Just re-configured another laptop that i could afford quite easily. Ive decided im gonna go with one because im gunna be moving about a lot. Here's the spec: Viper II: 18.4" HD+ LCD Backlit Widescreen (1680x945) Super Clear Matte Intel® Core™i5 Mobile Processor i5-460M (2.53GHz) 3MB Cache 4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 2GB) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5165 - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 10 500GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD5000BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm) 8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW) Integrated 4-in-1 Card Reader (SD, MS PRO, MMC, MS) INTEGRATED GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N CARD (AS STANDARD) 3 x USB 2.0 PORTS AS STANDARD Integrated V2.0 Bluetooth Adapter + EDR Capability Viper Series 9 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (6,600 mAh) Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79) £796 all in
Do you have the option to change/upgrade the graphic to ATi Radeon HD5870M graphics card with GDDR5 1GB VRAM? It's around as fast as the desktop 5770 graphic card and will be able to max out 95~97% of the games at 1680x1050 no problem. If you want your laptop to last, don't skim on the graphic chip.
Doesn't give an option to upgrade it. Is there a lot of difference between the 2? Could be worth getting in touch with them to see if its possible to upgrade to the ATi Radeon HD5870M as you mentioned.
ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5165 - 1GB GDDR3 Video RAM The ATI Mobility Radeon HD5870M is the high-end for the mobile graphic, where as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5165...judging by the low-end model number, and only using GDDR3 VRAM instead of GDDR5 like the 5870M, I would imagine it is vastly inferior in comparison...
Ah right, definatly worth seeing if it can be used instead then. Is there not the possibility that the size of it might be an issue though?
No need to imagine how inferior that chip is... The 5165 is one of the most basic graphics chipsets it's possible to get short of going back to old school GMAs. To give an idea, the HD4200 in my laptop can just about run Source games, and I mean just. For games, desktops have laptops licked in terms of bang for buck and outright performance. It'd be worth just buying a half decent desktop for £500-600 then saving up a little bit and getting netbook/CULV for mobile use. I used to have a netbook and they're perfectly alright for everything except games. EDIT: Saw post after mine, that product code is misleading, it's a Mobility 4650 in disguise. In that case, it'll run older games comfortably on middling settings, but don't count on maxing out games at the 18.4" screen's native resolution.
Manage to find some scores for comparison....the Mobility 5156 is rubbish comparing to the Mobility 5870. Mobility 5156: http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5165.24579.0.html Mobility 5870: http://www.notebookcheck.net/ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-5870.23073.0.html
Would the rest of the laptop be able t run that graphics card then? Because if it can, but I can't get it from there I might be able source it myself. I've decided against a desktop now because I want to be able to take it with me and still have a decent games capability, it's a lot to ask I know in this price range but I really appreciate all the advice.
I don't follow exactly... Do you mean finding a laptop with equivalent parts with the 5870 inside or do you mean buying that laptop then trying to fit a 5870M yourself? For the first it'll be extremely difficult at that price unless you go second hand and for the second, it's just not possible.
It will cost around £100 more, and with a slight slower CPU and smaller size HDD. It's the MSI GX740 I mentioned before: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=LT-024-MS
Well I did mean to get that laptop, and try and replace the graphics card, but ive just been talking to my dad about it and he said that you cant just do that, so thats that out of the window. The next thing is he's been saying that, like a lot of you have that for the same price i could get a top notch desktop (I could strech depending on what moneys like after christmas), so he's been slowly convincing me towards a desktop. Ive been looking at the Alienware M15x it is a lot more expensive but that's another thing thats pushing me back towrds getting/my dad putting me together another desktop.
Yea...while the Alienware gaming laptops are nice and all, their prices would make you go Unless you really need to have gaming on the move, you really should consider getting a desktop instead.
Yeh tell me about it 1.2k ish for that alienware, it's nice but not that nice. My dads pretty much swayed be back onto the desktop idea now and he's looking into what sort of price he can get parts for, what are the best places to look though, is it better to go with more popular sights or find them as cheap as poss?
I think you can't go wrong with etailors like Ebuyer, Scan, CCL, Aria etc. Ebuyer you get free delivery for spending over £49.99 As for Scan and CCL, you can get free deliver for spending over £20 (excluding VAT) and over £20 (including VAT), after you get 20 posts here on the the bit-tech forum; you would need link your account on their sites to this one here. The prices usually won't be too big difference, but you could always have a compare on the price of the most expensive parts like the CPU, graphic cards, motherboards, memory to see which got the best deals (any of those single components would cost over £50, so you will get free delivery from the three places mentioned above and you can order them separate if the cheapest deals are not with the same etailor).
I heartily recommend Novatech. Their customer service is excellent in-store and their online service is reportedly good too. If you happen to live near to one of their stores, check it out! Also, Scan's 'Today Only' deals may well be your best friends.
I really wish I'd held off buying my current laptop (Vaio VPCCW2Z1E) and got one of those M11x's. The GT330M in my Vaio runs games well enough. Stuff like Dirt 2 runs at native res with all the details on (no aa though, natch) and it looks stunning. Just Cause 2 with a couple of options off runs perfectly well. The GT335M would be marginally quicker (maybe a small handful more fps). Concentrate more on the gfx rather than the cpu. A laptop with a HD5650 (10%+/- the speed of a GT330M) can be had for just over £600 here.
