Graphics card for gaming on laptop

[Arimus]

Looking around for a replacement laptop for gaming (Mostly Eve Online - my current Acer with an ATI X1400 manages about 30 - 40fps) and as I've not been buying laptops for a while the state of gfx cards has moved on somewhat from the last time I looked around....

My current choices appear to be between (budget is 800 - 1200) the ATI X16?0 cards, Nvidia 7900 or Nvidia 8600 cards.

As I'll probably go with Vista Ultimate I'm tempted to get a laptop with an 8600 card for the DX10 capabilities...

Just wondered what the general view is these days between the three choices.

[staffsMike]

the 7900 will out perform the 8600 but obviously you lose out on dx10 support. Theres two 8600GT's floating around at the moment. The 512mb is GDDR2 memory as far as I know and the 256mb is GDDR3.

If you could stretch your budget a bit you could get this

http://www.rockdirect.com/configureN...70-T7500&bID=2

Which has the 8700GT.. best compomise you will get.

Failing that this would be an awesome notebook for gaming

http://www.rockdirect.com/configureN...70-T7500&bID=2

other choices would be the new dell inspiron 1520 (8600gt 256mb)

Forget the ATi..it won't compete.

For out and out performance the 7900 is best but you would be buying outdated hardware as all the new dx10 graphics laptops have the santa rosa processors/chipsets.

[Arimus]

Thanks Mike,

I've been looking at the Rock's and toying with the config to see how high I can push it...

The other ones I'm looking at are alienware so from a build perspective which is better?

And alternatively in view of the wife's desire to keep my spending down....

Power Notebook Santa Rosa, 2GB RAM, webcam, wireless, bluetooth £699.95

This laptop is built around the New INTEL Santa Rosa Chipset and Intel Core2 Duo T7100 running at 2x 1.8GHz and with 2MB Cache.

* CPU: Intel Core2Duo T7100 running at 2x1.8GHz and with 2MB Cache
* 2 GB DDR2
* DVDRW multiformat
* 120GB SATA Hard Drive
* Graphics Chipset: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 256MB dedicated graphics memory
* 15.4 Widescreen LCD display 1280x800 resolution
* Bluetooth, Gb LAN, Modem and wireless LAN a/g/n
* I/O: 4 x USB 2.0 ports, 1 x VGA port/Mini D-sub 15-pin for external monitor, 1x S-Video Out, 1 x IEEE 1394 port, 1 x Card Reader, 2 x Audio jack: Audio out (SPIDIF) / Mic-in, 1 x RJ11 connector for Modem, 1 x RJ45 connector for Ethernet, 1x Express Card Slot
* 2-Megapixel webcam and built-in microphone
* Battery operating time: 4 hours
* Weight: 2.9Kg

I'll probably upgrade the above though to a T7300 and Vista Ultimate, making 879 inc. vat.....

[staffsMike]

Alienware im my experience are fairly overpriced. The finished products are fantastic quality but then the warranty cover is RTB only..and when you pay that much you expect the best and RTB is a kick in the nads.
I don't mind RTB with rock (not that i've ever used it) but they are only down the road from me lol.
I almost bought a Rock Pegasus 670 this week but the screen put me off. I can't stand super high res on notebook screens...my eyes can't take it lol ..plus gaming performance will take a big hit at native res (the only way to play really)

I ended up going a totally different differection and got a Dell XPS M1330 with an 8400gs lol

If you can live with the resolution then the rock 670 is a good laptop and with your budget is the best you will do I think. Other than that the dell 1520 is a good cheap laptop but ugly as sin and very thick.
theres also this which is almost identical in every way.

http://www.misco.co.uk/applications/...&sourceid=2019
you can get them cheaper than this..just the first link I found.

[staffsMike]

just seen your edit..that is cheap for alienware!!! thats a great laptop for the money. Deffinatly go for the 7300 they feel a lot faster. I've been using the t7100's at work last week and this..they are ok but the 2.0ghz feels nice.

is that a dell..im confused lol

[Arimus]

Its from these people (I've used them before but for stock laptops - always had good service from them) - just could not the link in earlier due to the 5 post before link rule...

It is from a company called Power Computing Ltd... (as this is my 5th post.... here is the link)

http://www.powerc.com/ps/code=S96S&a...83582486-200//

[staffsMike]

ahhh looks like an asus barebones laptop..looks pretty good.

These two are lesser known companies over here but both gaining lots of respect.

http://www.rizeon.com/notebooks.php
http://uk.zepto.com/Shop/Notebooks.aspx

[Nox]

yep, also looking at those two - rizeon and zepto are very cheap prices and very configurable compared to other brands. unfortunately, i'm not overly keen on how they look.

the asus c90 is a pretty new laptop on the block, might be worth a look when it comes to the uk - its out in usa now. it uses a desktop cpu (conroe) and has an upgradeable gfx card slot - potentially a lot of power for the money but it looks like it has a few issues (but doesn't everything?)

Zepto have also managed to squeeze a 8600 into a 14.1" laptop, its the only one on the market right now but there will be more very soon, if size vs power was of any consideration

i'm very torn at the moment, but if the rumours are true about the new 12" mac, i know where i'm heading depending on cost...

Nox

[staffsMike]

I heard about those 12" macs a little while back.. Do the rumours suggest what hardware they'll be using?

[Nox]

macbook pro specs according to the rumours. And macbook pros have 8600M GT's in them, either 128 or 258MB, but whether the gfx spec is part of the 'macbook pro spec' part i have no idea.

fingers crossed eh? not going to hold my breath tho

Nox

[Nox]

http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?t=327985

Nox

[GoNz0]

eve is no new game so a new 8 series nvidia would play it fine and still give u scope for vista compatability when they figure out how to make DX10 work

i owuldnt take advice along buying 7 series to get the extra fps out of it as the 8 should cope fine.

i would bet on a 8 series playing it better due to all the extra shaders it has, and eve likes shaders iirc.

[staffsMike]

I would doubt very much that is did have an 8600 but that would be impressive to say the least. The 8600 seems to drain batteries a bit too quick for an ultraportable. Most likely they would go the route of dell and sony and use an 8400gs...GT at most.

[Arimus]

To be honest battery life is the least of my issues - providing it lasts long enough for me to save any photos I've got open and shutdown cleanly it is long enough

I was pretty much set on getting a Rizeon FL90 but as they keep slipping the release date further to the right I'm rapidly going off that idea.

I've got a few friends who have zepto's so I'm going to look at either one of those or an Asus.

What I am not going to look at is Acer... The laptop I'm currently using is 18 months old and the screen looks like moisture has got between the top layer and the base giving lovely water marks everywhere, the previous Acer I had failed continually needing multiple trips to their repair centre which meant dealing with Acer's customer services - an experience I never ever wish to repeat and wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.

[staffsMike]

The shipping date being moved is probably due to the shortage of lcd panels thats a problem for all the laptop companies at the moment. It supposed to be resolved now so keep an eye out on the rizeon..the date may move a little to the left if they can get some screens in.

[Arimus]

Ah, thanks... going to keep an eye out around the begining of August and see its moved to the left.

update:
Due to my current laptop melting down I had to get a new one quicker than planned. In the end I went for an Asus F3Sv for £849 from Laptops Direct. For Eve (my main/only gaming use) the fps has jumped to 65 - 70 fps from 35 on my old laptop (X1400 card). For photoshop the 2GB memory can only do no wrong