Laptop help please

[linnylu]

My DS would like a laptop for Christmas and he would like one that runs a new Star Wars program. The program requirements are OS Windows XP (SP3)/Vista/Windows7, Processor: AMD Athlon 64X2 Dual Core 4000 or better/ Intel Core 2 Duo Processor 2.0 Ghz or better, RAM: Windows XP- 1.5 GB, Windows Vista and Windows 7-2 GB, PCs using a built in graphic chipset 2 GB, Video Card- ATI X1800 or better, nVidia 7800 or better, Intel 4100 Integrated graphics or better, DVD-Rom: 8X or better.

I'd like to get him a Dell or Asus, but when I look at the Dell website I can't figure out which laptop will meet the Star Wars program requirements.

Can anyone help me find a laptop for him at a good price? DH is overseas or I'd ask him.

 

[sbakersub]

I'm not an expert, but it looks like those requirements are pretty basic regarding the processor, memory and graphic card requirements. Assuming you're budget-focused rather than looking for a top of line laptop, most of the intel i3/i5options or the AMD dual or quad core processors probably would be okay, if you go with at least 4 GB of memory (assuming with a new laptop you'd get Windows 7 operating system). I'm not a gamer, but I have been in the market because my daughter requires a laptop that plays Sims3

If you're looking at Dell's website, I believe they have an online chat "person" that you could ask to make sure any laptop you're looking at would meet your requirements. I think they also have a forum where you could post and ask for advice (as does Amazon). Unless you've got a coupon for Dell, though, keeping a look out for sales at stores like Staples, Office Depot and Office Max will almost always get you a better value.

 

[dansamy]

Is he looking at a laptop for the new Star Wars MMORPG? If so, the "minimum" requirements listed will run the game at a very poor frame rate and isn't in any way considered "playable" by gamers. At the very least, you should look for dedicated graphics vs integrated. Intel's integrated graphics are horrible for gaming and will not be up to the task.

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System:
Windows XP or later
RAM:

Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM
Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:

ATI X1800 or better
nVidia 7800 or better
Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better
DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.

That's right from SW:TOR's website. I'm pretty sure that's to what your son is referring.

Laptops capable of gaming on that level run $700+. For gaming, I wouldn't go with Dell. Their gaming line is pretty overpriced. You can get a better price with MSI or Asus.

 

[linnylu]

Dansamy, yes, that is the game he wants to be able to play. He also likes the Sims 3 games and roller coaster tycoon. DH bought him a desk top computer a little over a year ago but it wasn't able to play some of the games that DS likes. Can you point me in the direction of a good Asus to buy for gaming? I am so confused when I look at all of the ones available.

 

[kerplop]

Dansamy, yes, that is the game he wants to be able to play. He also likes the Sims 3 games and roller coaster tycoon. DH bought him a desk top computer a little over a year ago but it wasn't able to play some of the games that DS likes. Can you point me in the direction of a good Asus to buy for gaming? I am so confused when I look at all of the ones available.

Can you maybe tell us what the specs are for the desktop? Honestly playing video games on a laptop is not ideal, especially if they have any kind of high performance requirement as far as a video card goes. It's possible you may be able to upgrade his desktop (at a year old, it might be more than capable) with maybe a new video card or memory and then if he still wants/needs a laptop you could find a cheaper option for that.

 

[Shmily1]

I ordered DS21 an Alienware desktop from Dell and it's all about gaming. That thing will do everything but pour him a drink! It weighs a ton though. He had a souped up XPS laptop, but that wasn't as good for playing games on. With the sales at Dell right now, I would definitely check there. I got a code yesterday in my email for 25% off so I ordered a new desktop for the "main" computer at our house. I also have one for 15% off, but I'd rather use the 25% one.

 

[dansamy]

If they bought a budget desktop, it likely doesn't have enough power to run the type of graphics card that modern games require. What is sold at your big box retailers aren't really made with gamers in mind. Most of us build our own PCs. I built two and rehabbed two older ones earlier this year. I spent under $750 each for the new ones and less than a couple hundred bringing the old ones into line with minimum gaming specs for my kids. (That included monitors for the kids isnce they weren't getting ours!)

For a laptop, this is the minimum I would buy. The most important things on the specs list are the GeForce 540m and the RAM. Most laptops have a user-accessible RAM bay and you can upgrade this component yourself. Unfortunately, laptop graphics cards aren't really very easily upgraded by the user.

For a desktop, you have two options. If the one you bought has a PCI-e slot, you can get a low-power video card, but it will not improve the performance greatly over the IGP. This would be about the minimum desktop I would buy. The 520 is a bit underwhelming, but it will run the game on lowered settings. (For example, I turn off shadows in my games because they annoy me. Some gamers want the immersive experience and use things like triple monitors, etc. Those gamers typically have everything on the highest settings and their PCs generally run louder and hotter unless they are using water cooling.)

