7 May
Gamers expect hyper-realistic renderings of both familiar and fantastical landscapes. Mind-blowing graphics, atmosphere-enhancing audio, deliberate game design and high interactivity combine to make modern gaming a fully immersive, sensory experience. Hardware that doesn’t meet or exceed recommended system requirements will result in a frustratingly choppy, flipbook-like game session. The sweeping vistas and stunning sunsets of The Elder Scrolls 3: Oblivion or the nightmarish hellscape of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl just don’t have the same visceral impact without solid hardware rendering them into living, breathing environments.
Current laptops designed for high-impact gaming are powered by dual-core (and even quad-core) processors and blindingly fast video cards. Like their bulkier, immobile desktop progenitors, laptops are capable of packing incredible processing power, large reserves of RAM, and giant, high resolution displays to make your gaming experience as realistic and immersive as possible.
With the rise of MMORPGs, a stable, high-speed internet connection became an absolute necessity for serious gamers. Gaming laptops are equipped with all the hardware you need to stay in touch with your guildmates, upload funky Spore creations, or download Half Life mods. The omnipresence of wireless internet means that you can make time for a quick round of Call of Duty 4 at school, the coffee shop, in the airport, or at work after hours. The portability of a laptop ultimately equates to 24-hour access to your World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online avatars and ensures that you won’t ever be out of the game just because you’re away from home. With a power-packing laptop, an impromptu LAN party is always a likely possibility. Grinding your way through the Wrath of the Lich King is more enjoyable with company.
Buying a gaming laptop doesn’t mean sacrificing the computer power, function, or the accessories of your desktop at home. Gaming laptops are standard with all the peripherals you’re used to at home. You’ll find a webcam, microphone, multi-card reader, USB ports, and a decent pair of speakers on just about all gaming laptops available. Blu-ray disc drives, eSATA and HDMI ports are par for the course on mid to high-end gaming and multimedia laptops .
The power gap between desktops and laptops is rapidly closing. The portability, connectivity and versatility of a laptop combined with the power of a desktop allow for a mobile gaming experience every bit as satisfying as what you can expect from a full size, desktop tower at home.
What to look for in gaming laptop?
Processor
Dual-core processors are standard in current gaming laptops. We’re even seeing the gradual shift to quad-core processors as more applications and games are designed to use them. High performance gaming laptops have dual-core processors with at least a 2GHz processing speed. The Alienware Area-51 m17x, for example, hosts an Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor that clocks in at a stunning 2.8GHz. A more modest processing speed of 2.2GHz still handles the workload of most next-gen games.
Video Card
Your video controller provides the muscle for the dynamic lighting, explosions, landscapes and action sequences that make modern games so fun. If you’ve seen a standard desktop’s video card, you’ll know that they are about as large as a paperback book. It’s no simple task shrinking them down to a size suitable for a laptop. Even given size constraints, 512MB and even 1GB video cards are common in gaming laptops. Recently, it has even become practical and even affordable to outfit laptops with dual video cards. Nvidia’s SLI technology harnesses the power of two video cards at the same time. When considering a gaming laptop, be sure to keep next year’s games in mind. Only a handful of games available now fully utilize the power of dual video cards, but up-and-coming games are being designed with SLI technology in mind. Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 get a strong boost from dual video cards. Look for tried and true performers like the GeForce 8800M, 9800M and Radeon HD3870.
Display
The size, dimensions, and resolution capabilities of a laptop display are important factors to consider when buying a laptop. Like in so many other areas, size does matter! 15, 17, 18 and even 20+ inch displays are available on gaming laptops. A great gaming experience requires a large and bright screen. Looking for a gaming laptop that will fit in a briefcase or backpack? A 17inch display is probably about as large as you want to go. Bigger isn’t always better if you plan on hauling your laptop around town.
Will you be watching a lot of HD movies on your laptop? If so, look for a display like that of the HP HDX 18t Premium—it has a 16:9 aspect ratio that will play movies without resizing them or adding black bars to the screen.
Hard Drive
Photos, files, music, and video take up massive quantities of space on your computer’s hard drive. If you plan on storing media in large quantities, the higher the gigabyte count, the better off you’ll be. Current games can occupy as much as 15GB of hard drive space, and in general, having plenty of free space on your hard drive improves performance and load times. Less than 200GB is just too small. And with hard drive prices dropping every few months, why not leap for a 500GB or even a colossus TB (terabyte) drive?
