Spring RTS Engine

Well, its time for a new computer. I'm on a budget, so I cannot afford any of the new uber graphics cards.

Most of the reasonably priced laptops come with either a NVIDIA├é┬« GeForce Go 7600 256MB, a ATI Mobility├óÔÇ×┬ó Radeon├é┬« X700 128MB, or a ATI Mobility├óÔÇ×┬ó Radeon├é┬« X1600 256MB Graphics.

Anyone ever use any of these for spring? How do they perform?

Also, i was wondering if i should go dual core or not, though they are a lot more expensive. The mobile athlon 64s seem alright, as do the turions. what is the difference?

Actually, nevermind all that. Whoever can find me the best laptop ~$1300 US gets...something

You should be able to get a way better PC for $1300, unless you want a laptop.

Yeah, it needs to be a laptop for University.

[EDIT]

Unless i can get some cheap thing for email and work...and then get a gaming desktop.

What I'm going to be doing, is getting a crappy laptop for word processing and basic stuff like that, and an uber rig for everything else.

You don't need a laptop for college.

Believe me, I thought I needed a laptop. It has been nice to have one to tote around when I go on trips or go home, but it's not really a need.

The only time my laptop leaves my desk is for going on trips or going on home.

I'd go for one of those reasonably priced ones with the GeForce Go 7600 256MB if you absolutely must have a "gaming" laptop.

Otherwise, under one minute of googling turns up this.

http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.as ... KEY=156761

I think this is your best bet!

just add another $4,500 to your budget... err and another $ 1,300 for the laptop. ^^

I got a 1.5k machine a few months ago with a GeForce Go 7600 512 MB. I would recommend that. Look for ASUS.

Cabbage wrote:http://www.meshcomputers.com/Default.as ... KEY=156761

I think this is your best bet!

just add another $4,500 to your budget... err and another $ 1,300 for the laptop. ^^

For such amazing stuff, youd thing youd get a nicer looking case.... The thing looks like squirrel shit.

Cases are overrated... I'd take the cheapest most silent one.

rattle wrote:Cases are overrated... I'd take the cheapest most silent one.

+1

My criteria for a case:
-Hold the computer's innards securely in place.
-Provide enough bays for all of the standard necessities (2xHDD, 2xCDROM, 1xFD)
-Have an easily accessible power switch.

Beyond that... well, preferably it would come with a power supply and enough cooling fans to keep a performance computer cool.

Still for 4500, you think a nicer case would be in order!!

it isnt $4500, its an EXTRA $4,500 ontop of the $1,300

Or about £2,800 in proper money ^^

That's pretty fair if it was australian dollars...

Any decent gaming laptop is pretty much a fancy desktop anyway in that the battery life is so crap your tied to an AC socket anyway so you might aswell get the desktop anyway and sacrifice those 20 minutes of true freedom per 5 hour charge.

As for university, you dont need a laptop, and if you do feel you need one it wont need to be a powerhouse, a £90 laptop off of ebay is more than enough, I should know, I'm at uni atm, and I only brought my laptop in once on the first day and found it bloody annoying. The only thing I use my laptop for is typing stuff whiel watching TV with my family, otherwise I use my desktop.

And aside from that, playing a game on a laptop isnt anywhere near as good as on a desktop imo, the screens clearer/bigger/brighter, better controls (horrible laptop keybaord cramping you and the crappy integrated mouse and then trying to find somewhere comfortable to put the usb mouse you bought, you end up sitting at a desk or on the floor or balancing something flat on an arm rest and getting a sore arm).

I bought a "power" laptop for uni instead of the desktop + cheap laptop thing, and it was useful and I used it well. It depends on what field you are in, however. I needed something that was beefy enough to do high poly structural models and finite element analysis, but transportable from lab where I worked to home to lab where I did assignments. I was tied to an AC like AF said, but I never used it as a real laptop, just a desktop I could pick up and move accross campus if I needed to.

So if you need that, then it'll work, but I think everyone else is right, for general purpose stuff get a cheapo laptop, then get a desktop for power.

Erom wrote:I bought a "power" laptop for uni instead of the desktop + cheap laptop thing, and it was useful and I used it well. It depends on what field you are in, however. I needed something that was beefy enough to do high poly structural models and finite element analysis, but transportable from lab where I worked to home to lab where I did assignments. I was tied to an AC like AF said, but I never used it as a real laptop, just a desktop I could pick up and move accross campus if I needed to.

So if you need that, then it'll work, but I think everyone else is right, for general purpose stuff get a cheapo laptop, then get a desktop for power.

This is what I did, except I didn't actually need it because I'm a poli-sci major.

Im planning on going into computer engineering.

Sheekel wrote:Im planning on going into computer engineering.

I'd still urge you to try to contact some people who are already at your university who are comp-eng majors and ask them if they require a portable laptop computer for their classes... you don't want to spend $1500 for something that you could get for $750 in desktop form.

I agree with Felix. I got a laptop of that cost which I could have gotten in desktop form for about $1100, and I only really use it here in my dorm.

neddiedrow wrote:I agree with Felix. I got a laptop of that cost which I could have gotten in desktop form for about $1100, and I only really use it here in my dorm.

I agree with neddie, that Felix guy really is smart

...but pretty much exactly the same thing happened to me, yeah.