looking to buy a laptop...

ChrisT · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 11:53 am

new computer:

windows vista home premium
asustek computer inc. G60vx
intel core 2duo cpu p7350 @2.00ghx (cpu's)
4094mb ram

NVIDIA geforce GTX 260m

i looked up everything on that site you gave me pkf. thanks it heled alot.

and bestbuy was actually telling the truth it turns out with the graphics card it is one of nvidias higher end graphics card. I also found out that i have just bought basicaly a gaming laptop lol. It says "republic of gamers" on the box everywhere >.<

dont really have a picure of the laptop itself but from the info i gave it should be easy to look up. pretty awesome so far. very smooth

Adbot · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 11:53 am

Shane · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 12:14 pm

I would go with option 1 and upgrade that graphics card if possible. Intel graphic cards aren't exactly the best. If you are playing RS HD or any other demanding games it will help you out.

The ram is primarily why I say option 1.

ChrisT · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 1:13 pm

added $20 upgrade to get option 2 up to 4gb of ram. thought i clicked that option in the first place sorry. the first one will be my pick unless i find out a better option

would "512MB NVIDIA GeForce G 105M" be enough for the graphics card?

and is using the 64-bit version with 4 gb of ram going to be anymore faster then 32-bit with 2-3gb? currently im using a desktop with 32bit and 1gb and it seems bogged down with all the applications. the site says i'll be qualified for a free upgrade to windows 7 for the laptop so that might help even more.

crwire · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 2:10 pm

That's the graphics card I have and I have to say its sweet, works very well and can play PC games pretty nicely. You're first option is almost the same as mine O_O but I got DDR3 RAM FTW =)

OH about the 64 bit, it tends to use more memory I THINK and not compatible with quite a few applications (I'm sure about that though lol). Personally I have 32 bit.

Aquw VettelS 776 · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 3:42 pm

By the looks of the specifications, I'm assuming this isn't a gaming laptop. If you are intending to play games, you really do need a graphics card- the intergrated Intel chips aren't great and will struggle even playing RuneScape HD.

Another area of concern for me is your choice of processor. Even if you intend to use this laptop for basic word processing and Internet browsing, the Pentium processor in option 2 is still a poor choice. Pentiums are an old line of processors and are on their way out. With regard to option 1, do you need this much processing speed? If you're not gaming, I'd recommend changing to a "slower" Quad Core which will give you better overall performance.

Shane · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 4:37 pm

64 bit is fine today. It doesn't run slower. It has a larger disk footprint but that's not a problem.

The only issues you may have are related to older hardware (more than 3 years, depending on manufacturer).

Adbot · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 4:37 pm

ChrisT · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 7:13 pm

aquw 776 wrote:

With regard to option 1, do you need this much processing speed? If you're not gaming, I'd recommend changing to a "slower" Quad Core which will give you better overall performance.

with all the computers ive had ive always needed more processing speed. The cpu is most always 100% unless its just idleing and id like to just go all out on this computer as much as i can. So option one should be fine if your saying it has a ton of speed.

I guess i should have said what id like in a computer really before i posted:
-runs runescape hd with no problem
-play some games such as command and conquer, (might even get into some of the games we play like halflife 2)
-relatively cheap (so doubt alienware or mac. i really did look into both of those and they were all +1.5k+ for what i wanted)
-will last for a while as i get through college and hopefully beyond if the technology in it doesnt expire too quickly.

Chief Snake · **Posted:** October 1st, 2009, 8:45 pm

ChrisT wrote:

aquw 776 wrote:

With regard to option 1, do you need this much processing speed? If you're not gaming, I'd recommend changing to a "slower" Quad Core which will give you better overall performance.

with all the computers ive had ive always needed more processing speed. The cpu is most always 100% unless its just idleing and id like to just go all out on this computer as much as i can. So option one should be fine if your saying it has a ton of speed.

Quad cores will have a slower overall clock speed but the performance will be twice that of a dual core of the same clock speed, effectively. Therefore a quad core would be the way to go if possible as it will be faster on the whole. Some applications are not optimised to utilise four cores effectively and therefore require a higher clock speed, meaning a higher-end dual core is preferable; usually the case with games.

ChrisT wrote:

I guess i should have said what id like in a computer really before i posted:
-runs runescape hd with no problem
-play some games such as command and conquer, (might even get into some of the games we play like halflife 2)
-relatively cheap (so doubt alienware or mac. i really did look into both of those and they were all +1.5k+ for what i wanted)
-will last for a while as i get through college and hopefully beyond if the technology in it doesnt expire too quickly.

