Is this laptop powerful enough for gaming?

[jarredmorris]

Hello,
I need a laptop, but I don't want to sacrifice power and I don't have a particularly high budget.
I would like to use the laptop to cover everything. From surfing the net, to editing videos with Sony Vegas Pro and AfterEffects, and to play games with decent settings.
I've been doing a lot of research, and the following machine looks good.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004VE740K/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&s=computers&psc=1


It gives the graphics card a weird name, but as far as I can tell its an Nvidia GT540M with a dedicated 1GB memory. Apparently the laptop switches between this card and an Intel chip depending on what you're doing.

I assume this laptop could cope fine with things like Minecraft and The Sims 3 at high settings? But how about GTA IV, Mass Effect 2 and Crysis? Would it be able to run those well, and at what settings? Could it at least do them medium to high do you think?

Also another question, are all i7 processors infintely better than all i5 processors? Processors confuse me in the respect that you could buy a 3GHz processor for a certain price, but then you could find a 2GHz processor for £200 more than the 3GHZ one, so what actually determines how good a processor is other than clock speed?

Thanks.

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
540M can handle Sims3/Minecraft on high settings(on low resolutions) and it can handle the other games fine as well.(On medium)
As for i7 vs i5,it depends on the models you're considering

 

[ram1009]

Hello,
I need a laptop, but I don't want to sacrifice power and I don't have a particularly high budget.
I would like to use the laptop to cover everything. From surfing the net, to editing videos with Sony Vegas Pro and AfterEffects, and to play games with decent settings.
I've been doing a lot of research, and the following machine looks good.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B004VE740K/ref=noref?ie=UTF8&s=computers&psc=1


It gives the graphics card a weird name, but as far as I can tell its an Nvidia GT540M with a dedicated 1GB memory. Apparently the laptop switches between this card and an Intel chip depending on what you're doing.

I assume this laptop could cope fine with things like Minecraft and The Sims 3 at high settings? But how about GTA IV, Mass Effect 2 and Crysis? Would it be able to run those well, and at what settings? Could it at least do them medium to high do you think?

Also another question, are all i7 processors infintely better than all i5 processors? Processors confuse me in the respect that you could buy a 3GHz processor for a certain price, but then you could find a 2GHz processor for £200 more than the 3GHZ one, so what actually determines how good a processor is other than clock speed?

Thanks.

I can't say I blame you for wanting everything, we all do, but getting it is another thing entirely. Remember, people in Hell want ice water. IMHO, laptops are completely unsuitable for gaming if for no other reason than screen size. Portable devices are non-cost effective replacements for desktop computers and should only be used for their portable nature. Laptops are virtually non upgradable and are almost completely proprietary to their OEM. Do yourself a favor and buy/build yourself a powerful desktop and, if you must, buy a portable capable of only those things you must do away from your desktop.