Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Building a Laptop

Collapse
X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 1
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous template Next
  • #1

    Building a Laptop

    Ok, I want FFXI back on my laptop. But my Dell Inspiron 2200 is a POS. Granted, the Intell 915 chipset can run FFXI just fine, but let me try something like Fraps and Windower, and POOF, there goes POL, crashing like a Coke Whore on Lazy Sunday.

    Anyway, I've been looking around, and I've been very interested in making a custom Laptop. There is a surging market for them, and barebones laptops are rapidly rising.

    Yadda yadda, etc etc, all I'm basically asking is if anyone can point me in the direction of a Barebones PC that has PCI Express Support.

    Why PCI Express? Because the X700 series is trash and the GeForce 6800 Extreme makes me happy in the pants region.

    I'd also like to use the Pentium-M series and tack on AT LEAST a gig of ram.

    Laptop HDDs seem to be limited to 5400, so that's moot.

    And understand- my motive is firstly, space.

    Space being that I can't have an uber leet sauce Tower in my dorm room.

    And my second motive is gaming. I don't care about portability, I don't care about power consumption or how much my battery life will suck. I keep my laptop plugged in anyway, and I Hibernate it.

    So I'm willing to go as big as possible.

    Oh, and Widescreen would be nice also.

    Anyway, the only thing I found was this article on the AOpen OpenBook (BareBook) 1559-JL Mobile Barebone System.

    I'd definately buy that, but the article is a year old, and it's impossible to navigate the AOpen site for any of their barebones systems (or maybe I'm just retarded....)

    Anyway, that's my inquery, thanks in advance.

    -Ren
    The Tao of Ren
    FFXIV LowRes Benchmark - 5011

    If we don't like something, collectively, if our hatred for it throbs like an abscess beneath every thread, does that mean that they're doing something right?
    Originally posted by Kaeko
    As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
    Tags: building, laptop
    • Thanks 0
  • #2
    Re: Building a Laptop

    I don't know your budget, so I just conveniently assume that you wanna go nuts and build a "monster" laptop at whatever the cost.


    Though not PenM (it's for Core Duo or Solo), Clevo's M575U is one of the top of the line barebone laptops. GeForce Go 7900 GTX w/ 512MB VRAM, 17" widescreen, takes up to 2GB of RAM, and other crazy specs for a laptop.

    Also, though it's for AMD Turion 64, Clevo's M590K is also a monster. With GeForce Go 7900 GTX SLI w/ 256MB VRAM each (it's 2 of 8x lanes, not 16x though), it possibly offers the craziest laptop graphics on the market today.


    Clevo is the only company I'm aware of that makes this sort of high-end barebone laptops; all others make only middle to low end range of products, such as MSI and ASUS. And AOpen doesn't seem to make the barebone laptops anymore.


    BTW, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (HGST) and Seagate do make 2.5" 7200RPM HDD's. HGST isn't a popular name in a US market, but as far as I'm concerned they make the best (in overall spec) 2.5" drive. It shouldn't be too hard to find a 2.5" 7200RPM HDD's if you search online stores, though of course they cost more than 5400RPM ones.
    • Thanks 0

    Comment

    • #3
      Re: Building a Laptop

      ASUS and MSI make bare bone laptops but they don't have anything above a 6600 go for there videochipset. If space is a problem and you still want to go DIY you could always build a small forum factor pc.
      Last edited by Thrasher; 08-06-2006, 12:42 PM.

      • Thanks 0

      Comment

      • #4
        Re: Building a Laptop

        I don't know about what hardware, graphics cards, or whatever you should use, but I do have one piece of advice for playing FFXI on a laptop: get the best fan you can find. Mine gets so hot that if I don't have an external fan going almost all the time it overheats and freezes up. I recently got one that you put your laptop on top of and it plugs into a USB outlet on your laptop.

        Just be sure to position it just right, the rubber things on the back of it needs to be touching the rubber grips on the bottom of your laptop.

        Main Job: 70RDM/BLM or WHM ~ Fairy (I hate you, Maat)
        Currently Leveling: 49WHM/BLM
        Windurst Rank 10 ~ As of 5/25/07! Woot!

        My Fanfiction (please read, or at least skim!)

        Susan>> Babies are just like people.
        Susan>> Just smaller.
        [GM]Dave>> But I don't like people.
        [GM]Dave>> I hate people.
        Susan>> Babies are like small people that can't talk.
        [GM]Dave>> ...
        [GM]Dave>> I'm listening.

        • Thanks 0

        Comment

        • #5
          Re: Building a Laptop

          bside: I love you. Now show me some pricing and I'll deliver you the internets you just won.

          Thrasher: Yeah, I kinda figured that... a lot changes over the course of the year, but thanks for reassuring me /sigh. And na, having a laptop, having it all in one box w/o the need for an external moniter or keyboard or and extraneous plugs: that's why I'm trying to have a laptop. But if worse comes to worse, I can build a leet cause comp for less than 2k.

