questions bout my 'gaming' dell

First, the System:

I have just ordered an Inspiron 1720 from Dell sporting a 2.2 GHz Core 2 Duo, 2GB of RAM, a 160GB 5400RPM hard drive, a 1900 by 1200 Glossy 17" widescreen and a GeForce 8600GT...all for barely over 2000 dollars.

Second, the Questions:

1. I am a gamer and I am wondering how my favorite games will run on this puppy. These include Battlefield 2 and mods, Half-Life 2 and mods, and some future games such as Quake Wars and Crysis. I would appreciate some estimates as to what kind of performance I will see in these.

2. Will the 5400 RPM hard drive simply slow down game LOADING times or will it actually effect my in-game performance? If it effects my actual gameplay then I may consider buying a Seagate 7200RPM, but if it simply effects loading times then I can deal. I am a patient man.

3. How easy exactly is it for me to go to Newegg.com, order 4GB of memory and a 7200RPM hard drive and install it myself? I have some experience installing hardware in desktop computers.

Thank you all so much any answers will be greatly appreciated!

 

BF2 and HL2 should both run fine, although you might have to lower the settings to play at 1900 x 1200, of course you can always lower the resolution.

Quake Wars and Crysis will probably run on medium settings at a reduced resolution just fine.

The 5,400rpm should not slow down loading times by much and it should not affect in game performance.

Installing RAM and a HDD is easy, look for disassembly guides off the Dell website.

 

1. Battlefield 2 will run on full settings with around maybe 50fps with such a large screen. HL2 and mods should run on full settings with similar fps. Quake Wars and Crysis - no idea.

2. I would guess that a 5400rpm drive would only really affect load times. As long as the game doesn't need to access the drive during play (like WoW does for example) it shouldn't make too much of a difference. It doesn't for me but I don't play the latest games.

3. Very easy, all that's required is to pop off a panel for each on the back. Ram chips should be placed into their slots by putting the contacts into their place from above and then pushing the chip down towards the laptop until it clicks into place. Hard drives can either slot load from the side or more often load from a panel underneath. You'll probably have to disconnect the drive, unscrew some sort of mount for the hard disk, swap them over, attatch the mount to the new drive and slot it back into place, usually intuitive and quick to do.

 

These seem like questions you should have asked before buying your laptop...

 

you will max out the settings for battlefield 2, half life 2, and quake wars.

i played the beta on the 8600m gt and its about as intensive as quake 4. its going to be really good when its a final game.

crysis is sort of up in the air. you will definitely be able to play it. probably medium settings. hard to say.

 

HL2 shouldn't give u a problem as i run machine my sig at 1680x1050 all max smooth as silk.

Crysis is hard to pin down, seen many "official requirements" but varies from source to source. Good luck and hope you enjoy!

 

HL2 runs excellent on my machine, just turn down the resolution.

 

Just decoding 1080p videos needs a fast computer. Only those with money to burn can play games at that resolutions

EDIT: Gaming was half of my decision to choose a 1280x800 screen. The other half was fear of tiny text, buttons, etc.

 

Doesnt crysis require a 2.8 Ghz processor?

 

I sure hope not.

 

possibly a 2.8ghz p4 or higher. any new processor will be fine (core duo, core 2 duo)

 

lol, 2.8ghz single core. this guy's 1720 has a dual core processor.

 

So if u have a dual core processor then it wont really matter about the 2.8 Ghz requirement?

 

Well I know enough about computers that after much research taking into account my performance-for-budget limitations I was able to determine that this laptop was the most powerful that I could afford. I know it WILL be able to run these games but being a desktop junky my entire highschool life I really dont have any idea about modern laptop performance.

If I wasnt goin to college I would have just bought a monster desktop machine instead but I need the mobility for my classes/traveling in college.

Thanks for all the responses everyone!!

 

Hmm HL2 at 1920x1200 should be possible. Though not sure how much the 128bits bus hinders the 8600GT from running games in 1920x1200. Anyone here running games at 1920x1200 with a 8600GT?