Need advice for gaming notebook

[cloudstrifevii]

I am currently looking for a cheap gaming laptop. It would be mainly used to play LOL and Starcraft II. I don't necessary need something super compact, as long as it's easier to transport than a full desktop tower + screen, because I often go to LAN parties. From what I have seen, new gaming laptop aren't cheap. I recently found a used one on Ebay, so I am wondering if it's worth it or if you have any other suggestions. Here is the link so you can check out the specs : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dell-XPS-M17...00325787?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item27d069e69b. It seems all I would need to do is to replace the video card. There is a 8800 GTX SLI on Ebay for less than $200, so I am thinking that for less than $500 I could get a decent gaming notebook, do you think it's a good idea ? I have never installed a video card in a notebook before but I know how to install one in a desktop so I'm guessing it should not be that difficult. Any advices ? Thank you !

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Its decent. Won't be able to play on high settings.

I'd rather go with Trinity laptop

 

[cloudstrifevii]

What's a Trinity laptop ?
You don't think a GTX 8800m SLI would be able to handle Starcraft 2 at Ultra ? It also has an SSD, I don't know if that helps ?

 

[dragantoe]

What's a Trinity laptop ?
You don't think a GTX 8800m SLI would be able to handle Starcraft 2 at Ultra ? It also has an SSD, I don't know if that helps ?

it's a laptop with an amd trinity apu, definitely go with one, I've had one, they are awesome for the price, and the gtx 8800m is basically obsolete, and with the cpu in that laptop, there is just no way you could go above low-med settings

$500 this will play it ultra no problem, and can play any pc game on the market 45 fps+ at some setting guaranteed, plus overclocking is a breeze for the gpu and cpu

$400 this is cheaper, but not nearly as good, will still be better than the dell though

 

[cloudstrifevii]

Ok thanks. I've Googled the 7670M which is included in the $500 Acer and it seems Starcraft II is barely playable ~30fps at High and not playable ~19fps at Ultra. Are those results reliable ? Have you personally played SC2 on that laptop ?

 

[dragantoe]

Ok thanks. I've Googled the 7670M which is included in the $500 Acer and it seems Starcraft II is barely playable ~30fps at High and not playable ~19fps at Ultra. Are those results reliable ? Have you personally played SC2 on that laptop ?

i haven't personally on that laptop, but I have played it on this computer at 1080p and assumed the game was a piece of cake. but I looked around online and it appears it's the cpu limiting the game-play, not the gpu, but unless it's 4v4 it should be able to handle high settings, especially on the 1366x768 monitor.
do you have a link for the benchmark you saw?

also, you can't just look up the 7670m, because it's crossfired with the hd7640g, so you are going to get better performance. on top of that, you can overclock the cpu to 2.5 ghz with a simple program and a few clicks and the gpu's with msi afterburner to further improve performance

 

[T_Yamamoto]

You can't a cheap gaming notebook that will play SC2 on ultra for under 500.

 

[cloudstrifevii]

dragantoe : Here is the link to the benchmarks for the 7670m http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html. The main reason I'm asking this is because I've seen videos of people playing SC2 at Ultra on the M1730 with the GTX 8800m SLI on the 17" screen at a resolution of 1920x1200, so it seemed to me that the Acer wasn't better than the one I linked in my original post. Or is there something wrong with the benchmarks ?

 

[dragantoe]

dragantoe : Here is the link to the benchmarks for the 7670m http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html. The main reason I'm asking this is because I've seen videos of people playing SC2 at Ultra on the M1730 with the GTX 8800m SLI on the 17" screen at a resolution of 1920x1200, so it seemed to me that the Acer wasn't better than the one I linked in my original post. Or is there something wrong with the benchmarks ?

so at 1080p, high settings, it plays 30ish fps, now crossfire the gpus and lower the resolution so you will be getting at least 45 on high, plus a better cpu than the one in the dell

 

[frozentundra123456]

it's a laptop with an amd trinity apu, definitely go with one, I've had one, they are awesome for the price, and the gtx 8800m is basically obsolete, and with the cpu in that laptop, there is just no way you could go above low-med settings

$500 this will play it ultra no problem, and can play any pc game on the market 45 fps+ at some setting guaranteed, plus overclocking is a breeze for the gpu and cpu

$400 this is cheaper, but not nearly as good, will still be better than the dell though

That 500 dollar acer is in fact a quite good deal, but I seriously doubt you can play the newest games at even 30FPS at 768p at lowest details. Most older games will play quite well though. For instance Hitman Absolution only plays 15 FPS at low settings. Are you saying it will play Crysis 3 or Far Cry 3 or even Battlefield 3 at 45FPS? Seriously?

 

[cloudstrifevii]

All I want is to be able to play SC2 : HOTS at Very High / Ultra. I am not interested in Hitman, but if the Acer can't deliver 40+ fps at high then I'm not sure it's the right notebook for me.

 

[dragantoe]

That 500 dollar acer is in fact a quite good deal, but I seriously doubt you can play the newest games at even 30FPS at 768p at lowest details. Most older games will play quite well though. For instance Hitman Absolution only plays 15 FPS at low settings. Are you saying it will play Crysis 3 or Far Cry 3 or even Battlefield 3 at 45FPS? Seriously?

I played far cry 3 and battlefield 3 on the same kind of system, and yes it played around 45 fps, keep in mind I overclocked the cpu to 2.8 ghz, and boosted the gpu 300 mhz, but I had no problem

http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7640G-HD-7670M-Dual-Graphics.81172.0.html
there are benchmarks at 1080p, it plays crysis 3 low at 30 ish fps, and hitman absolution at 20 fps, if you lower the resolution and overclock you will be getting much better results, in fact, if you disable crossfire and just use the 7670m some games will see better performance, like crysis 3 low at close to 40 fps and metro 2033 low at 60 fps