What kind of laptop would you need to run Warcraft 3?

[Noriaki]

What kind of laptop would you need to run Warcraft 3?

How fast a processor, what video card, and how much RAM would you recommend in a laptop that wanted to Run War3.

Other games include Half-Life, Diablo 2 and Baldur's Gate 2. Maybe the occasionally game of Quake3 at a LAN party, but they can just use a low res mode for that.

Also Warcraft 2 BNE, Starcraft and Baldur's Gate are popular, but those aren't terribly stressful.

Needs to have an external PS/2 keyboard, montior and mouse (PS/2 or USB) attachments for use at home.

What sort of CPU, RAM and Video Card would someone want for this?

No need for specific Laptop model numbers, I'll look at varioius ones and configure what options and stuff I want, I'm just wondering what are good Laptop CPUs and Video Cards these days.

 

[psteng19]

Both my Dell Inspiron 4100 and 8100 handle WC3, SC/BW, Quake, Unreal and Counterstrike fine.

Specs:
P3 866 Mobile CPU
GeForce 2 Go 32 MB
256 MB RAM

I would imagine anything similar to those listed above should be fine.
P3/Celeron 500+, GF2 Go or 7500, 256 Megs (more ram = less swapping).

The biggest bottlenecks in laptops nowadays remains the hard drive - slow 4200 RPM for data access.

 

[Noriaki]

Ouch 4200rpm

That bad...I thought it was 5400...

Damn.

Oh well, GF2Go, P3-866 and 256MB ain't that bad.

A laptop might not cost me to much after all.

How are the Dell Inspirations?

I'm looking at those and the IBMs mostly...

 

[sirfergy]

Hah, I have an older Inspiron 5000 which plays all those games just fine, as long as you like ugly.

P3 700
512MB ram
32gb 5400 rpm hd
8MB ATI Rage Mobility-P

 

[apoppin]

My Dell Inspiron 4100 handles RtCW, Serious Sam SE, Max Payne and even the MOHAA demo fine - I have a choice of "native" resolution 1024x768 with medium details or 800x600 at max. The older games - Unreal, Star Trek Elite Force (QuakeIII engine), HL, etc., play just fine.

Specs:
P3 866 Mobile CPU
ATI Mobility 16MB DDR
320 MB RAM

The MINIMUM you want for a videocard is mine - no Rage or Trident chipsets (and absolutely NO integrated graphics) for today's 3D games.

EDIT: I ended up paying about $1000 for my (brand-new) Dell notebook last November.

 

[lambasa]

I'm not sure about the video card, my Radeon DDR handles it fine. The biggest advice for you I have is the system memory. I had 256MB, and the game would pause for short bursts during fighting scenes while the HD was running. I recently upgraded to more memory, no it runs as smooth as silk.

RAM is a good investment for laptop owners for two reasons. Not having to go to the hard drive often saves power, and helps your performance (because laptop HD's are slow).

 

[Hankysmoo]

I was wondering the exact same thing Noriaki =) How much do u plan on spending and can you list any options u r currently looking at? My friend needs a new laptop and his budget is about $1500 max (tax and ship included) Thanks

 

[MWink]

My Inspiron 8200 (see sig for specs) plays every game I've tried (including WarCraft 3) exceptionally well.

 

[thorin]

Why not check the min/recommended specs on the box?

Thorin

 

[RhinoC]

I have an IBM thinkpad T22 (900Mhz, 256MB S3 Savage IX). Its a great little laptop except for the video card. Most 3d games it will crash (serious sam, jedi knight, etc) but it can play War3. Its a pretty crappy output too, so i try and run it at 1280X1024 to get it close to native resolution (1400X1050) so it wont be too blocky. Ive noticed the new T30 line has a ATI chip in, so as that would fix my only complaint with my T22. If you have the money because i know IBMs are fairly expensive, go for an IBM with an ATI chip in it.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I'd say anything with a GF4go or GF2go would be good at above 600Mhz and 256Mb RAM

if you're buying a new notebook I'd say go with the fastest you can afford.