Which cpu/gpu combo would be best?

I want to get a laptop mainly for internet use and general home use, but may play some games on it also. I don't know which one of the following two to get though to enable the most games to be played...

CPU)2GHz Intel® Core# 2 Duo Mobile Processor P7350
GPU)ATI Mobility Radeon# HD 3470

or

CPU) Intel Pentium Core 2 Duo T5250 Processor: 1.5GHz, 2MB L2 Cache, FSB667MHz

• 
  GPU) NVidia GeForce 8600M GS PCI-Express DirectX 10 Graphics Card with 512MB GDDR2 Memory
  
  
  I know the processor isn't so good on the second one, but looking at system requirements of games suggests that the graphics card will be the weak link in both, so I should get the second one. Agree?

 

Also, out of interest, how would either of these compare to my old desktop which had a sempron 3100+ oc'd to 2.2ghz and an ati x800 gto?

 

I'd go with the first one.

Neither choice is very current nor powerful, but people have reported failure problems with the 8400 and 8600 graphics cards, so the HD3470, while it may be slightly less powerful than the 8600m GS, is a better choice in the long run.

 

Yes, just don't get the 8600M.

 

Try staying away from the 8600m GS as others have said, it seemed to take a direct hit when Nvidia was having all those heat problems due to a packaging issue.

Either processor it tons better than your Sempron, they will be so much quicker, you probably wont be able to bear going back to that desktop.

As to the graphics card, were a few generations ahead of the X800, I think its 256bit bus still makes it viable in some games, I would not expect either of the cards in those laptops to be any slower than it though.

 

could u give us more info like the model of the laptop u want to buy and its cost? We could help more than and help u get more bang for ur buck.

 

I dunno, the 8600m GS is a more powerful card...(2500 3dmarks compared to 1900 for the 3470). I know there is that solder issue, but if you buying it new, it shouldnt be a problem now. I used one the the "defective" 8600's for about 2 years (until I upgraded to my 4650) and had no problems with it...it still works!

My advice? If gaming is most important, get the one with the 8600m GS...the processor's a downgrade, yes, but the gaming experience depends more on your GPU in 99% of cases. You will play more games, with better framrates with this PC.

Sean's right though, you may be able to get something with a more currect GPU (9600, 4650) for about the same cost (give us your budget!)...even a puma series Turion Ultra will preform better than that T5250, so you could save money there...

 

Well I could get one new, but I thought I'd save money and get a recertified one (as I don't really need a laptop, it's just for convenience.) Anyway, been looking at some medion laptops for around £350 to £400. I just want the option of being able to play some games (maybe an online fps with low settings? or an rpg?), accepting that I won't be able to play the latest graphic intensive ones. Would hd3470 be sufficient for that?

 

Yes, the 3470 would most definitely be able to play all games out now, mostly at lower and maybe some medium settings.

Just keep the resolution lower and that card will be able to handle most games just fine.

 

ummm, depends on your definition of "sufficient". The 8600 will run more games fluidly..its a significant upgrade on the 3470..

 

mmmm... I have to disagree. My definition of "play" is above 25 FPS...I know the 8600 wont even consistently allow 20 FPS DOW II on lowest settings (tried it) and the 3470 is only going to be worse.

Oh, and that was at a humble 800 horizontal lines of resolution..

 

True, but with all the heat problems/card failure I know I would not really want to take a risk so I could play medium settings instead of low. Its not going to be the optimal gaming experience either way.

Are there any other laptops in your range that you could tell us about, the specs I mean, maybe there is a better option?

At such a low resolution on DOW II as well, your placing much more strain on the CPU which is needed to be considerably powerful to run that game well in the first place. Jumping from Core2 to i7 I saw a significant gain in the amount of units that could be on the screen.

 

Yeah would be good to know how much they are as I would imagine there might be better option's out there.

