Upgrade from 9800 Pro to x1700 (laptop)?

[klih08]

I'm thinking about replacing my current desktop with a laptop, but I'm not sure if my budget (~1200) will be enough for me to get a laptop that is actually a meaningful upgrade, as far as gaming performance is concerned.

My desktop as of now:
P4 2.8 GHz
1 gig RAM
Radeon 9800 Pro

As far as I can tell, the best laptop that fits into my budget is the ASUS A8 Series A8JP, which has a x1700:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16834220104

Would the new laptop really be an upgrade? Or would I have to shell out more to see improvement from my current system?

 

[Fedor]

You say youre _thinking_ about replacing your desktop with a laptop, how about just getting a new desktop or upgrading your desktop? You have to realise that moving to a laptop will mean that in the future you won't be able to upgrade as you could a desktop. So is moving to a laptop a fact or just a thought?

Second, the X1700 is a superior card to the 9800 Pro. However, the X1700 was the mid-range model of a generation of graphics card from ATI that has gotten very old already, so if you're thinking of playing modern games like Oblivion or whatever, it's not a great choice. So that brings me to the next question, what are you going to be playing?

Third thing is, moving to a 2Ghz Core 2 Duo over your current P4 2.8Ghz will definitely improve performance for your apps and your games, but it would do a lot better with a stronger graphics card. Also you should factor in that the laptop has a 5400rpm drive as opposed to your most likely current drive of 7200rpm, which will make general use and things like loading in games slower. That part of the problem you could fix by getting a 7200rpm laptop drive later on though.