Curse

SpartanGuard · Jun 05, 2010, 08:10 PM // 20:10

ok, now I decided to get a laptop, irrelevant to GW, and figured well since I havent played in over a year cause my main guy got stuck in Wehnan Terraces ( due to a grahpics problem) i decided i might as well get one with a good graphics card

Heres what im looking at getting, this laptop will be mostly for Watching movies ( hopefully on a non-blurry screen) listening to music, storing pictures and data, and music. and of course the internet. so I figured why not try to get a laptop with a good grahics card for GW, and to finally get my guy outta wehnan terrace ( i cant finish Nightfall ( stops at Wehnan ) or go past doomlore shire in EotN.

Let me know which of these would be Best for My wants,
http://www.dell.com/content/topics/t...=19&l=en&s=dhs

id get it right now, but 17" is Huge!
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http://www.dell.com/content/products...en&s=dhs&cs=19

this 15" has a Radeon 4330 graphics card but not the new i3 Processor so its old technology, but its over $100 in savings. ( the $500 one im talking about)
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and this one is the 15" with i3 technology but with an intel HD Graphics card, for $570, hit the Review button, or the scroll bar on the left down part of screen for specs.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...=dndovn1&s=dhs
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So let me know which is the best out of what im looking for, or if you want to suggest a Toshiba or something along those lines that would be good for me, in my price range.

tijo · Jun 05, 2010, 08:24 PM // 20:24

I'd avoid the intel HD graphics, otherwise, the 15" will be much better in terms of portability and lighter. If you plan to carry it around a lot, i'd go for the 15". Both cards should handle GW well enough, just don't expect to have it run recent games on max settings.

The core 2 may be last gen but it will do the job nicely for watching movies, playing GW, surfing the web etc.

Blackhearted · Jun 05, 2010, 09:10 PM // 21:10

Either of the ones with the radeon 4330 would be much better(for that limited price range) if decent [for integrated] graphics performance is a factor to you as it sounds. As the Core i3's IGP would stuggle to compete with models even lower than the 4330 from ati.

Lord Sojar · Jun 05, 2010, 10:55 PM // 22:55

If your gaming is limited to that of Guild Wars, the Corei3's IGP will steamroll Guild Wars.

People underestimate the new Corei3 and i5's IGP solutions substantially.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/c...5346/21139.png

You can overclock the IGP on the Corei3 530 to at or above the levels of the i5s, since they are identical GPUs, and the overclock barely increases the heat or power consumption.

I'll break norm here, and recommend the Corei3 laptop, as it will be faster in everything you do except gaming, and if GW is the main concern, it shouldn't be an issue.

An HD4330 still isn't going to run GW2, so you will be stuck either way.

Elder III · Jun 05, 2010, 11:11 PM // 23:11

I'd agree that the i3 should be great for what you want to do, another caveat is that as long as you don't intend to carry this laptop to classes or the office every day I'd get a 17" - it's vastly better for movies and gaming both.

(really now, any adult ought to be able to carry 2 laptops without any sweat, so why the big bother over the extra 1-2" or the extra 1-2 pounds?

)

tijo · Jun 05, 2010, 11:20 PM // 23:20

Quote:

Originally Posted by Elder III

I'd agree that the i3 should be great for what you want to do, another caveat is that as long as you don't intend to carry this laptop to classes or the office every day I'd get a 17" - it's vastly better for movies and gaming both.

(really now, any adult ought to be able to carry 2 laptops without any sweat, so why the big bother over the extra 1-2" or the extra 1-2 pounds?

)

If you're a college/university student and you're gonna carry the laptop with you all day long (including moving from one class to another on the campus) with books on top of that the 17" will be quite heavy. When i was doing my bachelor, even a 15" with all the handbooks etc could get quite heavy.

Now I'm a graduate student and i only carry the laptop (brand new 17") to university and on my way back without too much extra baggage. Weight isn't an issue anymore. Definitely would have been an issue carrying the 17" when i was an undergrad student though.

To sum it up: if you will carry the laptop without lots of books etc. or won't move it around much go for 17", otherwise, go for the 15".

Elder III · Jun 06, 2010, 02:12 AM // 02:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by tijo

If you're a college/university student and you're gonna carry the laptop with you all day long (including moving from one class to another on the campus) with books on top of that the 17" will be quite heavy. When i was doing my bachelor, even a 15" with all the handbooks etc could get quite heavy.

Now I'm a graduate student and i only carry the laptop (brand new 17") to university and on my way back without too much extra baggage. Weight isn't an issue anymore. Definitely would have been an issue carrying the 17" when i was an undergrad student though.

To sum it up: if you will carry the laptop without lots of books etc. or won't move it around much go for 17", otherwise, go for the 15".

Well, it's an individual choice, but I personally traveled all over Eastern Europe, much of it on foot with a 17" laptop and another 10-12 lbs worth of books and papers as well as a camera bag and it never bothered me any great deal. Nothing wrong with a little physical fitness I always say.

Blackhearted · Jun 06, 2010, 07:01 AM // 07:01

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lord Sojar

If your gaming is limited to that of Guild Wars, the Corei3's IGP will steamroll Guild Wars.

People underestimate the new Corei3 and i5's IGP solutions substantially.

http://images.anandtech.com/graphs/c...5346/21139.png

You can overclock the IGP on the Corei3 530 to at or above the levels of the i5s, since they are identical GPUs, and the overclock barely increases the heat or power consumption.

It should be noted however, that the hd4330 is a little bit more powerful(shader and texture wise) than the 790GX's hd3300 used in anandtechs desktop i5 review. Not only that, the i3 igp is clocked significantly lower than the linked i5 igp. In which case means the i3 falls behind even the hd3300.

Also, it's usually not recommended to overclock a laptop. It's much more likely to generate more heat by doing that in a laptop, rather than the desktop that i think you're thinking of.

Lord Sojar · Jun 06, 2010, 09:08 AM // 09:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blackhearted

It should be noted however, that the hd4330 is a little bit more powerful(shader and texture wise) than the 790GX's hd3300 used in anandtechs desktop i5 review. Not only that, the i3 igp is clocked significantly lower than the linked i5 igp. In which case means the i3 falls behind even the hd3300.

Also, it's usually not recommended to overclock a laptop. It's much more likely to generate more heat by doing that in a laptop, rather than the desktop that i think you're thinking of.

The IGP package on the Corei3/i5s is absolutely amazing. You can easily clock the i3's IGP to i5 levels, without any heat increase. The power increase is extremely low as well.

It should be noted that you could easily get 30+ FPS in any area of Guild Wars using the Corei3 with stock clocks. Overclocking would increase that substantially.

Can I toss out a recommendation?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16834115727