Games on T42

[andyli]

Sorry to rehash this topic of discussion. I'm looking to get a T4x for a friend for college as a gift. I'd like to keep the price reasonable. The system would mostly be used for:

- Word Processing, E-Mail, Internet
- Multimedia - music, DVDs
- Games - The most intense on the Graphics system probably The Sims 2.

The system does not have to be the fastest (a P-M 730 @ 1.6GHz is fine) and prefer a 14.1" screen. I did a CTO on a T43 with a 14 inch screen, Intel GMA, 60 GB 7200 RPM HDD and 256 MB RAM runs at ~ 1,300.

- I am going to upgrade this to a 512 MB of RAM. However, would that be enough? Is 1GB better?
- Is this GMA card going to be able to handle the above tasks? Since it is shared memory, should I put 1GB RAM in there?
- Are there any pre-build recommendations that anyone has (the above is CTO). A T42 is fine.

My main concern is that a T42 - which right now only has 32MB Graphics on CTOs at the slower processors, would not be enough to handle the above.

Thanks.

[vageetasjn]

The Sims 2, unlike its predecessor, is rather demanding in the graphics department. You would be better off with a T42 with a 9600 mobility, p series (from T42 or T43) with 128MB video memory, or maybe even a T43 with an X300. The X300, based on figures I have seen around the net, tends to deliver 10-20% less performance than a T42 w/ 9600 when it comes to games. Go with 1GB RAM in any case.

[kaplanfx]

The 9600 is quite good. People complain about the lack of graphics power in the T42 however I play World of Warcraft at SXGA+ 1400x1050 and it works quite well. I would guess for very graphic intensive games like Doom 3 and Half Life 2 there would be some performance issues but it should run sims 2 quite well. The GMA will be significantly less speedy in the graphics dept I believe so I would definately recommend at least the 9600.

[asiafish]

Sims2 (and a bunch of other games) runs great on my T42p 1.8GHz (2373-GVU). No complaints at all.

[andyli]

Thanks everyone.

From what I've seen, it is the 9000 that would be able to handle Sims 2 the best, but if game playing is not required, then the Intel GMA is fine.

How about the Intel Extreme Graphics 2 chipset or the ATI Mobility 7500? I'm partial to the T-series, but am also looking at the R-series. Serious mobility is not a factor, so even though the R-series is lighter, it would be okay.

I'm looking at the following (30GB is enough HDD, and I will upgrade RAM to 1.25 GB total):

- 2883ELU (R51 Series)
- 2378R4U (T42 Series)
Other suggestions are welcome.

Also concerned about Longhorn. I assume that both of these systems would be able to upgrade to these systems. However, I've heard that Longhorn will need a lot of graphics power (64+ mb), so that is also a concern. I would like this unit to operate for a good four years.

Thanks again!

[pphilipko]

I can play Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 at medium setting on my X40 without lag. As for HL2, it can barely run, with maybe 2-3 frames per second on highest setting.

[Steve007]

Sims 2 runs perfectly fine on my T40p's MR 64MB and my T42's MR7500 (32MB).....

[holr]

why not go for a t41p? i have one and the graphics card is the same as in the t42p. The t42p just has a bit better cpu and larger screen (ok probably a bit more than that - i havent done the research!)

As of today, on ibm's refurb listing, you can get a t41p for just over 1200 dollars. http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

[censored], paid 2200 for my refurb last year! waaah!

[holr]

why not go for a t41p? i have one and the graphics card is the same as in the t42p. The t42p just has a bit better cpu and larger screen (ok probably a bit more than that - i havent done the research!)

As of today, on ibm's refurb listing, you can get a t41p for just over 1200 dollars. http://www-132.ibm.com/webapp/wcs/store ... logId=-840

[censored], paid 2200 for my refurb last year! waaah!