Upgrading me Inspiron E1505

[allthatisman]

So I recently downsized my desktop PC to my college notebook. My wife is 12 weeks pregnant, so I am moving toward something more mobile. I originally was going to pick up something like a G73, but I find that I only really play Source games anymore, and my E1505 will sort of handle that... well kind of. I kept the 128gb SSD from the desktop and put that in the Dell, and man, what a difference it made over the stock 80gb 5400 rpm HDD. TF2 is one of the only games I play, and the laptop would barely start the game, only to get locked up with the HDD installed.. now I can play at my native resoultion, but only on dx8 settings.

My question: would it be worth it to invest the ~$100 to upgrade the CPU from a T5500 to a T7200 and replace the 2x1gb with 2x2gb of RAM? I ordered the laptop with the x1400, so there isn't much I can do there... these two upgrades are pretty much my only options for stretching the legs of this machine a bit more...

Would more RAM and more clockspeed help me at all in TF2/L4D2 given my setup? Or should I just hold out for a while? I am reasonably happy with this machine, and if I could inject a bit more life into it for $100 or less, that would satisfy me for a while.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Well first of all, congratulations;

Now back on-topic here; with the upgrades it may make a slight improvement in performance as Source Engine games are pretty CPU-reliant, but still your GPU will be the biggest bottleneck.

You're already a few generations behind in terms of CPU iterations, and while I understand your wanting to save as much $ as possible, I'd say you're getting diminishing returns on the net gains vs the costs involved.

For example, the current Llano laptops have IGPs that smoke your current setup by magnitudes of 10 easily - but to be fair, both Intel and AMD just ramped up IGP performance significantly, AMD moreso than Intel. Not to be mean about it, but some of the newer netbooks have better specs (GPU-wise) than your current system.

I'd say the most cost effective way to maintain your gaming ability would be to instead get another system that's a few generations old on either the FS/T forums, the outlet stores, the open box/refurb units on Newegg or on Ebay - I was able to get a refurbished Asus UL80VT for the wife for $400.00 several months back.

You should be able to find something around $250~350 with better specs that you should be able to use for a few more years.

 

[allthatisman]

Cool man, that's pretty much what I was thinking. I don't want to throw money away, and I certainly don't want to improve something that will still suck even WITH improvements, lol. I know I can get something pretty nice and a lot faster for about $500, just whether or not I want to go there...

 

[Schadenfreude]

Right. In your situation I'd probably look for an 1st-gen Core i3-330 CPU with a Nvidia Geforce 210M GPU; that seems to be a common configuration amongst builders. If you're vigilant and keep looking around you should be able to find something in the $300~400 range with those specs.

Heck, if you wait a little bit, you may be able to snag a new Llano based laptop for a little more than that when the back-to-school deals start happening if you're lucky.

Looking at a lot of the laptops maker's announcements on Llano systems the retail should be around $500~600 on base models so it looks like it may be possible to go a bit lower than that during sales, or companies may have decent deals on slightly older models to unload their current inventory.

EDIT:
This and this may be a bit of a lateral move, but as far as gaming, it may do you better/last a little bit longer than your current system. Not the best deals, but you get the idea.

Of, and you can use this chart for GPU comparison.

 

[Schadenfreude]

Right. In your situation I'd probably look for an 1st-gen Core i3-330 CPU with a Nvidia Geforce 210M GPU; that seems to be a common configuration amongst builders. If you're vigilant and keep looking around you should be able to find something in the $300~400 range with those specs . . ..

The hell am I smoking? The Nvidia 210M is usually paired up with Intel C2D CPUs and the 310M (just a rebadge of the 210M) is paired up with the Core i3.

I apologize for my incorrect statement; you should be able to get something with the C2D/210M config for $300~400; getting the Core i3/310M at that point may possible, but you'd be getting a fairly decent deal if something like that were to come along. That may be more possible when new Llano systems become more readily available.

 

[darkewaffle]

I have this laptop with the same GPU but 4GB of RAM and I think the T7200, I gamed on it for a long time playing WoW/TF2/CSS/NWN and lots of stuff in between, normally at full res just with the settings turned down.

One funny experience I had though; the battery died on me. But I unknowingly left it in the machine, and the machine detected the battery was dead and downclocked -everything- even when on AC power, so I just pulled it. Could be worth a try since I think you should be at least able to run TF2.

 

[allthatisman]

I have this laptop with the same GPU but 4GB of RAM and I think the T7200, I gamed on it for a long time playing WoW/TF2/CSS/NWN and lots of stuff in between, normally at full res just with the settings turned down.

One funny experience I had though; the battery died on me. But I unknowingly left it in the machine, and the machine detected the battery was dead and downclocked -everything- even when on AC power, so I just pulled it. Could be worth a try since I think you should be at least able to run TF2.

Hmm, that is interesting... I haven't check CPU-Z to see what it's at. I will check, since my battery still works, but it's only good for MAYBE 10 mins. It's toast otherwise.

Schadenfreude:

Thanks for all the input. I think though, if I am going to spend money on a NEW laptop, I'm going to spend more than $400, simply so I know it will last for a while. The new Acer Timeline series looks really promising. I was also looking into a refurbed HP Envy 14". I am at a crossroads of sorts because I know perhaps later on that I might want to play a newer game if I have some time, and a $400 laptop will not cut it...

I think I may have to go to Best Buy this weekend and see what they have and just play around with some...