About my Dell Studio 15, please help!

Hi, I just ordered a Dell Studio 15 the other night, I was not thinking about gaming and if I can't play games on it I could really care less...But, If I could game on it then I will, so, this is the laptops build...

Intel Pentium Dual Core T3200 (2.00GHz/667Mhz FSB/1MB cache)
Windows Vista Home Premium
3GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz: Memory
Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD: Video Card
320GB hard drive...

So I hear the Intel GMA 4500MHD video card sucks, now, the Dell people said this laptop can handle mainstream gaming, someone I talked to online said he can play recent games on it, I even saw him playing a couple of them in videos, he has the same exact laptop and build as the one I'm getting, and the wiki said it has 512MB of video memory, but EVERYONE on game forums say that I CANNOT play recent games on it, so I don't know what to believe, again, I don't care about gaming on it but I will if I could...

So my two questions are, what is true about my Intel GMA 4500MHD Video Card and what do I need in order to play the most recent games on it?

 

The 4500 is the next step up from the X3100, The 4500 should get around 1500 3dmark06 ( I think.. don't kill me if i'm wrong). Thats suitable to play most recent games at low settings. Your processor is relatively old though even though it's 2ghz. Ram and HD seem fine. Its not very futureproof though, as most games that come out soon will start to up the minimum specs, and T3200 is based on the old platform. Infact I didn't think you could get X4500 with T3200, i'm gonna go check.

Edit: I'l probably edit this again in a minute but looking at just the UK site , the studio 15 only comes with the ATI 3450

Double edit: My mistake you can get the X4500 with the previous platform processors.

Triple edit What country are you buying from and what price are you paying? Also , In order to play recent games at higher settings your need a discrete graphics card, the 256mb ATI mobility card isn't that powerful, but should be better than the intergrated X4500.

 

I'm buying from Dell.com and living in the US, and I'm paying $677 as a Dell deal thing. But playing more recent games from 07 or 08 on low settings is good enough for me, but it's not important...And please, the more insight, the more appreiciated.

 

Once you have the intel X4500MHD you cannot upgrade the graphics card. The X4500 is the best integrated graphics card, but is still not enough to play most games.
If you are unsatisifed with its gaming performance, return your studio 15 and buy the studio 15 which has the dedicated ATi graphics solution.

K-TRON

 

^ Agreed. Your 4500 won't do much for you.

 

if you are going to return it and get better specs, keep an eye on the Dell Outlet...... you can get a lot more for similar prices.