I3-2310/GT 555M gaming laptop?

[bobuy00]

Im planning to buy a laptop with these specs. (No I can't buy a desktop instead)

MSI GE620dx
i3-2310M
4gb DDR3 RAM
Nvidia GT 555M 2gb

I'm planning to run games at 1366x768, but will the CPU be a bottleneck here in strategy games like Total War/Starcraft 2/Dawn of War? or will an i5-2410 be a better buy because of turbo boost?

Also, I might do some OC'ing on the video card, I see it being done in multiple forums on different laptops, so it should be safe?

Can anyone suggest laptops that are better in this price range?

 

[amuffin]

Do not oc, what is the price? Also the i5 will be much better than the i3 for mmorpg games.

 

[refillable]

Get an i5-2410M based laptop with the same GT550/GT555, you won't regret.

I overclock my GPU on my laptop (Geforce), but it failed on MSI Kombustor or Furmark Test... Stable in games though. But I don't really suggest to do so.

http/www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220997

 

[bobuy00]

There's a 100$ price difference between i3 and i5... but will the boost really help? esp in Skyrim?
also the i5 models i've seen has 1080p native, the i3 native is 1366x768, I'm worried that 1080p might be too much for this card to handle.

Overclocking for this certain card seems like common practice though

http/forum.notebookreview.com/dell-xps-studio-xps/636471-l702x-gt555m-gf106-vs-gf116-4.html

Thank's for the suggestions btw

 

[amuffin]

Actually I was looking at a lenovo y570 laptop, is it cheaper than the msi one? The one I am looking at has an i5-2410m, 4gb ddr3 ram, gt 550m,

 

[bobuy00]

They're about the same price as the i3 MSI, but the 555m is the beefier card as it has 144 cores vs the 96 cores of the 550. My main problem is that I'm buying the laptop off retailers so I'm not sure if they have an i5 version with a 1366 native.

 

[dummos]

i5 will serve you much better for gaming than the i3 if your card cant handle 1080p you can always switch to 1366 most games look better on low settings at 1080p than on high at lower resolutions

 

[bobuy00]

Okay, I'll try to find an i5 with 1366, then if not an i5 with 1080p, The screen is a 14"/15.6" so wouldn't Full HD be a bit overkill?

 

[esrever]

I actually like lower res higher detail on games like rpgs and action games.

only realistic looking games do they look bad imo.

The i5 is worth it

 

[bobuy00]

my only beef with the i5 is the screen resolution, since I prefer to play @native I might have to resort to 960x540 to get high details on games (I also prefer lower res high detail) especially since there's a 100$ difference.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section Graphics & Displays to section Laptops & Notebooks by Mousemonkey

 

[ojas]

Looking at the 555M's spec sheet, i don't recommend it for 1080p. The 560M is just good enough at that res.

I mean, the 555m has a lower texture fill rate and memory bandwidth than a 9600GT, and i know (since i own one) that a 9600GT only manages acceptable DX10 framerates at 1024x768 at medium to high settings, often without anti-aliasing and always overclocked.

If you're fine playing with lower settings enabled, then fine, otherwise a firm 'no' from me to a 555M at 1080p.

There are also two versions of the 555M, a GDDR3 ver and a GDDR5 one, so if at all you pick a 555M, pick the GDDR5 card, as it provides higher memory bandwidth even though it's got a 128-bit bus (compared to the 192-bit one that the card with the older memory interface has).

We picked a laptop for a friend of mine with a i5 and a 560M at 1080p, it's smooth while playing Skyrim and FIFA 12 on high settings (i don't remember the experience with 'maxed out' settings though). Anyway, he's happy so it's not a prob.

Games like Starcraft will benefit from the i5.

 

[bobuy00]

Thanks

 

[ojas]

More info about the 555M and 560M:

http/www.geforce.com/Hardware/GPUs/geforce-gtx-560m/performance
http/www.geforce.com/News/articles/introducing-the-geforce-gtx-560m-mobile-gpu

Also, to compare (in more detail) with my 9600GT at 600/800/1500:

Texture fill rate:
GT 555M (GDDR5): 16.2 GTexel/s
9600GT: 19.2 GTexel/s
GTX 560M: 36.8 GTexel/s

Memory Bandwidth:
GT 555M (GDDR5): 50.2 GB/s
9600GT: 51.1 GB/s
GTX 560M: 60 GB/s (Nvidia writes "up to 60", so i'm assuming this may vary)

Memory interface width:
GT 555M (GDDR5): 128-bit
9600GT: 256-bit
GTX 560M: 192-bit (Again, they say "up to 192-bit")

Hope this helps. IMO stay at 1366x768 for the 555M, just pair it with a Core i5.

Correction:: Changed the mem interface to 128-bit from 192-bit for the 555M GDDR5.

 

[bobuy00]

@ojas, Okay so to recap, i should look for a setup in this order?
1) i5 @ 1366x768
2) i3 @ 1366x768
3) i5 @ 1366x768

then with the the gt 555m itself
1) 192bit GDDR5
2) 128bit GDDR5
3) 192but DDR3

Is my understanding right?

 

[ojas]

Not exactly, there is no 192-bit GDDR5. The GDDR5 version has a 128-bit...! ooops!!! I'm sorry, my fault, i just saw what i did.

GDDR5 version has 128-bit
GDDR3 version has 192-bit

but the GDDR5 version still has a higher bandwidth due to it being GDDR5. Texture fill rate is the same for both.

will update the previous post!

So it would be:

1) i5 @ 1366x768 + GDDR5 555M
2) i5 @ 1366x768 + GDDR3 555M (assuming you play a lot of SC and WoW-like games)
3) i3 @ 1366x768 + GDDR5
4) i3 @ 1366x768 + GDDR3

 

[bobuy00]

Thanks, this really helps alot. Cheers to finding setup number 1 haha

 

[bobuy00]

Best answer selected by bobuy00.

 

[ojas]

Thanks, this really helps alot. Cheers to finding setup number 1 haha

hehe that's great! Glad i could help!