The Wife's New Laptop

Hey All!

After all of the help I have received here in the past, I come with another query about a new laptop for my wife (also a GW player).

Although I am willing to shell out quite a bit for her new machine, she has been adamant that I stick to a tight budget and look for good deals. Right now, my university is offering up two machines that fit nicely in our price range and I could use some insight from you good folks:

http://www.hknotebook.com/hku2011/le...deapadz575.jsp

CPUA6-3400M Fusion Quad-Core Processor (1.4GHz, up to 2.3GHz / 4M Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEMWindows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)
CHIPSETAMD M2 Chipset
MEMORY1 x 2GB + 1 x 2GB (third party, separately distributed) DDR3 1333MHz / No Free Slots
HARDDISK750GB SATA HDD (5400rpm)
DISPLAY15.6" HD Glossy / LED-Backlit (1366 x 768)
GRAPHIC CONTROLAMD Radeon™ HD6520G in processor + AMD Radeon™ HD6650M (1GB Dedicated) (Dual Graphics)
OPTICAL DRIVEDVDRW
COMMUNICATION10/100 LAN / Lenovo Wifi b/g/n / Bluetooth® 2.1
PORTS/MEDIA5-in-1 Card Reader
(SD™/SD™ Pro/MMC/MS Pro/xD) /
3 x USB 2.0 / 1 x USB 2.0 & eSATA combo / 1 x VGA / 1 x HDMI / 1 x Microphone / 1 x Audio/Mic jack
BATTERYLi-Ion 6-cell Battery / Up to 4 hours
DIMENSION(HxWxD,in mm)376 (W) x 250 (D) x 20/35.5 (H) mm / Approx. 2.6kg

http://www.hknotebook.com/hku2011/hp/hpprobook4436s.jsp

CPUAMD A6-3400M Fusion Quad-Core Processor (1.4GHz, up to 2.3GHz / 4M Cache)
OPERATING SYSTEMWindows® 7 Home Premium 64-bit (TC/SC/ENG)CHIPSETAMD A70M FCH
MEMORY1 x 2GB + 1 x 2GB(Third Party ,separately distributed) DDR3 1333MHz
HARDDISK500GB SATA HDD (7200rpm)
DISPLAY14" HD anti-glare / LED-backlight (1366 x 768)GRAPHIC CONTROLAMD Radeon™ HD 6540 G2 Dual graphic 1 GB Dedicated
OPTICAL DRIVEDVDRW
COMMUNICATION10/100/1000 LAN / 802.11 b/g/n / Bluetooth® 3.0
PORTS/MEDIA5-in-1 Card Reader (SD/MMC/MS/MS Pro/SD) / 1 x USB 3.0 / 3 x USB 2.0 / 1 x VGA / 1 x HDMI / 1 x RJ-45
BATTERYLi-Ion 6-cell Battery / Up to 4 hours
DIMENSION(HxWxD,in mm)339 (W) x 235 (D) x 28.1 (H) mm/ Approx. 2.2kg

Any advice?

Out of those two, the first one is a bit better mostly because of slightly better graphics and a larger hard drive.
They are both using what AMD calls "dual graphics". In the case of the first one, it's the HD6520G built into the processor, plus a separate HD6650M chip - which AMD then calls HD6720G2 graphics.
The second one is HD6520G + HD6450M - which gives HD6540G2 graphics (slightly less powerful).

Generally speaking, the AMD APUs with internal graphics far outperform the internal graphics of an Intel i3 CPU as far as graphics is concerned, but it becomes a different issue when you add a discrete GPU to the mix. I would be curious to see how well these units would compare to a similarly priced i3 based system (with discrete graphics).

In any case, either of those should handle GW just fine.

Sorry for the long-overdue reply. Thanks for the input, Quaker!

We went with the z575 (the first one) and love it so far. I'm actually considering getting one myself since I can get it for almost 50% off the regular price. The one thing holding me back is the question of whether it's a worthwhile investment. If the machine cannot play GW2 then, frankly, I'd rather just put more money into something else.

Currently, I'm running the following:

i5 [email protected]
4GB DDR3 RAM
500 GB HDD (5400rpm)
NVIDIA 310m (1 GB Dedicated)

The machine runs GW1 just fine at 1366x786 (60fps, graphics at max w/ 4xAA), although it lags a bit sometimes in Kamadan D1 during peak trade hours. I'm looking for a machine that can give me the same kind of performance with GW2. Of course, not knowing the specs for GW2 hinders the ability to pick out a good machine just a bit...

Thoughts?

Should be but wait as long as possible if you want to be sure and there will be better deals later on.

I'd agree with that. Comparing the advances in laptop technology from just a year ago, if you wait another 6-8 months, it could easily be comparable to spending an extra ~$200. If you want a more powerful computer now, it's nearly impossible to judge the performance of GW2. I remember an interview where they said they wanted a wide range - ie, enough scaling that it is playable on low to mid-range systems, and beautiful enough to challenge solid gaming rigs on the top end. Chances are it's playable with what you have - but there's not any easy way to tell what will allow you to pull a solid 60fps.

I think those A6 machines should be able to play GW2. The only question is at what level, but I suspect that it should be mid-range-ish.

The nVidia 310m is quite far down the list of mobile GPUs and would be the main limiting factor in your machine. As Draca said, your best bet, if you don't need a new machine right now, would be to wait until at least the beta of GW2 to decide on a new one.

Thanks for the input, all. I actually agree that it would be best to wait and see what the specs for GW2 are like and, under any other circumstances, would not have even bothered you with the question.

The only factor that tempts me is the price I can get the machine for right now (USD 500-ish). I have yet to see that kind of deal for any comparable machine. Then again, I would really like a machine that would play GW2 in all its graphical glory, and we do not know its requirements as of yet.

Too bad you cannot replace a laptop GPU as easily as a desktop's card...if you can at all, of course.

Oh, one more thing: I found what looks like a blog post alleging to have the minimum requirements for GW2. Any thoughts on authenticity?

http://minimumsystemrequirements.net/guild-wars-2.html

It's a good guess other then that /shrug.