what can I expect from this rig?

[Witchking]

hey guys,

 

I am considering on getting myself this laptop.

 

I will also be gettng a cooling solution that is pretty effective.

 

what kind of perf should I expect at 4xaa and 4xaf with min 1152 res in lock on. anyone with similar specs pls help.

 

SYSTEM COMPONENTS

Inspiron 9300 Qty 1

 

Base Intel® Pentium® M Processor 730 (1.60 GHz/2MB Cache/533MHz FSB)

Operating System FREE UPGRADE! Microsoft® Windows® XP Professional

LCD 17in True Life Wide Screen UXGA Display

Memory 1GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM at 533MHz 2 Dimm

Video Card 256MB NVIDA® GeForce™ Go 6800

Hard Drive 60GB Hard Drive

Network Card Integrated 10/100 Network Card and Modem

CD ROM/DVD ROM 8x CD/DVD burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer write capability

Wireless Intel® PRO/Wireless 2200 Internal Wireless (802.11 b/g, 54Mbps)

Digital Music Musicmatch® Jukebox Basic

Option 1 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery (80 WHr)

Hardware Support Services 1 Yr Return-to-Depot Service

Dell Picture Studio (DPS) Photo Album™ SE Basic

Bluetooth Personal Networking Card Dell Wireless 350 Bluetooth Internal(2.0 + Enhanced Data Rate)

 

TOTAL:$2,528.00

[ACUTech]

I couldn`t tell about the performance really, but one thing I just noticed is that the CPU is not very powerfull compared to the rest of the system. Clearly the bottleneck of this system as far as I`m concerned...

 

Cheers,

[Kula66]

Same processor as mine ... (Dell D800 - 2 years old with 4200Go GPU). I get 10-15FPS low down. The Pentium Ms are very quick compared to similar clock speed P4s ... possibly equivalent to 1Ghz faster ... so a 1.6Ghz PM = 2.6Ghz P4. Its a better design with a bigger L2 cache.

 

The thing to watch out for is if it gets hot (because a laptop has small fans), the CPU will clock down (usually at the wrong time) and the FPS will slow to a crawl. The other night I was landing after shooting down 3 baddies and as I approached the field the FPS went from 20 to 2!!! And I crashed :(

 

If you get one, let me know how you get on, I was looking at getting a new Dell soon!

[33rd_bratpfanne.]

As for the Grafiks, i would prefer the X700 mobile series

 

Greetings

 

Brati

[Pilotasso]

remenber that laptops run slower than desktops, are more expensive and more difficult to upgrade, wich translates to less time untill new one is needed. Dont get a laptop unless you realy need the mobility.

[coldcrew]

You just multiply the laptop ghz by a factor of around, maybe a little less than 2 to get the desktop ghz, so you're looking at a 2.8ghz desktop equiv. The rest of the system is good especially the video card. Remember laptop videocards usually suck ass but a 6800 is great. You will need to run this on power adapter and change the power profile to desktop to get it running at full speed.

[Witchking]

exactly guys! the laptop pentium m 1.6 is around 2.8 P4. I can even go a little higher to max pentium m 2.0 ghz which makes it 3.4 ghz around. I want ATI x800 on it but dell does not offer this. :( yet. so I am stuck with 6800.

 

I kinda already have plans for cooling....there is an antec fan whcih is basically a docking station with 3 or 2 fans and some usb ports. my friend is using it for his 5 yr old laptop and it is now running like ice. I am going to get that. and yeah ofcourse I will use the power adapter whenever indoors.

 

main reason for laptop is for school. however I wanted something that would last long enough too.

 

but what kind of perf increase can I expect compared to my present spec.(see sig below). processor is faster and video card is better.

 

note: if necessary I can really make processor 2.0 m and ram to 1.5 gig.

 

thanx.

[ACUTech]

remenber that laptops run slower than desktops, are more expensive and more difficult to upgrade, wich translates to less time untill new one is needed. Dont get a laptop unless you realy need the mobility.

 

Agreed 110% I never liked the idea of gaming on a laptop...

 

BTW Witchking, I would suggest to let the battery empty itself completely before using the power cable. As most as possible. Because if you only rely on the power cable, the battery will eventually empty itself very fast because it will not be "trained"...The more you work on the battery the longer it will take for it to need a recharge.

[Pilotasso]

Witchking, you cant go wrong with that 6800. There are far worse compromises elsewhere with a laptop. if you can strech the CPU to the M 2GHz would be much better than your 1.6, that will be the most perfomance impacting factor right now.

 

A 2.8 to a 3.4 equivalent makes big difference in games specialy with LOMAC

[Kula66]

BTW Witchking, I would suggest to let the battery empty itself completely before using the power cable.

Alot less of a problem now with Lithium batteries ... the only problem with them is NEVER let them drain fully!! They will then not take any change and are only fit for the bin! Get 2 batteries!

 

I'd be interest in knowing how hot that machine will run ... mine runs at 55-60 degs C with a 4200, I'd like to know how they will get rid of the extra heat generated by a 6800 - I only hope the solution isn't to clock down ... see post above. That would drive you nuts!

 

The comments about upgradability are definately true ... I buy a new laptop every 3 years ... and I'm on my 5th - and that runs at about £2,500 each.

[Witchking]

thanx for comments guys. I actually wanted a x800 though but dell does not offer x800 yet. and alienware and all other x800 mobility brands are just tooo expensive. so I guess I'll crank up cpu more and get this laptop. yeah! cooling is arranged...a docking station with 2 extra fans at changable speed. so cooling is not an issue. my only concern is I want a goof perf increase from my present spoec :( .. is it true? will I get a good perf increase?

[Andrew_McP]

One piece of advice. The most important bit of a laptop is the screen IMO. I bought a nice laptop early last year (3GHz/1Gb/ATI M10 chipset (9600Pro-ish speed) which runs LOMAC fairly well), but buying mail order you don't get to look at the screen first. It's a great machine, but the screen is a big disappointment compared to the desktop LCDs I've seen.

 

It's to be expected really. A thin screen is always going to me much harder to light evenly, and in gaming and DVD watching mine has an obvious brightness gradient which I have to make an effort to ignore. This is by no means rare on laptops, as a trip round anywhere selling a few will show you if you can test them.

 

Recent improvements have probably helped at the top end of the range, but I will *never* buy a laptop again without seeing it running first. I thought I'd get used to the screen on mine, but I was wrong. It's fine for desktop work (love the 1400x1050 res) but for gaming it's poor. Expensive thing to take a longterm dislike to :-)

 

Andrew McP

[Witchking]

tahnx for advice andrew. the true life screen in mine is like the trubright in the sony vaio laptops. and they look amazing. I have seen the dell laptop already at my square one mall center. I think it is amazing. the one with a glass screen. its perfect quality. my only issue is would lockon run well on it with my regular settings of 4xaa and 4xaf.