Register | Login
Views: 19364387
Main | Memberlist | Active users | ACS | Commons | Calendar | Online users
Ranks | FAQ | Color Chart | Photo album | IRC Chat
11-02-05 12:59 PM
0 user currently in Hardware/Software.
Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Hardware/Software - Hardware advice
  
User name:
Password:
Reply:
 

UserPost
Silvershield
Posts: 344/345
I did bring up the possibility of just putting that $1k toward a better machine, but money's a bit tight now (my older brother's going to be a sophomore, while my younger brother enters college the year after next) so the cash spared was too heavy an incentive.

A laptop is the better bet, I think, because much of the campus is wireless and would allow me to take the computer to the library, among other places, which is a simple matter of convenience.

I think the newest game I have is The Sims 2...the FPS genre, which I'd say is generally the most demanding as far as system specs are concerned, appeals little to me, so I'm at least fortunate in that regard.
Ailure
Posts: 10478/11162
I would go with getting $1000 and buy a own much better computer, unless you really want/need a laptop. If it's going to be on the same desk all the time, just go with $1000.

And your favorite games could run on a computer from 1998. Diablo II runs fine on a Pentium 2 from 1998.
neotransotaku
Posts: 3493/4016
Intel GMA 900 is the graphics processing unit of the laptop. So, yeah, it will play older stuff just fine but anything around 2002 and later it will probably struggle on. Also, because it is intel, it probably is shared memory so, even more of a performance hit on graphics for newer games.

BMF98567
Posts: 969/1261
Hmm...it's hard to tell what kind of 3D chipset that has, though I'm assuming it's something by Intel (the rest of the chipset is). It'll probably handle older/lower-end games just fine, though newer stuff (Doom 3, Half-Life 2) will almost certainly choke it. As you said, though, you don't play those, so I think you've got yourself a pretty good deal there.
Silvershield
Posts: 343/345
I'm off to college at the end of August and, due to a larger freshman class than in past years, my school offered a choice of either a free laptop or $1000 credited to one's boarding fees in exchange for accepting a second roommate in a double-sized dorm.

The computer offered is listed at greater than $1000 in value so, even though I expressed a fear that it would be unsuitable for gaming (my main interest, to be honest), my mom would hear nothing of it. She asked me to, at the very least, give it a try.

I'm moderately computer saavy, but I'm having trouble deciphering the machine's specs because I have no experience with laptops. Can anyone tell me, briefly, if this computer has any hope of performing as a passable gaming machine? I don't really play the higher-end, incredibly graphics-intensive games, and many of my favorite games are years old (Baldur's Gate, EverQuest, and Diablo are examples), but I'd like to at least get a feel for what the thing will and will not be able to do.
Acmlm's Board - I2 Archive - Hardware/Software - Hardware advice


ABII


AcmlmBoard vl.ol (11-01-05)
© 2000-2005 Acmlm, Emuz, et al



Page rendered in 0.011 seconds.