Gaming Laptop

[zico]

I need some help in buying a laptop, my budget has forced me to choose between the following:
1-MSI GT660 NoteBook Intel Core i7 740QM(1.73GHz) 16" 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285M
And :
2-MSI GX660 NoteBook Intel Core i5 460M(2.53GHz) 15.6" 4GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5870
I am a gamer and I want to buy something that is good for the next 2 years, first choice has a power CPU with a good GPU, and second choice has a good CPU with a powerful GPU, please give me your advice and share your thoughts.
Thanx

 

[Bacterius]

The difference between the two GPU's is not that important - the HD 5870 will provide maybe 10-15 more FPS in most games but it helps to have smooth gaming on high settings (don't plan to play on Ultra settings in most games though).

The CPU difference is consequent - remember that most games currently only take advantage of two cores (it will change soon enough), and so if you really want to game, buying a quad core isn't the best choice, given that in a quad core, each core is slightly slower than in a dual core, so to be honest I would stick to the second MSI laptop. Of course both are viable gaming laptops but the second one just packs more punch and will ensure you aren't disappointed.

 

[zico]

Thanks, this was great help but how soon the gaming industry will change from using two cores to using four?

Thanks again.

 

[Bacterius]

Thanks, this was great help but how soon the gaming industry will change from using two cores to using four?

Thanks again.

No-one knows for sure but I would make an educated guess at in about ten months. Games currently in development surely are trying to make use of quad cores and should be released in a few months. The greatest problem is that it isn't easy to actually find a use to these additional cores, since there are only a limited amount of tasks a video game performs : graphics, audio, user input and physics. You might think that makes a neat 4 cores but no, audio is performed by the sound card in a transparent way so there is typically low audio-related load on the CPU, physics is being progressively handled by the GPU's with their new physics chipsets, so basically we are left over with two threads, one for user input to remain smooth and another to display the frames at a controlled rate. That is roughly why most games are dual core, so once the industry figures out how to work with more cores to enhance graphics or whatever, quad core support will come into play very, very quickly.

 

[zico]

Thank you very much am going with the second option, great help.