Alienware is just an overpriced Dell XPS. They are just using the Alienware custom casing and branding because they bought out Alienware.

If you are not able to build your own, which is the most budget friendly solution for desktops, iBUYPOWER and CyberPowerPC are reputable builders with a variety of configurations from bare minimum budget to dream machines. The FalconGuide has a listing of incremental steps by budget for desktop builders. You can use this as a guide for what you are buying in a desktop to see what tier it stacks up with and how overpriced it is for someone else to build it for you versus building it yourself. The sweet spot seems to be the $600-800 mid-range stuff. Not a lot of markup in those most of the time. Dream machines and budget boxes fare a lot worse.

 

[thomas998]

Dansamy, yes, that is the game he wants to be able to play. He also likes the Sims 3 games and roller coaster tycoon. DH bought him a desk top computer a little over a year ago but it wasn't able to play some of the games that DS likes. Can you point me in the direction of a good Asus to buy for gaming? I am so confused when I look at all of the ones available.

Sims and roller coaster aren't very heavy graphics wise.. but if you want a hard core game you will have to buy a pretty high end laptop... I would suggest you go to Dell.com and then look at an alienware laptop (now owned by Dell).... I think the low end laptop that they sell is still around $1000, but it will play most games at a level that someone would find acceptable... if you wanted true gamer performance you would look at their higher end gaming laptops and would spend about twice the price.

I'm not sure what type of desktop you have that wont play your games, but in most cases a new power supply and a high end graphics card can make most desktop PCs usable for games. If you give the specs of your current desk top I'm sure some on the board could tell you if it is possible to just upgrade what you have... I've done a simple power supply and graphics card on an old pentium machine and it will not play any game out there at an acceptable level.

 

[dansamy]

Sims and roller coaster aren't very heavy graphics wise.. but if you want a hard core game you will have to buy a pretty high end laptop... I would suggest you go to Dell.com and then look at an alienware laptop (now owned by Dell).... I think the low end laptop that they sell is still around $1000, but it will play most games at a level that someone would find acceptable... if you wanted true gamer performance you would look at their higher end gaming laptops and would spend about twice the price.

I'm not sure what type of desktop you have that wont play your games, but in most cases a new power supply and a high end graphics card can make most desktop PCs usable for games. If you give the specs of your current desk top I'm sure some on the board could tell you if it is possible to just upgrade what you have... I've done a simple power supply and graphics card on an old pentium machine and it will not play any game out there at an acceptable level.

You can get more laptop for less money from Asus or MSI. I game. I play MMORPGs and my DH plays those plus FPSs. These games are very graphics intensive. Your big box retailer and dell.com or hp.com mostly sell machines geared for the home office. Email, web browsing, kids homework projects. Flash based games generally run fairly well. 2d games are usually ok also. Online 3D gaming is a completely different box of crayons. Like I said upthread, most gamers build their PCs. The few who have no other choice but a laptop (mostly college gamers with no real dedicated desk space for a PC tower) pay a pretty penny for it.

 

[linnylu]

Thanks for the help that you all are trying to give me. My brother in law thinks that DH brought the desktop home from the office- so really who knows how old it is. I really would like a laptop for DS- one that he can play his star wars game on as well as do his homework on. He can take his laptop with him to his grandmothers, on trips, etc. I wouldn't call him a heavy gamer, he just really likes the games I have already mentioned. My brother in law bought an Asus recently, but more for office us than gaming. I have a macbook pro but don't want that for my ds. DH is overseas and when he calls he doesn't want to spend time talking computers. He doesn't have email access right now and might not until after DS's bday in November, so he can't help me on this.

 

[timmac]

Just to echo other posters, for the Star Wars game, you'll probably want to be well above the minimums for decent performance. An estimate of $700 seems about right. If you're looking for Dell, you'd probably want a Core i5 processor (over the i3), and a dedicated graphics (not integrated) would be good as well. Any system you buy will probably have more than enough RAM and had drive space.

I can also confirm Sims 3 runs very nicely on fairly modest systems (even a system 3-4 years old).

 

[dansamy]

I can also confirm Sims 3 runs very nicely on fairly modest systems (even a system 3-4 years old).

Sims isn't the problem. SW:TOR is. I've been watching the development of this game while watching the development of some other games that I really do want to play. (No real interest in SW:TOR, just a bet amongst gamers as to what is gonna hit the market first. ) BioWare hasn't done all that great of a job at optimizing their game engine and it's gonna take some oomph to run well.

I stand by my earlier recommendation of a minimum of the GeForce 540M. Here's an Acer that might work and is a little less expensive. Bottom line, if you want gaming performance, you're going to pay for it.

