Notebooks Laptop with some GPU ooof

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by carpetmonster, 9 Feb 2011.

  1. carpetmonster

    carpetmonster What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    27 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    481
    Likes Received:
    25
    This may get asked regularly, but what is the minimum to spend to get a laptop with enough grunt to play something like BFBC2 at at least medium settings. The actual screen size doesn't matter as it will be connected to an external monitor and HDMI out would be essential.

    I had a Dell with a 4570 and a quad i7, despite getting hot, it was ok, anything out to the monitor ran slowly unless it was an old game CSS ran ok though.

    Would £550 or so get me anything decent ? The way GPU codes are changing it just confuses me now.
     
  2. docodine

    docodine killed a guy once

    Joined:
    10 Feb 2007
    Posts:
    5,084
    Likes Received:
    160
    That GPU is about even in power with my G210m, I comfortably play TF2 at 1650x1080 with FPS boosting mods on.. I can't complain about 60fps rock solid! You won't be able to play modern games that need good fps even at low (unless your res is like 640x480) so I guess this is a good time to rediscover the gems of 3-5 years ago. GTA:SA works well FYI.

    Your laptop with the 4570 and quad i7 is plenty powerful for most things. If you want something on that budget which will give you a significantly better gaming experience the only thing would be a desktop PC. Bit hasn't done a hardware guide for a while, but for that money you could get a pretty decent PC. If you absolutely need a laptop, check out some of the previous generation Asus G series models. You can find them with a pretty steep discount sometimes, especially refurbished models.
     
    Last edited: 9 Feb 2011
    carpetmonster likes this.
  3. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

    Joined:
    20 Jan 2007
    Posts:
    12,300
    Likes Received:
    710
    If you find a laptop you like but has Display Port instead of HDMi, don't see it as a down side...
    Display port is backward compatible to HDMI and DVI, with a simple, small, inexpensive adapter.
     
  4. carpetmonster

    carpetmonster What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    27 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    481
    Likes Received:
    25
    My Monitor supports display port, which is nice, even have a lead for it.

    Just wondering what sort of cash you need to spend to get a decent spec these days.

    I have an SSD to go in it.
     
  5. Parge

    Parge the worst Super Moderator

    Joined:
    16 Jul 2010
    Posts:
    13,000
    Likes Received:
    609
    New? £900 or so - take a look at this...
     
    carpetmonster likes this.
  6. GoodBytes

    GoodBytes How many wifi's does it have?

    Joined:
    20 Jan 2007
    Posts:
    12,300
    Likes Received:
    710
    Depends what you want..
    do you seek only performance and a laptop that will last only 1 year before it breaks? Or do you seek quality.

    Assuming you seek quality first, and then performance, for ~1.8k U.S/Can you can get a solid business class machine with 3 year warranty, (sometimes even with 3 year next business day on-side service), 14inch, with a powerful CPU, and med-low range GPU, like a Geforce 310M-320M depending on the model. It goes more powerful, and much cheaper, as you increase laptop size. 17inch being your sweat spot.. but then.. it won't be portable at all. In which case you can just get a desktop computer.

    The usual recipe, is that every laptop has a major down side:
    > Poor quality on the casing or hardware
    > Low end GPU
    > Noisy
    > Throttling issue
    > Low memory
    > Low/poor battery life
    > glossy screen
    > large capacity battery lifts the laptop
    > proprietary components.
    > poor after sale service.

    If you can afford it, I would have a look at the Alienware M11x. It looks very interesting.
     
    carpetmonster likes this.
  7. kenco_uk

    kenco_uk I unsuccessfully then tried again

    Joined:
    28 Nov 2003
    Posts:
    9,696
    Likes Received:
    308
    Just under £572 for a Core i3 + GT330M Samsung Q530-JT01UK link

    The GT330M gfx card isn't going to set your world on fire, but it'll be able to handle games a lot better than a HD4570. I have one in my laptop and it handles loads of games fine. Just Cause 2 was one I had to lower a couple of details on, but Dirt 2 runs fine with all the sparkly bits turned up.

    If you can find one with a HD5650, that looks to be marginally quicker (although the GT330M can be overclocked a fair amount tbh :) ).



     
    carpetmonster likes this.
  8. carpetmonster

    carpetmonster What's a Dremel?

    Joined:
    27 Jan 2011
    Posts:
    481
    Likes Received:
    25
    That Samsung looks very good, M11x I had for a bit and sold, what put me off was the weedy CPU after I had my Dell i7. However I wouldn't mind one of the newer i3 ones.

    Rep given to everyone, cheers.
     
  9. kenco_uk

    kenco_uk I unsuccessfully then tried again

    Joined:
    28 Nov 2003
    Posts:
    9,696
    Likes Received:
    308
    Last edited: 9 Feb 2011
  10. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

    Joined:
    27 Jun 2008
    Posts:
    2,354
    Likes Received:
    277
    The "weedy" CPU in the M11x isn't really an issue for most games as the limiting factor is the 335mGT. My R1 can play every game I have thrown at it bar GTAIV. BFBC2 is perfectly playable but it took me quite a while tweaking it to get it to that state.

    If you search for dell laptop deals you should find a website called something like dellx dimension, on there they have the codes for all of the current best offers. The Inspirion 15R with i3 380m and HD5650 is a good deal for around £550. It shouldn't have any issues playing most modern games at medium settings* (possibly turning down post processing and other effects to low).

    *At 1366x768.
     

Share This Page