Be sure to keep an eye on hard drive speed. 7,200 RPMs is a fast and responsive drive speed in a laptop. Extreme performance minded users are going to want to consider solid state drives—they forgo spinning drives for flash-based technology similar to that found in a USB memory stick. Solid state drives are gaining in popularity but still cost substantially more than traditional drives. Budget-conscious buyers can be comfortable with the old-fashioned, rotating drive. It won’t be going the way of Betamax anytime soon.
Warranty
The breathtaking power of a high-end gaming laptop doesn’t come cheap. Manufacturers generally offer a one year warranty that covers any hardware defects. It’s always prudent to take a look at the option of an extended warranty.
7 May
Gamers expect hyper-realistic renderings of both familiar and fantastical landscapes. Mind-blowing graphics, atmosphere-enhancing audio, deliberate game design and high interactivity combine to make modern gaming a fully immersive, sensory experience. Hardware that doesn’t meet or exceed recommended system requirements will result in a frustratingly choppy, flipbook-like game session. The sweeping vistas and stunning sunsets of The Elder Scrolls 3: Oblivion or the nightmarish hellscape of S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of Chernobyl just don’t have the same visceral impact without solid hardware rendering them into living, breathing environments.
Current laptops designed for high-impact gaming are powered by dual-core (and even quad-core) processors and blindingly fast video cards. Like their bulkier, immobile desktop progenitors, laptops are capable of packing incredible processing power, large reserves of RAM, and giant, high resolution displays to make your gaming experience as realistic and immersive as possible.
With the rise of MMORPGs, a stable, high-speed internet connection became an absolute necessity for serious gamers. Gaming laptops are equipped with all the hardware you need to stay in touch with your guildmates, upload funky Spore creations, or download Half Life mods. The omnipresence of wireless internet means that you can make time for a quick round of Call of Duty 4 at school, the coffee shop, in the airport, or at work after hours. The portability of a laptop ultimately equates to 24-hour access to your World of Warcraft or Warhammer Online avatars and ensures that you won’t ever be out of the game just because you’re away from home. With a power-packing laptop, an impromptu LAN party is always a likely possibility. Grinding your way through the Wrath of the Lich King is more enjoyable with company.
Buying a gaming laptop doesn’t mean sacrificing the computer power, function, or the accessories of your desktop at home. Gaming laptops are standard with all the peripherals you’re used to at home. You’ll find a webcam, microphone, multi-card reader, USB ports, and a decent pair of speakers on just about all gaming laptops available. Blu-ray disc drives, eSATA and HDMI ports are par for the course on mid to high-end gaming and multimedia laptops.
The power gap between desktops and laptops is rapidly closing. The portability, connectivity and versatility of a laptop combined with the power of a desktop allow for a mobile gaming experience every bit as satisfying as what you can expect from a full size, desktop tower at home.
What to look for in gaming laptop?
Processor
Dual-core processors are standard in current gaming laptops. We’re even seeing the gradual shift to quad-core processors as more applications and games are designed to use them. High performance gaming laptops have dual-core processors with at least a 2GHz processing speed. The Alienware Area-51 m17x, for example, hosts an Intel Core 2 Extreme X9000 processor that clocks in at a stunning 2.8GHz. A more modest processing speed of 2.2GHz still handles the workload of most next-gen games.
Video Card
Your video controller provides the muscle for the dynamic lighting, explosions, landscapes and action sequences that make modern games so fun. If you’ve seen a standard desktop’s video card, you’ll know that they are about as large as a paperback book. It’s no simple task shrinking them down to a size suitable for a laptop. Even given size constraints, 512MB and even 1GB video cards are common in gaming laptops. Recently, it has even become practical and even affordable to outfit laptops with dual video cards. Nvidia’s SLI technology harnesses the power of two video cards at the same time. When considering a gaming laptop, be sure to keep next year’s games in mind. Only a handful of games available now fully utilize the power of dual video cards, but up-and-coming games are being designed with SLI technology in mind. Far Cry 2 and Fallout 3 get a strong boost from dual video cards. Look for tried and true performers like the GeForce 8800M, 9800M and Radeon HD3870.
Display
The size, dimensions, and resolution capabilities of a laptop display are important factors to consider when buying a laptop. Like in so many other areas, size does matter! 15, 17, 18 and even 20+ inch displays are available on gaming laptops. A great gaming experience requires a large and bright screen. Looking for a gaming laptop that will fit in a briefcase or backpack? A 17inch display is probably about as large as you want to go. Bigger isn’t always better if you plan on hauling your laptop around town.
Will you be watching a lot of HD movies on your laptop? If so, look for a display like that of the HP HDX 18t Premium—it has a 16:9 aspect ratio that will play movies without resizing them or adding black bars to the screen.
