Build Your Own Gaming Notebook

Gaming Laptop Suggestion Request? I need help selecting a gaming laptop. Please suggest any laptops that you think I should consider. Additional comments are more than welcome. I have provided the following information as a guide. Thanks for your help. 1) What is your budget? Definitely not more than $2000. Ideally, I don’t want to spend more than $1600. 2) What size notebook would you prefer? Desktop Replacement - 17” screen. 18” is too big for me. 3) Will you be taking the notebook with you to different places, leaving it on your desk or both? I will be primarily leaving the laptop on the desk, but would like some portability for travel. 4) Where will you buying this notebook? Buying in the US. 5) Are there any brands that you prefer or any you really don't like? I’m open to any brand. 6) Would you consider laptops that are refurbished/redistributed? Yes. 7) What are the primary tasks will you be performing with this notebook? What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? I will be primarily gaming with this laptop. I also want to use it for video and photo editing. 8) Do you want to play games with your laptop? If so then please list the games that you want to with the settings that you want for these games. (Low,Medium or High)? Gaming will be the primary purpose of the laptop. I’d like to be able to play games such as Metro 2033, Crysis 1 and 2, The Witcher 2, World of Warcraft (multiple clients running at once), Rift, and Starcraft. Maximum video settings would be great, but at least high settings. I will NOT be playing in 3-D. 9) How many hours of battery life do you need? Not much battery life needed - maybe an hour or two. 10) Would you prefer to see the notebooks you're considering before purchasing it or buying a notebook on-line without seeing it is OK? I just want to be able to see images of the laptop so that I know the location of ports and buttons. 11) What OS do you prefer? Windows (XP or Vista or Windows 7), Mac OS, Linux, etc. Windows 7. 12) When are you buying this laptop? Buying sometime within the next week or two. 13) If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. I’ve been looking at sites such as AVADirect, ProStar, Digital Storm, GenTech PC, Xotic PC, powernotebooks, Malibal, Agearnotebooks, etc. I have no idea which are good. Maybe there’s a supplier that is a hidden gem out there that I missed. 14) Additional Information I think the GPU should be the primary focus of this laptop build. I don’t’ think I can afford the GTX 580M, but I’d like to have something that is better than the GTX560M. 15) What screen resolution(s) would you prefer? I would like full HD. 1920x1080, I suppose. I love small text. I do not want 3-D. 16) Do you want a Glossy/reflective screen or a Matte/non-glossy screen? Not exactly sure if I want glossy or matte. I play games in well-lit rooms so matte would be better, but I do prefer the more vibrant colors from glossy screens. This won’t be a dealbreaker either way. Maybe someone can convince me one way or another. I’ve also been reading about “Gamut”. Should I focus much on this? Might be out of my budget. 17) Are the notebook's looks and stylishness important to you? Performance and functionality come first. Style would be great as an added bonus, but not a requirement. The laptop can look plain – I don’t need fancy lighting or designs, but it shouldn’t look like an eyesore. 18) How long do you want this laptop to last? How long do you want to keep your laptop? I purchase a new PC about every four years so I don’t need the best of the best components. 19) How much hard drive space do you need; 80GB to 640GB? Do you want a SSD drive? 320 GB is more than enough. The solid state drives might be out of my budget, but would be nice to have. I would prefer Raid 0 capability. 20) Do you need an optical drive? If yes, a CDRW/DVD-ROM, DVD Burner or Blu-Ray drive? A basic optical drive is sufficient. 21) Other I would like to have an integrated card reader and integrated camera. Various components should be standard: HDMI output, USB3.0 and 2.0 ports, Ethernet/modem jack, etc. I don’t need any additional software nor accessories.

Making sure you can upgrade your PC's graphics card...? I will be buying a desktop soon and I want to know what to look out for so I can be sure that all parts of it can be upgraded, should I ever want to in the future. The reason I ask is I currently own a Dell Inspiron 1525 Notebook which is pretty sucky, and for some reason I do not know, the only part of it I can upgrade is it's ram. I will be intending to buy this desktop instead of whatever the next gen game consoles are, so hopefully that gives you an idea of the parts I want to be able to 'upgrade' easily (e.g the graphics card, ram, hard drive, etc). I am also leaning towards buying a PC, as I don't think I can trust myself in building my own. However if any of you know any guides that make it painfully clear what you have to do, I'd really appreciate that.

