The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    am i screwed?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by sheikah777, Oct 30, 2007.

  1. sheikah777

    sheikah777 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Originally Posted by sheikah777
    I just got an Inspiron 1520 with the following specs and i am wondering how it will fare when playing a game like Half Life 2, Quake 4, WoW and Oblivion.

    here are the specs

    15 inch screen
    core 2 duo (2.2ghz)
    2 gigs of ram at 667mhz
    160gig hard drive (7200 rpm)
    256meg Nvidia 8400G

    i think those are the important things. if i want to run those games will i have to turn the graphics completely off or will the system run it somewhat decently. also, does the added processor speed make up for the video card not being an 8600?

    i am also uninstalling Vista and putting XP pro on because i have heard that Nvidia, Vista, Oblivion and WoW don't play nice together. how do i go about getting the correct drivers for my computer for XP pro?
     
  2. Kwakkel

    Kwakkel Weirdo

    Reputations:
    222
    Messages:
    791
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    the CPU won't change anything about the fact your GFX isn't all that good (to put it mildly)
    you're better of with the 8600M, so maybe you can try talking Dell into upgrading it :)
     
  3. Mark Feuer

    Mark Feuer Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    24
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    For those specific games, you should have no problem.
     
  4. moon angel

    moon angel Notebook Virtuoso NBR Reviewer

    Reputations:
    2,011
    Messages:
    2,777
    Likes Received:
    15
    Trophy Points:
    56
    It'll struggle with Oblivion. It'll max out WoW and should do ok (medium settings?) on HL2 and Quake 4.
     
  5. Johnny T

    Johnny T Notebook Nobel Laureate

    Reputations:
    6,092
    Messages:
    12,975
    Likes Received:
    201
    Trophy Points:
    481
    Should do high on HL2/source games :).....i do mostly high few mids and lows do get 40 fps in CSS :p with my Mobility Radeon 9700 :D
     
  6. sheikah777

    sheikah777 Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    10
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    if i have the settings on mid can i run oblivion?

    can i take the comp to a local store that builds laptops to upgrade the video card?

    what about drivers?
     
  7. P_Schneider

    P_Schneider Notebook Consultant

    Reputations:
    11
    Messages:
    244
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Not sure on number 1 question

    No for the #2 question, I believe you have to go through Dell to get the right upgrade card.

    http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/ for your 3rd question. They usually have the latest drivers for Nvidia cards
     
  8. Stevo

    Stevo Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    Why did you wait till you got it to find out if it can play those games? Anyway i would return it and get one with the 8600GT. Thats what i have and i am happy so far. Only played UT3 and Crysis demos though and it handles both those. UT3 is great over 35fps all the time and Crysis is decent on med settings around 20fps now. Pretty sure both the games i just listed are more demanding then what you listed.