Gaming laptops. Worth it or not?

Rilot · 20 Apr 2006 at 10:58

I currently have:

Dell 2405FPW
Athlon X2 4400+ @ 2.5GHz - Watercooled
DFI Lanparty SLI-D
1GB OCZ Gold PC4400
GeForce 7800GTX - Watercooled
Audigy ZS platinum pro
2 x NEC DVD-RW drives
2 x 36GB Raptors
2 x 250GB Maxline 3
ACRyan 500W PSU
Akasa 460W PSU
Coolermaster Stacker
Akasa fan controller

External radbox (Akasa UV clear PC case)
120.2 Blackice Rad
DangerDen D2 12v pump
DangerDen fill port

But I am finding myself getting increasingly irritated with it. I rekon I've clocked up less that a days solid gaming on it since it was built. The main reason for this is that it's tucked away in my study, away from the TV, away from the missus. I am finding I'm using my laptop to game far more than my desktop. My current laptop is OK as a laptop but pretty shoddy for gaming with it's X600 in it.

So, I was thinking about selling the whole lot and buying myself a shiny new gaming laptop. Something with a 17" 1920x1200 display and a GeForce Go 7900 Ultra.

My questions to you are:

Seeing as I'm going to need to drop £2k on a laptop of that spec is it worth it?
Will I get annoyed next time the latest GFX card comes out (bear in mind I've not upgraded since the GTX first came out)?

I have a server with 2TB of storage in it so the lack of available storage space won't be an issue.

londonbairn · 20 Apr 2006 at 11:21

I have a XPS M170, had one since they came out, i use it to lug between uni room and home. Play Oblivion at fine speeds at 1600x1000 on it with HDR. Usually have to play newer games at 1680x1050.

Brilliant for movies I gotta say!

wilders · 20 Apr 2006 at 11:34

The only issue is a limited upgrade path, but then you got the option of selling the whole thing and buying the latest spec if you wish to stay current.

squiffy · 20 Apr 2006 at 11:52

And cost/performance issue also. A decent gaming laptop is around £1600, that's with 7800GTX Go, 17" widescreen, 2GB, 100GB drive. For less than that (by several hundred quid) you can buy a far better desktop. I'm a laptop and desktop user but glad I didn't buy a gaming laptop. You've also got weird problems that laptops sometimes get, usually with USB ports, cardbus, graphics etc.

But if you've earn Beckham money it doesn't really matter. If you can afford £2000 on a gaming get one, but if that's a lot of money then just buy a cheap gaming laptop and make do with lower res/detail, and use desktop for full detail/max res/newest games. Ie a Turion with a 256MB X700 should be able to cope with occasional games at respetictable detail/res setting.

I certainly wouldn't spend over £1000 for a laptop.