MSI Ex 400. Right Choice?

[IGOROTOWN]

Hi, I'm relatively new on buying a notebook.

I plan to buy the "MSI EX 400".

http/asia.msi.com.tw/index.php?func=prodtmpspec&maincat_no=135&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=1522#menu

My very sole purpose is to play the classic Counter Strike 1.6 online, and common everyday computing like browsing. I would like to know if this can be nearly perfect notebook for my purpose? I would also want to know if there may be any complications in its specifications with CS 1.6? Because I own a PC that has 8800GT & Athlon X2 and I'm having a lot of problems, I guess the 8800GT was not compatible with CS 1.6.

I've searched almost all laptops that's available only in my county and the first one I look for is the VGA because experts say that integrated VGA is not for 3D gaming. So I picked the MSI EX 400 for its dedicated VGA - ATI HD3450.

Specs:

CPU: 2GHZ Core 2 Duo
RAM: 2GB DDR2
VGA: 256MB ATI HD3450
HDD: 160GB SATA
SCREEN: 14.1 WXGA TFT LCD

The other specs can be found on the link above.

I wish someone could tell me if this is the right choice for me. And any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[dwellman]

Have you looked at the MSI GX Series?

 

[IGOROTOWN]

Have you looked at the MSI GX Series?

Yes I have looked some of MSI GX laptops, but you know the availability of these products are very limited in the country I live. So far I've found a GX that's available which has several edition you can choose from. The MSI GX600 - EX600 Basic (8400M GS) and Performance (8600M GT). I was thinking the performance edition will be my second choice, but the problem is that I had many bad experiences with GF8 series video cards as I stated before when playing CS 1.6. Although I've also tried a 8500GT but I can't get it to work well with high resolution on a desktop. So I don't know if I can trust a GF8 series again.

Do you think 8600M GT will do just fine when played in CS 1.6 with all max settings including resolution and Nvidia settings with v-sync on? My aim is just to have a constant 60FPS at all times. Is this possible for this graphics card?

MSI GX600 - EX600 Specs:

Core 2 Duo 1.83GHz
NVIDIA 8600M GT 512Mb
1.0Gb DDR2-667
120Gb SATA

 

[frozenlead]

Almost any GPU can play CS 1.6 today, any 8 series card will do just fine. Your problems with CS 1.6 and the 8 series cards is not the card's fault, it's a driver issue. Have you updated your drivers lately?

 

[IGOROTOWN]

Almost any GPU can play CS 1.6 today, any 8 series card will do just fine. Your problems with CS 1.6 and the 8 series cards is not the card's fault, it's a driver issue. Have you updated your drivers lately?

Not at all, maybe I got tired fixing that problem a long time ago. I will probably update soon. I hope drivers this days has been fixed now.

But I still want to buy a laptop.

Almost any GPU can play CS 1.6 today, any 8 series card will do just fine. -----> Yes, my ex 8500GT worked well before though but the FPS drops when the resolution is raised to 1280x1024 with all maxed settings. And my current 8800GT worked too but was jerky/not smooth when played on CS 1.6.

I hope 8600M GT will be fine when it goes to 1280x800 with max settings with a constant 60FPS.

But what about the HD 3450, I am not very familiar with ATI products as I never tried one before. Do you think this card handle the settings I wish for a laptop?

 

[frozenlead]

Something's up with your cards - I have Radeon 7000's that can play CS 1.6 at 1024x768 well over 60FPS. Do they show any low marks in any other game?

The 3450 should be able to handle it just fine. The 8600 shouldn't even be breaking a sweat, along with the 8800GT. Something's amiss, there..

 

[IGOROTOWN]

They're both fine when playing Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars, World in Conflict, and Crysis. Although 8500GT was slow for it's acceptable GPU.

Since CS 1.6 is the oldest game among them, 8800GT which is supposed to be much faster, it turned out to be weaker than 8500GT in CS 1.6. Wierd. I guess the overclock was too much for the game because it's an O.C. edition. Thanks for the reminder, I've got to update the driver soon as it was 5 months ago already and it might be a miracle.

The 8600 shouldn't even be breaking a sweat ----> SWEET. I hope you're right.


Thank you very much to the people who helped.

 

[Guest]

I bought a new laptop MSI EX 400, I installed Windows Vista and it is working fine. I will keep you posted after installing some games.

 

[ravendotph]

all updated for msi ex400 driver tools are found here
http/drivers.softpedia.com/downloadTag/MSI+EX400

latest tweak for games display driver are here
https/a248.e.akamai.net/f/674/9206/0/www2.ati.com/drivers/beta/beta_w7-32_8-56-1-081203a-72489.exe

for sound card driver
try the latest updated located from other websites
Vista_R215.exe

boost sound card capacity by using windows vista with dolby control center to enable
loudness equalization for high sounds

this are ok the one that i dont like is the 256mb videocard
not enough for gaming try to manual update it's specs
if u buy this laptop

 

[Guest]

i've just noticed that you were having a problem installing CS1.6, and you mentioned your computer specs. you got athlon x2 and 8800gt? right? actually cs1.6 only needs minimum requirements to install and run to your computer.

my advice is you should check your system or do some formatting and install it again hope it works..

or maybe you got a wrong file and not able to install it properly..

anyway have a great day ahead just a concern citizen...

 

[oriett]

hey i am from peru and i was looking for a laptop and the sellman told me this is good so i check this and i liked so much but anothers told me it is not good choise, so i was confiused and upsed becasue i need a laptop before i spend my money and don't have nothing, but i want ask you if you bought the MSIex 400 for you tell how you work with this so maybe this way i can buy one too, please i would like you answer for know, my mail is oriett15@hotmail.com. thanks