R8k for a laptop

[cerebus]

Recommendations? This is for a coworker's son - he's a student. He would like to be able to play some games if at all possible. He's looking at an Acer Aspire with turion2.0, 3gig, 8400m 128mb graphics. The specs are ok but there is no way he'll be able to play games on it. Is there anything in this price range with at least some level of acceptable gaming capability?

Thanks!! Pc-direct if you want to show me anything i'd appreciate it :D

[PeterCH]

Recommendations? This is for a coworker's son - he's a student. He would like to be able to play some games if at all possible. He's looking at an Acer Aspire with turion2.0, 3gig, 8400m 128mb graphics. The specs are ok but there is no way he'll be able to play games on it. Is there anything in this price range with at least some level of acceptable gaming capability?

Thanks!! Pc-direct if you want to show me anything i'd appreciate it :D

What sort of games does he want to play?

Intel GMA can handle games from 2003/4, so this card should easily do
games right until 2007 (FEAR, DOOM3, Quake3, CS, HL2, TNFS).
Can play all of these in good quality with AA on Pentium M 2.0GHz with
ATIM700X 128MB DDR2.

If you want Crysis - you'll need to pay R30,000 for a desktop replacement machine.

8400M should cut it for older games.

Downgrade to XP btw (or rather UPGRADE to it) :).

[cerebus]

Well i'm thinking something without integrated graphics....but maybe that's being too optimistic. 8400 might just about cut it I guess. You can't get blood from a stone, etc etc.

[cerebus]

http://www.incredible.co.za/services/catalog/moreinfo.asp?sku=69728
This has a g103m nvidia card....whaddya think?

[PeterCH]

Well i'm thinking something without integrated graphics....but maybe that's being too optimistic. 8400 might just about cut it I guess. You can't get blood from a stone, etc etc.

8400M is a GeForce GPU, it's not integrated Intel GMA with shared RAM.
The 128MB you say is discrete RAM?

If 8400M is at least as fast as ATI X700M from 2006, you'll be able to play
FEAR, DOOM3 and other such games with good detail settings, the faster CPU
and more RAM will probably allow him to play these at 1024by728 or better with FSAA etc.

Maybe he should buy a cheap DESKTOP with a dedicated GPU for say R6,000 and then buy a netbook for his portable tasks.

[cerebus]

oh ok.... yes the 128mb is discrete. If it's my money i'll get a desktop every time and i know exactly what to look for. I don't know laptops so well though.

[PeterCH]

oh ok.... yes the 128mb is discrete. If it's my money i'll get a desktop every time and i know exactly what to look for. I don't know laptops so well though.

If he's a hardcore gamer with less than R10K I'd get a good desktop with a good GPU and buy a cheap netbook for his portable needs.

If he's happy being able to play games with max requirements of FEAR or DOOM3, the laptop in question is good.

I dunno about the newer GPU at IC.

[Schwartz]

try avoid the 8400M! I had one.. could not even play games on medium... PM me.. I wll give you a quote on a nice R8k laptop

[cerebus]

pm sent.

[PeterCH]

It's not a terrible card - the GS variant at least.
http://www.notebookreview.com/default.asp?newsID=4223

[cerebus]

how do we feel about Acer?

[PC Direct]

Thanks!! Pc-direct if you want to show me anything i'd appreciate it :D

Cool buddy, as per the PM's :)

Sorry for the late reply. Been adding netgear routers to the shop the whole day, laborious indeed.... :P

If you really want to splash out this baby is what I'd buy if I had a budget of R15k..

MSI Gaming GX723 - nVidia GT130M 512mb (http://pc-direct.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=154_155&products_id=476)


And then this is in your price range (just) -

MSI EX620 Entertainment - ATI HD3470 256mb (http://pc-direct.co.za/product_info.php?cPath=154_155&products_id=475)

[Monkey101]

I managed to get my Toshiba Laptop last year for R8500 (just spent a bit more money now upgrading it for 4gb Ram). It has an ATI 2600 which is able to play most game decently. manages Left 4 Dead pretty well.

[cerebus]

Thanks for the help pc-direct! I sent your offerings to my colleague. That 15k MSI lappie is great value for money. Monkey - pm sent :)