, the Dell is a heavy beast (~9.2 lbs) as opposed to 7.5lbs for the 6805.
Thus, if you got the money to burn and don't expect to carry your laptop everywhere, go with the Dell. If portability and/or price are a concern go with 6805.
Thus, if you got the money to burn and don't expect to carry your laptop everywhere, go with the Dell. If portability and/or price are a concern go with 6805.
MDE are you running the 4200 or 5400rpm drive. I noticed a huge difference in my gaming by going to the faster drive.
alexruiz
Platinum Member
- Sep 21, 2001
- 2,836
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I suggest you check what CPU your games prefer. In Computer Gaming World of May 2004 they had a mini-mini review of the M6807. Well, according to their results it is the FASTEST gaming laptop on earth. Their benchmark, 3D game gauge 3.5 at default settings (1024x768x32, No AA, No AF) gave 48 fps for the M6807, 46 fps for the inspiron XPS and 43fps for the ABS mayhem G1 (P4 3.0C, M10P turbo 128 MB), not to mention that it spanked a Hypersonic aviator AX6 (Mitac 8355, 3400+, 350/300 clock in the GPU)
The results are shocking to say the least. There is no way the M6807 can beat the AX6 unless the AX6 is not properly configured (higher clocked CPU, same chipset, higher clocked GPU, same GPU amount of RAM) The M6807 GPU is clocked at 300/200, the AX6 is at 350/200, the ABS is at least 350/240 (to earn the turbo moniker) and the XPS is at least 450/275. That is quite a difference is the GPU clock.... and the M6807 is at bottom.
Well, if you analyze the gamegauge suite, you find that 2 of these games run better in an Athlon XP over a P4C (Serious Sam:TSE and UT2003) and totally fly in a K8. At the resolution played the 64 MB extra don't matter, and the mobile K8 will have a higher margin of victory over the P4 in a laptop (DDR latency the key). Despite the slowest CPU and GPU (As comment, the XPS has a CPU almost twice the Mhz than the M6807, 50% higher clock GPU and 40% higher clocked GPU RAM) the M6807 beat them all.
The AX6 result is flawed, as I am sure the hyperion weren't properly installed. Properly configured, it would have been the king in their comparison.
I mention that review because those results WILL NOT be typical. In the majority of games the much higher clocked GPu will make the difference. In games where the P4 is close to the A64 the videocard will be deciding in favor of the P4, but it won't be much. In games that are not optimized, hence preferring the A64 the K8 can even beat the higher clocked GPU as showed by CGW.
I know UT likes the K8 better, but how about medal of honor?
Alex
The results are shocking to say the least. There is no way the M6807 can beat the AX6 unless the AX6 is not properly configured (higher clocked CPU, same chipset, higher clocked GPU, same GPU amount of RAM) The M6807 GPU is clocked at 300/200, the AX6 is at 350/200, the ABS is at least 350/240 (to earn the turbo moniker) and the XPS is at least 450/275. That is quite a difference is the GPU clock.... and the M6807 is at bottom.
Well, if you analyze the gamegauge suite, you find that 2 of these games run better in an Athlon XP over a P4C (Serious Sam:TSE and UT2003) and totally fly in a K8. At the resolution played the 64 MB extra don't matter, and the mobile K8 will have a higher margin of victory over the P4 in a laptop (DDR latency the key). Despite the slowest CPU and GPU (As comment, the XPS has a CPU almost twice the Mhz than the M6807, 50% higher clock GPU and 40% higher clocked GPU RAM) the M6807 beat them all.
The AX6 result is flawed, as I am sure the hyperion weren't properly installed. Properly configured, it would have been the king in their comparison.
I mention that review because those results WILL NOT be typical. In the majority of games the much higher clocked GPu will make the difference. In games where the P4 is close to the A64 the videocard will be deciding in favor of the P4, but it won't be much. In games that are not optimized, hence preferring the A64 the K8 can even beat the higher clocked GPU as showed by CGW.
I know UT likes the K8 better, but how about medal of honor?
Alex
If you want an upgradeable computer, buy one at the end of year.
If you don't want your computer to become obsolete and totally upgradeable, buy one at the end of the year.
If you need one now, buy a cheap and good one. <--- AKA Emachines 6805.
The Emachines is not GPU upgradeable, if you were wondering. BUt ofcourse, you can stick in more RAM, HD, CPU.
The GPU upgradeability is going to be pretty moot soon. I doubt ATI or Nvidia will devote resources to developing a mobile GPU that is NOT based on PCI-express. If upgradeability is whats swaying your decision, forget Dell or Hypersonic or whatever.
If you don't want your computer to become obsolete and totally upgradeable, buy one at the end of the year.
If you need one now, buy a cheap and good one. <--- AKA Emachines 6805.
The Emachines is not GPU upgradeable, if you were wondering. BUt ofcourse, you can stick in more RAM, HD, CPU.
The GPU upgradeability is going to be pretty moot soon. I doubt ATI or Nvidia will devote resources to developing a mobile GPU that is NOT based on PCI-express. If upgradeability is whats swaying your decision, forget Dell or Hypersonic or whatever.