Which Laptop is better...Toshiba WXGA Satellite Laptop or HP Pavilion Laptop? Toshiba 15.4'' WXGA Satellite Laptop PC (39163) * AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processor for Notebook PC’s QL-62 2.0 GHz * 2GB PC6400 DDR2 SDRAM * 160GB (5400 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk drive * 15.4” diagonal widescreen TruBrite® TFT LCD display at 1280x800 native resolution (WXGA) * DVD SuperMulti, Wireless-LAN, Modem, Ethernet * Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit version) Operating System Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 32-bit version) Processor and Chipset AMD Athlon™ X2 Dual-Core Processor for Notebook PC’s QL-62 2.0 GHz 1MB L2 Cache, HyperTransport™ 3: up to 3.6(GT/sec) AMD M780G chipset Memory Configured with 2GB PC6400 DDR2 SDRAM (both memory slots may be occupied). Maximum capacity 4GB Hard Drive 160GB (5400 RPM); Serial ATA hard disk drive Optical Drive DVD SuperMulti (+/-R double layer) drive supporting 11 formats Maximum speed and compatibility: CD-ROM (24x), CD-R (24x), CD-RW (24x), DVD-ROM (8x), DVD-R (Single Layer, (8x)), DVD-R (Double Layer, (6x)), DVD-RW (6x), DVD+R (Single Layer, (8x)), DVD+R (Double Layer, (6x)), DVD+RW (8x), DVDRAM (5x) Display 15.4” diagonal widescreen TruBrite® TFT LCD display at 1280x800 native resolution (WXGA) Native support for 720p content Graphics ATI Radeon™ 3100 graphics with 256MB-894MB dynamically allocated shared graphics memory Sound Built-in stereo speakers Sound volume control dial Input Devices 86 key US keyboard TouchPad™ pointing device TouchPad™ Enable/Disable Communications Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel Modem 10/100 Ethernet Integrated Wi-Fi® compliant wireless Atheros® 802.11 b/g wireless-LAN Expandability 2 main memory slots. Both slots may be occupied. ExpressCard™ slot (ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54) 4-in-1 Bridge Media Adapter Secure Digital, Secure Digital High Capacity, Memory Stick™, Memory Stick PRO™, Multi Media Card [shared slots] Ports Video - RGB (monitor) output port Audio - Microphone input port, Headphone output port Data USB v2.0 – 3ports RJ-45 LAN port RJ-11 modem port Power 90W (19V x 4.74A) 100-240V AC Adapter Battery 4000mAh(6-cell) Lithium Ion battery pack Battery Life (measured by MobileMark™ 2007)13 Included 6-cell battery: 1 hours, 42 minutes Toshiba Software Value Added Package, Electronic User’s Guide, ConfigFree®, Assist, DVD Player, Disc Creator, Extended Tiles for Windows Mobility Center, Speech System, Face Recognition, Recovery Disc Creator, Hard disc(HDD) recovery Third-party Software WildTangent® Orb™ Games Console Microsoft® Works 9 Google™ Toolbar, Desktop, Picasa™ Sun® Java™ 2 Runtime Environment Adobe® Acrobat® Reader Trial Software Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 Edition 60-day trial Norton 360™ All-In-One Security Special Offers Software Amazon.com-Online Shopping, Intuit® Quickbooks® Financial Center, Skype™, Computrace® LoJack® for Laptops (BIOS enab led), eMusic, NetZero® Internet Service Color Matte Silver Dimensions (WxDxH Front/H Rear): 14.3” x 10.6” x 1.33” /1.51” without feet Weight starting at 0.89 lb Manufacturer Warranty 1 year standard warranty Model Number: L305D OR THE HP COMPUTER # Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T4200(2GHz) # 3GB Memory and 320GB Hard Drive # 16.0" Diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Display (1366x768) # LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support # Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 # Weighs 6.57lbs Microprocessor 2.00 GHz Intel Pentium Dual-Core Mobile Processor T4200 Microprocessor Cache 1MB L2 Cache Memory 3GB Memory Max 4GB Video Graphics Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500M Video Memory Up to 1309MB Hard Drive 320GB (5400RPM) Multimedia Drive LightScribe SuperMulti 8X DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support Display 