[HyperionX]

Hello all! I registered in hopes of getting a response from people on this forum since I cannot seem to find a direct/conclusive answer elsewhere.

I am currently looking to buy a newer laptop. I have considered desktop but due to how I move around often and lack room I am buying a laptop. I will buy a desktop when I get my own place.

I currently have a laptop with a 2.0ghz CPU (T7200 Core 2 Duo), 2gb RAM, Vista Premium 32bit and a Nvidia Go7400 (64mb)

I play Final Fantasy XI (MMORPG) and have been told by many it is a CPU intensive game. I sometimes run 2 instances of the game at the same time (as in, have "2 of the same game" running but with a different character). My T7200 2.0ghz with 2gb RAM, the CPU shoots to 95%~ (with Firefox running on top, normally watching something from Youtube or something else, watching videos). And on top of that I have a few tabs open for web browsing, and sometimes run Winamp or Windows Media Player (watch DVD) on top of my 2 instances of the game.

Needless to say, I'm not too bothered about how the game looks, but running 1 instance + all the apps mentioned above my notebook does fine. Running 2 instances and all the apps above is where I start having performance issues, despite my FFXI instances being throttled down beforehand to a smaller resolution/low graphics, etc. This is of course natural and understandable. i.e. DVDs stutter a bit when I try to skip, both FFXI instances lag/stutter moderately but not to the point where it's unplayable, doing other things on the laptop takes a big longer. This is all expected however.

I am comfortable/satisfied with the way a T7200 2.0ghz CPU runs 2 instances of the game, but with other things on top then it becomes difficult.

I have my eyes on a laptop with 4gb of RAM and a Quad Core (Q9000 2.0ghz) CPU and a very nice graphics card (Ati 4850). I got my eyes on this because I planned to play some newer games on top of what I currently play/do so I think this is an ideal choice, for the price too. (The laptop is MSI GT725-210UK)

However, based on my situation, due to my desire to do more multiple things on top of running 2 instances of FFXI, would a quad core significantly improve my "quality of life", so to speak. If 2 instances of FFXI alone can bring a T7200 to 85-95% CPU usage, 3 instances will be more or less impossible without it all slowing down. But with a Q9000 would this let me run 2 instances without maxing out CPU usage?

To sum up, here are some stats to help people answer my question:

1 FFXI instance + apps mentioned = 20-30% CPU usage, peaking at I'd say 60-70 -depending- if I'm in a busy area of the game, but even so it is comfortable to do so. I sometimes run a virtual Windows XP box (I work while I play hehe) on top which uses minimal Windows XP requirements and even then the CPU is only a constant 50 or so %

2 FFXI instances + apps mentioned = 85-95/100% CPU usage, both instances stutter moderately but still playable/tolerable (to my standards), can still watch movies/some stuff takes a bit of time to process

I hope I am clear about my situation/what I am trying to say, and if someone can tell me what they think it'll be greatly appreciated.

Additional notes: I'm not an overclocking fan, I'm not looking to max out graphics/games/performance, I am satisfied with the way everything is, I just want to be able to do more and am wondering if quad core will alleviate my problems above so I can either run 3 instances of FFXI or 2 instances and comfortably do other activities with no or little to none bottlenecks.

So in other words, a Q9000 clocked at 2.0ghz (what I started with but only 2 cores) which has 4 cores, or a slightly better clocked dual core in the region of 2.5ghz to 2.8ghz? (Which would mean an alternative laptop, but there's plenty of those around)

Hope no one ... I know it's a bit long

[kris23]

hey and welcome to DH!

the best choice would be the Q9000 if you can afford it, a Quad is always better at multitasking than the dual

[HyperionX]

Thanks for the welcome! I've been lurking around for a bit, just thought I'd post now since I'm nearly going to make the move.

And well, Q9000 sums it up. A few other people keeps egging me for the Core 2 Duo because it is clocked higher, but I always assumed (roughly) that if I am satisfied with how a 2.0 Core 2 runs at the moment with 2 cores, surely I'll be satisifed with the same configuration but with 2 extra cores?

