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Area 51m vs. Area51 desktop

post #1 of 9
11/20/03 at 12:28am
Thread Starter 
Hello everyone,

I am currently looking into purchasing a new Alienware Area 51-m laptop. I have some questions though that nobody seems to be able to answer on other forums including Tom's Hardware, so any help here would be greatly appreciated!!!

The Alienware latop I want to purchase will be primarily used for hauling around to LAN Parties. Anyway, what I am wondering is between the 2 systems below that I will outline how much of a difference is there in performance (i.e. FPS, and % in performance) between the systems with games like BF1942, CS 1.6).

System 1 - Alienware Area 51-m extreme, 3.2GHz processor, 1GB memory, ATI 9600.
VS.
System 2- Alienware Area 51 desktop, 3.2GHz processor, 1GB memory, ATI 9600 Pro.

This is about as apples to apples as I can get. I see that now the desktops are offering the 3.2GHz processor with a 2.5MB cache and the ATI 9800 with 256MB memory is out which is incredibly fast.

I would love to get a desktop since they are going to offer the best performance for the dollar, but at the same time I DO NOT want to haul around a desktop/monitor/flatscreen to LAN parties...it get's old after a while if you know what I mean.

Am I really giving up that much performance if I choose the laptop over the desktop?

Also, are the new 256MB mobile graphics processors coming out real soon? If so, when is Alienware planning on implementing them?

Does anyone know what % difference in FPS there is between a similar desktop vs. a similar laptop are?

Thanks for any reply to this message.

Mark
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post #2 of 9
11/20/03 at 12:52am
Okay well. heres my 2 cents on the matter... I built both of my desktops.. Its so much cheaper.. i can give you links of where to get each individual part that is in an alienware and the cost and it'll be about half the price.. but laptops are different... I go to lan parties also and in cal so its a big thing [portability].. I use my two desktops if i need to for a big competition.. obviously they are going to run a little better.. the graphics card you specified int he desktop is pro and it makes quite a difference really.. Once i get my alienware lappie i'll take it to the minor lan parties but for the major ones i'll be taking my desktops... So it depends.. if your a super serious competetive gamer i would go desktop and build your own.. But if you want some portability for those long nights.. Get the lappie.. make sure you get the lock with it btw hope this helped at least a little..
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post #3 of 9
11/20/03 at 12:59am
Ask Jared...



-Craig
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post #4 of 9
11/20/03 at 1:14am
Well the main limiting factor in the laptop is the GPU. I mean the mobility 9600 is nice but it cant touch a 9800XT. As far as battlefield and CS go, not sure if you would be able to play BF1942 with silky smooth framerates at max resolution on the laptop but it should be pretty close (If I ever get the laptop this will be one of the first games I will try). And you can play CS smooth on a 2 year old computer so no need to worry there.
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post #5 of 9
11/20/03 at 1:46am

BF1942 - Max is Max - nice.

I play quite a bit of '42 on my LAP - and I have all the settings maxed - It plays as smooth as my 3.2 desktop (running FXultra256).

Call to Duty will not run full out on mine - I need to bump it back to 1024 to get it silky smooth.
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post #6 of 9
11/20/03 at 1:52am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rfaster
I play quite a bit of '42 on my LAP - and I have all the settings maxed - It plays as smooth as my 3.2 desktop (running FXultra256).

Call to Duty will not run full out on mine - I need to bump it back to 1024 to get it silky smooth.
Good to know. BF is one of my favorite games and our configs are pretty much identical. Bummer about Call of Duty though. I dont own the game but it looks pretty cool and I was thinking about picking it up.
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post #7 of 9
11/20/03 at 3:51am
Thread Starter 
Thanks for the replies. I was just wondering if some of you know what kind of Frame Rates you are getting running BF1942 in 1024x768?

Thanks again.
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post #8 of 9
11/20/03 at 8:11pm
I play a TON of BF1942 on my AW laptop, but I play it at 1280. Tell me how I get the frame rates and I will post them up here.

Also like the above post stated it runs "silky smoothe" on the Area 51M.
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post #9 of 9
11/20/03 at 8:20pm
Thread Starter 
So what were some of the 3DMark scores or other benchmark scores your Area-51m laptops were showing?

Please let me know, thanks.
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