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Gaming laptop buying advice

post #1 of 16
7/6/07 at 4:50pm
Thread Starter 
Hey everyone, how's it going?

My name's Jim. I'm heading off to uni soon and am looking to buy a laptop.

The mian use of this laptop will be for gaming so I'm looking for something pretty powerful, however I'm also on a budget. What I'm looking for is some advice on what's more important to get optimal performance.

Firstly, my budget is around £1500 ($3000), so that rules anything like the Dell M2010 out. Which is also a good indication of the type of size and weight I want - anything smaller than the M2010 will be great.

I should mention that I'm from the UK and am pretty much set on either a Dell XPS M1710 or an Alienware Area-51 M9750 notebook (both are 17" widescreen, which I'm set on). It's really just config help I'm after. Talking about screen size, the Alienware choice offers 1440 x 900 and 1920 x 1200 resolution options - is the extra cost really worth the extra pixels, especially as I may be playing at a lower resolution to get the best framerate?

Anyway, onto the gubbins of it. As I said I have a budget of around $3k and want to make sure that I'm upgrading the parts that will give me the biggest performance increase.

Firstly CPU. Both only offer Intel Core 2 Duo which as far as I know is fine. Both options have quite steep increases for what seem (to me) to be small GHZ increases. What's optimal?

RAM. I'm pretty much sure that 2GB is the best option for gaming and other stuff, 4GB (available on Alienware) seems a bit overkill for me.

Graphics. The Dell only offers the 512MB GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX - is this good or not? I really am a novice. Alienware on the other hand offers TWO of these for an additional $600ish. Don't really think I can afford it, but I'm not sure if that's such a bad thing as Vista doesn't support it at this time apparently.

Hard Drive. I'm definitely going to go for a 7200rpm drive, and will probably decide on the size when I've picked everything else. I have an existing external drive so no biggie here.

OS. Vista Home Premium or Ultimate? From what I've heard Ultimate won't be worth the additional $170ish, am I right?

In terms of the level of gaming, I'd quite like to see it play stuff like Half-Life 2 and Oblivion with high frame rates, but obviously I'd also like to be assured that it can be capable of running futures games well!

So in conclusion:
Budget of $3000ish
Looking at a 2.0+GHz CPU
2GB RAM
512MB graphics card
Hard Drive - undecided

Alienware Area-51 M9750config page: http://www.alienware.co.uk/Configura...de=SKU-DEFAULT

Dell XPS M1710 config page:
http://configure.euro.dell.com/dells...srsxps_m1710_2

Thanks for any help, I would really appreciate it!
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post #2 of 16
7/6/07 at 5:00pm
does the 7950gtx support DX10?You mentioned that you wanted to play future games and the future games will probably have DX10 which would mean that you would need a DX10 card. If the 7950gtx doesn't provide that support then I know for a fact that the 8xxx series has DX10 support.
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post #3 of 16
7/6/07 at 5:09pm
Thread Starter 
Hi lawlz, thanks for your reply.

I've just looked into it and can confirm that it only supports up to DirectX 9... however I don't think there are any mobile graphics cards that support higher yet? However I'm waiting until Aug/Sept to buy the laptop so there's hope yet...


Just another question, do notebooks tend to come bundled with the original Vista installation CD instead of some crappy backup disc?
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post #4 of 16
7/6/07 at 5:22pm
There are indeed laptops that have DX10 cards.

The Asus G1/G2 have them, the Dell XPS M1710 has it, etc...

I am not sure about the vista installation CD, it all depends on the site that you buy it from but most of the time they tell you if you get the original retail vista box or a backup CD but in the end they are pretty much both the same thing as they both serve the same purpose.
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post #5 of 16
7/6/07 at 5:24pm
pretty much anything in the 8xxx series of the nvidia line will support DX10.
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post #6 of 16
7/6/07 at 6:05pm
The more powerful DX10 cards are in the works (apparently). It might be worth it to see if they can squeeze a 8800 in a notebook. If they can they will sell like hot cakes.
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post #7 of 16
7/6/07 at 6:05pm
And no the 7950GTX is DX9, its not DX10 supported.
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post #8 of 16
7/7/07 at 6:50pm
All in all I think another thing to consider because you mentioned price was checking on ebay resellers for better deals on Dells. I know that you can get it for around what you're looking at (3k) but with all the bells and whistles which would cost you far more had you bought from dell directly. Of course just check with shipping, since you are in the UK but it should hopefully work out for you that way.