You will need a non-Intel graphics chipset; NVIDIA tends to be preferable nowadays but I can't recommend anything specifically for you as I'm unfamiliar with laptop performance in that regard. The GeForce Go 105M that you mentioned earlier sounds good; you shouldn't need anything too extreme as the screen resolution you're looking at is 1280x800.
As for lasting you... you never can be sure with laptops. At this stage though, you don't really have much other choice. What you've picked looks good.

As long as you can get a decent GPU you should be fine as I imagine that (along with most other aspects of laptops) would be difficult to upgrade.

Pfkninenines · Global Moderator 12/4/08

Everyone's hardware tips seem solid in my opinion, but nobody has mentioned the software side. Ditch Microsoft Works if you can, unless you *really* need it. If you're looking for something on the cheap to compete with Office, stick with Open Office suplimitented with Windows Live Essentials.

If you have the option, ditch the free antivirus trials, and install Microsoft Security Essentials now that it's officially released. It's free from Microsoft, and it does run great and have good heuristics.

ChrisT · **Posted:** October 2nd, 2009, 7:40 am

Pfkninenines wrote:

Everyone's hardware tips seem solid in my opinion, but nobody has mentioned the software side. Ditch Microsoft Works if you can, unless you *really* need it. If you're looking for something on the cheap to compete with Office, stick with Open Office suplimitented with Windows Live Essentials.

If you have the option, ditch the free antivirus trials, and install Microsoft Security Essentials now that it's officially released. It's free from Microsoft, and it does run great and have good heuristics.

yea ill probably uninstall those if i cant opt outta getting them with the laptop. Thanks for reminding me of M.S.E. just installed it on my computers since they all still had free AVG which i didnt like all that much.

Chief Snake wrote:

Quad cores will have a slower overall clock speed but the performance will be twice that of a dual core of the same clock speed, effectively. Therefore a quad core would be the way to go if possible as it will be faster on the whole. Some applications are not optimised to utilise four cores effectively and therefore require a higher clock speed, meaning a higher-end dual core is preferable; usually the case with games.

just found out that laptops dont exactly carry quad cores. i looked up quad core and all i could find was desktop computers. Was talking to kirby in the clan chat and he basically said laptops dont really need quad core yet because it isnt really supposed to do a mass of projects all at once. soo back to the dual core i have in my option 1?

Also on the processing side of things...
Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo Processor T6500 (2.1GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, 800MHz FSB) is my first option... what does "2mb l2 cache", and "fsb mean mean really.. cause i beleive i can upgrade all the way to 6 mb. i know the GHz is measuring in speed.

crwire · **Posted:** October 2nd, 2009, 10:23 am

The dual core in option one is already pretty good ^^ Cache I can't remember exactly but the more the better =P FSB is how much data can be crunched through it at one time, compared to the GHz which is how fast it can crunch it - 800 is pretty standard now, desktops are 1066 normally and I saw up to around 1600 in the local shop here O_O. Of course you need RAM which can handle 800 FSB. This is all off the top of my head so correct me if I'm wrong ^^"

KefkaticFanatic · **Posted:** October 2nd, 2009, 11:34 pm

Well you can get a quad core in a laptop, but then you're selling your soul to Alienware which is an incredibly unwise decision unless you're obscenely rich and feel like throwing away money.

Although I'm sure there's a non-Alienware somewhere with a quad core, but not many things would even utilise it, and I'm pretty sure you're not going to be doing anything that would.

Chief Snake · **Posted:** October 3rd, 2009, 3:47 am

Yeah, you should be sweet with what you've got.

ChrisT · **Posted:** October 12th, 2009, 4:53 pm

went to bestbuy and i saw option 1 as one of the ones they had on stock. And then i saw this $999 dollar laptop and became interested. Its:

Asus with 4 gigs of ram, 64 bit vista with a free upgrade to windows 7 (any computers bought from june on get this upgrade for free), intel dual core processor (forgot the numbers that went with it) and best of all: an nvidia graphics card with 1 gig dedicated directly to just the graphics card. They said it was one of the best cards nvidia makes.

forgot to bring some required things for purchase so ill post exact stats and picture tomorrow at around 5 pm est if anyones interested

Tal Ormanda · **Posted:** October 12th, 2009, 8:21 pm

Update your original post with all 3.