Gateway FX vs new laptop

I am in the market for a budget gaming laptop and have found memories of my Gateway FX with X9100 CPU. I placed a bid on a Gateway FX 7805u P8400 / 9800M GTS.

My question is this, has the video card fallen so far behind that low end 525M are better then a 9800M GTS? I was looking at notebookcheck and it lists 525M at 96 cuda cores ? vs 64 cuda cores of the 9800M.

Benchmark scores are more confusing, showing the 9800M GTS easily win in 3dmark06, but slightly lose in 3dmark vantage.

I can get a dell inspiron 17R with sandy bridge I5/525m for $550 or an HP DV6 with A6-3420 for $399. With this in mind, i am starting to regret bidding $300 for a gateway FX 7805... what do you guys think?

 

The Gateway FX laptop is behind the curve. Sure, it does play games like Mass Effect 3 at 1920x1200 without a hitch but if you play a very system intensive game like Skyrim and The Witcher 2. The graphics card can't handle SSAO, high quality shadows and any other shading detail of 2011-2012 games.

I would also recommend staying away from buying a previous generation gaming laptop and consider investing in a DIY desktop build. With that, you can buy a cheap netbook to carry around with you while you leave the processing power at home.

 

However, if you want to do video editing, excel spreadsheets, word and any other program other than the latest 2012 games then the FX 7805u is still viable and a very good computer.

 

Basically, have realistic expectations. I would have gone for a P79XX because there is a difference between the 9800m & the 260m. Either way, the games play and they play well.

As long as you don't expect it to set the world on fire...it will do nicely.

 

I can't recomend for gaming as I don't game. If however it is a 1920x1200 screen it makes a world of difference for desktop usage...............

 

I was outbid on the FX laptop, i bought an HP DV7 with AMD a6-3400. I have two desktops at home, one has an overclocked MSI 7970 so my gaming needs are only for when im on the road. I passed on the Asus G73 because its so difficult to fit in my backpack.

I got the DV7 with 6gb of ram, 500gb drive, blu-ray, beats audio, etc etc for $429 and the a6-3400 is known to overclock quite well. I dont expect it to set benchmarks records but it should do what i need quite nicely.

I also do not like 1920x1080 or higher on laptops. I had that on a dell D820 and it made reading font and general things hard to see on a small screen. If I needed the extra space that bad, would rather plug external LCD 24" in. I find 1600x900 17" is the sweet spot for me.