Now you mention that you want to play future games, and yes while the 7950GTX will offer you great performance for todays games, buying a laptop with that now means you potentially cannot have dirext X 10 in there either. Basically don't buy either the alienware or dell under the assumption that you can get DX10 gpus if that was a concern for you at all. Dell is expected to come up with a replacement to the M1710 soon enough with supposedly the first 8800M gpu along with a host of other new updates not to mention a new look, but again that could be up to a several month wait so I don't know if you can afford to wait that long.

Another thing to consider is that assuming you can upgrade the alienware to DX10 gpus when they come out, should you want to, check out shipping and everything, because that might be a problem for you to deal with. I don't know about what kind of support you can get in the UK, but I'm fairly sure dell at least is well established there.

As far as the ultimate vs. home premium goes, I think the main reason some people tend to get it is for the bitlocker app that's built in to ultimate for extra security. And of course the other fancy extras that people like to play around with like dreamscene.
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post #9 of 16
7/7/07 at 7:34pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Genryu View Post
All in all I think another thing to consider because you mentioned price was checking on ebay resellers for better deals on Dells. I know that you can get it for around what you're looking at (3k) but with all the bells and whistles which would cost you far more had you bought from dell directly. Of course just check with shipping, since you are in the UK but it should hopefully work out for you that way.

also be sure that the warranty can be easily transfered to the UK if you are buying from the US, no matter which company you purchase from. be aware that buying an alienware from ebay would mean no warranty support at all. buying a dell can still give you the warrranty just be sure that it would be transferable to the UK. buying new and directly from either company would be fine though and you should be able to have your warranty.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Genryu View Post
Now you mention that you want to play future games, and yes while the 7950GTX will offer you great performance for todays games, buying a laptop with that now means you potentially cannot have dirext X 10 in there either. Basically don't buy either the alienware or dell under the assumption that you can get DX10 gpus if that was a concern for you at all.

its true that you should never count on an upgrade being available in the future. the alienware of the two would have the best odds of seeing one offered but that means nothing until its on the market.


Quote:
Originally Posted by Genryu View Post
Dell is expected to come up with a replacement to the M1710 soon enough with supposedly the first 8800M gpu along with a host of other new updates not to mention a new look, but again that could be up to a several month wait so I don't know if you can afford to wait that long.

nothing has yet been announced so it is months off, even those working within dell (who will get manuals and such for upcoming products before the release) have not yet receieved anything about them. that puts a potential release date not before at least september. similarly the go8800 gpu will not be out until late august at the earliest so if you decide you need to wait it could be a very long one. the go 8800 has not even been officially announced yet so a fast release is highly unlikely.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Genryu View Post
Another thing to consider is that assuming you can upgrade the alienware to DX10 gpus when they come out, should you want to, check out shipping and everything, because that might be a problem for you to deal with. I don't know about what kind of support you can get in the UK, but I'm fairly sure dell at least is well established there.

alienware has a UK division as well, it serves all of europe. the transfer of a warranty from a US warranty to a UK warranty can be done i believe. though check with alienware before to be certain.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Genryu View Post
As far as the ultimate vs. home premium goes, I think the main reason some people tend to get it is for the bitlocker app that's built in to ultimate for extra security. And of course the other fancy extras that people like to play around with like dreamscene.

yeah ultimate is really just for those little extras... home premium is just fine for most uses.
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post #10 of 16
7/7/07 at 11:29pm
Best GPU card available as of now is does not support DX10. You will have to wait or get lappys with 7900/7950GTX, or 2500/3500M.

