Need advice on gaming laptop

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Sobek

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I'm in the USAF and am deploying to the desert for ~3 months toward the end of August. I want to get a 15.5" laptop primarily for gaming and DVD's. I will be using it for my frequent TDY's throughout the year as well when I return. I'm trying to keep it around $1500 but not to exceed $2K. I want to be able to play Oblivion and Bioshock well (hopefully not delayed before I leave) and even Crysis later on in the year. Practically anything I get will be better than my current desktop (see sig) so this laptop may become my main gaming PC for a while. My wife also can't understand why I need to spend so much and not just get a $500 Toshiba like hers. :rolleyes: This means my laptop must be powerful for games since I won't be building a new gaming only PC like I was planning on. I will have my own little "room" with power "over there" so charging a laptop isn't a problem.

I was originally thinking of getting the Asus F3SV-B1 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220162) which just came back into stock at newegg but now I am considering 2 other choices:

The Asus C90S (http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=C90S) since it is basically a portable desktop PC and is upgradable. This could help in making it last longer as a replacement gaming rig. The only downside is it has horrible battery life.

The Asus G1S-A1(http://1toppc.com/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=G1S-A1) It's basically the same as the F3SV-B1 except with an 8600GT (vs 8600GS) and a slightly faster processor. It also has a few other nice features.

All come with Vista (32bit though on a recovery and driver disk, not actual install DVD) but if I order through GenTech I can get 64 bit with DVD and they install everything for free. I do plan on getting XP 64 bit and dual booting as well due to all the people complaining about Vista's problems. 2 gigs of ram is a must as well. I am correct that 64 bit OS's are better or at least supported for Dual Core right?

Is there much of a difference between the 8600 GS and the 8600 GT? I have looked at GPU review and Notebookcheck but can't really get a good idea of how they stack up to my X800 Pro AGP card.

As of tonight I have the following prices with customization on GenTech:

C90S $1560
F3SV-B1 $1642 (edit, just realized it is 1440x900 res and 2ghz there vs 1680x1050 and 2.2ghz at Newegg)
G1S-A1 $1944

I have looked at the Dell 1520/1521 whatever and was not that impressed and with my "customization" to match the F3SV it was more expensive.

I would really like some help choosing and/or suggestions since I need to buy soon so I have time to play with it and install stuff before I leave. Thanks.

Cliffs for reminders:

3 Asus laptop choices
Gaming mostly
$1500 - $2K Budget
 
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Anyone have any advice?

I was curious how my PC performed compared to the F3 and G1S based on the reviews at Laptopmag.com and I get about 3500 more points in 3DMark03 on my current PC (9771).
 
mmm... Asus G1S is a good one with some cool features, I like the design; however, the thing is bulky and quite heavy. Also getting the Asus G1S your also getting all that bloatware...and i mean a crap load!

I good consideration is dells line-up of notebooks. I'm sure you'll find what your looking for through dell cause they have a 15.4 notebooks with the 8600GT M which will get you by with gaming. Also, there's the military purchase program via your branch of military through dell. I'm gunna be going into to they USNavy soon.. and im considering getting a dell... but i might just have to wait till im actually in, so that i can get the military benefit:D
 
Thanks for the advice. I prefer to stay away from Dell for the most part. I did configure a Insp. 1520 similar to the Asus F3SV-B1 but with a 9 cell battery (and an extra one) at Dell home and it came out at $1638 with instant discount savings. The same system configured through AAFES with my military discount was $1651! It takes almost a month to build and ship through AAFES as well. I can't wait that long.

I would still like some help deciding between the C90S and the F3SV-B1and some of the questions I asked in my first post answered.

edit: New question. What exactly does the Intel internal Turbo Memory card do in the F3SV-B1? Does it just add an extra gig to be used to augment the GPU or ram?
 
I would go with the G1. People are starting to get the C90 and they are having problems getting it to match the same 3dmark score that the G1 is getting. It's probably a problem with the C90 bios underclocking the video card but who knows when/if ASUS will fix it. Reports are that it's loud when overclocked and hot to the point that it has blue screened. Also, I was able to find the G1 for $1750 by doing a google product search.

I don't understand why people think that the G1 is bulky. It weighs 6.8lbs and is 13.9" x 11.2" x 1.5". The Dell 1520's weight is 6.4lbs and is 14.1" x 10.6" x1.5" inches. So the Dell is about half a pound lighter and roughly the same size.
 
$1750 is much better than the $1944 I configured at GenTech. Gonna look now. Thanks.
 
I've said it numerous times, and will say it again. The 8600GT compared to the top of the line 7900 Go models is a joke. No game will require DX10 for a long time. DX9 will be fine for the life of the laptop. No reason to cripple your gaming performance just to have DX10 compatibility.

Clevo is releasing a Santa Rosa platform, and most of the manufactures are still equipping it with a 7950GTX.

I would recommend not getting a laptop based on the 8600GT.

Here is a great comparision of mobile graphics chipsets

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html
 
^^^ Thanks for the info. DX10 isn't highly important to me. I ran STALKER in Static Lighting mode (DX8) and it was fine. Do you know of any 7950GTX laptops or 7900 series I should look at in particular? I'm sure they are cheaper which will make my wife happy.
 
Based on a ton of reading and research I'm going to go with the G1S based on price vs perfomance. I know the card isn't as fast as a 7950GTX and I can live with that. I can't afford laptops that include it anyway. The 8600GT appears to be able to overclock well and is deffinately better than the 8600GS (http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=125246).

I'll be ordering from Gentech since it is $93 cheaper. I'm leaving the stock harddrive and ordering a Seagate Momentus 5400 160gb one from Newegg for about $40 cheaper than what Gentech is charging to put in my G1S. I'm also getting XP Pro and will Dual boot. I read that a good idea is to have the first partition be about 2gigs and use it for page file access only since it will be on the edge and the head will spend less time seeking.

I am unsure if I should get 2gigs of ram or 3. 2 runs in dual channel but the actual usefulness of that is debated as negligible. 3gigs gives me more ram if the 8600GT turbocaches and more is always better.

Weight isn't really a concern either BTW since it will be in one place most of the time.
 
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