Building a gaming laptop possible?

[Caveman787]

Is it possible to build a gaming laptop?

As all the ones available seem to have crappy video cards unless their $2000+ and I'd whether not have to spend that much to be able to game at respectable settings.

Additionally the gt200 series cards aren't out for laptops and you can hardly find mobile 4850, 4870 cards in laptops anwhere.

[Serra]

Before anyone attempts to answer this and we get into protracted discussions without specification requirements I guess I'll bite first - what resolution do you want to game at? What size do you want his to fit into?

In general though, the rule of thumb is that you can create a laptop that's pretty good at gaming with enough money but you really just buy a desktop replacement as they are more or less non-functional as truly portable devices due to power consumption.

[zanzabar]

u cant build one, msi and ocz used to have midrange parts with no cpu ram or HDD but that stopped a few years ago. but msi has some pritty good gaming laptops for su $1500 with the 4850m or 4870m, and there is the i5 and amd 45nm laptops out this winter i think waiting for that would be good

[koksy]

There are lots of laptops with the GT200 gfx.

[zanzabar]

There are lots of laptops with the GT200 gfx.

there are 0 laptops using mobile parts with gt200, the 280 and 260 mobile parts are all just rebadged g92

[Humminn55]

u cant build one, msi and ocz used to have midrange parts with no cpu ram or HDD but that stopped a few years ago.


Odd.....OCZ still lists 15" and 17" DIY laptops on their website, sans CPU, hd, and memory....and most of the models are still listed as in-stock at both Amazon and Buy.com.

[zanzabar]

u can get a 3870m a 3650m or an 8600m from ocz thats rather old and from a few years back. u need a 4850 or some g92 to game IMO

[Griff805]

Where would you be doing this mobile gaming at? You'd obviously have to be plugged in somewhere if you're going to be playing for more than 45min to an hour. You really can't get around the price tag for a gaming laptop.

Do you currently own a laptop? I've never seen the purpose in a gaming laptop, it seems to defeat the purpose with the power consumption and the weight. Not trying to put your idea down, just wanting to see if you have completely thought it out. You can always get a much cheaper mATX box if you want something that is mobile to bring to people's houses for gaming.

[Avan]

I've owned 2 gaming laptops and the reason i bought them was because I'd travel quite often for extended periods of time. But when I did game with them, I always had them plugged in. So they were pretty much desktop replacements for when I traveled.

[B.E.E.F.]

Do you want to have kids someday?

[Caveman787]

I just likw to be able to game when out of the house or visiting other people to game without having to lug around an entire destop.

I would want 144x900 or 1680x1050 in either a 15" or 17" screen.

[koksy]

there are 0 laptops using mobile parts with gt200, the 280 and 260 mobile parts are all just rebadged g92
Not saying you're wrong, it wouldn't surprise me really, but source?

[Darth_Penguin]

Not saying you're wrong, it wouldn't surprise me really, but source?

http://www.techspot.com/news/35082-nvidia-takes-gt200-architecture-to-notebooks.html

[zanzabar]

the specs are on NVs site they dont give a core but its just a renamed 8800gtxm
http://www.nvidia.com/object/product_geforce_gtx_280m_us.html

for mobile parts NV has had 4 generations of g92 with the 8800,9800, 180, and 260/280. if they had a gt200 or gt200b at the clocks and cuts low enough to get to sub 75W so it could try to work in mobile it would be slower than the g92

[GTSRboy]

Someone correct me if im wrong...but you cant 'build' a gaming laptop like you would a desktop on newegg.com. You can only configure a Dell or HP or Mac on a website. A gaming laptop that can run Crysis will cost you $2500 Minimum. Mac Pro's now come with Two 9-series GPU's in them, and can run Crysis on Med well. The best XPS laptops carry 8 series based GPU's in them. (This is last time i checked). Laptops arnt really upgradable either, so once your 3k laptop cant run the latest games you cant just swap out the CPU or GPU....if theres heating issues you cant just buy a new heatsink ect. I dont see the need to be playing games on the move anyway, so i wouldnt absorb lots of money into a super laptop IMO

[zanzabar]

mac laptops have a 9400m igp and a 9600 they will not run crysis well, and the 9400m IGP is bassed on the same chipsets that have been dead and recalled. the reliability is so bad that no1 renews contracts for them (the g92 is reliable though)

[AndrewZorn]

building a laptop is grossly overpriced (OCZ whitebook, etc)
and has less options than just configing a dell

want a good laptop? get what i got: MSI GT725 series
available with a quad core, 4850, and blu ray drive
i got mine before quad was out, but 3.13ghz x2 with overclock button has its pros.