Hard Drive
Photos, files, music, and video take up massive quantities of space on your computer’s hard drive. If you plan on storing media in large quantities, the higher the gigabyte count, the better off you’ll be. Current games can occupy as much as 15GB of hard drive space, and in general, having plenty of free space on your hard drive improves performance and load times. Less than 200GB is just too small. And with hard drive prices dropping every few months, why not leap for a 500GB or even a colossus TB (terabyte) drive?
Be sure to keep an eye on hard drive speed. 7,200 RPMs is a fast and responsive drive speed in a laptop. Extreme performance minded users are going to want to consider solid state drives—they forgo spinning drives for flash-based technology similar to that found in a USB memory stick. Solid state drives are gaining in popularity but still cost substantially more than traditional drives. Budget-conscious buyers can be comfortable with the old-fashioned, rotating drive. It won’t be going the way of Betamax anytime soon.
Warranty
The breathtaking power of a high-end gaming laptop doesn’t come cheap. Manufacturers generally offer a one year warranty that covers any hardware defects. It’s always prudent to take a look at the option of an extended warranty.
30 Apr
30 Apr
30 Apr
28 Apr
25 Apr
24 Apr
24 Apr
23 Apr
If you’re not a computer gaming enthusiast or have a nickname that rhymes with Greek… overclocking may be a term that’s foreign to you. Overclocking is usually associated with gaming computers and it’s a way of increasing your computer’s performance without having to pay the higher price tag.
Overclocking basically refers to changing the frequency of an electronic component; the name comes from the “clock” which acts as a timer which sends out an electronic wave that determines the speed at which the component processes information. In regards to computers or laptops, this usually means the CPU and the FSB.
Now if all that is also sounding a bit foreign to you, just remember overclocking simply means changing the default speed in a CPU to a more faster level to achieve better performances from your computer. Gamers use it to rev up their gaming machines to get the ultimate performance level possible. Like you would!
The theory goes something like this: in order for major CPU makers like Intel to turn out new CPUs every few months or so, they simply design a single processor and then release it with different configurations, usually at the most stable frequencies so your computer will run smoothly. Changing the clock frequencies is one way they can have a new processor very quickly. Since the major market share is for mid to low range CPUs that’s where most of them are configured/sold at this level. However, many of these CPUs can operate at a much greater frequency with higher performances just a few adjustments away.
Gamers and computer enthusiasts have figured this out and by changing this frequency they can get a high-end CPU without having to pay the higher price. Overclocking is simply a way of getting more bang from your computer spending bucks.
WARNING & DISCLAIMER
However, there’s a major WARNING that should come with any discussion of Overclocking – along with a major DISCLAIMER. If you don’t know exactly what you’re doing, you can seriously damage your computer. That’s why overclocking will usually VOID your warrenty with your computer maker or seller. Proceed with caution and at your own risk if you attempt to overclock your laptop or computer. There are serious risks involved.
Nor is overclocking a simple procedure, it can be very complicated and does require some knowledge of how computer systems work and operate. What really complicates the whole process is the variations of the “electrical and physical characteristics” of different computer systems, plus many factors are involved such as CPU multipliers, thermal loads, cooling methods, bus dividers, voltages and so on.
Keep in mind, with overclocking you’re talking about changing the frequency of the FSB (Front Side Bus) which literally dictates how fast all your computer components will run. By changing the FSB speed you can change the speed of your CPU and RAM. End result: faster laptop or computer.
However, as mentioned before there are major risks involved; change the frequency of the FSB too high and you can end up with hard drive failure. There is also the more serious issue of overheating your laptop or computer which could result in permanent damage. In other words, you could “fry” your machine.
That’s why most experts suggest you not change the FSB speed by more than 20-30 MHz. Also remember, not all CPUs (due to manufacturing processes) can be overclocked. And also as a general rule of thumb, it is usually not wise to overclock a laptop that’s already “hot to the touch”.
Likewise, some CPUs are much more suited for overclocking because they run at cooler levels and use little power – these include the Pentium M and AMD Turion lines. If you want to learn more about overclocking and exactly how it’s done – you can check out this excellent detailed article on overclocking from LaptopLogic:
www.laptoplogic.com/resources/detail.php?id=15
This article will explain the steps you need to take to “overclock” your computer system or laptop. Again, even this information comes with a solid warning about the dangers of overclocking your computer system. Proceed with the right care and you can improve your gaming laptop’s performance. Proceed the wrong way or become too power hunger and having a “fry-up” will take on a whole new meaning!