Need advice trading in my current laptop for a gaming pc

bap1130 · 11-11-2005, 06:21 PM

Hi all, heres the current dilemma I am in:

I'm a college student who is majoring in comp sci, so I know a lot about computers and I know how to build a computer, but I'm kind of a noob when it comes to knowing what kind of parts to by as far as brand

Anyway, right now I have a very powerful Dell 6000d laptop computer with a 15.4" widescreen, Centrino M processor, 1gb ram, 128mb graphics card, upgraded screen...pretty much a small step below the XPS. It ended up being 1,700 which was a great deal (34% off) with a 3 yr warranty (did it just to be safe)

However, with all this power, it still falls short playing games like CS: Source, and handling a lot of tasks at once. So what I am thinking about doing is getting a small cheap laptop that can handle all the basic tasks for notetaking and such (just to bring to class), and then using the leftover money to buy a really powerful desktop pc.

I figure I can get about 1,300-1,500 on ebay if I sell it right now based on what has been sold on there so far. So, using this money, I would like to buy around a $500 laptop, and then use the other 800-1000 to buy a really good desktop.

What kind of system can I get with this money? Keep in mind that I need a flat-screen monitor as well. Is this a good trade off from what I have now? What should I get for a notebook? Thanks in advance!

4W4K3 · 11-11-2005, 06:36 PM

Over $1000 for a desktop computer is very doable for even the latest games and most demanding apps. You should be set with that kind of a budget.

You'll want to go wit ha s939 based machine, more than likely with PCI-E graphics. This is of course assuming you want to go AMD. You can look into the dual core processors, or the single core speed demon FX line of processsors. Or of course the standard A64 Venice or SanDiego chips. Opterons are great as well, but they are s940 just to note.

Are you wanting to overclock at all? The Venice's are great overclockers for a modest budget. The X2 dual core processors are more for multi-tasking, but great for gaming and overclocking as well. The FX's are expensive, but good overclockers and VERY fast. personally i'd go with a regular Venice or an X2 3800+ for your budget, the FX's are overpriced i think.

Motherboard wise of course match processor type with it (you know that already though

) Abit, DFI, Asus, are all reputable brands. Pick one that has all the features you need. Also make sure it's got PCI-E support if thats what type of graphics you decide to get. DFI Ultra-Infinity is a good overclocker and excellently priced.

for video card, a 6800GT si a great choice that wont break the bank. If you can afford more then a 7800GT or GTX are also fabulous cards. I don't recommend you g owith SLi'ing 2 cards together as this is double the money and (i think) a waste for todays games. brand isn't too important as long as it gets good reviews.

good memory brands include OCZ, mushkin, patriot, pqi, teamgroup, a-data. there are really alot of brands that are very good, just depends on what you wnat from them and your budget. i'd suggest at least 1GB of RAM for todays gaming and stuff.

Of course make sure you get a good powersupply, never good to cheap out on those. OCZ, Seasonic, cooler master, enermax, silver stone, are all good brands.

Mr.Suave · 11-11-2005, 07:43 PM

Quote:

What should I get for a notebook?

for a cheap laptop, an ibm would be perfect for just notetaking and they make really light, small and durable laptops so its good for taking it around.

a good gfx card is a 6800GS its almost as good as a 6800GT but cheaper. and then you can use the extra money to get a better CPU or Monitor

bap1130 · 11-11-2005, 09:00 PM

Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate your help!

I was thinking that since I'm planning on majoring in CS (Im a freshman), I should experiment with either Linux or Apple as I've only worked briefly with both of them. What are your comments on this? Would it be a good idea?

Also, as you saw above, I currently have a pretty good laptop, but it falls a little short...is this a good trade? (I.E. should I keep the laptop or get a really good desktop and a weak notebook?)

Mr.Suave · 11-11-2005, 10:52 PM

lol haha at first i thought you ment counterstrike for CS then realized its Computer Science lol

ya i think its a good trade b/c like you said above all you will be using it is for taking notes, and if you do anything big you can always do it on your higher powered comp and transfer it to the laptop. about the apple or linux, probably not apple since its expensive for notetaking, linux maby if you plan on programming, becuase thats wat i heard its good for but thats all i kno about it.

4W4K3 · 11-11-2005, 11:31 PM

there are many distros of linux you can try out. start out with an "easier" one like mandrake or ubuntu.

apple doesn't really have any...well...purpose i suppose in the IT world. i mean can anyone name a single company that relies on Apple based OS's on MAC machines? I have yet to see this. i thought Apple was for the home user and maybe small business...of course i could be wrong (and probably am) but if i seen an entire building with apple servers with apple workstations in every room for employees and the like...i'd laugh my ass off.

bap1130 · 11-12-2005, 02:36 AM

yea im definetaly leaning more toward doing a dual boot with windows and linux on the laptop...whats a good cheap laptop that is friendly for installing linux?

4W4K3 · 11-12-2005, 05:44 AM

lol i don't think there are any laptops that are linux friendly. often they require specific hard to find drivers, and you have to port them over yourself to work with linux. google a bit and look for successful linux installs on cheaper laptops. i've seen it done with nicer laptops...but thats not what you're after.

**Praetor** · 11-17-2005, 10:07 PM

Quote:

What kind of system can I get with this money? Keep in mind that I need a flat-screen monitor as well.

So how much money is available for the computer?

Quote:

You'll want to go wit ha s939 based machine, more than likely with PCI-E graphics. This is of course assuming you want to go AMD. You can look into the dual core processors, or the single core speed demon FX line of processsors. Or of course the standard A64 Venice or SanDiego chips.

Agreed however for $1000, to cram a FX in there (and the rest of the system such that it doesnt make the system unbalanced) would be quite hard

Quote:

Opterons are great as well, but they are s940 just to note.