EDIT forgot to say why. CHEAP. $1350 for a laptop with a 4850. i paid 1600 to get 1920x1200, blu ray, P9500 though

EDIT ~10.5k in 3D06 even with my dual

[GTSRboy]

mac laptops have a 9400m igp and a 9600 they will not run crysis well, and the 9400m IGP is bassed on the same chipsets that have been dead and recalled. the reliability is so bad that no1 renews contracts for them (the g92 is reliable though)

Then thats Nvidias fault, and they arnt any better on PC's. My XPS laptop's GPU stopped working and i needed a new motherboard. And they do run crysis well, my freind has one, and guess what, i play crysis on it

Im trying to not start a fight, but i cannot stand all the nonsense mac hatting on this forum. A Mac Pro would be the best choice if your dropping 2-3k, fast CPU, fast GPU, all alluminum&glass, quality built (not the cheap flimsy Dell/HP laptops), and youll run OSX and Windows 7. I just dont want this guy to end up with another POS windows based laptop that will have a 6 month lifespan and disappoint him. (like my XPS laptop)

[psyconut713]

you tell 'em Steve-Dave

[Serra]

My laptop [see sig] is nearly a year old at this point and although I didn't buy it for gaming (I bought it for the dual hard drives) I wouldn't say it's sluggish with games. By now, of course, they have faster systems available with quad cores and updated GPU's.

I guess I'm saying I'd take a look at some Asus laptops.




Im trying to not start a fight, but i cannot stand all the nonsense mac hatting on this forum. A Mac Pro would be the best choice if your dropping 2-3k, fast CPU, fast GPU, all alluminum&glass, quality built (not the cheap flimsy Dell/HP laptops), and youll run OSX and Windows 7. I just dont want this guy to end up with another POS windows based laptop that will have a 6 month lifespan and disappoint him. (like my XPS laptop)

What? You should buy a Mac - paying the price premium for it's OS and associated lifestyle - because you can also pay for a Windows OS on top of that, and that gives you a good value? What have you been smoking? I get that you had one laptop break on you, but if it helps to counter-balance you I have actually seen more Macbooks die than laptops in the last 2 years.

For the same money you will ALWAYS find something faster than a Mac, at least past the first month of the Mac product's release date (which was awhile ago for the macbook, incidentally).

[AndrewZorn]

come on now that 9400 is a beast when paired with that big touchpad

[GTSRboy]

Well whatever, to each their own. Mac's are expensive, but if your paying $3k its something he should at least consider. My freind is a Mac guy and has a Mac Pro laptop, here was what he had to say about it as a gaming laptop

"Hey,

Yeah, I would recommend a Macbook Pro as a gaming laptop. Because, you can use it as a "gaming" laptop and an everyday laptop due to the fact that you can switch between using the 9400 and the 9600. A lot of the extreme gaming laptops have desktop grade GPUs but their battery life is only a matter of minutes before the battery runs out.

I beat Crysis warhead of my Macbook Pro using Vista 64 and I ran everything on medium. But, source games you can max out and they run super smooth. I also beat Fallout 3 on high settings on my MBP.

Here is a benchmark of the 9400, notice the gaming and 3D mark scores at the top of the table (a 13 inch Macbook with only a 9400)
http://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=219447,00.asp

Also, here is a lengthy performance review of the Unibody Macbook Pro, they review the 9600 and 9400:

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews/2008/10/2008-macbookpro-review-2.ars

^^It is a really good lengthy review."

[Serra]

I think that your friend might not know that many non-Mac gaming laptops these days can flip between the beefy GPU and an on-board lower-power GPU.

It should also be noted that the max resolution on the MBP is 1440x900. Yeah, he played Crysis on medium... at a low resolution. Bring it to the PC world, we'll do medium or better at a higher res - and likely for a lower cost.

Face facts:
- If it's about specs at equal cost? Macs lose. Every time.
- Cost at equal specs? Macs lose. Every time.
- If you happen to want to use OSX? Win.
- Want the "look" or "lifestyle"? Win.

But we're XS, where points 1 & 2 reign supreme.


I think I'm helping turn this into a Mac vs. PC thread, but I'm not going to stand for someone recommending an overpriced, underspec'd machine when someone asks for a gaming anything on XS. I would do the same if we were talking about Alienware instead, though at least with Alienware if you have the money you can get top performance AND top looks.

[Caveman787]

3870 laptop vs. 4850 laptop gaming performance?
3870 cf laptop vs. 4850 laptop gaming performance?

Since the alienware laptop doesnt have the option for a single 4850 and crossfire 4850's for it would be really hot and expensive. Love the lighted keyboard though for night time gaming or college essay typing.