Please help me decide...

Hello gents, now i'm on a bit of a budget, i want a laptop that plays todays games at a fairly decent level at minimal cost. I found this one, it has an X1700 which caught my attention considering the price. Thing is, I was adament before that I wanted a 2ghz T7200 processor, this one has a T5600, will gaming performance depend on which processor I buy?
I especially want to play BF2142, I understand this runs off one processor though, battlefield asks for atleast 1.7ghz, so i'm pushing it a bit.
Will future games allow core duo or will they be like battlefield.
Sorry that i'm not exactly technically minded...

Here it is:
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 - 1.83GHz (x2), 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache
RAM: 2048MB DDR2
Hard Drive: 120GB
Screen: 15.4" Widescreen TFT
Optical Drive: DVD±RW Super Multi
Graphics: ATI Radeon X1700 supporting 512MB HyperMemory
Wireless LAN: 802.11a/b/g - Call for advice on Wireless Networking
Bluetooth: Bluetooth Enabled
Warranty: 2 Year Warranty
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium Edition
Built-In 1.3 MegaPixel Camera
£830
http://www.laptopsdirect.co.uk/Asus_F3Jp_Laptop_with_2GB_RAM_Upgrade_BUN-F3JP-AP063C-270/version.asp

Does anyone know of any other good laptops in the price range of 700-800 with this specification.
Also, i noticed the X1700 has hypermemory, would I be better off buying an X1600 with 256mb dedicated or will 2GIG of RAM make it ok.

Be great to hear from you.

Jon

 

it depends on the developer whether they will enable dual core support or will they continue to use only one core. as for the specs, theyre fine for the game you want but I would guess the T7200 will perform better though the X1700 is the biggest determinant in frames and what quality and resolution you can run. All in all the system is fine. As for the X1700 having hypermemory, this is fine as it will have a dedicated amount of RAM, usually 128MB or 256MB. Find out first though cuz if its 128MB dedicated then that is a crippled X1700.

 

The Asus F3Jp that you link to, is quite capable of playing BF2142. Gaming performance depends on the GPU. The X1700 is very powerful and will run BF2142 with no issues.

 

'Find out first though cuz if its 128MB dedicated then that is a crippled X1700'.
Thanks for that, I will try to somehow find that out. Can anyone clarify this as the link isnt very detailed...

So overall gaming wise this processor is fine..would love a T7200 though...lol

 

Games like Battlefield 2142 are extremely RAM intensive. It's great that you have 2 GB of RAM, because BF2142 will really use all of it. The X1700 is a powerful card that should be able to play BF2142 at medium to high settings with no difficulty. Just don't turn the extra eyecandy up, like the craters or explosive effects. Those give even a 7900GS some trouble.

The requirement of "1.7 Ghz" refers to a single-core 1.7 Ghz processor, not a new dual-core processor like the Core 2 Duo series. Your 1.83 Ghz T5600 should be able to exceed the processor requirement.

 

Hey,
Does anyone know what the dedicated memory for X1700 is?
The laptop in question has 512MB hypermemory, from what I have researched online the X1700 chips come with 256mb dedicated standard, is this correct?
Also, I have found similar PC's with a T7200 processor and geforce go 7600, should i stick with the X1700 which is faster or is the 7600 favourible in areas?

Thanks guys

 

256 MB dedicated, 256 MB shared, for 512 MB total.

The X1700 consumes less power than a Geforce Go 7600. Performance is roughly the same; Nvidia cards are known for their great OpenGL support (so if you're going to use Linux, these are the cards for you), whereas ATI has a slight advantage in gaming situations. Overall, the two cards compare almost identically.

So, it's just a matter of what laptop you're looking at - style, power, battery life, etc.

 

Right i'm down to these two,
The one already mentioned:
Acer slightly better looking -
'Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo T5600 - 1.83GHz (x2), 667MHz FSB, 2MB L2 Cache'
2GB DDR2 RAM, 667MHz
'ATI Radeon X1700'
Vista Premium

Or the laterunner:
Evesham Voyager Pro C530
'Intel® Core 2 Duo Processor T7200 (2GHz) 667MHz'
2GB DDR2 RAM, 667MHz
'X1600'
Vista Business

They cost the same
Is downgrading to the Evesham with an X1600 worth it for the better CPU for a better overall performance. Will i notice much difference. Or is the X1700 something i should stick with for optimal gaming.

Help...

 

I think you would be better off sticking with the first option, since the GPU will be the first bottleneck, not the CPU. The difference between the T5600 and T7200, gaming-wise, should not be too significant. In contrast, the difference between a X1600 and X1700 will be more noticeable, especially if you are running games at higher settings.

However, keep in mind that the T7200 will have a better performance when you multi-task, a.k.a. running multiple applications at once.

 

Actually the x1600 and x1700 are the same chip, so if its between two laptops with either of these chips look to the other options to make the choice.

 

The X1600 = X1700 in terms of performance as noted. I'd go with the Evesham between those two.

Don't forget to consider other factors such as build quality.

 

you could pay a little more(like 200 euros) and get a much more powerfull notebook, the Dell inspiron 9400, along with a 7900gs, 2Gb, which means that you can play games like battlefield 1942 maxed out. and hey, with some customization you could even get for a little less