Opty's come in S939 too

4W4K3 · 11-18-2005, 01:15 AM

News to me, I thought they were all s940. The 170, 165 and 148 seem to be s939, 148 is more in my price range though. Maybe I can get the motherboard I want after all

11-11-2005, 06:21 PM	#1 (permalink)
bap1130 New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3	Need advice trading in my current laptop for a gaming pc Hi all, heres the current dilemma I am in: I'm a college student who is majoring in comp sci, so I know a lot about computers and I know how to build a computer, but I'm kind of a noob when it comes to knowing what kind of parts to by as far as brand Anyway, right now I have a very powerful Dell 6000d laptop computer with a 15.4" widescreen, Centrino M processor, 1gb ram, 128mb graphics card, upgraded screen...pretty much a small step below the XPS. It ended up being 1,700 which was a great deal (34% off) with a 3 yr warranty (did it just to be safe) However, with all this power, it still falls short playing games like CS: Source, and handling a lot of tasks at once. So what I am thinking about doing is getting a small cheap laptop that can handle all the basic tasks for notetaking and such (just to bring to class), and then using the leftover money to buy a really powerful desktop pc. I figure I can get about 1,300-1,500 on ebay if I sell it right now based on what has been sold on there so far. So, using this money, I would like to buy around a $500 laptop, and then use the other 800-1000 to buy a really good desktop. What kind of system can I get with this money? Keep in mind that I need a flat-screen monitor as well. Is this a good trade off from what I have now? What should I get for a notebook? Thanks in advance!

11-11-2005, 06:36 PM	#2 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,858	Over $1000 for a desktop computer is very doable for even the latest games and most demanding apps. You should be set with that kind of a budget. You'll want to go wit ha s939 based machine, more than likely with PCI-E graphics. This is of course assuming you want to go AMD. You can look into the dual core processors, or the single core speed demon FX line of processsors. Or of course the standard A64 Venice or SanDiego chips. Opterons are great as well, but they are s940 just to note. Are you wanting to overclock at all? The Venice's are great overclockers for a modest budget. The X2 dual core processors are more for multi-tasking, but great for gaming and overclocking as well. The FX's are expensive, but good overclockers and VERY fast. personally i'd go with a regular Venice or an X2 3800+ for your budget, the FX's are overpriced i think. Motherboard wise of course match processor type with it (you know that already though ) Abit, DFI, Asus, are all reputable brands. Pick one that has all the features you need. Also make sure it's got PCI-E support if thats what type of graphics you decide to get. DFI Ultra-Infinity is a good overclocker and excellently priced. for video card, a 6800GT si a great choice that wont break the bank. If you can afford more then a 7800GT or GTX are also fabulous cards. I don't recommend you g owith SLi'ing 2 cards together as this is double the money and (i think) a waste for todays games. brand isn't too important as long as it gets good reviews. good memory brands include OCZ, mushkin, patriot, pqi, teamgroup, a-data. there are really alot of brands that are very good, just depends on what you wnat from them and your budget. i'd suggest at least 1GB of RAM for todays gaming and stuff. Of course make sure you get a good powersupply, never good to cheap out on those. OCZ, Seasonic, cooler master, enermax, silver stone, are all good brands. __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358 Last edited by 4W4K3; 11-11-2005 at 06:38 PM.

11-11-2005, 11:31 PM	#6 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,858	there are many distros of linux you can try out. start out with an "easier" one like mandrake or ubuntu. apple doesn't really have any...well...purpose i suppose in the IT world. i mean can anyone name a single company that relies on Apple based OS's on MAC machines? I have yet to see this. i thought Apple was for the home user and maybe small business...of course i could be wrong (and probably am) but if i seen an entire building with apple servers with apple workstations in every room for employees and the like...i'd laugh my ass off. __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

11-12-2005, 05:44 AM	#8 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,858	lol i don't think there are any laptops that are linux friendly. often they require specific hard to find drivers, and you have to port them over yourself to work with linux. google a bit and look for successful linux installs on cheaper laptops. i've seen it done with nicer laptops...but thats not what you're after. __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

11-18-2005, 01:15 AM	#10 (permalink)
4W4K3 VIP Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Lewisville, TX Age: 20 Posts: 6,858	News to me, I thought they were all s940. The 170, 165 and 148 seem to be s939, 148 is more in my price range though. Maybe I can get the motherboard I want after all __________________ My Computer I choose to believe what I was programmed to believe. Can I eat your brain? FOLDING FOR THE GOOD OF MANKIND :F@H Team 44358

11-11-2005, 09:00 PM	#4 (permalink)
bap1130 New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3	Thanks a lot guys, I really appreciate your help! I was thinking that since I'm planning on majoring in CS (Im a freshman), I should experiment with either Linux or Apple as I've only worked briefly with both of them. What are your comments on this? Would it be a good idea? Also, as you saw above, I currently have a pretty good laptop, but it falls a little short...is this a good trade? (I.E. should I keep the laptop or get a really good desktop and a weak notebook?)

11-11-2005, 10:52 PM	#5 (permalink)
Mr.Suave Diamond Member Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 1,373	lol haha at first i thought you ment counterstrike for CS then realized its Computer Science lol ya i think its a good trade b/c like you said above all you will be using it is for taking notes, and if you do anything big you can always do it on your higher powered comp and transfer it to the laptop. about the apple or linux, probably not apple since its expensive for notetaking, linux maby if you plan on programming, becuase thats wat i heard its good for but thats all i kno about it.

11-12-2005, 02:36 AM	#7 (permalink)
bap1130 New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 3	yea im definetaly leaning more toward doing a dual boot with windows and linux on the laptop...whats a good cheap laptop that is friendly for installing linux?

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