World of Warcraft and Notebooks

[DocMD196]

The phenomenon known as 'World of Warcraft' has hit 8 million subscribers.

That's a LOT of Warcraft.

I have ten desktop computers networked at home primarily for myself and friends to play Warcraft. (World of Warcraft is the new generation's version of Dungeons and Dragons. We can get together on an evening and complete a 5-man instance which is remarkably similar to going through an old D&D module.)

I tend to travel quite a bit, and I like having some sort of portable computer. I've been using Shuttles recently, but a friend of mine brought his notebook and set it up at one of my stations using the DVI output on his notebook on and extra monitor.

I thought this was an excellent solution to everything.

From this point forward, when I acquire new systems for my house, I'd like them to be notebook computers. When I'm at home, I'll use them primarily as a CPU. When I travel, the portability problem is solved.

Last year, I put together a Ferrari of a desktop system....

...and it ran World of Warcraft not one whit better than my old system.

As one spends more and more on a notebook, I would expect that notebook to perform better and better. After some point, there will be no appreciable difference in running World of Warcraft.

What's that magical sweet spot?

What's the minimum notebook with a 17" widescreen that will run 'World of Warcraft' as fast as possible? It needs to have a DVI output for use with my monitors at home.

Very interested in this learned community's response.....

Thanks.

Doc

 

[zig3695]

actually, a better idea would be to trade those laptops in for cash, donate that money to charity and then shoot yourself in the face.

 

[DocMD196]

That was full of insight and quite helpful.

Thank you.

Is this extroardinarily offensive poster indicative of the general level of communication in these forums? (IQ < Age?)

Does anyone else (with 'anyone else' being defined as IQ > age) have a suggestion for the sweet spot for a notebook that will play 'World of Warcraft' as well as a good desktop?

Many thanks,

Doc

 

[TheStu]

Originally posted by: zig3695
actually, a better idea would be to trade those laptops in for cash, donate that money to charity and then shoot yourself in the face.

Was that truly necessary? I have no love for WoW, never could get into the game, but that doesn't give me the right to be a jack@$$, so what gives you that right?

Anyway, back to your question OP. My MacBook (with intel integrated graphics) will run WoW, so that gives you an idea of what it takes, not a whole lot.

Since you seem to be wicked into it, you no doubt want to run it at max specs. So, you are going to want the systems to have at least 1 GB of RAM, 2GB if it isn't too costly (it is $90 or so for the upgrade kit on the egg right now, so it can't be that expensive at an OEM site). You are also going to want a decent processor but, you don't have to stress yourslef too much to make sure that you get the bleeding edge (See specs in sig). So really anything over 1.7 or 1.8 Core Duo will fit the bill nicely. I am not positive what that equates to from AMD, but most any of the Turions, particularly the X2s will be fine.

If you can score yourself something like the Dell E1705 that would certainly take care of your situation. It can come with a 7900GS which even at 1920*1200 should be more than sufficient to run WoW at max, or at least pretty close, but that resolution is plenty high enough for you to see quite a bit of the world.

Dells aren't that expensive though you may also want to check out the laptops on the egg, an Asus from there may be out Dell in terms of price v. performance.

Basically the gist is, get as much RAM as is financially reasonable (3GB+ approaching the silly range) and a decent graphics chip (Better than integrated at least, X1400 should be considered the lowest card on 17" to get) and you are solid.

 

[bigal40]

You are right about a notebook performing better the more you spend but The amount of performance increse you get per dollar drops off pretty sharply at around $2000.

Looking at processors for example:

C2D T5600 $245 (1.83ghz 2mb L2 cache)
C2D T7200 $300 (2.00ghz 4mb L2 cache)
C2D T7400 $431 (2.16ghz 4mb L2 cache)
C2D T7600 $660 (2.33ghz 4mb L2 cache)

Intel just put out a new set of mobile processors that are the same the the current C2D except they run on an 800mhzFSB instead of the current 667mhz.

Notebooks are also just now coming out with Nvidia 8x00 sereis cards.

I have never played WoW but from what I heard it does not need that great of a graphics to run. Nevertheless I would go with at least a ATI x1600 Mobility/Nvidia 7600 GO

Originally posted by: zig3695
What's the minimum notebook with a 17" widescreen that will run 'World of Warcraft' as fast as possible?

You could get a Dell E1705 for about $1700 with a C2D T7200(2ghz), NVIDIA 7900gs, 2gb RAM, 100gb 7200rpm HD, wifi, and vista.

If I were you I would consider a 15.4 inch notebook because a 17 inch notebook is a lot to carry around when traveling alot and you are going to use it hooked up to an external LCD alot anyway.

For about $2000 you can get a faster notebook but only 15.4in. the ASUS G1S

With a C2D T7500(2.2ghz), 512mb NVIDIA 8600gt GO, 3GB RAM, 100gb 7200rpm HD, wifi, and vista. I also think it has a gaming mouse and a backpack.

One thing I would be sure to get is a 7200RPM HD. My first laptop came w/ a 4200RPM and when i upgraded it to a 7200rpm it made a huge difference. The 160gb 7200RPM in the notebook in my sig feels more responsive than even my 80 gb desktop 7200rpm drive.

 

[Brainonska511]

Originally posted by: bigal40
One thing I would be sure to get is a 7200RPM HD. My first laptop came w/ a 4200RPM and when i upgraded it to a 7200rpm it made a huge difference. The 160gb 7200RPM in the notebook in my sig feels more responsive than even my 80 gb desktop 7200rpm drive.

