What do you think I should do?

I am thinking I will get a new gaming laptop with the following specs, but I have a problem.

PROCESSOR----------Intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7600 or the T7200
OPERATING SYSTEM--Media Center Edition 2005
LCD PANEL-----------17 inch Wide Screen UXGA
MEMORY-------------2GB DDR2 SDRAM at 667MHZ, 2 DIMM
HARD DRIVE----------100GB 7200rpm SATA Hard Drive
OPTICAL DRIVE-------8X CD/DVD Burner (DVD+/-RW) with double-layer DVD+R write capability
VIDEO CARD----------512MB NVIDIA® GeForce™ Go 7950 GTX
SOUND OPTIONS------Integrated Sound Blaster® Audigy™ HD Software Edition

I want this laptop to last at least a couple of years. Those specs are pretty good and should be able to play games (even if not top settings) for a couple of years. But if DX10 is not compatable with my GFX card then it will be a waste, I want to invest in a good laptop, not for just now but for the future too.

So should I not buy a new laptop until DX10 is out? Or a card that is compatable with it is out? Any information on this would be great.

 

Anybody? Maybe I am stupid, and what I said was wrong. I'd love some clarification.

 

I don't think what you asked is stupid or wrong -- it's just that no one else can tell you, or anyone else, whether you should buy now or later. Only you can decide that. There is always something better coming along.

FWIW, though I know nothing specific about it and could be wrong, I doubt that, given their power requirements, DX10 GPUs are going to make it to laptops for a while (6 months or more?---and don't blame me if they show up tomorrow). When they first arrive, I'd guess that, apart from being expensive, it'll take a large, loud, hot laptop to run them. But then AFAIK the 7950 GTX needs that too, only maybe not quite as much as the DX10 cards will, or maybe not. Who knows?

So as far as all that goes --- are you willing to use what you have now and wait 6-12 months for DX10 (or whatever it takes), or do you really want to buy now? If you buy now, you'll have a very powerful notebook that will last for several years, but will never run games in DX10.

As a minor note, I doubt that the price premium on the T7600 makes it worth getting over the T7200, but I could be wrong about that too.

 

Absolutely, and if you keep waiting for the next best thing, you'll never get anything.

I don't think there is anything to gain by waiting right now if you want a gaming machine. If you need the laptop, buy it. DirectX 10 won't become the standard for a while, the adoption rate is going to be very slow. Game developers wouldn't simply abandon support for DX9.

No, you're right. The third processor down from the top - the T7200 in the case of the Core 2 Duo - is the best value in Intel's lineup. The T7400 and the T7600 carry hefty price premiums for small performance increases. It would be cost effective to go with a T7200.

 

No, you're right. The third processor down from the top - the T7200 in the case of the Core 2 Duo - is the best value in Intel's lineup. The T7400 and the T7600 carry hefty price premiums for small performance increases. It would be cost effective to go with a T7200.[/QUOTE]

Chaz is absolutly right, the T7200 is the great value for the money and it will do just fine, i think it's the GPU you should pay attention to the most. by the way how much are willing to shell out for it?

 

Thanks this is perfect just what I was looking for.

Yeah of course, I hadn't thought of that. I would like a new laptop soon, the main reason is for gaming, I have an Inspiron 5150 laptop now that I can do word processing stuff on, so the only real reason for the new laptop is for watching movies/playing games, and some hobbiest game programming (that my 5150 can't handle).

Thanks for all the help (including the info on the T7200, thats the one I'll get).

Sometimes you search for info for a very long time, and then you come upon a forum like this and it makes everything many times simpler (and cost hundreds less). So thanks again.

And for a laptop with a T7200, 2gig ram and a 7950 GTX will cost a couple thousand, I've got a custom one on dell right now that is a tad over $3000. Which is alot but it should be good for a while.

BTW any reason to get 64bit if it costs the same and you only have 2GB of RAM? (just for info.)

 

The Core 2 Duo is 64-bit already.

Since you're looking at a Dell, also consider the Clevo M570U. It has better build quality and more features per dollar than the Dell XPS M1710, and also comes in at less money. Take a look at the Clevo Guide for resellers.

Here's a review of one that was rebranded by WidowPC (they are overpriced, don't regard the price in this review):
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=3260&review=WidowPC

 

I knew that . Thanks. I think I'll get a Dell though, I've had rather good experiances with Dell, I was thinking about maybe an Alienware, but I don't think their laptops have the 7950GTX. What I do like about them though is the possibility of having 2 hard drives.

But it's not worth it I don't think, I'll probebly just get a Dell.

 

But now that I'm thinking about it I want this laptop to last a couple years, and if DX10 cards are going to come out soon then maybe I should wait until then. $3000 is alot of money to me, and when we're on the verge of a new DX I think I'll wait for it... It's hard to know what to do.

 

I think that would be a wise decision. We're on the cusp of a new era of mobile computing (Windows Vista, Centrino Pro, and DirectX 10), and it's worth it to wait. If you were going to buy a lower-end notebook (>$1000), then you would not have that much to gain by waiting (the newest technology would be out of that price range when it came out, so you couldn't get it anyway), but with a $3k budget, yeah, you can afford the latest stuff.

 

yea like every one else said something better will always come along... and the 7950 is an amazing card. you should be good for quite a while if you dont mind playing games on minimum/medium settings (in the future). just remember no matter what you do eventually you will always have to upgrade

 

I say go for it now because there are still some awesome games to play right now.

As Snickers would ask: Why wait?