Graphics Card

[X Zero]

Looking to buy a laptop, I am no serious Hard core gamer but still want to play games like Half life, CS, battlefield and unreal tournament 2004 - 2007 and other in future.

The laptop I was looking at was a dell and it has.

Processor
Intel® Centrino® Duo Processor Technology - Intel® Core™ 2 Duo Processor T7100 (1.8GHz/ 800 FSB/ 2MB Cache)

Memory
3GB Dual-channel 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM

HardDrive
160GB*(5400RPM) SATA Hard Drive

Monitor
17.0" Widescreen WXGA+ (1440x900) TFT Display

NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT with 256MB GDDR2 dedicated graphic memory

Would This be Ok?

 

[Osmosis]

Do you want help with just the graphics card or everything? It looks quite good to me, I'd maybe get a bigger HDD though (one at 7200 rpm)

 

[Phil Yeah]

looks pretty good it'll play those games well but how much you payin for it?

 

[X Zero]

Do you want help with just the graphics card or everything? It looks quite good to me, I'd maybe get a bigger HDD though (one at 7200 rpm)

well mainly the graphics, but help with the processor or anything else will help.

looks pretty good it'll play those games well but how much you payin for it?

Well. its retail price is $2,249 AUD but my dad has this thing were he get some discount, and it turns out to be about $1,100 AUD

 

[elementalelf]

cool372: its a laptop, they dont come much bigger then 160gig internal.
also, 7200RPM laptop harddrives are both loud and extremely expensive.

 

[X Zero]

cool372: its a laptop, they dont come much bigger then 160gig internal.
also, 7200RPM laptop harddrives are both loud and extremely expensive.

Well, donno about the "7200RPM laptop harddrives are both loud and extremely" but the laptop I was looking at can get up to 2x 250gb HDDs

 

[elementalelf]

in that case it would probably be a 17"+

yup, just checked, it is.

you are better off getting an E-sata card(PCMCIA card) and getting some external HDDs, alot cheaper.

 

[Osmosis]

cool372: its a laptop, they dont come much bigger then 160gig internal.
also, 7200RPM laptop harddrives are both loud and extremely expensive.

Yes they can, they can go much larger. Most HDD made these days are 7200rmp and whisper quiet.

 

[elementalelf]

you are referring to desktop HDD's not laptop HDD's
laptop hdd's are predominately 5400rpm.
do your homework before posting please.

 

[Osmosis]

I said THESE days, meaning the most recent technology. Please read before you post.

 

[elementalelf]

nonono.... by homework i mean actually make sure you know what you are talking about before posting, it makes it easier on all of us
http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=2.5+80gig
http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=2.5+7200+hdd

7200RPM hdd's are more then 150% of the price of 5400

 

[creativeone]

AFAIK, if you wan't a laptop to play games you have to pay a good price.

 

[Osmosis]

nonono.... by homework i mean actually make sure you know what you are talking about before posting, it makes it easier on all of us
http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=2.5+80gig
http://staticice.com.au/cgi-bin/search.cgi?q=2.5+7200+hdd

7200RPM hdd's are more then 150% of the price of 5400

I ment size wise. You can get 500GB+ HDD's easily. The 7200rpm aren't as common, but you get what you pay for with them.

 

[elementalelf]

actually you dont even get that much.
there is no difference in size between 5400 and 7200 drives, anything you can get as a 7200 lappy, you can get as a 5400 lappy hard drive.
as for performance increase, its about 10% at best.
please link me to a site that has a 500 gig 2.5" laptop hdd for sale

 

[X Zero]

AFAIK, if you wan't a laptop to play games you have to pay a good price.

Hmmm, helps at all? I think not. Anyway from what has been said it should play the game I want it to.

 

[elementalelf]

in short: that gfx card is fine for those apps, will play it at high detail without a hitch.
8600gt's are good cards, and the switch to a mobile platform hasnt diminished that in the slightest.