As far as price/warranty support goes, Dell has best replacement support, so I would go for M1710 or M90.

You can get cheap M90 with 2500M card from Ebay/Dell ouetlet. I got mine brand new 1450 shipped about a month ago. I know CPU/LCD is shitty, but it does play new games @ highest settings.(I play STALKER, BF2142, COH, OBLIVION)
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post #11 of 16
7/8/07 at 1:09am
Hi, I mean I don´t want to start a discussion about the LCD screen, but if you compare the M90 display (I got mine with 1900x1200) vs. the M1710 (same resolution, but glossy) you should check out the displays at first. M1710 display is because of the glossy mobre vibrant but once you´re in the sun, it gets critcal.

So therefore my general recommendation:
Wait until there´s a notebook with a 8800GTX go available, equip with as much as ram as possible, and you should get a machine you can keep for the next 2-3 years (if you always want to keep in line with the newest games and their requirements.

Regards,

Michael
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post #12 of 16
7/8/07 at 4:28am
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post #13 of 16
7/8/07 at 12:25pm
You might want to consider the Rock X770 with 512MB 8700M GT, arguably less powerful than the XCTX / 9750GTX but less money (£1250 with T7300 and 2GM RAM).
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post #14 of 16
7/13/07 at 8:00pm
I have been researching the purchase of the Alienware 9750 for several weeks and am almost convinced to make the leap. Below are a few questions I hope someone can help me out with.
qI have been reading about the Nvidia MXM standard for upgradeability of their cards… so does this mean the 7950 can or really should be upgrabdable to the 8800m or at least a direct X 10?
qSpeaking of which, does anyone know the make and model of the motherboard?
qAlienware told me Windows Vista does not support the SLI driver but its being worked on. I thought the sli support was game driver specific and support for the actual O/S would be gravy. Anyway, is this a big enough deal to stick with XP instead of Vista.
qAlso, assuming Vista, wouldn’t the 32 bit version be better for games than the 64?
The sales guy did tell me the 7950 would be upgraded to direct DX 10 once alien ware approved the cards for direct X10. I told him he had a sale if he put that in writing, which after a long pause, he came back and said he couldn’t. But he did say they would add future DX 10 to their product description database, whatever that is, I haven’t seen it posted yet. From some of the comments I have read on the forums, Alienware’s customer service and honesty sound a little spotty, are they trustworthy?

Thanks for any help and knowledge,

Slate
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post #15 of 16
7/17/07 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lawlz_xD View Post
does the 7950gtx support DX10?You mentioned that you wanted to play future games and the future games will probably have DX10 which would mean that you would need a DX10 card. If the 7950gtx doesn't provide that support then I know for a fact that the 8xxx series has DX10 support.
man what the heck is with newbs like you? dont make a stupid reply if you dont know the answer. and to all people who dont know this already. DX9 CARD WILL PLAY DX10 GAMES JUST NOT ON DX10 SETTING. just like dx8 cards can play dx9 games but on dx8 setting. jeez if you can only decide between m1710 and M9750 go with m9750 since they are about the same price but m9750 can go sli
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post #16 of 16
7/17/07 at 7:02pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by aintz View Post
man what the heck is with newbs like you? dont make a stupid reply if you dont know the answer. and to all people who dont know this already. DX9 CARD WILL PLAY DX10 GAMES JUST NOT ON DX10 SETTING. just like dx8 cards can play dx9 games but on dx8 setting. jeez if you can only decide between m1710 and M9750 go with m9750 since they are about the same price but m9750 can go sli
I feel kinda the same way, use common sense, take a minute and think about it. Are developers really gona screw you (and their profits) by only making DX10 games playable on DX10 cards, no they will not. DX9 will be supported for many games to come. Owning a DX10 card means either getting a new comp, or installing a DX10 yourself. Its the 'new' wave' and the texture and graphical nuts will take to its liking, but for me, personally, i have the 7900GS w/ SM3, DX9 and im perfectly happy w/ it.
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