16.0" Diagonal High Definition HP BrightView Display (1366x768) Fax/Modem High speed 56k modem Network Card Integrated 10/100 Ethernet LAN Wireless Connectivity •802.11a/b/g/n WLAN Sound Altec Lansing speakers Keyboard 101-key compatible Pointing Device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical scroll Up/Down pad External Ports • 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards • 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0 • 1 Headphone out • 1 microphone-in • 1 HDMI • 1 VGA (15-pin) • 1 RJ-11 (modem) • 1 RJ -45 (LAN) Security • Kensington MicroSaver lock slot • Power-on password • Accepts 3rd party security lock devices Power • 65W AC Adapter • 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery Software Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 Security and Support: Symantec Norton Internet Security 2009 (including 60 days complimentary live update) HP Help & Support Center HP Recovery Manager HP Home Network Center HP Total Care Advisor Multimedia: HP D

Can Anyone Tell Me If This Is A Good Trade With Dell Because They Broke My Computer And Are Sending Me Another? New Computer 1 224-1944 XPS 1640, Intel Core 2 Duo T9600 (2.8GHz/1066Mhz FSB/6M L2 Cache) 1 310-0173 Airborne Documentation, System Exchanges,Factory Install 1 311-9487 4GB, DDR3, 1067 MHz 2 Dimm forXPS 1640 1 312-0811 56 WHr 6-cell Lithium Ion P Primary Battery, for XPS 1640 1 313-8874 8X DVD+/-RW Slot Load Drive 1 313-8932 DW 5540 Mobile Broadband Built-in Mini-Card for AT&T 1 320-0991 15.6 FHD WLED Display Obsidian Black, 2.0 MP Webcam 1 320-7337 ATI Mobility RADEON HD 3670 - 512MB 1 320-8178 Obsidian Black High Gloss Finish XPS 1640 1 320-8181 15.6 inch Wide Screen 16:9 1080p FHD WLED LCD W/2.0MP, XPS 1640 1 330-1917 DELL RESOURCE DVD,BACK-UP XPS 1640 1 330-6222 Windows 7 Label 1 341-7911 250GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive 1 410-1883 ADOBE READER 9.0 MULTI- LANGUAGE 1 410-2087 McAfee Sapphire MUI, 36-Month 1 412-0360 Soft Contracts - Banctec 1 420-6436 PC-Restore, Dim/Insp 1 420-6576 DELL WELCOME,Software Dimension/Inspiron 1 420-7938 Dell Connect 2.1 1 420-8051 Microsoft Works 9.0, English For Inspiron 1 420-8655 LoJack Theft Recovery Softwarefor Laptops, 1 Year 1 420-9100 Dell Dock Consumer 1 420-9352 Dell, Software, Wild Tangent Inc Games 1 420-9518 DATASAFE ONLINE 1.1 2GB 1 420-9691 DataSafe Local BackUp 2.0 Basic 1 421-0092 DELL-DOWNLOAD-FLAG 1 421-0187 Dell Support Center Software 64 Bit 2.0 1 421-0188 Facial Recognition 1 421-0323 Windows Live Search,Multiple User Interface 1 421-1010 Dell Webcam Central v1.4 1 421-1193 Download Store Links 1 421-1361 MOD,SW,RXO,EZCD,10.3,DE,FI 1 421-1582 Cyberlink Power DVD 8.3 Playback 1 421-1737 Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English 1 421-2000 Soundblaster X-Fi Hi Def Audio Software Enabled 1 421-2086 eBay Webslice 1 430-2600 Integrated 10/100 Network Card 1 430-3497 Dell Wireless 370 Bluetooth Module (2.1) 1 430-3580 Intel WiFi Link 5300 802.11AGNHalf Mini Card w/ My WiFi 1 467-7771 Thanks for choosing Dell Old Computer 1 P219D Processor, T9300, 2.5, 6MB, Core Penryn, C0 0 01323 INFORMATION..., NO ITEM 1 DF315 Assembly, Adapter, Alternating Current, 90W, Mobile 2007 Liteon, 3PIN 1 FW331 Kit, Remote Control, Notebook Mobile 2008, Philips 1 NK750 Keyboard, 86, United States English, Single, Pointing Barents 1 RU335 GUIDE..., OWNER..., EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM..., M1530, ENGLAND/ENGLISH... 1 RU345 PLACEMAT..., GETTING STARTED..., EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM..., M1530, DAO/EMEA 1 UY685 Cord, Power, 125V, 2.5A, 1M, C5 Dual, United States 1 XR215 Assembly, Palmrest, Aluminum W/FPRDR, M1530 1 YK181 Guide, Product, Information Client, DAO/BCC 4 2864D Screw, M3X3, K SCREW HEAD..., MICROSOFT..., BLACK OXIDE... 