Help picking best new Laptop for EQ2

[LadySaphri]

<p>I am buying a new laptop and I have narrowed it down to 4 laptops. I used to go to my brother for help because he was the computer tech but since I can't do that anymore I am hoping that I might get some advice about which of the computers would run EQ2 the best. I really appreciate any advice if you have any. I know it is a lot of info but thanks.</p><p>Computer 1: DELL XPS</p><p>PROCESSOR 2nd generation Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz edit OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Home Premium, 64-Bit, English edit HD DISPLAY 17.3" HD+ (900p) LED Display with 2.0MP HD Webcam edit MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit VIDEO CARD NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M 3GB graphics with Optimus and TV Tuner edit HARD DRIVE 1.0TB 500GB 7.2k HDD x 2 INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) edit WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0 edit KEYBOARD Standard Keyboard - English edit MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broad Band Selected edit SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2 BATTERY OPTIONS 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery  Integrated Network Adapter Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card </p><p>Computer 2: Toshiba Satellite P505-S8950 Laptop Computer</p><p>Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8700 Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) Memory: 6GB DDR2 800MHz memory Display Size: 18.4" widescreen HD+ with TruBrite® Technology Supports 720p content, 1680x945 (HD+) Graphics Engine: ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 Graphics Memory: 2302MB total: 1GB DDR discrete memory + up to 1278MB shared memory w/ATI HyperMemory™ technology Hard Drive: 384GB: 64GB SSD (Serial ATA) + 320GB (7200rpm, Serial ATA) Hard Drive Size: 64GB Solid State Drive (Serial ATA, SSD) Optical Drive: Slot-Loading DVD SuperMulti (+/- Double Layer) with Labelflash® Wireless: Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/g/n) Bluetooth® version 2.1 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)  Webcam: Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel LAN: 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Audio: harman/kardon® stereo speakers, Built-in microphone, Headphone jack (stereo), Microphone jack (mono)</p><p>Computer 3: Toshiba Qosmio X500-S1801 Gaming Laptop</p><p>Extras: Dolby Surround Sound Audio, Face Recognition, Resolution+&trade, Blu-ray&trade Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) Memory: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory Display: 18.4" widescreen HD+ TruBrite® TFT LCD display Supports 720p content, 16:9 aspect ratio, 1680x945 (HD+) Graphics Engine: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M Graphics Memory: 2782MB total: 1GB GDDR5 discrete memory + up to 1758MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology Hard Drive: 500GB HDD (7200rpm) Audio: harman/kardon® stereo speakers, Built-in microphone, S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port), Wireless: Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n) + Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR & LAN: 10/100/1000</p><p>Computer 4: MSI GT660-003US 16" Notebook PC</p><p>Intel Quad-Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz processor and 6GB of DDR3 Memory (12GB max)16-inch Widescreen display with 2 HD Speakers plus Subwoofer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M with 1GB DDR3 dedicated VRAM 500GB SATA Hard Drive and SuperMulti Optical Drive Hard Drive Speed:   7200 RPM 720P HD integrated webcam 802.11b/g/n wireless as well as Bluetooth eSATA, USB 2.0 and 3.0, FireWire connection ports Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Operating System Audio Channels:   2 speakers + subwoofer</p>

[Aibyouka-Mew]

<p>Did you end up picking either of these? I'm going to be laptop shopping soon and trying to find one that'll handle EQ2 without too many issues.</p>

[MurFalad]

<p>That's four very nice laptops, the second one though isn't in the same league as the others although I expect its price isn't in the same league either <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></p><p>The Dell seems the best balance of specs with the newest and I guess fastest CPU (not sure how it performs, but if it gets to 3.4Ghz EQ2 will be good).</p><p>If the MSI graphics card is dual GPU then its a little wasted, a good machine still though. </p><p>The one thing I have found from my experience is the Toshiba build quality seems to be generally better then the Dell machines, but the prices are slightly higher too.</p><p>Performance wise I'd guess the Dell XPS will be top</p><p>Followed by the MSI just</p><p>Followed very closely by the Qosmio (to be honest I'd pick the Qosmio over the MSI on features and reputation, both are good though).</p><p>And the core 2 duo will be in last, a nice machine still but I think this one won't be able to give increased performance from shader 3.0 at a guess, its also DDR2, really a previous generation laptop but it should be a lot cheaper then the others (and beats the one I use during the week handily - I play on high settings on that one).</p>

[Lalen]

