ripley Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 Hello all, I'm new to the Forums :baby: I'm getting a laptop, probably in 1 month time and I've been making some configurations, here's what I've come up with: Core 2 Duo T8300 @ 2.4 GHz 2GB DDR2 RAM GeForce 8400m GS w/ 256 MB RAM 1280x800 5400 rpm HDD My question is whether this will be enough to run LO on some decent high settings (with all the new 3D models, texture packs and packs like Crimean Air Wars)? I know LO is CPU dependant and the processor on this thing is a decent one, so is the RAM; what's troubling me are the GPU and HDD: The 8400m GS has a 64-bit memory interface and the HDD is turning at 5400 rpm. Will that be enough? Will the slower HDD affect loading times and in game performance a lot? The setup above is a HP Pavilion dv6700t; my other option (a better one, I know) is a DELL XPS m1530 (same specs, but a GF 8600m GT w/ 256 MB RAM; 1440x900, and a 7200 rpm HDD); but the HP is a bit cheaper and I'm not running on a very high budget. The laptop will mainly be used during my college classes, texture editing and some playing (consider LO a benchmark for it, that's the most important thing :D ). I suppose that both options are a no-no for plugging in on an additional external monitor and using the laptop screen for flight instrument display and the like while playing on the external. Anybody with a similar setup? What are your experiences?
SuperKungFu Posted May 28, 2008 Posted May 28, 2008 I have almost the same setup (my specs is under my sig), with the dell I1720 The graphics card and everything else is good enough to handle lock on (not all on high though). However, that hard drive might be your bottleneck. Running at 5400 rpm. Here's a tip, get a coupon for the dell laptops by going here http://www.notebookreview.com/dellCoupon.asp See if it knocks off the price to more of your budget, if its still not good enough, I suggest you get the HP laptop, but get the cheapest HD they have, and buy a 100 gig 7200 rpm HD from newegg.com or something similar. cheers and welcome to the forum. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
ripley Posted May 29, 2008 Author Posted May 29, 2008 Thank you for the quick answer SKF :thumbup: I doubt the Dell coupons will work here (Croatia), but I was thinking if I went to a local Dell dealer and order from there I might be able to do something about it. I like HPs design more but it's not the looks that matter if we're talking performance :pilotfly: But I'm sure both graphic cards would be much better then my current (GF 6200TD; I'm upgrading to a 256MB GF 7600GT in a week), but my overall desktop specs aren't all that shiny (Athlon XP 2600+, 1GB single channel) so I'll deffo see a performance increase; though my load times on the 7200 rpm desktop are terrible to say at least... I'm not aiming to play anything else other than LO, and if I do other flight sims aren't that graphically intensive (mind the FSX :joystick:). If I'll go for the HP I'll do as you said and try to pick up a good 7200 rpm HDD Cheers! :thumbup:
SuperKungFu Posted May 29, 2008 Posted May 29, 2008 The coupons work if you order it off of the website http://www.dell.com And I recommend you do that instead of going down to your local dell dealer because they will rip you off like crazy. Most of them don't even know anything about computers, so you are best at buying it off of the website I do agree that the design of the dell laptops isn't the best looking one in the world, but like you said, we care about performance. Both graphics card are pretty decent. However, i found that my current 256 mb 8600 GT didn't perform as well as my old 256 mb 7900 GS. My lock on is heavily modded, I have a lot of high res skins and models in there. And this is my current setting with the 8600GT It runs fairly smooth, but if you go for the HP with the 8400 graphics card, you might have to settle for slightly lower settings. So yea, if you are cool with that, by all means do that. Cheers and I hope you have a happy purchase. I also bought my laptop for college use (and Lock On) lol. [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC]
G3 Posted June 6, 2008 Posted June 6, 2008 thread theft in progress, i am looking at an immediate purchase of a laptop, now i have an idea of what not to get, anything with an x3100 onboard gpu. what do you think of this model: Asus X55SV-AS081C Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 15.4" WXGA Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T8300 : 2.4 GHz, 800MHz FSB,3MB On-Die L2 Cache 2 x 1GB DDR2 667 MHz SDRAM 2.5" 9.5mm SATA 250GB,5400rpm 5.25" , 12.7mm DVD Super Multi Light Scribe NVIDIA® GeForce® G9500 GS External 512MB VRAM Integrated Intel® High Definition Audio chip ( Azalia) etc etc. see what happens over the weekend. edit: forget that one above, i scored one of these:Model: ASUS M51SN-AP067G Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.5GHz, 800MHz FSB, 6MB L2 Cache) Chipset: Mobile Intel PM 965 Hard Drive: SATA HDD 320GB (5400 RPM) Memory: DDR2 667MHZ 1G X 2 (2GB) Operating System: Windows Vista Ultimate VGA: NVIDA GEFORCE G9500M GS / 512M Display: 15.4-inch WXGA Colorshine Network: Intel 802.11a/g/n, 10/100/1000 LAN Bluetooth: Yes Optical Drive: DVD Super Multidrive + Dual Layer + Lightscribe WebCam: 1.3MP Camera + Hybrid TV Tuner Interface: 4 x USB 2.0, 1 x TV IN/DVI-D, TV-OUT/SPIDIF/IEEE 1394, Express Card Power: 90W Adapter Battery: 6 Cell 2.5HR life Dimensions: 365 x 269.5 x 28-40.5 mm (max) Weight: 2.95Kg Warranty: 2 Years pick up and return to base in Australia Bonus: Optical Mouse and Carry Bagseems to have all the bells and whistles, charging her up now and lockon will be on it tonight, this is purely for mission building, well that was the idea. in the laptop i have been using the gpu isn't powerful enough to even run lockon. as any mission builder knows, you need to make sure it all works as intended. with any luck it should also be good for replaying tracks and taking screens etc. how exciting, oh and hello vista ultimate. edit: it runs lockon quite nicely @ 1280x800, so thats good news. so ripley, if you're still looking this seems to be a good unit.
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