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    Can't decide between 1420 or 1520, opinions wanted!

    Discussion in 'Dell' started by Diversion, Jul 28, 2007.

  1. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    Okay, i'm about to pull the trigger on a 1420 or 1520..

    When both are configured the way I want them, the 1520 comes out about $200 more.

    However, i'm at a loss, I like smaller/lighter laptops so the 1420 is better, but at the same time, i'm afraid the 8400m gs will not give me enough power.

    Basically I play World of Warcraft at the moment.. and if I can get some definitive proof that the 8400m GS can handle WoW with everything at max (without AntiAliasing and Vsync set to off - I can live without it) at a steady 40 or more fps, i'll get the 1420. So I need someone who plays WoW on a 1420 to give me their down to earth, honest opinion. To be more specific, how does WoW run at 1280x800, vsync OFF, AA OFF, smooth mouse OFF, and everything else checked on and sliders all maxed out, oh and color can be set to 16 or 24 bit, i'm not picky about that, I can't tell the difference anyways.

    Otherwise I might need to just get the 1520..

    Thoughts?
     
  2. xie

    xie Notebook Consultant

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    You can play WoW with the 8400m GS.

    The friggin GMA 950 in macbooks plays WoW at 25-30 FPS.

    I'd test it for you, as you can see I have what you want in a 1420, but I don't play WoW.

    edit: In a way it's kind of sad that you'd drop an extra $200 or more, or go with a notebook which isn't your first choice, just so you can play WoW. Not a criticism of you personally, just the "MMORPG Culture."
     
  3. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    Well, i've been playing WoW for 2 years now and thus do spend quite of bit of time in the game, and when i'm not at home on my desktop, i'd like an enjoyable experience on a laptop when playing the game. I don't want to sit behind WoW where I can't see the full distance because it will slow down my laptop.. The way I see WoW or other MMOs, is that they save me money as I don't feel the need to go buy new console games.. there's always stuff to do in MMOs.. always ways to make your characters better ;)

    Well I previous owned a HP tx1220us tablet with the integrated GeForce 6150 and WoW was absolutely UNacceptable. I didn't think the 6150 would be far off from a 950, but you say it can play it. Although the 6150 was reporting 27-30 fps in-game with everything set to low (resolution stayed at 1280x800) there was about a 1 second delay that you'd see your on-screen character move after pressing a movement key on the keyboard. And no, it wasn't bad drivers or anything, I tried multiple versions from different sites.. Laptopvideo2go, official, HP's and others.. they all acted the same, but I did notice either more fps or less depending on the driver.

    I've played WoW on integrated Intel chips on DESKTOPS and there is no lagtime between keyboard commands and gameplay, but obviously the settings had to be set very low to make it acceptable.

    Jay
     
  4. devsk

    devsk Notebook Evangelist

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    Is the gaming only distinction between these machines for you? How about size, weight, extra resolution, or screen graininess? You could use few of those for deciding!
     
  5. theTORCH

    theTORCH Notebook Evangelist

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    either machine will handle WoW on max settings.
    i think you should decide which laptop you prefer for other reasons besides that since WoW will not be an issue (see post above)
     
  6. xie

    xie Notebook Consultant

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    6150 is awful, but without knowing the other specs doesn't tell me anything either. A lot of tablets didn't have a ton of RAM or used low voltage processors to save on battery.

    A GMA 950 can run WoW on low, with a beefy system behind it, the 6150 should have outperformed it pretty handily if everything else was equal.

    The 8400 shouldn't have any problems with WoW - remember - it is a few years old already.
     
  7. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    Well just as I listened to the people who told me a GeForce 6150 would handle WoW fine.. and it didn't at all.

    As to answer the both of you, size/weight is more important to me than the GPU...
     
  8. xie

    xie Notebook Consultant

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    I don't know how I can benchmark it for you without an account, is there a stress test or something?

    e: I maintain the problem wasn't entirely the 6150. :)
     
  9. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    The tx1000z I owned for a very short period of time (took a $150 hit to get rid of it fast) had a AMD TL64 (2.2ghz), 2gb of ram.. so the power was "enough".. no where near a Intel C2D at 1.8ghz or higher, but maybe more like a 1.6ghz C2D. Should have been enough power for WoW.. but I guess the 6150 is a lot worse than I had hoped for.
     
  10. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    You need an account to sign into the game to get to the video options and what not. However, if you can install the game, I have a private server you can log into to test everything out. I'll send you a PM.
     
  11. xie

    xie Notebook Consultant

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    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ffvbF5PZQEE&mode=related&search= Here is a video of WoW running on an M1210, with a GeForce Go 7400.

    "NVidia GeForce 8400M GS is the DirectX 10 capable successor of the GeForce Go 7400 for laptops and technologically a slower 8400M GT video card. The performance is slightly above the 7400"
     
  12. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    It looks to be running quite well but im sure the settings aren't near maximum.. it looks like his draw distance is set to about mediumish.. but even with all those other players running around, it's pretty smooth and stutter-free.. considering the 8400m gs has a little more power than the 7400, i'm almost convinced to say the 1420 will run the game at near-max settings without a hitch.
     
  13. Msl747

    Msl747 Notebook Consultant

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    Someone on here did a review of his 1420 and played WoW on it, posted some screen shots.. I believe he said it ran well...
     
  14. Diversion

    Diversion Notebook Deity

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    I read that review.. not a whole lot of details went into WoW, that's why I'm asking for some specifics. Some people's idea of running well probably differ from my idea of it.

    How about this, I found my old desktop ATi Radeon 9800 Pro ran WoW perfectly fine without AA on.. if I could find a place to compare the 8400m to the 9800 Pro (desktop) that would be good.