Will the 128MB GeForce 8400M GS run SC2 and Fallout 3?

I'm looking into purchasing a laptop, and its a difficult decision to drop 1500-2000 dollars with new laptops coming out every day. Eventually I'll need to make a decision, but I have a question.

Whatever laptop I buy will have to last me a few years, and with StarCraft 2 and Fallout 3 releasing next year, will the 2.0GHz, 2GB RAM and 128MB 8400M GS still be viable till then?

I was also looking at purchasing a MBP, because its thing and light and I dont mind OSX, its just that for 450$ more (with a student discount, $650 without), the only hardware differences between these two laptops is the video card on the MBP, which is NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT.

What do you guys think?

 

kinda hard to say since those games aren't out yet, but I'd go with the highest card available atm, which is the 8600M GT,you could probably run the games with the 8400 but likely in the low settings maybe a bit higher.

IMO you would regret it more if you went with the 8400 if you plan on gaming.

 

To get the 8600M GT, Id have to go with the 1520, which is almost 7 pounds. Compared with the MBP which has the 8600M GT, thats more than 1.5 pounds heavier. And considering I'm going to be doing a lot of travelling, that's not a good thing.

 

so would you get the dell or the macbook pro?

after having it for a month or so, i highly recommend it.

 

it will work fine, at least SC2 will. Blizzard always makes there products work on very old technology. SC worked on a p90 when p200 were old. WOW works on a gma 950. etc etc. Fallout 3, dunno... will it still be 2d?

 

For gaming as a concern, just drop the CPU down to 1.6GHz, drop the RAM to 1GB (buy 2GB and install it yourself) and move up to the 8600. Then you are saving a lot of money compared to a MBP and getting one of the better mobile gaming cards available. Going from a 1.6 to a 2.0 CPU is not going to be noticeable in games since the GPU will be the bottleneck on a laptop.

I think it is a very safe bet that the 8400 will run SC2 just fine since Blizzard has a long history of making sure the games run fine on lower spec hardware. WoW is playable on absolute crap hardware just by turning down settings. Fallout 3 is a complete toss up though. The game engine may not scale well to low spec video cards.

 

Fallout 3 is using essentially the same engine as Oblivion, so Oblivion's performance on today's GPU's should at least give you an estimate of what you can expect for Fallout 3's performance (granted, Fallout 3 is probably going to have some more special effects/etc. but still).

 

well a MBP would be more than 450 more(i don't know why your 1420 is so expensive), if you want to game you'll have to install Vista or XP thats another $100-200

 

??? is 1.5 pounds worth 450$. not for me... I have a 15.4inch 6 pound machine and it is easy to carry around. 1 pound is not a lot more... besides it builds up your Stamina .

So is the 1.5 pounds less plus a much better video card worth 450? (along with other setbacks and advantages)

I would say save your money get a Dell 1520 with the 8600 but at least go and find a 7 pound computer at best buy/A PC store and pick it up and see how heavy it is... most people don't have a problem with 7 pound 15.4 inch laptops. if that does not help, you have a hard call to make .

Good luck!

 

How much are you willing to spend? You could look at the Zepto 6224w, the BenQ S41 or the upcoming Asus F8 for a good gaming experience in a smaller machine.

 

Masterchef, you didn't specify which one you got, but since you got it a month, I'm guessing its the MBP? Edit: lol sorry, I see from your sig you got the MBP.

The consensus is that SC2 will run fine on any comp I purchase today, so that's no longer an issue.

Zadillo, good idea about the performance on Fallout 3 since it's just a modified version of the Oblivion engine by Bethseda, so I'll look at that also.

yuio I will re-examine my needs and see if I can handle a 7pound notebook. The thing is I'd also have to be lugging around a few books as I'm going to do my Graduate Degree, so it's not just the laptop I'd be carrying, so the 1.5lbs will make a difference.

Odin I don't want a gaming machine per se, I want an aesthetically pleasing, lightweigh notebook that just needs to be able to manage SC2 and Fallout, as those are the only 2 games I see myself wanting to play. However I will research your suggestions, thank you. I think the Asus F8 isnt out as yet, but I'll keep an eye out for it.

Edit: It seems I'd have to jump through a lot of hoops to lay hands on the Zepto or the Benq, so thats out of the question.

I need to make my decision pretty soon though.

 

I wouldn't go with a 7 lb laptop...
I have a Vostro 1700, and it's pain in the a$$ to carry around
Try to stick to under 6.5 maybe?

I'm guessing Fallout 3 will run on med or med-high settings on a 8600 card.
(Oblivion runs on high with a bit of tweaking.)

 

I would suggest a 14.1" notebook with a 8600GT (they may be hard to find though). If you can't do that, I would suggest moving into the 15" line to try to get a higher performance notebook.

 

Holy **** meteor you just dug this thread up from the grave. I was seeing why that guy was banned and realized this post was from 2007! In the future don't pull up threads from the dead please

 

Rotflmao!!