13 replies to this topic

[SuperJumboJet]

Hi everyone. My current laptop is starting to age and I'm realizing that it has outgrown my FS2004 needs with REX, all this AI traffic and other eye candy.   So I'm considering upgrading to a new laptop, and yes I would rather prefer a laptop as the family desktop is for just that..family use and I don't want to replace that with a PC for FS. Please pardon my spec tech knowledge as I am no professional with this stuff but I hope I can manage...

My current specs:

HP Pavilion DV6000 Notebook
AMD Athlon X2 dual core TK-57 @ 1.9Ghz - 512mb cache
2 GB RAM DDR2
Nvidia Geforce 7150m with 64mb RAM
150GB HDD @ 5400RPM

What I'm looking to upgrade to: I have a few laptops in mind that I've tried out at the local Best Buy and researched online in terms of build quality, functionality, performance... Here are the few that seemed to stand out the most in the price range of up to about $1100.

1. Sony Vaio F Series
Intel Core Quad i7-720QM - 1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache - with Turbo Boost to 2.7GHz
4GB RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
Nvidia Geforce GT 330M with 1GB VRAM


A few different configs for these from the HP site. These do come with the optional Touchscreen display with multitouch gestures which is amazing!   I think this would be worth the money.

2. HP Pavilion dv6z
AMD Phenom II quad core N930 @ 2.0Ghz - 2MB L2 Cache
4GH RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB VRAM

3. HP Pavilion dv6z
Intel Core Quad i7-720QM - 1.6GHz, 6MB L3 Cache - with Turbo Boost to 2.7GHz
4GB RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB VRAM - Quad core version

4. HP Pavilion dv6z
Intel Core i5-520M dual core - 2.40GHz, 3MB L3 Cache - with Turbo Boost up to 2.93GHz
4GB RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB VRAM

From what I've read online the HD 5650 is a bit better than the GT 330M.

Is there any significant difference between 5400RPM and 7200RPM drives? For FS?

As for the dual core Phenom II N930, i5 520M, and quad core i7-720QM, I guess the first two dual cores would be fine for FS9 as it doesn't benefit from quad cores (I think...is this right? Can it utilize even dual core?) Having a hard time deciding whether the quad core i7 would be better for the long haul. If there is a significant increase for FSX performance then I might consider it.

As for FPS and performance, I'm not sure which config would give me those best performance for both FS9 and FSX.

What I mean to say is that for FS9, I would like to be able to use REX with HD textures, AI traffic, at Aerosoft Heathrow and other addon airports with decent FPS...any estimates? What about the same settings for FSX? I'm not expecting any wonders for FSX but a rough idea would be very helpful. Connecting via HDMI to the LCD TV sometimes would also be nice...no need to worry about any connector issues as all these laptops have HDMI out.

I know it's a lot of info...but I really do value your input and I hope you can help me out please.

Thanks!

Edited by Parminder27, 21 July 2010 - 01:51 PM.

[TopDollar]

Any of those will run FS9 fine.  I would go for the Vaio though.  Those are very nice computers.  Also look into ASUS.  Keep in mind that mobile GPUs are not even close to being what their desktop counterparts are.  So that being said I would highly recommend just getting a desktop, as you can get a real i7 and high end gpu for the same price.

[jcrouse55]

I would look at this one http://www.newegg.co...N82E16834220696

Its a great Laptop with great reviews. It should do a fine job for FS9 and do pretty well with FSX with sliders pulled back a bit!

Here it is at Newegg.ca   http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16834220696

[SuperJumboJet]

Hmmm all very helpful info guys. The ASUS definitely looks very interesting and I realize that the touchscreen on the HP laptops really isn't worth it to pay an extra $150 for. The HD 5730 + i7-720QM + 7200RPM HDD, though it is 320GB will be sufficient for me. I think the ASUS is the clear winner here! Though I can get a decent desktop for the same price..it's really not what I need and the portability of the laptop will be very helpful. Especially when I'm playing on my HDTV.

[-Dexter]

Definitely the Vaio. Sony notebooks are top-notch.

[Aharon]

Pay attention to screen's resolution capability

And yes  it is more important to go for 7,200 rpm

Laptops have 6 mb ram now. Go for it  Avoid 4 mb ram.

Aharon

[SuperJumboJet]

Well I'm getting about the same price for the Sony and the ASUS. The only real difference between the two is the screen resolution and graphics card.

ASUS: ATI HD 5730 w/ 1366 x 768 resolution

Vaio: Nvidia GT 330M w/ 1600 x 900 resolution

I've read from some reviews that the sound quality on that particular F Series Vaio is not the greatest. I don't know if any of you can comment on that. The HD 5730 seems to outperform the GT 330M by a fair amount.

HD 5730: http://www.notebookc...30.23825.0.html
GT 330M: http://www.notebookc...0M.22437.0.html

Edited by Parminder27, 21 July 2010 - 09:16 PM.

