Screen or WiFi

Hey guys, me again.

I have a question about something that hasn't been mentioned much. The wireless cards. My Goal is to get the most performance i can get out of either of these builds, so please help me

Things in Common:
-Windows 7 Home Premium
-4 GB DDR3 RAM
-1.5 GB Gt555m
-500GB HDD
-Everything not very important is stock
-All prices are before $50 coupon and tax

Build 1: $1324.
-i7 2630 QM
-900p Res Screen
-Advanced-N wifi 6250 with MIMO tech with WiMax

Build 2: $1374
-i7 2720 QM
-720p Screen
-Advanced-N wifi 6205 with MIMO (no WiMax)

Concerns:
-Even though performance will increase, how drastic is the visual change from 720p to 900p
-Is the better wifi even worth it, or should I go with the standard Advanced-N wifi 1000 link?
-I plan on having this computer for a very long time (4-5 years, although gaming will decrease) will the i7 2720 be worth it or is 2630 fine? I will be doing intensive gaming
-I want to be able to use better RAM, therefore won't i need the higher processor? Especially for HyperX 1866 RAM?
-Have a better build? LET ME KNOW, i have been contemplating for ~2 months

 

The 2630 is plenty for your needs, because the major gaming bottleneck is the GT555. RAM speed will not do very much for gaming performance, so I hear.

I'm not sure what Wimax is but if you think it will work well for you get it. Don't get the standard wireless card as apparently it's half the speed of the 6205 card.

Personally, I would do:

i7 2630
900p screen
6205 wireless

I personally hate playing games at non-native resolutions, but remember that if you buy the 900p screen you can always drop the res down if you find that later games are slowing down. You can't put the res up if you buy the 720p screen.

 

The GT555 is a GPU bottleneck, sure, but apparently new games like bf3 are starting a trend of games not solely relying on GPU as much. Apparently they are bringing back the CPU+GPU ways. Therefore, if i got a better processor, wouldn't that relieve some strain on the GPU?

Also, would a higher processor also create more heat since the m14x fans aren't the best and the CPU would be at a higher clock?

 

Regarding the screen I have the 720p one, and I cant tell you that is great.

If you're buying this machine for intense gaming (like me), I would definitely recommend the 720p over the 900p, since if you get the 900p you kinda need to lower the res in order to play recent games smoothly at a decent frame rate, therefore there's no point in getting the 900p.

If you use photoshop or something else though, you might consider the 900p, otherwise I'll say the 720p is just perfect for a 14".

 

I wouldn't. As far as I know neither of them actually have the anti glare that the 720 is supposed to have (claimed on dell website). But the 900p screen has higher brightness, which will offset the glare a bit.

And honestly it would probably get you more performance turning down the AA and other graphics settings. And you can always drop the res to 720p in the game settings while having 900p for other tasks.

 

I'd suggest you get the 900p screen. It's crystal clear. A 720p reso is too low of a resolution for any gaming notebook over 13 inches. As for the processor, the core i7 2630qm is all you need. The stock wifi card isn't too great, you should definitely upgrade that.

 

Also, why are we calling it 720 when the nominal resolution is 1366x768?

 

I think it's mainly to conform to the 16x9 aspect ratio. That's why it gain's a little more lines.

 

Definitely get the 900p screen. The 6205 card is bad too, so go with the 6250.

 

You are probably not going to want WiMax unless it is available in your area and you frequently use your laptop in an area without a wireless network available.

 

Build 1, all the way, unless you have money to splurge, which I believe you DON'T because you would never have chosen a sub-1400 build anyway

1. From what I've heard, and as already mentioned in this thread, the 900p screen is better as it is brighter [somewhat] and well, it has a higher native resolution which is obviously a plus in any environment, eg- if you want to watch high-def movies and surf the net. As for gaming, if you turn of AA and tone down certain settings to medium from high you'll still get 30+ fps in the latest games even at 900p, and personally I tell you there is barely any difference between medium and high if you can get the ratios right. Just keep AA off and you'll be fine. And then if you insist on MAX settings you can turn it down to 720p with no side effects

2. Get the card without the WiMax, unless you really want it. I think its not required cos you have wifi almost everywhere, especially in college environments and such. And the base card sucks bigtime according to reviews - check out youtube for that. It apparently gets low signals from a router right beside the notebook !

3. The 2630QM is a beast in itself - apparently the Sandy Bridge tech is so good that the low-end SB models are faster than the fastest Clarksfield models! [like the i7 920XM]. Heck, even the i5-2410M is faster. You want future proofing? Think of it this way - when Pentium 4 came out, how long was it good enough? Answer- for long enough! Atleast until dual-cores with >2.0GHz/core came out years later! By the time you think its not enough you'll already be ready to upgrade, methinks! The 2630QM is good enough for you, since gaming is your priority... I don't see how the 2720 etc are gonna give you such great fps boosts!

4. You want to game, right? I don't think the faster memory will give you a real boost in-game since you're looking at a res of 900p at most, and like you know by now the GT555M is the bottleneck here. Don't consider it unless you want bragging rights or you're running stuff like VMware and other virtualisation software, or running Linux Distros live. This is just a personal opinion, and other people with more hands-on experience can give you advice on this rather than me.

5. You already know what build we're suggesting now! The 2630, 4gb ram [which you can upgrade to 6/8gb for much cheaper later], 900p screen, the 500gb hdd [get the ssd later] and the Wireless 6250 card sans the WiMax. All that for something around sub-$1340? Good Deal! See you on NBR with your new beast sometime soon!

Agree with you, completely. the 2630 is good enough. It apparently even runs the RAM at 1600 MHz

 

Skip WiMax. WiMax has nothing to do with Wifi. Different technologies entirely, with wonderfully confusing names (thanks marketing department!). WiMax is essentially a 4G cellular service, and requires a subscription from a carrier (ala Sprint in the US). It's in the fine print if you look at the details of the 6250 card. Without a subscription, you're paying for a never-going-to-be-used antenna.

Go with the 900p screen, a 6205 or 6230 wifi card, and whichever processor you can afford (both are good values really, but the 2630 is more than enough for pretty much everybody today).