1 CW725 Card, Wireless, Internal Bluetooth, 355, Windows Vista Os 1 D501F ASSEMBLY..., BASE (ASSEMBLY OR GROUP)..., DISCRETE..., 256M, M1530 1 DP157 Assembly, Camera, 2M, Integrated Manufactured In China, Latin America, M085 1 F988H Kit, Software, Dell Media Direct, 3.5, Digital Video Disk Drive, W1, EXTREME PERFORMANCE SYSTEM... 1 H338F Hard Drive, 250GB, S2, 5.4K, 9.5 HIT-FALB 1 HT898 Bezel, Liquid Crystal Display Plastic, W/CMRA, Light Emitting Diode, M1530 1 K257H KIT..., Software, VHP32SP1A, DigitalVideo Disk Drive, Multiple, 5 1 MK933 Card, Wireless, Minicard, 4965 Most Of World 1 1 MN624 Modem, Wireless, DW5720, Verizon Minicard 1 N849D Assembly, Cable, LED LCD, M1530 1 NH514 KIT..., DOCUMENTATON ON FLOPPY DISK..., MOBILE BROADBAND..., DW5700, MINICARD... 1 P007H Kit, Software, Roxio, 10.2-0 Premium, Blu-ray Disk Playback 1 R020C Kit, Software, Works, 9, English 1 R770D Printed Wiring Assy, Planar LCD LED, 1530 1 R788G Liquid Crystal Display 15.4WXGA+, Light Emitting DiodeWTLF, CHI MEI OPTOELECTRONICS..., V2 1 RN887 Battery, Primary, 56WHR, 6C Lithium, Dynapack InternationalTechnology Corp 1 RX602 Assembly, Blue-Ray Rewritable Double Speed, Slot, 1530 Panasonic 1 T118F Kit, Software, Mcafee, 9, Compact Disk Drive, English 1 XR855 Bracket, Support, Metal, 15.4 Liquid Crystal Display, L, M1530 1 XR856 Bracket, Support, Metal, 15.4 Liquid Crystal Display, R, M1530 2 Y9540 Dual In Line Memory Module 2GB, 667, 256X64, 8K, 200 1 CM796 Assembly, Cover, Liquid Crystal Display, Black, Light Emitting Diode, M1530 1 XR216 Assembly, Heatsink, Notebook MEROM, M1530

Can this run Skyrim without no lag either on medium graphics or high? ProcessorAMD Dual-Core E-450 - 1.65 GHz - 1066 MHz - 1 MB L2 cache Operating SystemGenuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 32-bit RAM4 GB, DDR3, 6 GB maximum memory expansion Graphics cardAMD Radeon HD 6320M, up to 1.92 GB Screen typeLED-backlit Screen resolution1366 x 768 Screen size11.6" Screen featuresHigh-Definition BrightView Display Hard drive500 GB, SATA, 5400 rpm Memory card readerMulti-Format USB3 x USB 2.0 Modem/EthernetIntegrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN WiFi802.11 b/g/n BluetoothYes Video interfaceVGA, HMDI, Display Port Audio interface3.5mm audio out 3.5mm audio in Built-in speakers Microphone SoundInternal Speakers and Audio playback with Beats Audio Webcam2 .0mp Keyboard & MouseFull size island-style keyboard TouchPad supporting Multi-Touch gestures with On/Off button Battery6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) 6 hours Accessories includedHP dm1-4020sa Notebook, Power Cord, 65 W AC Power Adapter, 6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery, Begin here guide, HP manual Software includedHP Setup Manager HP Support Assistant HP Recovery Manager Cyberlink YouCam Windows Live Essentials HP Games powered by WildTangent Adobe Reader Adobe Flash Player EasyBits Magic Desktop HP CoolSense, HP ProtectSmart Omnifone MusicStation SizeWidth x depth x thickness: 292 x 215 x 32mm Weight1.60kg I dont know much about picking out what gb i need for graphic cards and the rest, Thanks If not this, how about - ProcessorAMD Dual-Core E-450 Operating SystemGenuine Windows® 7 Home Premium 64 RAM4 GB Graphics cardAMD Radeon HD 6310M Screen typeHigh-Definition LED BrightView Display Screen resolution1366 x 768 Screen size15.6" Hard drive500 GB Optical disk driveSuperMulti DVD±R/RW with Double Layer Support Memory card readerMulti-Format USB3 USB 2.0 ports FireWireNo Modem/EthernetIntegrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN WiFiWiFi 802.11b/g/n BluetoothNo TV outputVGA, HDMI Expansion card slotNo SoundAltec Lansing speakers Webcam0.3 megapixels Keyboard & MouseFull size textured keyboard with 6 function cells TouchPad supporting Multi-Touch gestures with On/Off Batteryup to 4 - 5 hours Software included● HP Setup Manager ● HP Support Assistant ● HP Recovery Manager ● Cyberlink YouCam ● Windows Live Essentials ● HP Games powered by WildTangent ● Adobe Reader ● Adobe Flash Player ● EasyBits Magic Desktop ● Omnifone MusicStation Weight2.55 kg