A 7200RPM drive can actually be slower than a 5400RPM drive if you have a large enough 5400RPM drive. A 200GB 5400RPM drive will be just as fast as a 120GB 7200RPM drive because the higher plater density equals less movement for the heads to find the data.

 

[bigal40]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: bigal40
One thing I would be sure to get is a 7200RPM HD. My first laptop came w/ a 4200RPM and when i upgraded it to a 7200rpm it made a huge difference. The 160gb 7200RPM in the notebook in my sig feels more responsive than even my 80 gb desktop 7200rpm drive.

A 7200RPM drive can actually be slower than a 5400RPM drive if you have a large enough 5400RPM drive. A 200GB 5400RPM drive will be just as fast as a 120GB 7200RPM drive because the higher plater density equals less movement for the heads to find the data.

That is ture but I was just making a point that if there is anything I would not skimp out on when buying a notebook, it is the HD. I don;t think it is worth getting less than a 100gb 7200rpm or a 200gb 5400rpm.

 

[DocMD196]

Guys,

I really appreciate the information. I never factored HD speed when considering a laptop, and I like seeing the breakdown in cost vs processor speeds.

I'll research the Dell and Asus notebooks in more detail.

Thanks.

Doc

 

[mercanucaribe]

http://www.powernotebooks.com/product.php?itemId=1850



I have no idea how you could have any problem running WoW though. Did you build a computer using parts from 1998?

 

[zig3695]

is this forum contributed to by robots? does anyone have a sense of humor? anyone? anyone? unbelievable....

 

[dealmaster00]

Originally posted by: DocMD196
Guys,

I really appreciate the information. I never factored HD speed when considering a laptop, and I like seeing the breakdown in cost vs processor speeds.

I'll research the Dell and Asus notebooks in more detail.

Thanks.

Doc

Don't forget HP too! That is the notebook that I ultimately bought. They had the cheapest laptops than any other company that I researched, and it had better parts. I got a 17" with decent specs for only $1300. If you are stuck at 1 gig or RAM and it costs like 200 bucks to upgrade to 2 gigs, just buy the 2 gigs from somewhere online (edit: its only 75 bucks right now at HP. that is a pretty decent price). This is what I did and it worked flawlessly. And least but not least (actually, this is one of the most important steps no matter where you buy your laptop), REFORMAT as soon as you get it!! There is craptons of 3rd party software installed (this is how companies get their laptops so cheap; they get paid to put on that crapware) and the best way to get rid of it is to just reformat. However, it's a little trickier to reformat a laptop than a desktop. If you goto http://forum.notebookreview.com/ and browse to the appropriate section there will most likely be detailed instructions on how to successfully reformat your computer.

Well, I hope this advice was useful. I am just relating from personal experiences. GL choosing a computer!!

A couple of other things:

I personally don't mind lugging a 17" laptop around. It really doesn't seem that bulky to me. I would much rather have extra power and a few extra pounds than a smaller but less powerful laptop.

I kept the HD at a minimum (80GB) and bought an internal HD + external enclosure. Apricorn makes excellent enclosures (I'm using one). My enclosure actually has better read/write speeds than my internal...and its running on USB 2.0.

 

[abhong]

Doc, it dont take much to run WoW... i take it along with my travels as well.

i can run it in my old Dell Inspiron 8500 as well... but of course, i will cut back on the video and the UI's...

the only thing that can make WoW run slow is video and the amount of UI you have.

i load about 40 MB of UI's (mods and user interface to customize my gaming)
auctioneer being the resource hog, i dont use it much... i dont load it if i am raiding.

also, as for UI's i use Ace based UI hence it is less of a resource hog.

video, yea it is sweet running WoW in 1900x1200.... i have a AMD X2 4800 with 256MB 7800GTX Go on my lappy so i am ok.... but at high detail settings, i run into some low FPS.

on avg, i do about 30 FPS, in raids and 40 man BG such as AV, it drops a bit...

perhaps you may find more wow-related info here...

http://wow.allakhazam.com/

 

[kitkit201]

might alwaso want to consider the latest macbook revision.. it has a kick ass video card and 2gb of ram in it.. and it's a mac which can run windows too if your into that cross platform thing

 

[TheStu]

Also, with the student discount you can get it for $1800 which in my opinion is a pretty good deal. Quite a few people would disagree, but from what I have seen, right now it is hard to compete with what you get from the MacBook Pro. Santa Rosa, 2GB RAM, backlit keys, Sudden Motion Sensor, and a real nice shell.

 

[ubercaffeinated]

Originally posted by: TheStu
Also, with the student discount you can get it for $1800 which in my opinion is a pretty good deal. Quite a few people would disagree, but from what I have seen, right now it is hard to compete with what you get from the MacBook Pro. Santa Rosa, 2GB RAM, backlit keys, Sudden Motion Sensor, and a real nice shell.

as far as laptops go i think apple is an okay way to go. WoW i think runs better on osx than on windows on comparible systems... but of course if you go for an overkill system, the point is moot.

i'm personally saving up for a new gaming laptop myself. i know gaming and laptops don't really go together, but with starcraft 2 coming out, i want to be prepared. hopefully, blizzard will be delaying sc2 release allowing me to save up quite a bit

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: zig3695
is this forum contributed to by robots? does anyone have a sense of humor? anyone? anyone? unbelievable....

Ehh, not in response to someone's first post. Even then, it's iffy

 

[motoxpress]

I play WoW on a Core Duo MBP and it runs very well. The new SR-based MBPs would be even better with the Nvidia video card (Getting very tempted by them).

-mx

 

[Rookie]

I play WoW on my Inspiron 9300 which is 2 years old now IIRC.

Looks great and plays smoothly...