Reliable, worth the cost gaming/graphic rigs.

I am trying to decide on a gaming/graphical computer with a top price of 3,000.00 - 3,500.00, although less is always better . Alienware, based on it's past performance, was my first choice, but there have been a staggering number of bad reports as of lately. Perhaps I am looking in the wrong place, as my only choice is now the XPS2 from Dell. Please let me know of a few other options, and what you guys think is the best for the buck.

3.4 ghz proc or better (Pentium M alt can potentially be "ok")
2 gig ddr2 ram
7200 + hard drive. 60 gig +
6800 Ultra
etc.

p.s. was the 40% also off of the xps2?

 

well..with the dell XPS gen 2...it comes with a 2.0 GHz Pentium M which is about equivalent to a 3.4-3.6 GHz Pentium 4 ...and as for the RAM...get the lowest amount of RAM it comes with..and add 2 GB to it later ....much cheaper than at Dell's sight...and the 6800 ultra and the 60 GB+ 7200 RPM hard drive is great..and with a 40% off coupon that might come around soon...u can get it for maybe less than $2000...with even better specs!!...u won't have 2 spend over $2700 for the XPS Gen 2.. i don't think

 

Yeah, XPS Gen 2 is the best choice but take a look at Sagers if you want Pentium 4s and better customer service.

 

I agree. With the 40% coupon the XPS is probably better now but if you want a Pentium 4 rig but don't want to pay the Alienware price then Sager would be better. Look at both www.sagernotebook.com and www.pctorque.com for sales of Sager notebooks. If you want better future compatibility (ie 64-bit processing) then a P4 notebook is the only way to get a 64-bit Intel processor. There aren't really any good notebook solutions that have AMD processors (really sad) as the current, and best, mobile chipset for AMD processors does not support dual channel RAM. There are a couple out there but they cost an arm and a leg, I found one that offers a dual-core AMD X2 processor (which is amazing) but the base model cost $2500.

 

If you want the best value/performance *gaming* laptop that is available right now, the choice is still the venerable XPS2. I wouldn't worry so much about 64-bit architecture for gaming just yet -- games that can take full advantage of that is still at least a year or 2 away, if not longer. By then nothing you have right now would be cutting edge anymore, and even if you can pop in a faster 64-bit cpu, the rest of the system will be so out-dated that the cost of doing so probably will not justify the overall performance gain.

So, if you can wait on that -- things will always be cheaper and faster. But if you must get the best gaming laptop right now, I'd go for the xps2 atm...

cheers,

yass

 

I am just waiting on the new 40% coupon to come out. Overall I believe the cost of my laptop will be somewhere between 2,000 - 2,500 with the coupon. That's lower than my target was, so I will be a happy camper. I am still considering whether to get the extra 1.3 ghz boost though. At 240*40% off = $144.00, it may not be too bad of a deal. What are your thoughts?

 

If you don't mind a machine that has slightly lower specs for half the price might I recommend the M400
It's not very configurable but it has a good video-card and runs on DDR2 Dimms ($80 US for 1GB) and the Mobo is SATA compatable (I know this because it's basically a Sager which will sell you one with a SATA HDD). Just some food for thought

 

I ended up going with a nice XPS 2 model. With the 40% coupon I got it at about $2,400.00 including a 100 GB HD, Nvidia GeForce 6800 Ultra, 2.0 ghz proc, upgraded wireless, 2 GB Ram, a 2 year warranty, and a SB Audigy 2Z sound card. Compared to my buddies with Alienware CPUS at 4.5 - 5 k I made out quite well.

 

The Audigy works fine on the XPS2? From what I've heard, it actually has one of the PCMCIA controllers on the "blacklist" meaning that it has a high chance of having problems.

 

Nice laptop!! That an impressive deal indeed. You know, for the price, the XPS is a hard notebook to dethrone.

The Go6800 Ultra is still one of the most powerful notebook cards on the market. How's gaming on that beast?

Yeah, you made a good deal. And, your notebook doesn't look or have the weight of a desktop - aka your friend's Alienwares!

 

Yeah the SB Audigy ZS2 Card works without any problems on this laptop. The only time that it doesn't work is when you are trying to run the sound off of the speakers. Those speakers also pack a nice punch . I love gaming on it although I have found that my work comes prominently first. One nice thing about the XPS2's graphics card is that just like alienware's you can have it upgraded. With 40% off Dell's ram it was about reasonable. Being as of the fact that the ram is warranted with the laptop, I don't have to trust an outside provider, and it would cost the same ammount. Now... I just need a good game to come out. D&DO maybe, or perhaps this year it will be Ages of Empires III.

 

Yeah, that's one of the issues holding me back from getting an Audigy 2 PC Card - you can't use your laptops internal speakers.
40% off RAM is nice! Yes, that would push down the prices to being reasonable. I upgraded my RAM from the dealer - since my RAM runs in Dual Channel mode, it's best to use two of the same identical RAM modules, with the same timings/latencies.

I'm tempted to download DoD:S...but right now I am content with HL2: DM and CS:S. Also, SW BattleFront is one of my favorite games!

 

You can use them in the latest edition of the drivers. I don't know why you'd want to though. Good headphones do wonders.

And yes, I think that if you can get 30-40% off the RAM upgrade, it's better to let the dealer do it, so you can ensure that dual channel works properly. For Dell, it ended up costing about the same as ordering 2 sticks from NewEgg. I've heard that you can "tell" Dell to use 1 stick of 1 GB, but you would run the risk of losing dual channel by installing one of your own.