Dell's XPS line with a 550M is $900. (You might do better if you have any discounts, coupons, etc.)

 

[bonoriffic]

As others correctly stress, the problem is laptops with high end dedicated graphics cards aren't cheap. $1000 is the realistic price point, with a few rare deals bringing them below $900.

Watch sites such as gotapex.com which list computer deals and coupon codes. HP has $400 off $1200+ laptop codes out there, but they expire after X number of uses. So in short, if you see the deal, you need to act on it immediately.

 

[linnylu]

Dansamy, so you think if I buy this Asus at new egg it will be fine to play the star wars game that he wants? I just can't figure out how to build me own like they show on the Dell website. Is there a better one on the new egg
website?

Also, how do you sign up for a Dell code if I did want to get him the alien one?

There are 2 on new egg that I am interested in:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230132

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230132

The 2nd one has better reviews and is only $49 more than the first. I would appreciate any advice. DH is in the reserves and should be home by December 22nd- but that is way to late for shopping. DS specifically wants to be able to play Star Wars the Old Republic on the laptop. I don't think it's out yet. I'd hate to have him open a laptop on Christmas and then it won't play the game.

For a laptop, this is the minimum I would buy. The most important things on the specs list are the GeForce 540m and the RAM. Most laptops have a user-accessible RAM bay and you can upgrade this component yourself. Unfortunately, laptop graphics cards aren't really very easily upgraded by the user.

 

[dansamy]

I'm on my phone in my car. I'll look when I get home.

 

[Shmily1]

Dansamy, so you think if I buy this Asus at new egg it will be fine to play the star wars game that he wants? I just can't figure out how to build me own like they show on the Dell website. Is there a better one on the new egg
website?

Also, how do you sign up for a Dell code if I did want to get him the alien one?
There are 2 on new egg that I am interested in:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230132

or

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834230132

The 2nd one has better reviews and is only $49 more than the first. I would appreciate any advice. DH is in the reserves and should be home by December 22nd- but that is way to late for shopping. DS specifically wants to be able to play Star Wars the Old Republic on the laptop. I don't think it's out yet. I'd hate to have him open a laptop on Christmas and then it won't play the game.

To sign up for the codes from Dell, go to the dell.com website and create an account. They will send you codes periodically. They also do Black Friday sales, Cyber Monday sales, and others quite frequently about this time of year.

 

[dansamy]

Is there some reason it has to be a laptop? Your most budget friendly option is to build (or buy) a real gaming rig and a $300 basic laptop for his portable needs, like schoolwork. If it has to be a laptop and you insist on Dell, their Alienware laptops, while being pricy, will get the job done. Asus RoG laptops are also specifically designed for the heat that gaming graphics will produce. (Asus's Republic of Gaming website is down for maintenance at the moment, so I can't link it for you.) LogicBuy has a pretty good deal on a good HP with decent graphics.

LogicBuy also has a Dell XPS that's very nicely specced and has a good promo going. The cheapest one is $693.99 and free shipping. And the included graphics are not bad at all.

Use LogicBuy.com for current specials and coupon codes on laptops. Slickdeals.net is another good source, but they're couponers/bargain hunters for everything, not just tech stuff.

 

[linnylu]

Dansamy, so the 2 I posted on here from new egg would not be good for gaming?

And yes, it really needs to be a laptop. DS spends a lot of time at my parents plus in the summer we travel quite often.

Thanks for all of the help!

 

[angierae]

Is there some reason it has to be a laptop? Your most budget friendly option is to build (or buy) a real gaming rig and a $300 basic laptop for his portable needs, like schoolwork. If it has to be a laptop and you insist on Dell, their Alienware laptops, while being pricy, will get the job done. Asus RoG laptops are also specifically designed for the heat that gaming graphics will produce. (Asus's Republic of Gaming website is down for maintenance at the moment, so I can't link it for you.) LogicBuy has a pretty good deal on a good HP with decent graphics.

LogicBuy also has a Dell XPS that's very nicely specced and has a good promo going. The cheapest one is $693.99 and free shipping. And the included graphics are not bad at all.

Use LogicBuy.com for current specials and coupon codes on laptops. Slickdeals.net is another good source, but they're couponers/bargain hunters for everything, not just tech stuff.

My Asus "Republic of Gaming" computer was $899 three years ago, so yeah, a top of the line laptop like that is going to cost good money. (I bought it to play Sims 3. )

 

[dansamy]

Dansamy, so the 2 I posted on here from new egg would not be good for gaming?

And yes, it really needs to be a laptop. DS spends a lot of time at my parents plus in the summer we travel quite often.

Thanks for all of the help!

They would be adequate. The 540M is an older graphics, but it's still quite capable. It just may be a bit slower and will need to have the graphics sliders set to medium or so. The 560M should handily max SW. The 555M should come very near to max.