          Lilani: Yeah, even my 2200 got hot. And I know that the heat sinks on a lot of high end gaming laptops get insanely hot. My friend actually got blisters because his ran so high and he put it on his bare skin *_*
          The Tao of Ren
          FFXIV LowRes Benchmark - 5011

          If we don't like something, collectively, if our hatred for it throbs like an abscess beneath every thread, does that mean that they're doing something right?
          Originally posted by Kaeko
          As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
          • Thanks 0

          Comment

          • #6
            Re: Building a Laptop

            It was nearly 4 yrs ago when I left Boston and came back home in Tokyo, and ever since then I've not paid much attention to US PC market. I don't mean to disappoint you, but US DIY PC market is fairly small as compared to Japan, or other countries where DIY is a lot more popular. (Note that Japan is often named first by PC component manufactures, such as Intel and AMD, when they think of a large DIY market.) And after I've done some search, I found out that in US, Clevo's products are mostly available through OEM manufactures as Built-To-Order (BTO) laptops, namely Alienware, Hypersonic, Sager, and so on, according to Wikipedia. You might wanna add Eurocom to that list if you're OK w/ BTO ones.


            However, that doesn't mean you can't get the barebones at all. Although very limited, there are online stores that carry their products, like these 2 that I found;

            Integrated Systems Tech (hereafter "IST")
            RJTech

            (IST requires you to buy a CPU from them, too, but you'll need one anyways.)

            M590K, the Turion 64 w/ 7900GTX SLI one, is priced at $2099 at IST.

            EDIT: Forgot to mention above; M590K comes w/ the 19" WSXGA+ (1680x1050) screen.

            And another one I mentioned above is starting to hit the market as we speak, and they don't seem to carry it just yet. Instead, M570U, one that's very similar to M575U in specs, is tagged at $1724 at RJTech, w/ WUXGA (1920x1200) screen and DVDRW DL drive, which are the only available choices at IST. Of course, you can downgrade some of the components at RJTech to save some bucks if you want to.


            Either way, you'll need CPU, HDD, and RAM on top of the bare system's price, for which Pricewatch is your friend. Make sure you get 2 sticks of RAM instead of just 1 in order to get the benefit of dual-channel. And don't forget about Windows CD, too.


            BTW, if any of you are wondering how 7900GTX SLI on a laptop would look, I found a good pic;
            Attached Files
            Last edited by bside; 08-06-2006, 11:22 PM.
            • Thanks 0

            Comment

            • #7
              Re: Building a Laptop

              And 2000 is the ballpark if I want to get anything decent and upgradable. And nice pic... That's a LOT of Copper. And why are there 4 fans....
              The Tao of Ren
              FFXIV LowRes Benchmark - 5011

              If we don't like something, collectively, if our hatred for it throbs like an abscess beneath every thread, does that mean that they're doing something right?
              Originally posted by Kaeko
              As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
              • Thanks 0

              Comment

              • #8
                Re: Building a Laptop

                You could always try Alienware... I've always wanted one http://alienware.com/product_pages/n...l_default.aspx they are made specificly for gameing.
                • Thanks 0

                Comment

                • #9
                  Re: Building a Laptop

                  Originally posted by WishMaster3K
                  And 2000 is the ballpark if I want to get anything decent and upgradable. And nice pic... That's a LOT of Copper. And why are there 4 fans....
                  2 Fans for Graphics
                  1 for CPU
                  1 for NB

                  At least that what it looks like.
                  Keep in mind, sig might be outdated I just update it a few times per week.
                  Signature with the usual levels and obtained stuff etc. . .
                  • Thanks 0

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Re: Building a Laptop

                    Wow, this sites are awsome. I built a decent one on RJTech for about 1600. Decent, not uber. And It had the 6600..... =[

                    Oh well, it's interesting to see these, because I was groping in the dark a few days ago. Thanks, tho! I can easily build a proper gaming laptop for a decent budget.
                    The Tao of Ren
                    FFXIV LowRes Benchmark - 5011

                    If we don't like something, collectively, if our hatred for it throbs like an abscess beneath every thread, does that mean that they're doing something right?
                    Originally posted by Kaeko
                    As hard as it may be, don't take this game or your characters too seriously. I promise you - the guys that really own your account don't.
                    • Thanks 0

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Re: Building a Laptop

                      If you want to build you a new PC or laptop I sugest

                      http://ibuypower.com/
                      or
                      http://newegg.com/

                      both are great sites to get what you are looking for.
                      Do what you like, like what you do, but don't hate.



                      Which FF Character Are You?




                      http://ffxi.allakhazam.com/profile.xml?152160
                      • Thanks 0

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Re: Building a Laptop

                        Ok ok I feel like Caption Obvious pointing this out but in North America most of the time its cheaper just to buy a Notebook from a vendor. As for the Nvidia 6600 go personally I would take a ATI X1600 based laptop over that.

                        For the price of building your own 6600go 7600go, 7900gtx, or ATI X1600mobel based notebook you could buy one from host of major or small vendors. And not haveing to suffer the indignity of having Dellenware, HP, Gateway or some another major notebook vendor stamped on your notebook is a pricless bonus.

                        I am finding Nvidia 7600 go and ATIx1600 based laptops for 1,500ish from online vendors and...... Dell probably the best bet for a 2,000ish 7900gtx also look on notebook forums sometimes Dell has really good deals on gaming notebooks. Yes that was painful to admit that btw.

                        ABS
                        MAIN GEAR (high end computers and service)
                        Cyberpower (Its better the I buy Power but thats not exactly saying much)
                        Sager notebook computers. (High end also other vendors sell these also)
                        Velocity Micro
                        Puget
                        ect......... There are alot of very good smaller vendors

                        • Thanks 0

                        Comment

                        Previous template Next
                        Working...
                        X