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Dell Studio 15 for light gaming???

post #1 of 30
7/9/08 at 4:41pm
Thread Starter 
I recently purchased a Studio 15, and i planned on using it for gaming, maybe even heavy gaming, but now i'm not sure that i've made the right choice. I've been looking on the boxes of newer games and i see that some of the requirements are a little bit higher than mine, but i'm not quite sure because i don't fully understand what it all means. i would like your guys' oppinion on if it's good or not, and i'm also open for suggestions on how to improve it yet. it hasn't even come in the mail yet though.

here are my specs:
<table id="sc_review_selections_table"><tbody><tr><td colspan="3" class="sc_review_selections_page_title_cell">My Components</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">SYSTEM COLOR</td><td class="scrtd2">Ruby Red</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">PROCESSOR</td><td class="scrtd2">Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5850 (2.16GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">OPERATING SYSTEM</td><td class="scrtd2">Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition SP1</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">HD DISPLAY</td><td class="scrtd2">Glossy, widescreen 15.4 inch display (1280x800)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">VIDEO CARD</td><td class="scrtd2">256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 3450</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">MEMORY</td><td class="scrtd2">3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">HARD DRIVE</td><td class="scrtd2">Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE</td><td class="scrtd2">8X Slot Load CD / DVD Burner (Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">WIRELESS NETWORK CARDS</td><td class="scrtd2">Dell 1397 Wireless-G Card</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">MOBILE BROADBAND</td><td class="scrtd2">Verizon Wireless built-in cellular mobile broadband (EVDO Rev A)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">BLUETOOTH</td><td class="scrtd2">Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Internal (2.0)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">BLUETOOTH</td><td class="scrtd2">Dell Travel Mouse (with Bluetooth Technology)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">INTEGRATED WEBCAM</td><td class="scrtd2">Integrated 2.0M Pixel Webcam</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">BATTERY OPTIONS</td><td class="scrtd2">56 Whr Lithium Ion Battery (6 cell)</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">SOUND OPTIONS</td><td class="scrtd2">High Definition Audio 2.0</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">FINGERPRINT SCANNER</td><td class="scrtd2">Integrated Finger Print Reader</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">KEYBOARD</td><td class="scrtd2">Back-lit Keyboard</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" class="sc_review_selections_page_title_cell">My Software & Accessories</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">ANTIVIRUS SOFTWARE</td><td class="scrtd2">McAfee SecurityCenter with anti-virus, anti-spyware, firewall, 36-months</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">PRODUCTIVITY SOFTWARE</td><td class="scrtd2">Microsoft® Works Plus 2008</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" class="sc_review_selections_page_title_cell">My Service</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">WARRANTY AND SERVICE</td><td class="scrtd2">3Yr In-Home Service, Parts + Labor, 24x7 Phone Support</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">ACCIDENT AND THEFT PROTECTION</td><td class="scrtd2">Add Accidental Damage and LoJack Theft Protection to 3Yr Warr.</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">DATASAFE ONLINE BACKUP</td><td class="scrtd2">Included 3 GB DataSafe Online Backup for 1Yr</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS</td><td class="scrtd2">No ISP requested</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">edit</td></tr><tr><td colspan="3" class="sc_review_selections_page_title_cell">ALSO INCLUDED WITH YOUR SYSTEM</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">LCD and Camera</td><td class="scrtd2">Glossy, widescreen 15.4 LCD (1280x800) w/ 2.0M pixel Camera</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">
</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">Labels</td><td class="scrtd2">Windows Vista™ Premium</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">
</td></tr><tr class="even"><td class="scrtd1">Processor Branding</td><td class="scrtd2">Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor</td><td class="scrtd3" style="">
</td></tr><tr class="odd"><td class="scrtd1">Adobe Software</td><td class="scrtd2">Adobe® Acrobat® Reader 8.1</td></tr></tbody></table>
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post #2 of 30
7/9/08 at 5:54pm
This is a good question. I will be interested to see how well this notebook performs.
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post #3 of 30
7/9/08 at 9:51pm
Thread Starter 
There's a nice computer shop near where i live, so i guess if it isn't powerful enough they could upgrade it for me, they offer free diagnostics. They also have a lot of Alienware products.

Also, i didn't realize that the studio model was so new until i read a couple more forums.

i realize i probably should have gone with a better processor, but i don't know how good the video card is, and when i customized it online i didn't get a choice of what video card was put in it.
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post #4 of 30
7/9/08 at 10:04pm
Thread Starter 
I have another question about gaming. I won't have broadband, i have DSL running through my house. will that be fast enough or will that be extremely laggy? I have a verison card in my laptop so i could activate it and get broadband, but i'm short on cash right now.
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post #5 of 30
7/14/08 at 11:49pm
DSL is broadband actually, so you should be alright unless it is a lower speed DSL service.

