Laptop gaming....is it possible?

[Haervii]

Ok, here's the deal: I was awarded $2300 from UNC@Chapel Hill (where I am going to college in fall) towards the purchase of one of their laptops. Originally I had planned to get a cheap laptop and buy a sweet gaming desktop over the summer. Well, now I'm having second thoughts.

Here are some specs on UNC's laptop.
-Intel Mobile M 1.5Ghz(now it's better than it seems, trust me. The brochure says that it's a step up from a regular 2Ghz pentium 4, and is the fastest processor available for a laptop.)

-512MB RAM(doesn't say what speed)

-Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet(could someone explain this? I've heard of 10/100 ethernet cards, but never 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet. What's the difference?)

And here's the catch:
-32MB ATI Radeon Mobile

ugh.. well, assuming that i can attach my mouse and big monitor to this thing, could I play games like....Planetside? or better yet, stuff like Doom 3 that hasn't even come out?

Or, should I get the cheap laptop( basically a worse version of the above mentioned laptop, and it's cheaper) a couple hundred dollars back, then get a sweet desktop gaming machine?

Any suggestions are greatly appreciated

 

[DeeperWell]

It pretty much depends on what video card you are speaking of. Is that the Radeon 7500? Or one of the newer Radeon 9000's?

Obviously the video card is of key importance. The 7500 will probably not work very well with today's cutting-edge games. The current top-flight mobile video card is the GeForce 4200 Go, which is getting 3dMark's of around 10,000. Pretty impressive for a laptop. It will soon be usurped by the new DX9 cards from ATI and nVidia - the Mobile 9600 and the GeForce FX 5200 Go. These cards have not been released yet.

If you're looking for serious gaming, accept nothing less than a Radeon 9000, and shoot for a 4200 Go.

 

[gaidin123]

The only reason to buy a top of the line laptop for gaming is if you will be moving your gaming machine frequently and/or using the laptop in places a desktop cannot go.

You will very easily be able to put together and upgrade a desktop gaming system as opposed to a laptop system. A desktop system will be far cheaper than a tricked out laptop. As DeeperWell said (great first post! ) the really good (and power hungry) mobile graphics chipsets coming out should be able to do Planetside and *maybe* Doom3 but if you really want to be sure you're able to play those games when they come out, get a cheap laptop and build a good desktop.

Gaidin

 

[xyston]

i agree with gaidin ... no reason to buy a laptop for gaming really. mainly because - LAPTOPS ARENT UPGRADEABLE (realistically speaking).
Plus, mobile processors use intel's speedstep technology - i'm using a P4 M 1.7 GHz processor on my laptop.
Speedstep (as u might already know) slows down (or speeds up) the processor depending upon the computing load. So as long as u're doing stuff like word processing, its fine. once you move up to gaming -
- firstly the laptop generates alot of heat (in abt 2 hours, even the keyboard will be reallly hot)
- secondly, i dont think intel's speedstep technology is absolutely flawless - sometimes while playing Need For Speed, my comp stays at 1.5 Ghz (instead of peaking at 1.7Ghz) - its damn annoying.
- Thirdly, gaming on the laptop just isnt as much fun as on a desktop (dont ask me why - its just my preferance).
- Also, laptop soundcards basically suck
- As for graphic cards - that's already been discussed.


But there's a downside to buying a cheaper laptop --- Once u're shopping for a laptop, you want to have the best - and thats mighty expensive.

 

[AmigaMan]

First of all, congrats on getting accepted to UNC! Go HEELS!!! I'm not embarrased to say that anymore...

Anyways, I have a work-provided Dell Latitude C840. It plays games great. I'm not talking bout solitaire either, but Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield and MoH:AA and Ghost Recon. It's a P4-1.8Ghz, 64MB GeForce4-440Go, 768MB RAM, and 5400RPM 40GB HD. The 15" UXGA LCD is awesome as well, 1600x1280 native resolution. I usually play R6-3 at 1024x768 though.

There is a thread in Off-Topic that talks about whether or not to get a laptop or a desktop for college. But since you're getting $2K+ for free, I say get a cheap, light laptop to take to class/library/coffee house (somewhere on Franklin St perhaps) and then build yourself a kickin desktop for the games.

 

[Johnniewalker]

Grats!

2things:

I wonder if processor may be the new Centrino, which would be good. Linky

I wonder if they are using the ATI Radeon 9000 Mobile, which would be good or someother. Linky2

On the other hand, you could buy the Dell Inspiron 600 for $1200 (for school work) and build yourself a desktop for games with $1000 - and plenty other options too.

____________

 

[NeoMadHatter]

i have the dell 600m. it does a fair job at games i think. i only play warcraft 3 so it's not too demanding. and i only have the 32mb vid card. not the 64mb. i didn't think it's all that important.

 

[sep]

Originally posted by: Johnniewalker
Grats!

2things:

I wonder if processor may be the new Centrino, which would be good. Linky

I wonder if they are using the ATI Radeon 9000 Mobile, which would be good or someother. Linky2

On the other hand, you could buy the Dell Inspiron 600 for $1200 (for school work) and build yourself a desktop for games with $1000 - and plenty other options too.

____________

College friend got a Dell Notebook G4Go 64MB, 512MB, etc. In the end, he can't upgrade the processor or video. Get the lesser notebook and gaming PC. Then look me up for gaming {SNA]Sep yeehaw!