[Patrick]

I am starting to feel the need for a new-generation gaming machine.

Current gaming machine (if you can still consider it that, given today's hardware ):

eVGA 6800 Ultra AGP8x
AMD AthlonXP 2500+ (overclocked to 2.3GHz @ 434MHz Bus)
Abit NF7-S v2.0
2GB Corsair TwinX ProSeries DDR433

I am undecided whether to upgrade my laptop or just build a new desktop.

Laptop:

Dell Inspiron 9300
Hi-res LCD (1920x1200) monitor
nVidia Go 6800 256MB PCIe (just the vanilla 6800, nothing special)
Pentium M 760 2Ghz
2GB RAM @ 533Mhz

I can upgrade the 3D card of the Inspiron 9300 to a Go 7800 GTX 256MB PCIe, essentially resulting to a system equivalent to the XPS Gen2, just without the fancy, cool case and lights. :lol:

Estimated upgrade cost:

nVidia Go 7800 GTX 256MB PCIe = ~$400
XPS Gen2 130 Watt power brick (required) = ~$100
80WHr 9-cell Lithium-Ion Battery = ~$170 (I technically already have this with my 9300 but it is dead (no longer stores charge). )
Flash Inspiron 9300 BIOS to make it think that it is a XPS Gen2 = $0

Bottom line, about $700. Done.

Upgrading the Inspiron 9300 will give me a new gaming PC, and will also be my main personal computer. And since it is a laptop, it will be portable, but this is not really a requirement, nor a priority. Just a pleasant circumstance.

But for ~$700, Inferno could probably config me a good gaming desktop. Specially since I already have an Intel Core 2 Duo E6700 still in a sealed box, and a Zalman CNPS9700 NT Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler, also still sealed in its original packaging.

Insights?

 

[Tim]

There's an untested, used Go7800 GTX on ebay for 99cents.

 

[psychohaulic]

I always tell people to stay away from laptops unless they really need them. The parts are more expensive, and some parts aren't upgradeable. It's like buying a car with the hood welded on.

 

[Inferno]

You're going to need to figure out if portability is a top priority or not. Off the bat, I will say the desktop rebuild will be much more effective for the same price.

 

[SlamminGT]

I would personally go with the desktop. You can get better performance out of one anyways.....

 

[Patrick]

Yeah, leaning towards the desktop rebuild. Portability is nice, but not a priority nor a requirement.

Just saw a vid of Morgan Webb put together G4's "Ultimate Gaming Machine". Odd that they went with dual 8800GTs instead of dual 8800GTXs. But I think per the benchmarks, the additional performance of the 8800GTX over the 8800GT doesn't justify the huge price difference.

For ~$700, I could probably put together a gaming rig which can play Crysis with full eye-candy, which ~$700 upgrading the laptop won't do.