Notebook Gaming with External Monitor

Sorry this isn't really a software question, more of a gaming hardware question.

I'm shopping for a laptop and want to get back (after a many many year hiatus) into gaming. I will game on my laptop, but mostly I'll game at home when I'm hooked to an external monitor, or more likely to my 56" HDTV. I wasn't able to find any info about this type of setup, is it impractical or that bad that no one does it? normally I have good searching skills, but I'm coming up empty here.

Further, how important is the capabilities of the video card in this type of setup? if my HDTV is only 720p? It'll be running the card it at a fairly low resolution, yes? so even a mid range card should do fairly well? mid-range meaing x700 or go6800?

I'm tempted by waiting a month for a x1600 or a go7800 in a 15.4" laptop... advice?

Finally, an FYI I'll mostly be playing game like WoW.

Thanks,
Jon

 

JB510,

Well...if it is just for WoW, I would suggest that you get a 6800 Go, and save the cash over going for a 7800 unless you don't mind spending the extra cash.

As for how to hook it up to your TV...go with the DVI - HMDI connection, it is uncompressed and will give you the best picture. I would suggest buying it online, you can find it cheaper. I looked at circuit city and they wanted $130 for the cable. Online I found it for $55 + shipping.

I have a 6800 Go and I play on 1440x900 resolution with everything turned all the way up and still get over 60FPS.

 

USAFdude02,

You have the EXACT system I had priced out on Dell, and OC'd the GPU like I had planned on doing. I assume you like it?

I posted in the Dell forum that Dell had taken the go 6800 off the options list for the i9300. I suspected because it competed with the M170 and E1705, however someone (I think the forum mod or site admin) replied that he heard it was temporary due to a supply shortage.

I'd still like to here specifically if anyone is running games off a laptop on a HDTV and if so how the graphics card effects performance.

I didn't read your last line that you were actually using an external display/HDTV for gaming? right?

.. and FWIW I would be hooking it up via DVI, although my HDTV also has a PC serial/vga connection option as well.

 

I game on my external monitor that is hooked up to my notebook. It's very practical in my opinion . . it's not that I don't like my notebook's display, just that the external (I have a 17" LCD, Digital) is bigger, faster response times, brighter, etc.

You can run any resolution you want with that card (Go6800) pretty much, and it's certainly capable of HD. I have a 256MB dedicated Radeon X700, no problems at all.

Agreed - for WoW, a Go6800 is even overkill. An X700 could run it at max. everything.

 

JB510,

I don't have it hooked up externally yet. I have not bought the cable. If your TV has VGA ports I would hook it up that way (better resolution).

I hooked up my old TV to my old laptop via s-video...games look good, but you couldn't read text. Granted the TV was not HD.

Yes, I love my I9300. All my friends are riduculing me because I didn't wait. I don't care about the dual processors, I don't multi-task much. I switch from WoW to the internet, but that is about it and it is fast enough for me.

 

I'll just add that I strongly doubt we'll ever see a 7800 Go in a 15.4" notebook. There's only one 15.4" model, from Asus, that has a 6800 Go.

 

Well, I doubt it to. But I think it would be a good idea later on. The games require better video cards every 6months - a year. So I think we might see it later on.

 

I'm still struggling to decide between a 17" and 15.4". One reason I was leaning towards a 17" was because only the 17" have good GPU's. There are a couple 15.4" with x700's and 6600's. The Sager 5320 and 3880 are somewhat attractive to me.

What just became very attractive however is the new Acer TM 8200 (8204WLMi). Duo Core & x1600, due out by the end of the month. I think there is also a 15.4 Toshiba with a GPU suitable to gaming.

The reason you'll never see a 7800 or x800 in a 15" is battery life. If ATI/Nvidea ever develop a GPU that handles DX 9c and Shadow modeler 3, that isn't' a battery hog, you might see it in a 15"... but people are much more tolerate up sub 2hr battery life in 17"...

 

1. ATI and nVidia's mobile lineups now both include GPUs that handle DirectX 9c and Shader Model 3. ATI's entire X1K series does, and nVidia's 6 and 7 series do. I seriously doubt the X1300 and GeForce Go 6200 are battery hogs.

2. The reason isn't battery life. It's the heat output. Those powerful chips run at high clocks and they generate a lot of heat. As it is, ATI's Mobility Radeon X1800XT has to be downclocked to X1800XL clocks to even fit the thermal envelope of a notebook.

 

JB510,

Well if you are looking for the 17'' then you can easily get the 6800 Go, once the supply is back. The Dell I9300 is a great computer, and it has speedstep to downgrade the CPU when on battery. Let us know on what you decide.