But I tell them I don't care for FPS/eye candy/numbers, and then they have nothing else to say.

[comp_ali]

Yep quad is always better , more and more games that comes recommend quad core cpu plus the 4 GB ram is yet better in your case combined with 64bit OS , ... forgot to say welcome here

[HyperionX]

Thanks too for another welcome. (sorry I feel awkward at that)

The 2 laptops I have in mind with a reasonable (budgety) price don't have 32bit Windows, and I read there's a potential issue minefield if I upgrade to 64bit. As the reviewer of the laptops on DH who often points out the lack of 64bit Vista on machines, would it really speed it up that much? I haven't actually used 64bit Vista before, I know it can take more than 3gb RAM that 32bit Vista is stuck with, but is that the primary reason? (Since more RAM = faster machine, somewhat, overall)

[BlueMak]

Don't listen to bull about 32bit > 64bit in Vista. Vista 64bit is where the money is at. Don't get anything less.

As for the cores, quad core is far better than dual.

[kris23]

you pretty much have it, more RAM means a faster machine.... and theres really no issues with it

with the HD 4850, that means 512 mb of RAM is subtracted from the total amount. then you have the mobo chipsets, any network adapters all subtracting from the total leaving you with something around 3.35GB RAM

[blibbax]

Welcome.

If you're satisfied with the single tasking performance of a 2.0ghz dual core, then a Q9000 should be fine as few new demanding applcations are being launched now that only use one core.

As for the 64 bit question, I recentley upgraded from 32 bit to 64 bit Vista, and saw absoloutely no issues whatsoever. There's literally nothing that I have found that doesn't run on 64 bit Vista that does run on 32 bit, and 4GB of RAM versus 3GB is an obvious choice.

[HyperionX]

Thanks.

Kris: Why do you say the ATI HD4850 will subtract 512mb from the total? I believe the 512mb is dedicated and not shared with the system memory.

As for 64bit Vista, the MSI GT725 I have looked at, over at "NotebookReview" users were complaining about the touch sensitive buttons weren't working and the overclocking functions (that are built in) didn't work. While I am not really concerned with which is better and such, I understand why Vista 64bit is better of course.

The MSI GT725 is the primary laptop I have chosen, due to good price + specs and other companies charge obscene amounts (Alienware/Rockdirect) for similar configurations, but does not ship with 64bit OS. Therefore, I am just holding out a tiny bit more to see what is available soon, perhaps a similar laptop config that's Quad Core which also ships with 64bit Vista. I believe Dell is going to refresh their M1730 line up soon so I'm just going to see where they go with that. Failing this, I will also be checking out the Toshiba Q ... something one (it's gaming) as that too has a quad core version.

[Judas]

A quad core intel mobile cpu with a 64bit windows vista... and 4gb of ram or more and your multitasking experience will CONSIDERABLY improve

[Neshi]

Kris meant that when you have a 32bit Windows with, say 4gb memory and a 512mb videocard, the computer can't 'see' all the memory it has in store. It will take the 4gb memory, and subtract all additional RAM you have in the machine. So 4gb of ram in a machine + a 512 video card means you will have 3.488Gb left.

[comp_ali]

Vista take some of the ram memory and add it to GFX total memory , for example If you have a 512mb GPU , directx will view it as 1GB and so on.

[HyperionX]

I see I see.

Well, back to Quad Core laptop lookout then. Q9000 is the cheapest of course, but the recent review of the Asus on this site is quite tempting, however it seems OYYY doesn't sell it anymore, but like all tech purchases there's never a good time... might crack sooner or later and just buy the MSI (although the keyboard on that irks me a little)

[BlueMak]

About the cores. Although you have decided to buy the quad core (good), I think the easiest way to put it is this. Would you get a single or a dual core cpu? Same logic.

[HyperionX]

Hmm, got me somewhat confused but I think I get what you mean:

"bacon roll or bacon & egg roll " ... right?

[BlueMak]

Not what I was talking about, but, yes.