Gaming Laptop ComputersGaming laptop computers are sold in a lot of sizes and shapes. Just calling it a gaming notebook or gaming laptop computer doesn't make it one though. The graphics are the key to quality gaming and there isn't a single mobile graphics solution that everyone agrees will play all the new games available at the highest settings. Benchmarks show that the Nvidia GeForce GTX 280M SLI is the fastest mobile graphics setup and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870 X2 is second. Both these are 2 card set ups, and use a lot of power and generate a lot of heat. They are the fastest single cards too, although there are some other SLI or X2 solutions faster than the single ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4870. This will help you choose the best graphics card. Another key is processor speed. This is the market segment that Quad core and Xtreme mobile processors are aimed at. The new Core i7 mobile processors excel for gaming also. The older Quad and Exteme processors use a lot of power and generate a lot of heat. The i7s use a lot of power also. Some information about how Intel identifies a laptop processor is here. Many people want the faster 7200 RPM hard drives. These also use more power and generate more heat. Solid state drives a frequently installed in laptop gaming computers, despite their price, because they have shorter seek times and use less power. You will get a better experience with gaming notebooks with the faster RAM, and probably want 8 G.B. of it. Most people think that sound is very important to their gaming and want upgraded audio and external speakers. You will want a large, full high definition, wide screen display. That means WUXGA (1920X1200). The best card I've seen in a 13 inch laptop is the Nvidia GeForce 9400M (G). It will let you some newer games at low settings. These are games that are not grahics intensive. You can play old games like Doom 3 or Quake 4. World of Warcraft will run. The most common graphic solution in laptop computers is the Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500HD. It will let you run almost all of the same games as the Nvidia GeForce 9400M (G), at about the same settings. Everything I have ever seen about either of these cards at a "gamer" site says you can't game with them. You will often see Nvidia GeForce 9600M GS or GT cards available in better 15 or 16 inch laptops. Sometimes you will see Nvidia GeForce 9800M GS or GT cards. There are games you can't play with the 9600 cards. You can't play most new games at the higher settings with 9800 GS or GT cards. From ATI, the roughly equivalent cards are the ATI Mobility Radeon 3650 and 3850. They are both slower than the Nvidia cards and you can expect to have problems with more games. You usually will not see the cards that will run every thing except Crysis in laptop gaming computers with displays smaller than 17 inches. These cards include Nvidia GeForce 9800M GTS and GTX cards and Nvidia GeForce GTS 160 M and higher. On the ATI side its Mobility Radeon 4850 and up, including 3850 X2 cards. There is a total of about 25 GPUs that fit in this group. It splits about 3 to 2 between single and multi-card (SLI or Crossfire) solutions. If you are looking to buy the best gaming notebook, you are looking at the opposite end of the spectrum. An ultra thin laptop will come closer to running new higher end games than a net book, but any ultra thin with a video card good enough to run these well would lose most of any battery life advantage it might have and run quite hot. I would expect a lot of burn outs unless there is a break through in cooling technology. The "most people" I describe above can use either net books, the new ultra thin latops, the older thin and light (or ultra portable) notebooks or mainstream laptops. A gamer who is insisting on buying a gaming laptop computer needs a high end mainstream laptop preferably with a 17inch or larger display. return from gaming laptop computers to laptop gamng computers
|
