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    Which of my 2 rigs is better for gaming?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by samwY, Jun 1, 2009.

  1. samwY

    samwY Notebook Consultant

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    Which rig is more powerful for games?
    This is for Starcraft 2 specifically (I have a beta key locked in).

    #1 - DESKTOP
    Q6600 Quad Core 2.4ghz
    Vista 32bit
    2.5GB RAM (Vista only utilizes that much)
    8800 GTX 768 video memory

    #2 - LAPTOP
    Core Duo P9500 2.53ghz
    Vista 64bit Ultimate
    4GB RAM
    Dual ATi 3870 (2x512)

    Can someone please compare these two, or provide links if any, thanks.
     
    samwY, Jun 1, 2009
    #1
  2. HTWingNut

    HTWingNut Potato

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    #1 for Starcraft 2 most likely. It's not likely to need as much GPU power as it will CPU power, notably multiple cores.
     
    HTWingNut, Jun 2, 2009
    #2
  3. JCMS

    JCMS Notebook Prophet

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    It's number 1. But looking at SC2's sreenshots, both should play the game at native resolution pretty well.
     
    JCMS, Jun 2, 2009
    #3
  4. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

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    It would depend on the game, even though its mobile vs desktop looks like you have more gpu power in the laptop and most games are more into needing gpu power.

    But for a game that needs cpu power or makes use of quad the desktop has a big advantage.

    In the case of games like SC2 I think that cpu will be important just like Supreme Commander as the computer AI will need the cpu to run, and by nature most RTS games are not super graphically demanding.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Jun 2, 2009
    #4
  5. Signal2Noise

    Signal2Noise Über-geek.

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    It's not Vista's fault. The RAM limitation is because of the 32-bit environment. :)
     
    Signal2Noise, Jun 2, 2009
    #5
  6. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    I'd take #1 in any game.
     
    Kevin, Jun 2, 2009
    #6
  7. samwY

    samwY Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks guys, however I was really hoping the verdict would be for my Laptop since the 17" 1900x1200 is ideal for RTS plus I can get used to it and play anywhere. (My desktop is 30" with a 24" which is too big imo for SC2).

    I'm thinking of buying a SSD for my laptop. I'm sure it will boost the loadup times for games but is there any increase in performance as well?
     
    samwY, Jun 2, 2009
    #7
  8. ViciousXUSMC

    ViciousXUSMC Master Viking NBR Reviewer

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    No, just load times for gaming.

    Blizzard does well with games coding, im sure it will run fine on your laptop, you just said witch is better, and in that case most agree RTS is a cpu based game type and your desktop has a quad core and I am sure SC2 will make use of quad.
     
    ViciousXUSMC, Jun 2, 2009
    #8
  9. neilnat

    neilnat Notebook Evangelist

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    Don't get too disappointed. Like an earlier poster said, it will be great at both. Blizzard is known for making games that run well on average systems, and yours are both above average. However, I would love to play an RTS on a 24" or even 30" monitor.
     
    neilnat, Jun 2, 2009
    #9
  10. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

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    uhh number 1 for anything?

    actually, i might end up voting number 2 based on this logic:

    both machines will tear through starcraft 2 like butter against a laser emitting nano-precision knife.

    machine #2 is portable

    machine #2 wins!

    ---


    but it seriously doesn't matter. this is like a major league baseball player asking which T-ball team to join to optimize his batting average.

    it just doesn't matter.
     
    masterchef341, Jun 2, 2009
    #10
  11. Kevin

    Kevin Egregious

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    Just install it on both. Win/win.
     
    Kevin, Jun 2, 2009
    #11
  12. Thaenatos

    Thaenatos Zero Cool

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    The portability of the laptop alone makes it a clear winner in my book.
     
    Thaenatos, Jun 2, 2009
    #12
  13. samwY

    samwY Notebook Consultant

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    Yeah, gonna have to go with the laptop first.

    I can run a lot of 3d games on maximum graphics with Dual 3870s...

    I wonder how graphic extensive SC2 will be? And Diablo 3?
    I'm assuming I will be able to run max details on 1900x1200 smoothly..
     
    samwY, Jun 2, 2009
    #13