This guest post was written by T.J. Aaron from LaptopLogic.com. Head over to them to check out latest laptop hardware and read about best gaming laptops.
Once upon a time, PC gaming was practically restricted to desktops. There have been laptops with dedicated graphics for longer than integrated graphics have even been an option, but for the most part they could not compete with the models available on desktops. If you wanted to play the latest games or run at higher resolutions, you were out of luck. Over the last 4-5 years, GPU development focus shifted from maximum power to maximum power efficiency. For the first time ever, innovations started on the mobile side and spread to the desktop side. Around this time, we also saw the same shift in processor technology.
Today you can have laptops with quad core processors, dual GPU graphics, dual hard drives, and even dual displays. If you are looking for a mobile gaming solution, you are in luck with a number of different options.
Dell has more options than most with their purchase of Alienware not too long ago. Their XPS line of notebooks is more multimedia and gaming oriented, with the 15.4″ and 17″ models offering high end GPU options. While not the latest NVIDIA offers, you can get an NVIDIA SLI Dual GeForce 8800M GTX in their XPS M1730 and Intel’s Core 2 Extreme high performance processor. This offering will keep you in high frame rates and not break the bank as much as a “boutique” machine. The XPS M1730 starts just under $2000.
If you really want to go all out, you can’t go wrong with Alienware. Their Area-51 m17x offers NVIDIA’s GeForce 9800M GT with your choice of Intel dual core processors, but the M17 is where performance really takes a step forward. Not only can you choose a quad core processor, but you get ATI’s Mobility Radeon HD 3870 with CrossFireX (ATI’s codename for dual GPU’s). The HD 3870 with CrossFireX is arguably the most powerful gaming GPU setup on the market today. The Area-51 M17 actually starts at a reasonable $1649 with dual graphics, but when you start adding the cool options you can easily spend $4000.
One would think that since HP bought former gaming boutique company VoodooPC, they might have some cool notebook gaming offerings. Unfortunately the only VoodooPC notebook left is the Envy133, a svelte ultraportable. On the HP side of things, their HDX 16t and 18t offer 16 and 18″ 16:9 format displays (true movie format, rather than usual 16:10), but only up to NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT graphics. While these are certainly better than most options, it won’t be quite enough to keep up with that gaming fetish.
Where else can you look? Asus and Gateway offer some competitive offerings with decent GPU’s and reasonable prices, but the ultimate mobile gamer should be on the look out for Sager machines. Sager is a brand name of 17″ barely-portable machines with almost any option you can imagine and one unique option: upgradeable GPU’s. Clevo is the company that actually makes the notebooks Sager sells, so you might be able to find a “white box” special under that name.
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{ 2 comments }
Just to update some things about HP in the article above…
they did introduce a concept 17 inch Gaming Laptop called
the Firefly with Dual Displays and Voodoo DNA. This gaming
laptop is not in production or available to the general
public.
However, HP did just release two gaming desktop PCs with
Voodoo DNA (that’s what they’re calling it) – the HP
Firebird 802 and HP Firebird 802.
Hopefully, more of this Voodoo DNA will be injected into
HP products.
Completely agree with this article, I also believe that the gaming scene will be mobile rather than tethered to a desk in the very near future. At AMD we work very closely with our partners to enable awesome gaming systems like the Alienware M17 with dual ATI Radeon Mobility 3870’s, I actually have one on my desk and will be writing a blog on it shortly!
Mobile gaming rocks!!!
Ian “Cabrtosr” McNaughton
Twitter: IanMcNaughton
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