[jcrouse55]

Here is another to consider if screen resolution is real important to you! http://www.newegg.ca...N82E16834220702

It also gives you a 17.3 screen vs 16 and gives you a 500gb hard drive vs 320.

And also a very solid computer!

And yes the 5730 is by far the better GPU!

John

Edited by jcrouse55, 22 July 2010 - 01:11 PM.

[SuperJumboJet]

I think this one would also be a very solid contender too. The quad core i7 I think really isn't a necessity for me as I won't be running any applications that can utilize all four cores effectively... still not sure about FSX though..anyone know if it can benefit from i7? This high end i5-450m compared to the low end i7-720qm seems to be pretty good with this config:

HP Pavilion dv7-4070us
Intel i5-450M - 2.4GHz, 3MB L3 Cache - with Turbo Boost to 2.66GHz
4GH RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB VRAM (the 5730 in the ASUS is just slightly better)

http://www.amazon.co...HK#ProcessorTag

Edited by Parminder27, 23 July 2010 - 02:35 PM.

[SuperJumboJet]

Parminder27, on Jul 23 2010, 03:32 PM, said:

I think this one would also be a very solid contender too. The quad core i7 I think really isn't a necessity for me as I won't be running any applications that can utilize all four cores effectively... still not sure about FSX though..anyone know if it can benefit from i7? This high end i5-450m compared to the low end i7-720qm seems to be pretty good with this config:

HP Pavilion dv7-4070us
Intel i5-450M - 2.4GHz, 3MB L3 Cache - with Turbo Boost to 2.66GHz
4GH RAM DDR3
500GB HDD @ 7200RPM
ATI Radeon HD 5650 with 1GB VRAM (the 5730 in the ASUS is just slightly better)

http://www.amazon.co...HK#ProcessorTag

Nevermind all of that....looks like I need to read those descriptions more carefully next time! As for the quad core i7, it will be beneficial to FSX with SP1 installed as it does add support for hyperthreading and multi core processors. It's really close between the Sony and the ASUS but the difference between the GT 330M and HD 5730 is just too great to seriously consider the Sony. Looks like I will probably be going with the ASUS..I don't really mind the screen resolution that much.

[TopDollar]

I really doubt there is much difference between the GPUs.  Neither will be close to being up to par to their desktop counterparts.  If you want to run FSX, I would actually go for the nvidia.

Also you will be rudely surprised if your expecting any sort of battery life.

[SuperJumboJet]

TopDollar, on Jul 23 2010, 10:06 PM, said:

I really doubt there is much difference between the GPUs.  Neither will be close to being up to par to their desktop counterparts.  If you want to run FSX, I would actually go for the nvidia.

Also you will be rudely surprised if your expecting any sort of battery life.

I'm not expecting any battery life what so ever..   The Vaio really is a bit more appealing to me than the ASUS. It's really just down to the darn GPUs. Though these may not come close to their desktop counterparts, I'm just comparing them to each other and the ATI seems to perform marginally better in the benchmark tests and games' FPS. Yet FSX should run better on the Nvidia?

http://www.notebookc...0M.22437.0.html
http://www.notebookc...30.23825.0.html

Edited by Parminder27, 23 July 2010 - 09:33 PM.

[jcrouse55]

Parminder27, on Jul 23 2010, 09:28 PM, said:

TopDollar, on Jul 23 2010, 10:06 PM, said:

I really doubt there is much difference between the GPUs.  Neither will be close to being up to par to their desktop counterparts.  If you want to run FSX, I would actually go for the nvidia.

Also you will be rudely surprised if your expecting any sort of battery life.

I'm not expecting any battery life what so ever..   The Vaio really is a bit more appealing to me than the ASUS. It's really just down to the darn GPUs. Though these may not come close to their desktop counterparts, I'm just comparing them to each other and the ATI seems to perform marginally better in the benchmark tests and games' FPS. Yet FSX should run better on the Nvidia?

http://www.notebookc...0M.22437.0.html
http://www.notebookc...30.23825.0.html

No thats not true any longer with the 5000 series ATI cards. The mobile version isn't as a good as the desk top version but when comparing you should look at overall performance and the 5730 is hands down better than the GT330m. Its your money so buy what you want at the end of the day!

Edited by jcrouse55, 24 July 2010 - 12:19 AM.

[Thering]

Im running a samsung r780 core i5 with 4gb ram and the Geforce 330m graphics chipset.

I never tinkered with fsx settings at first and performance was good, however after using heathrow mega airport the thing stuttered a little with framerates dipping below 20fps.

However after using the recommended settings provided by the engineers at aerosoft, the frame rate is fluid with virtually zero stuttering and the visuals look great. don't get me wrong compared to a desktop i7 with a decent gpu its like chalk and cheese, but in a laptop package its agreat combo, so your core i7 will benefit it even further