<p><cite>LadySaphrine wrote:</cite></p><blockquote><p>I am buying a new laptop and I have narrowed it down to 4 laptops. I used to go to my brother for help because he was the computer tech but since I can't do that anymore I am hoping that I might get some advice about which of the computers would run EQ2 the best. I really appreciate any advice if you have any. I know it is a lot of info but thanks.</p><p>Computer 1: DELL XPS</p><p>PROCESSOR 2nd generation <span style="font-size: medium;"><strong>Intel® Core™ i7-2820QM</strong></span> processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 3.40 GHz edit OPERATING SYSTEM Genuine Windows® Home Premium, 64-Bit, English edit HD DISPLAY 17.3" HD+ (900p) LED Display with 2.0MP HD Webcam edit MEMORY 8GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory edit VIDEO CARD<span style="font-size: large;"><strong> NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 555M</strong></span> 3GB graphics with Optimus and TV Tuner edit HARD DRIVE 1.0TB 500GB 7.2k HDD x 2 INTERNAL OPTICAL DRIVE Tray Load Blu-ray Disc BD-Combo (Reads BD and Writes to DVD/CD) edit WIRELESS + BLUETOOTH Intel© Centrino© Advanced-N 6230 and Bluetooth 3.0 edit KEYBOARD Standard Keyboard - English edit MOBILE BROADBAND No Mobile Broad Band Selected edit SOUND OPTIONS JBL 2.1 Speakers with Waves Maxx Audio 3 + Creative SoundBlaster X-FI MB 1.2 BATTERY OPTIONS 92 WHr 9-cell Lithium Ion Primary Battery  Integrated Network Adapter Integrated 10/100/1000 Network Card </p><p>Computer 2: Toshiba Satellite P505-S8950 Laptop Computer</p><p>Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor P8700 Operating System: Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium (SP1, 64-bit) Memory: 6GB DDR2 800MHz memory Display Size: 18.4" widescreen HD+ with TruBrite® Technology Supports 720p content, 1680x945 (HD+) Graphics Engine: ATI® Mobility Radeon™ HD 4650 Graphics Memory: 2302MB total: 1GB DDR discrete memory + up to 1278MB shared memory w/ATI HyperMemory™ technology Hard Drive: 384GB: 64GB SSD (Serial ATA) + 320GB (7200rpm, Serial ATA) Hard Drive Size: 64GB Solid State Drive (Serial ATA, SSD) Optical Drive: Slot-Loading DVD SuperMulti (+/- Double Layer) with Labelflash® Wireless: Intel® Wi-Fi Link 5100AGN (802.11a/g/n) Bluetooth® version 2.1 plus Enhanced Data Rate (EDR)  Webcam: Webcam and microphone built into LCD bezel LAN: 10/100/1000 Ethernet LAN Audio: harman/kardon® stereo speakers, Built-in microphone, Headphone jack (stereo), Microphone jack (mono)</p><p>Computer 3: Toshiba Qosmio X500-S1801 Gaming Laptop</p><p>Extras: Dolby Surround Sound Audio, Face Recognition, Resolution+&trade, Blu-ray&trade Processor: Intel® Core™ i7-720QM processor Operating System: Genuine Windows 7 Professional (64-bit) Memory: 4GB DDR3 1066MHz memory Display: 18.4" widescreen HD+ TruBrite® TFT LCD display Supports 720p content, 16:9 aspect ratio, 1680x945 (HD+) Graphics Engine: NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 360M Graphics Memory: 2782MB total: 1GB GDDR5 discrete memory + up to 1758MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology Hard Drive: 500GB HDD (7200rpm) Audio: harman/kardon® stereo speakers, Built-in microphone, S/P DIF output port (shared with headphone port), Wireless: Wi-Fi® Wireless networking (802.11b/g/n) + Bluetooth® V2.1 + EDR & LAN: 10/100/1000</p><p>Computer 4: MSI GT660-003US 16" Notebook PC</p><p>Intel Quad-Core i7-740QM 1.73GHz processor and 6GB of DDR3 Memory (12GB max)16-inch Widescreen display with 2 HD Speakers plus Subwoofer NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M with 1GB DDR3 dedicated VRAM 500GB SATA Hard Drive and SuperMulti Optical Drive Hard Drive Speed:   7200 RPM 720P HD integrated webcam 802.11b/g/n wireless as well as Bluetooth eSATA, USB 2.0 and 3.0, FireWire connection ports Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Operating System Audio Channels:   2 speakers + subwoofer</p></blockquote><p>That first PC is what you want that 555 card in a laptop would be a really nice mobile gaming rig.</p><p>I would suggest however to get that hard drive swapped out for a solid-state drive if you're only going to be gaming on it -- as far as laptop hard drives go with the limited IO bandwidth, it would be a huge performance boost not to have to worry about fetch latency =).</p>