laptop?

[mrwink]

ok, first of all, i would like to apologize for having this as my first post...i feel like such a noob. haha. anyways...

it has been my dream to play HL2 ever since i caught wind of it. i have been waiting FOREVER for it to come out, just like everyone else. now, though, i am worried that i wont be able to enjoy it. i am goin off to college (and thus will need a kick ass game to play), but i went down the laptop road instead of gettin a PC. so...with these specs, does anyone think that i will even be able to half-way enjoy the game?

Pentium M 1.5 ghz
ATI Mobility Radeon 9000 (with updated drivers) 64 mB RAM
DX 9.0
512 mB RAM

is my future bleak? i am thinking about upgrading my graphics card, but would it even be worth it, given the processor that i have? please help...

 

[Maxi]

Well according to the minimum specs you should be able to play the game, but most likely at the lower or lowest settings And iirc you can't upgrade anything else on a laptop then the ram and harddisk.

And Welcome to the forums!

 

[Letters]

Actually, he almost meets the recommended requirements... just not with the graphics card. You'll definitely be able to play it, but prolly at medium detail since that's not a DX9 card.

Edit: And that processor is fine... you do know that Pentium M processors may be at a lower clock speed, but operate much more efficiently, right?

 

[bosox188]

Yeah your Pentium M is a good processor, and your ram is fine. Your graphics card is only dx8 and 64mb, but it'll run medium settings and the game will look good.

 

[mrwink]

yea, i realized after i posted that my card is only DX8...

and yes, i am aware that the M processor works much more efficiently than it might seem. i guess my main concern is the graphics card. would it be worth it to buy and install the new Mobility 9800?

 

[lePobz]

if you can mix and match graphics cards in laptops, im not sure you can - but the mobility 9800 is a serious mobile graphics card, would play HL2 fine

 

[mrwink]

well, i just found out from Dell that the fastest card that is made for my laptop is a Mobility Radeon 9000 64 mb. DOH! that really sucks the big one. well, i guess i will have to make due with what i have. i know it will run fine, i was just hoping to have it set at a high graphics setting. oh well, maybe one of my room mates will have a nice PC...i'll just have to take over his computer instead. muhaha. thanks for the input guys :thumbs:

 

[Letters]

I went to go look at the price of ATI mobility cards and... can you even buy those stand-alone? I couldn't find anything! :hmph:

 

[mrwink]

some guy on the Dell forums claims that you can...i too can not find anywhere to buy them. the graphics cards are integrated, so you have to get a whole new mother board in order to get a new graphics card. cheap and shady, but i guess that is the way it is. the guys post is here:

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=insp_upgrade&message.id=35514

i still can't find anywhere to buy it. i called Dell and they said that the best card that i could get (which would be a salvage card) would be what i already have installed. so, either this guy has a better laptop (maybe an XPS or something) or he is just simply smokin crack. either way, it looks like i am stuck with the 9000. oh well. maybe i will just have to go out and buy a new computer just for the game! :farmer: