2008-08-03 13:54:56 Notbook

Since my current PC is worth crap and I always wanted a Notebook I'll go for it this month. Now I have no idea about Notebooks, didn't follow PC specs for the last 2-3 years...

What should a Notebook be able to do these days? What processors are recommended? And since I want to play games with possible DX10 support, what GFX card should I go for. Price is important of course, so I won't go for the top tier Hardware. So in short: Where do I get the most bang for the buck?

Thanks in advance.

2008-08-03 19:02:37

Notebooks/laptops are usually not very suited for playing games (let alone DX10 games).. It can be done, but then it will cost you.. And since you don't want to spend to much this will be tough..

I've always liked Asus notebooks, but they're not the cheapest..

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2008-08-03 19:38:46

Well DX9 will do it I guess, too. Heard that the performance of DX10 cards is way behind DX9 cards for the same pricetag.

2008-08-03 23:05:26

Sager 5796. The 9800M GT is a pretty capable gaming card, and the price isn't even that bad. It does start to get a tad expensive when you start looking at the 9800M GTX, which is an extra $365 over the GT, but I'm not sure if it's worth the premium yet. The latter hasn't shipped, so it hasn't really been properly benchmarked either. It does have more pipelines, and twice as much video memory (1 gig).

I'd recommend the 5796 with the following configuration: P9500 (2.53GHz C2D), 9800M GT (or GTX if you have the money), 4 gigs of DDR3, Vista 64 (Home), 200gb 7200 RPM HDD (320 if you can afford it).

You're looking at a price tag of 2300-2600 depending on the configuration and vendor, but you won't readily find a much better value for that kind of hardware. If you go to Dell or Alienware, you'll pay a bigger premium, and basically no one else is going to offer those components together. I'd get the 1920x1200 screen, too, but that's mostly because I do graphics work, as a gamer 1680x1050 is a-ok.

You can shave even more off the cost if you want lesser parts, and if you REALLY want to go cheap, Gateway's new FX is several hundred dollars less (with a much slower CPU) and uses the 9800M GTS, which will probably be a pretty capable card as well. In this case GTX > GT > GTS. Don't get a faster cpu than the P9500, since chances are you can overclock it if you really want/need to.

www.xoticpc.com <- best price i've seen from Sager resellers.

Don't let people tell you that you can't buy a high end gaming notebook. These are notebooks that push the best PC games to pretty nice extremes in a portable package. If you're looking for a more casual, lower end gaming experience, you can still game on lesser hardware. Whatever you do though, avoid Intel Integrated Graphics like the plague.

2008-08-04 00:22:32

Thanks a lot Grift. That's the information I've been looking for. I'll have to do some more research it seems.

2008-08-04 03:32:53

Check www.sagernotebooks.com for more information on the NP5796 -- but keep in mind that other resellers offer a slight discount over their prices. They're not a widely known brand, but they are reliable. They're basically repacked Clevo notebooks, which is a Chinese manufacturer that has been making notebooks forever.. and has made notebooks for all the large OEM's.

They're easy to recommend when it comes to mid-to-high end gaming portables.