Comparing two gaming laptops...

[imported_Filbert]

My cousin wants to purchase a laptop for midrange gaming, for under $1500. Right now he's leaning towards the Battalion 101 CZ-8 Ultra Notebook from iBuyPower, while I was trying to convince him to buy the Gateway P-6831FX notebook, which was featured on the main page.

The biggest differences that I see are with the CPU and GPU. The RAM, HDD size, and screen resolution don't seem like very deciding factors.

The laptop from iBuyPower has an Intel Core 2 Duo Mobile T9300 processor with a 6MB cache and what I assume is a 8600M GT video card.

The laptop from Gateway has an Intel Core 2 Due Mobile T5450 processor with a 2MB cache and a 8800M GTS video card.

Obviously the former has the better processor and the latter has the better video card. What I'm having a hard time finding is some sort of comparison of those factors so I can see how big a difference each is.

So I was wondering which you folks would suggest?

 

[Jax Omen]

What games does he play?

If he plays RTS, get the iBuyPower. If he plays anything else, get the Gateway.

 

[imported_Filbert]

Well to be honest he mostly plays WoW, which I'm sure neither of these machines would have any trouble with. However, he does want to be able to play Portal and CoD4 on it as well.

 

[happy medium]

Gateway all the way :thumbsup:

 

[Seggybop]

If CoD4 is the toughest game, the ibuypower model is sufficient. However, check out the Dell Vostro 1500. You can get an equivalent configuration for a few hundred dollars less.

 

[SergeC]

Originally posted by: happy medium
Gateway all the way :thumbsup:

In general, a better video card >>>> a better CPU for gaming.

In this case, that's definitely true.

 

[imported_Filbert]

Thanks all. I certainly thought that the better video card was the way to go. But does anyone know how much of a difference the 1 GHz and 4MB cache between the processors make?

The extra cache and the included fingerprint scanner are what he keeps talking about with the iBuyPower model.

 

[imported_Filbert]

Hey, I was wondering if anyone knew how the P-6831 FX compared to the P-172S FX Gateway has on their site now? As far as I can tell, it's essentially the same but with a smaller HDD and faster CPU.

 

[Banzai042]

I don't know how iBuyPower laptops are, but if they're anything like the desktops they sell, then *>>>iBuyPower. I had a desktop from them that had the worst reliability problems of any computer I've encountered, and the customer service was pretty bad to say the least.

 

[hans030390]

Get the Gateway and upgrade the CPU down the road (it's apparently pretty easy). I have the same laptop, and it's great for gaming. The 8800 should make it a much better buy.

 

[JACKDRUID]

no contest. gpu is much more important than cpu in a gaming notebook.

 

[Throckmorton]

I have no idea what those ridiculous model numbers mean. T9300?? T5450?? Intel needs to stop with the random alphanumeric codes.

In any case, the 8800GT Gateway a much better choice.

 

[kpax812]

get the gateway. simple as that. dont get the gateway p-6831fx, get the gateway p-6860fx. its the same price for slightly better specs (more hard drive space, 64-bit edition, 4 GB Ram, 1.83 Ghz C2D CPU) besides, in this case, its easier to upgrade the CPU rather than the GPU... though, i am finding interesting slots near the GPU when i opened it up...