Is this a decent laptop for light gaming?

Okay, i am looking to purchase a new laptop, this is what i have come up with, based on price to quality. I play games like WoW, CS:S, and probably some of the newer gen games when i can get them. Is this a good enough setup to run games well?

PROCESSOR Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7250 (2.0GHz/800Mhz FSB/2MB cache) edit

OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium Edition edit

VIDEO CARD 256MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT edit

MEMORY 2GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 667MHz edit

HARD DRIVE Size: 250GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) edit


Also, if i decrease my processor to this, would it still run fine?

Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T5450 (1.66GHz/667Mhz FSB/2MB cache)

 

I would say, Yes, but....all my assumptions are under windows XP....so i can't be sure about vista, because it is a sure cut on performance. That being said, these are simply assumptions, because i know i can play CS:S on my laptop (see specs below),and its surely a full step or two below that set up.

 

thats a solid setup I'm not sure about the t5450 though.

 

That GPU you are getting is the best price/actually. The processor T5450 is very good. The best performance increase (gaming-wise) you will see with the T7250 is with heavy processor applications like most RTS games or games with too many physics.

 

So, youre saying that it may not run games as well with the latter processor? If that is the case, im going to order the first setup, as it seems pretty solid for most games.

 

Some one is getting a Dell.

And yes that config is good for gaming both current and future.

 

Well, my choices are, i can reduce the processor to the latter and upgrade the ram to 3GB or just leave it how it is, which would be best?

 

No, don't get more RAM, you can buy it cheaper from other websites (newegg, etc.)

 

Both processors will play WOW and CS:S fine although if you plan to play newer games in the future it may be nicer to have the faster processor epically for games that realy on AI alot like RTSs. Those games also wont need 3 gig ram so it might be better to upgrade later when costs come down because you can upgrade ram when ever you want but the processor is a lot harder.

 

okay, what about upgrading the memory to 320GB instead of upgrading the ram? Still having to get the lesser processor though. Im beginning to think any upgrades might be worthless though

 

you mean HDD?

Maybe , but external HDD is very cheap these days , so maybe better buy an external one later.

Although theT5450 is an ok cPU, get the T7250 , is a better deal price /performance wise.

 

That's up to you though - i you feel that you will need it then go for it but again, hard drives are easy to upgrade at a later stage. I would still go with the faster processor and upgrade other things later when you need them.

 

More like 10 steps.

 

I just got a Vostro with almost an identical configuration. You'll be doing much more than "light gaming", if you so choose. Definitely leave the ram where it is. A couple hours ago, I went on newegg and bought a 2GB module of RAM for $35 + free shipping.

WoW, CS:S all maxed no problem.

Edit: Oh, and stick with the T7250. I debated the downgrade as well, but in the end you'll feel better with the superior chip. It's what, a 30% performance increase?

 

Such an overkill for "light gaming" tho... 8600GT is the best mid-range card as of now. You will surprise how this baby performs. T5250 isn't that much slower. You wont notice much difference in most games.
For multi-task in Vista, you CPU usage hardly hit 75% with T5250. Unless, you want run everything at the same time,like working on your photoshop projects while running virus scans with a few minimized games, you are fine with T5250.

 

I think u should try to go for a 4MB L2 cache CPU, everything else is fine.