Help with a new laptop

[Jarnhamar]

I need some advice.

My gaming laptop fried and I can't afford to get a replacement of the same quality.  I only really play one game on it so I was hoping to get a new laptop that atleast meets the requirements for the game.

Only problem is I know very little about computers. I had my eye on a laptop at a local store but surprisingly I seem to know more about computers than the sales guy (I'm not kidding. Every questioned I asked was answered "ummmm, good question. You know I'm not exactly sure. I think so. Probably ya")

The requirements for the game says:
Processor; Pentium 4, 3.2 GHz, or any Dual Core Processor.
Memory; 1GB Ram (xp), 1.5GB Ram (Vista)
Video Card; Nvidia GeForce 6600 GT or ATI X1600, 128 mb Ram.


This is the one laptop I was looking at:
Processor; AMD Athlon II x 2 Processor M300
Memory; 3GB ram
Win 7
Video Card; ATI Radion 4200

It looks like it has enough memory  but what about the processor and video card?
The Athlon M300 seems to be the bottom of the line as far as video cards go and I'm not sure about the video card but I can't see it being that great.

Can anyone offer some input? Again all i'm looking for is for it to run my time killer game (Dawn of war 2) and check email, youtube, play music and videos.

 

[Jorkapp]

That machine should be fine to play Dawn of War. You should get playable framerates on low to medium settings.

 

[McD]

Id feel confident with it. AMD is my preference when applicable so Im bias but yes. Have you looked for a forum that game surely they have a tech guru there. 

Advice to select proper frame rate will give you what you want. Compare to the one fried? Which was what? Im no techy but looks like a capable combo.

*stand corrected as per ekpiper*

 

[ekpiper]

Hi,

The Processor is more than adequate...any laptop (not netbook) would be.

The Radeon 4200 is not adequate, as it scores below the 6600gt in all tests, and the 6600gt is then only the minimum.  I think that you were looking at a Gateway laptop on TigerDirect, as I found a laptop with the same specs there for about $450.  My recommendation is to go on eBay and find a Gateway FX laptop similar to this one, and it will more than meet your needs, and at a good price.


EDITED TO ADD LINK
http://cgi.ebay.com/Gateway-FX-Intel-Core-2-Duo-2-26-GHz-4GB-Ram-300GB-HDD-/290443415543?cmd=ViewItem&pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item439fc6cff7

 

[Occam]

Hi,

The Processor is more than adequate...any laptop (not netbook) would be.

The Radeon 4200 is not adequate, as it scores below the 6600gt in all tests, and the 6600gt is then only the minimum.  I think that you were looking at a Gateway laptop on TigerDirect, as I found a laptop with the same specs there for about $450.  My recommendation is to go on eBay and find a Gateway FX laptop similar to this one, and it will more than meet your needs, and at a good price.

The Radeon Mobility HD 4200 will be just fine for the game.  The minimum requirement was an ATI 1600 w/128 MB of RAM.  The 1600 was released in Feb 2006 and was only available in a 256 MB configuration.  The Radeon Mobility HD 4200 was released in Sep 2009, and is only available in a 512 MB shared memory config.

If you're comparing the HD 4200 to a GeForce chipset, it's closer to a 9300.  See Tom's Hardware.

 

[Luke O]

You should be fine with that laptop, but you won't be playing on the highest settings.  Graphic chips in laptops usually suck unless you get into a more expensive laptop.

The one you have picked out should get you by though.

 

[Jarnhamar]

That's great news thanks all.

 

[ekpiper]

The Radeon Mobility HD 4200 will be just fine for the game.  The minimum requirement was an ATI 1600 w/128 MB of RAM.  The 1600 was released in Feb 2006 and was only available in a 256 MB configuration.  The Radeon Mobility HD 4200 was released in Sep 2009, and is only available in a 512 MB shared memory config.

If you're comparing the HD 4200 to a GeForce chipset, it's closer to a 9300.  See Tom's Hardware.

Sorry Occam, but the chart which you provided places the INTEGRATED hd4200 below the DESKTOP x1600 and 6600gt, and close to the MOBILITY x1600.  Also, where the discrete cards had 128MB or 256MB of GDDR3 RAM dedicated to them, the HD4200 shares the RAM with the motherboard, so it doesn't really ave 512MB RAM.

From what I can tell, in 3dMark05, it scores between 0% and 33% lower, while on 3dmark06, it can be 100% better, probably due to newer standards (Shader Model 4.0) which it incorporates.  My best guess is that on the lowest settings (1024x768, no Anti-Aliasing, no Antistropic Filtering) it will work; Any higher than that, and it is probably going to be a no.  Remember that while those graphics card are from 2005, they were ~$250 cards, whereas this is an integrated solution with no RAM of its own.

I hope it works out, because I don't see any laptops with better graphics for less than $600.

ekpiper

 

[Occam]

Sorry Occam, but the chart which you provided places the INTEGRATED hd4200 below the DESKTOP x1600 and 6600gt, and close to the MOBILITY x1600.  Also, where the discrete cards had 128MB or 256MB of GDDR3 RAM dedicated to them, the HD4200 shares the RAM with the motherboard, so it doesn't really ave 512MB RAM.

From what I can tell, in 3dMark05, it scores between 0% and 33% lower, while on 3dmark06, it can be 100% better, probably due to newer standards (Shader Model 4.0) which it incorporates.  My best guess is that on the lowest settings (1024x768, no Anti-Aliasing, no Antistropic Filtering) it will work; Any higher than that, and it is probably going to be a no.  Remember that while those graphics card are from 2005, they were ~$250 cards, whereas this is an integrated solution with no RAM of its own.

I hope it works out, because I don't see any laptops with better graphics for less than $600.

ekpiper

Yep, you're right - I completely bungled reading that chart.  I agree that if the game works, it'll probably only work on the lowest settings.  Next time I'll have my coffee before posting....my apologies.

 

[ekpiper]

No Worries, Occam, it happens.

ekpiper