I want to buy a laptop for 85% gaming and 15% windows ish stuff and my budget is aroudn 2 grand. I have found that Sagar has the 5680 with Ati 9600 and the Dell D800 with the GF Go 5600 and it seems that the 5600 is better than the 9600 ati?

is this true? Becuz i heard though the geforce 4200 is old, it somehow scored higher in 3Dmark than ATI 9600 for some odd reason.

what should i go with for mostly gaming?

thanks

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by l337hxr on 09/04/03 06:41 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

definately an ati 9600 PRO 128meg.

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My computer is so fast it proves the theory of relativity wrong...

you might go look at this article as you do your research
<A HREF="http://www.gamersdepot.com/hardware/video_cards/mobile/dx9_titans/001.htm" target="_new">gamersdepot article</A>

just to summarize ... the ATI kicks some butt.

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

No, the ATI is probably a bit better than the nVidia offering, however those benchmarks (and review) from GamersDepot don't show individual system specs, only "general" specifications which can hardly bare accurate results for a comparison.

As soon as Dell (or some other manufacturer with modular graphics cards) releases both, a direct comparison is not possible. I suspect that the cards perform a bit closer than what GamersDepot.com leads us to believe.

The GF4Go 4200 is a DirectX 8 card, and it does score higher in 3DMark2001SE because of this. It is not DirectX9 Compliant so in 3DMark03, it scores about 1000 (slightly worse than the Mobility Radeon 9000/9200), whereas the GFFX and ATI 9600 both get about 3000. For DX9 games, the latter two cards are both better for DX9 games etc, but in terms of DX7 and 8, the GF4Go 4200 is still all but king.

In terms of notebooks, it is a tough choice, because the Dell is a much better "notebook" than the Sager-type notebooks, but doesn't have the 9600.

The choice is yours,

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

Hey Rapture,

I think that GamersDepot actually did a better job than others do in testing. The at least tried to get a "similar" equipped system ... not sure if mobo and same hdds, ram etc.. was same brand/manufacturer but they did try and get the same specs. I have to give it up to them for that since most people just grab 3DMark or Sandra et al and show the numbers and compare apples to oranges.

In real life, those bench numbers don't mean much -- at least to me. I do like seeing them and it does give me some ideas to how something might perform; however, in doing some general, everday work (word processing, spreadsheets, internet, mail etc... and maybe a little gaming) - probably can't tell too much if you're a "regular" user.

It terms of better ... I think that still comes down to personal preference. Sure, Dell is huge - mass markets, has coupons/discounts out the whazoo if you can figure it all out and then end up getting a pretty good deal on a notebook. But, after perusing the Sager boards for a while, people love those notebooks. I expected to see a lot of "something is wrong here ... " type of boards but it's really interesting to follow those guys over there because they love their machines. Now, Dell's "replacement" notebooks are considerably different than an 8890/5680 series from Sager so they are hard to compares - a user would need to understand the differences. My point is -- I like Dell ... I like these Sagers too... hard for me to say which is really "better".

sorry ... i'm continuing to type and not make any sense now!!

Lastly -- are the DELL lappies that say they can change the VIDEO card REALLY able to change the video card or will you have to have the MOBO replaced as well?? (and same goes for the new Alienware 51M ...)

Just wondering as I've heard people say that they are "upgradeable" but it turns out that might be a little misnomer. I don't know ... just curious.

peace out. -ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

Yes, and on second thought, I think that they may have used two Dell systems. Anyway, I agree with what you've said, but I'm talking 'notebooks' here, not laptops - i.e. a notebook im my eyes is portable, long lasting battery, light but effective. A sager is heavy, and relies on brute force rather than finesse. Oh and the 45minute battery life on the new Area 51m is incredible.

The Dell graphics cards that are "upgradeable" are on separate PCBs to the motherboard, but that is not ALL Dells, only select top of the range models.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?

You know ... first thing I wondered was -- wonder what "unavailable" machine that was!!

That Sager 8890 is LARGE ... over on those forums, a guy demonstrated the size of it by stacking 6 CDS HIGH and then 2x6 CDS ... so, that guy is HUGE.

But, the SAGER 5680 (not out yet but coming) *could* possibly be considered a "notebook" but maybe on the 1-3 lb heavier than others.

Not sure about the AW Battery life ... I hadn't seen anything on the 45 minutes but did hear it's got an 8800 or so 8800mAh battery -- what does that mean, I don't know!! It's a bigger number though .

I figured the "upgradeable" would only be on like the M60/D800/I86000 ... the top of the lines for them.

thanks - cya. -ot

IC7-G 1.3| P4 2.8 800 | SLK900-U / 92mm Fan (AS3) | 2x512mb Corsair PC3500C2 | 2x120gb SG SATA RAID 0 | 2x120gb WD RAID 1 | CM ATC201B-SXT | 520W | Radeon 9800 Pro | Audigy2

lol. mAH = Milli Amp Hours (I believe, although I may be incorrect.

The M50, M60, M70, D800, C800-840, I8600, I8500, I8200, I8100, I8000 all have upgradeable video cards.

RaPTuRe

Who's General Failure and why's he reading my disk?