I just ordered the same laptop, so I'm curious to see how it performs as well.
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post #6 of 30
7/14/08 at 11:55pm
Thread Starter 
i am a little ticked off at it already though, and i haven't even gotten it. i rebuilt it at dell.com, and exactly 1 week after i ordered it the price dropped $20 as well as automatically upgraded the battery to a 9-cell. when i built it to buy it i had to pay $200 to upgrade the battery to a 9-cell. >_< so i didn't do it.
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post #7 of 30
7/15/08 at 5:30am
Yup,dell is starting to charge through the nose for battery upgrades....its like......"you wanted slimmer lighter notebooks....so we gave them to you.....now we're going to make a killing selling you larger capacity batteries that stick out like unsightly appendages".

Your local computer shop won't be able to upgrade the video card,you are stuck with what you have,the cpu is fine for gaming......you would have been much better off imho with the XPS 1530/8600M GT for gaming in a 15"

Still....let us know how it goes for you
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post #8 of 30
7/15/08 at 11:42am
That computer *should* still be able to handle light-medium gaming I would think. It should have no problem with games about 2-3+ years old, though Don't expect it to play newer games at higher than maybe medium settings.
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post #9 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:17pm
Thread Starter 
i learned about not being able to change the video card once i went down to the computer shop. as for an xps, i had a budget and i couldn't spend too much on it.

i really only wanted to get the halo games for it anyway, since i've never owned an xbox.
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post #10 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stupidcupid_35 View Post
i really only wanted to get the halo games for it anyway, since i've never owned an xbox.
They aren't worth it, IMHO. There are much better PC games out there than Halo.
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post #11 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:25pm
Thread Starter 
i don't know much good pc games that my laptop would be able to handle. i'm not into the whole fable and WOW thing. i want shooters.
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post #12 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:31pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stupidcupid_35 View Post
i don't know much good pc games that my laptop would be able to handle. i'm not into the whole fable and WOW thing. i want shooters.
Half-life 2 anyone? That whole series is definitely worth a playthrough (especially since you get HL2, ep 1 & 2, TF2, and portal all together in orangebox). Bioshock might be pushing it but should play if you turn down the settings some. FarCry was pretty good and should run great since its a couple years old. Call of Duty 4 you will probably have to turn down some settings but its def. worth a play through as well.

Seriously it should be able to play pretty much anything except for Crysis at decent-ish settings.
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post #13 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:34pm
Oh and I didn't notice, you got the 1280x800 display... that will definitely help you get some good performance since the resolution isn't that high.
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post #14 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:37pm
Thread Starter 
i didn't know you could turn down the settings on the games. i was worried about it cause the games say they require 2.4 GHz and i only have 2.16 GHz. do you think assassin's creed would work on it?
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post #15 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stupidcupid_35 View Post
i didn't know you could turn down the settings on the games. i was worried about it cause the games say they require 2.4 GHz and i only have 2.16 GHz. do you think assassin's creed would work on it?
A friend of mine had that game... it was pretty demanding, but it *should* play on low settings.

Don't worry when it says it requires a 2.4ghz CPU, that is referring to a 2.4GHz pentium 4; the core 2 duo is MUCH MUCH MUCH faster at the same speed, so a 2.16GHz core 2 duo is probably closer to like a 5 ghz pentium 4 (if you could actually compare them like that). No you won't have any problems with games because of your CPU, your graphics card is the main thing that is holding you back.
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post #16 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:45pm
Thread Starter 
i'm not even sure what graphics card it is. the games say they require 8600M GT, but mine says HD 3450. i'm not sure if the HD makes it better, or the low number makes it worse. and when i built it online it didn't give me a choice, that was the only video card i could get.
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post #17 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:47pm
ok if its minimum requirement is an 8600m gt, then you are probably SOL cause that card is better than yours... sorry.
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post #18 of 30
7/15/08 at 3:53pm
Thread Starter 
so what kind of games would i be able to play with my card?
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post #19 of 30
7/15/08 at 4:41pm
Someone said light gaming is something you should consider. Buy a ps3 if you want high end gaming.
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post #20 of 30
7/15/08 at 7:19pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by stupidcupid_35 View Post
so what kind of games would i be able to play with my card?
Like I mentioned before, games like half-life 2, counter-strike: source, team fortress 2, (all of those are included in the orange box), FarCry, Civilization 4, StarWars: Republic Commando, Star Wars: Battlefront II, Call of Duty/Call of Duty 2, Quake 3, Painkiller, Halo, Battlefield 2, Unreal Tournament 2004, Serious Sam 2, and others I'm sure. (I was just going through some of my games lol). You might have to turn down a couple settings but all of those should play at at least medium settings.
Newer games like Crysis, Bioshock, Mass Effect, Assassins Creed, Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter, etc will either not run or only run at the lowest settings.
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