Getting a Dell for college, how will it perform in games?

A

Andrew_Carr

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Feb 26, 2005
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Unfortunately I won't have a choice in what I'm getting for college, as all students where I'm going have to have standardized computers. It'll be an M70 laptop from dell with:

2ghz Pentium M 760 cpu
1gb 533mhz DDR2 ram
Nvidia Quadro FX Go1400 256mb(opengl)
blah blah blah


Anyway, what I'm curious about is the quadro as I generally thought they were used in things like CAD or other graphical stuff. Anyway, I'd like to play games on the computer every now and then, and everything else seems to be up to par, but I'm not sure about the video card.

Do you guys think it'll handle Half-life 2 and WoW decently?
Btw, I'm not sure what monitor size the things has, so I can't begin to guess at the native resolution :(
 
its a 6800go with better opengl drivers
you should go post in the video card section about getting the omega drivers running on a quadro card it can normaly be done
this will play WOW and HL2 without issue
 
Wow, great. I was assuming it'd be a crappy laptop for gaming, but apparently since last year the specs changed from a p4 to a p-m and that quadro was added, which makes me a happy camper :)
 
Just wondering, are you going to an engineering college where a PC with a quadro, 1 GB of RAM and a fast 2 Ghz P4 M would be needed for some type of designing?
 
Yeah, I'm going to West Point so most of us will be doing engineering. I think they just wanted to buy everyone the same thing, but at the same time buy something that would be useful to every type of major.
 
ur laptop is pretty fast 2ghz nice.. 1 gb... what abt hdd? i would suggest you 7200 rpm if available.. video graphic. geforce 6600 go can running hl2 n wow smooth so better 6600 go
 
I don't get a choice on what goes in, but I assume they'll splurge and go for a 7200rpm drive with all this other stuff, heh.

....

And no, I don't honestly expect to have time to play WoW, but I'm still deluding myself into thinking i'll have time to play HL-2 and BF2 ;)
 
Typing this on an M70

I've owned/used many laptops and so far the M70 is one of my favorites.

Are you sure you are joining the army? I would think they would make you buy something old and slow to get you used to life in the field. Great that they are picking the latest and greatest and one of the most graphically powerful 15.4" laptops on the market.

BTW my case for the M70 is the Targus matrix. Fits it perfectly. Great bag. I even have the west point edition with out the targus labels everywhere.

When I have time I play Guildwars and City of Heroes on it. Wonderful laptop for those games, have not tried WoW/HL2.

I have not had to mess with OCing or omega drivers. Frame rates are better than my desktop 9800 which was good enough for me as it was....
 
Wow that is one heck of a laptop to give everyone. A classmate of mine is going to westpoint next year... wonder if she has her's yet. Her name is Sarah Casper... you might see her next year :p

How much did each of those cost the school??
 
wtfman? my engineering university gives out standardized laptops too, but mine is a centrino with 512 megs of ram, and a radeon 9700 mobility. I want a laptop like that. :p
 
Leright said:
wtfman? my engineering university gives out standardized laptops too, but mine is a centrino with 512 megs of ram, and a radeon 9700 mobility. I want a laptop like that. :p
Click to expand...

I'm not sure if you know this...... but the 2ghz Pentium M 760 cpu is also considered "centrino".

Just sounded like you thought they were something diffrent. If you already knew this, don't pay any attention to this. ^_^
 
towert7 said:
I'm not sure if you know this...... but the 2ghz Pentium M 760 cpu is also considered "centrino".

Just sounded like you thought they were something diffrent. If you already knew this, don't pay any attention to this. ^_^
Click to expand...
The Pentium M alone does not make a Laptop centrino. Laptops bearing Centrino have three characteristics:
Pentium M Processor
Intel's chipset for Pentium Ms (can't remember the designation)
Intel Pro Wireless

You can have a Laptop sport the Pentium M and not be a Centrino notebook (different brand of Wireless card)....maybe you shoulda read my FAQ :p
 
West Point. nice.

Are you planning on joining any of the Military Branches, later on?
 
> Are you planning on joining any of the Military Branches, later on?lol

He done joined

He's in the Army now!

Unless they kick him out for playing too much HL2 on his laptop (games are not allowed on Gov Computers!) he will be watching Americas back in 4 short years....
 
trikster2 said:
> Are you planning on joining any of the Military Branches, later on?lol

He done joined

He's in the Army now!

Unless they kick him out for playing too much HL2 on his laptop (games are not allowed on Gov Computers!) he will be watching Americas back in 4 short years....
Click to expand...

Sweet. I'm a Sailor myself (E-2/SA) going for BUD/S in about 4 years.
 
Mr_Evil said:
The Pentium M alone does not make a Laptop centrino. Laptops bearing Centrino have three characteristics:
Pentium M Processor
Intel's chipset for Pentium Ms (can't remember the designation)
Intel Pro Wireless

You can have a Laptop sport the Pentium M and not be a Centrino notebook (different brand of Wireless card)....maybe you shoulda read my FAQ :p
Click to expand...

Maybe I typed it wrong, but the point I was trying to get accross is that they are the same Processor type (both Pentium M). It sounded like he thought a centrino was a processor all in itself.
 
towert7 said:
Maybe I typed it wrong, but the point I was trying to get accross is that they are the same Processor type (both Pentium M). It sounded like he thought a centrino was a processor all in itself.
Click to expand...


I am aware that the centrino laptops have pentium Ms. My point was that the laptops provided by my university have half the ram and a much weaker video card.
 
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