Thanks for all the help guys, I am really considering buying right now, I am hope to get a laptop that will last me at leat a few years and not be totally worthless. The e-machines sounds really nice. You think the 64 meg video card in the E is enough, even over the 9700 128 meg in the Dell?
Connoisseur
Platinum Member
- Sep 14, 2002
- 2,470
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If you can afford it, get the Dell as long as you're not expecting it to be portable. It'll run future games better than the M6805. But if you're a college student like me, the 6805 is the best I can afford. And it's portable. If you're only playing current games, the 6805 is more than good.
Yes, the m6805 flies. I was shocked at how good it was. For instance, with all my tweaked out settings (oc'd to 2000 mhz, 413/230 gpu) it put out 11000 3dmark01's and 3025 3dmark03's. My desktop machine is a dual opteron 246 (2.0 ghz) with a geforce fx 5900 ultra and that machine only puts out about 18000 3dmark01s and 5600 3dmark03s. The laptop is fast. The only thing I would recommend would be upgrading the hard drive to a 7200 rpm drive and maybe upgrading the memory.
Dells GPUs are notoriously under performing. THey underclock them, and as of lately, have been having HUGE issues with lockups, especially in XPS line of laptops.
The XPS is a dam brick and IMO is a waste of money you can custom a system for less than than that.
Will
Will
The 9100 owners have been haven't really had this issue among the people that have finally been receiving theres. Which GPU are you talking about under performing? Links please. The 9700's are hitting over 4000 in 3dmark 2003 with a bit of overclocking and ~ 3300 stock.
If you plan on gaming quite a bit, the 9700 has A LOT of head room. Head over to talknotebook and you'll see what both the Sagers and some XPS/9100 owners have been pulling. My poor 9600 pro even overclocked gets spanked pretty good.
Hmm, I'm looking at the Hypersonic version of the 6805 which with 3200AMD64, 1 Gig of Ram, 60 Gig 7200 RPM HD, 3 year warranty, 128MB 9600 Pro Turbo, is $2551. Considering you don't have to upgrade the RAM (and one of the sticks in the Emachines is very hard to get to AND you void your warranty) or buy another hard drive AND you get a 9600 Pro Turbo @ 128 MB...
I'm refering mostly to Dell's desktop Radeon 9800 "pros" which are default clocked at like 275/300 or something. (OEM stock is 337/378) I don't know about their laptop GPUs, but then again, I've only been hearing problems with Dell's cards. Probably nothing wrong with the 9100 tho, just Dell's reputation is going down the crapwhole.
. You're right about Dell's reputation. I own an 8600 as I've stated in a few threads. I'll admit though, I got the notoriously bad Hitachi screen and had to kick and scream to get my current, gorgeous Samsung WSXGA+ lcd. The fact that I had to put in work to get a notebook the way I wanted was ridiculous. I love my 8600 but I think I'm going with one of the smaller vendors like Power Notebooks. Bar none right now the best combination value/performance/battery life/portability is the Power Pro from Power Notebooks aka Voodoo M360 aka Compal rebadge. I came out with $1589 for a cash discount with the following config:
Centrino 1.5 Ghz
60 GB 5400 Drive
DVD/CDRW
15.1" SXGA+ Screen
512 Megs Ram
128 MB ATI 9700 <--- WINNAR!!! The current line of Centrinos will easily drive the 9700 to boot. Regardless of your decision, if you TRULY intend to game on your book, the 9700 destroys the 9600 when comparing their respective OC'ed numbers.
Voodoo's version comes in at ~ $2800 bones. Sorry, a paint job isn't worth 1200 bucks.
jcwagers
Golden Member
- Dec 25, 2000
- 1,150
- 14
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If you're still looking for a Dell deal, they seem to have a pretty decent one going right now on the 9100. They are offering a free 512mb upgrade, free shipping, and 10% off. There is also a coupon floating around for an additional 5% off. This was the configuration that I did and what it came to.....
P4 3.0
512mb ram
60gb 7200rpm
128mb R9700
15.4 WS (1280x800)
XP Home
1 yr mail-in warranty
$1646.13 shipped
The extra 5% off coupon expires today(4/9/04) so you might want to get in on it if you think this deal is what you might want.
jc
P4 3.0
512mb ram
60gb 7200rpm
128mb R9700
15.4 WS (1280x800)
XP Home
1 yr mail-in warranty
$1646.13 shipped
The extra 5% off coupon expires today(4/9/04) so you might want to get in on it if you think this deal is what you might want.
jc
Die P4! DIE! LAy down peacefully in your grave, and allow for the next generation of CPUS.
Again, DIE DIE DIE!!
^&^& (strongly oppose any Laptop based on any P4 derivitive)
Again, DIE DIE DIE!!
^&^& (strongly oppose any Laptop based on any P4 derivitive)
How about the HP zd7000 series?? It looks like a nice notebook, I am not conserned about the weight, mostly performance. What do you guys know about that one?? Also, the have 17" or 15.4" on that one, which is a better screen? Thanks again
I was lucky... i got the Samsung LCD with my machine....
But this whole WSVGA+ argument simply illustrates the poor quality control standards of Dell...
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