 

So is this card failure a common thing with the 8600m gs?
i can;t really find any better an option at the moment without paying nearer £500 which i dont want to do. There was an nvidia go 7900 dell for a good price from a refurbished dell outlet, but it only had 3 month warranty so i thought thats a bit dodgy.

 

After upgrading my 8600m GT to the 4650, DOWII never drops below 40 FPS. The processor remains the same. Even it is bottlenecked by the GPU MUCH before the CPU.

In modern games even at low resolutions, its extremely hard to find a system that is actually bottlenecked by its CPU, some people will claim that there exist many, but like I said, I am only using a T5750 and I get IDENTICAL benchmark scores to any other system with a dual core and the same GPU.

EDIT: hey narsnail, your from Ontario too! CANADIAN PRIDE!

 

Well I know it was a while ago, I wouldn't say it was exactly a common problem, but it was not rare, the cards just ran very hot, and with the poor solder points, they would die with in a few months, and some retailers would not acknowledge the problem, so you would have to pay instead of it being covered.

The 7900gs im assuming, is better than either of those cards, but buying refurbished gets you the shorter warranty.

I dont recall hearing about any problems with 7900gs, as it was before the solder point problem, and it could be replaced by the user if something did go wrong(if this is the dell im thinking of).

EDIT:!

Ok I did some looking around for you on the European Dell Outlet, and I found this Studio Inspiron 1555 for 430 pounds/euros?. Sepcs are as follows.

CPU: Core 2 Duo 6500 @ 2.1Ghz
RAM: 4GB DDR2
HDD: 500GB 5400RPM
GPU: This is much better then the other two, 512mb ATI HD4570
15.6 inch WLED display, 1366x768, wireless, cd/dvd, all the normal included stuff.

This is much better than the other two, shell out just a little bit more and you can have that one.

I also saw one a little cheaper, about 410 pound/euros? Mind you the euro and the pound are a little different, maybe this hinges on where your from, were going to need that info as well.

 

Yeah I was thinking toward's the 1555 I recently got one for my missus and it's really good! Iam guessing that you are from the UK like me, if so is your budget around the £400 mark or so??

 

Thanks for all your replies.

What is web address of that dell outlet?

 

OK, here is the link, when your editing the info change the price to below 500 and the Graphics Memory to 512mb and search the results.

 

Hi narsnail,
thanks for that. THose prices don't include vat though, but they are good prices nonetheless. I will definitely have another look tomorrow. If i can get one for under 400 with a better gpu than the 3470 that would be good.

bsd, yep, from the uk and yep under 400 really. I'm crazy really, as i could get a desktop with superduper graphics and processor and 4gb ram for about £250.

 

Probably not for £250 mate, but £400 or so without a monitor. But a laptop certainly has it's benefit's. Im sure we can find something better than the other options mate.

 

Just to let you know, you tempted me with that dell offer and I went for one similar to the spec you listed, but with pentium dual core instead of core 2. It was £369 + vat though as oppose to the £430 +vat for the core 2.

One last question if anyone is still around!
I dont understand the point of getting anything faster than a g class router, when the internet download speed will always be the bottleneck? i mean how will getting a g+ or n router improve surfing speed or online gaming?

 

It depends on how fast your connection is. G is theoretically 54Mbps but typically you won't get more than half that (27Mbps or ~3MBps). If your connection is slower than this, then you are correct, web surfing and gaming will be limited by the connection itself. The advantages of N is further range, ability to use a different frequency, higher minimum encryption (security), and faster intranet transfer (between computers for example).

 

and does the same go for MIMO routers or would they improve streaming speed?

 

I've just looked on notebookcheck on gpu benchmark and the 8600m gs outperforms the hd 4570 for gaming fps!!!
What's that about, given that it has a much higher 3dmark score?
Does that mean I would have been better off with the 8600 afterall?

 

They score the same at the same resolution.

4570 (1280x1024) 2500-3500
8600M GS (1280x1024) 2500-3500

You would not have been better off with a 8600 core as they have a known design flaw and in many cases fail early in the computer's life.