How good does a laptop for WoW need to be?

[ShamStuffa]

I feel like I have seen a lot of different opinions about how good a laptop needs to be for WoW. So I feel slightly uneasy about going with a bad decision on buying a laptop that might not be up to snuff, or at least can be able to run at a decent speed.

The base laptop i started looking at that, to me, would be able run fine, at about medium speed with the specs below.
-Asus
-Intel® Core™ i3-2310M Processor
(3M Cache, 2.10 GHz)
-4GB DDR3
-Intel GMA HD (I think thats the graphics card)
- 500G 5400 Hard drive
-Windows 7

Any help as to whether this would be fine, or I would be walking into a big no-no would be great.
Thanks in advance to any replies.

[Wries]

Depends a little on screen resolution but going with intel integrated GPU is still a bad thing, imo.

It just lacks the juice. No doubt you could probably play wow on low settings, but for example something from the Mobility Radeon HD 6500 series would do the job SO MUCH BETTER.

An i3 clocked at 2.10 is hardly future proof and won't get you close to 60FPS in 25 mans but it won't bog down and make you die in a fire either.

[Kulthor]

Intel+Graphics card is a no no.
I personally, love Nvidia single cards.
What is your budget?

[Groot]

For the same price, you could get a desktop that's twice as good. :\

[Nightbliss]

If a laptop isn't necessary, a desktop computer is always recommended for gaming but if a laptop is necessary then I wouldn't be happy with anything slower than:

i5 440M and a HD5650M

[Kulthor]

For the same price, you could get a desktop that's twice as good. :\

More than twice! lol

[ShamStuffa]

Well at the moment at about $700 if i wanted to go a pick it up this weekend. But I could bump it up, but I don't want to go over a grand.
I mean I don't know, I'm going to college next year and I felt dealing with a laptop would be easier, as typing notes, papers, and such would be easier.

If could go a set up a computer for $650 that would be great, I'm just not sure how well that would work for me.

What exactly should I be looking for in a laptop then that would be fairly capable of running a decent speed? I'm not looking for anything extraordinary in terms of speed and graphics, average graphics at a good FPS so I can be able to see everything in a raid.

Thanks for the help so far though

[Cilraaz]

How good does a laptop for WoW need to be?

My laptop is a Celeron D with Intel integrated graphics... but I don't do anything more on it than AH, guild chat, and maybe a quest or two.

It all comes down to what you want to do with it. Questing will need less hardware power than 5 mans, which needs less than 10 mans, which needs less than 25 mans.

[ShamStuffa]

My laptop is a Celeron D with Intel integrated graphics... but I don't do anything more on it than AH, guild chat, and maybe a quest or two.

It all comes down to what you want to do with it. Questing will need less hardware power than 5 mans, which needs less than 10 mans, which needs less than 25 mans.

Probably not 25 mans, I want to do a lot more PvP and just do raiding on the side if I had it. I mean the computer I am on right now has an i3 with 3.20 GHz and 3 GB of ram. It has a Nvdia Geforce (3 I think) graphics card though, so I mean Its decent, I'm content with the way it performs right now, I play on pretty low settings and it's fairly smooth. If I could get something fairly close to that I would be happy with that. I'm just not sure how all this transfers to a notebook.

[Kulthor]

Best deal I've seen yet that's a bit higher than you budget but you say you can do a grand.
http://configure.us.dell.com/dellsto...l_id=xps-l502x

It's a dell xps 15.
For the price of 799 + tax, you get: NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 525M 1GB graphics with Optimus
Intel® Core™ i5-2410M processor 2.30 GHz with Turbo Boost 2.0 up to 2.90 GHz
4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR3 Memory
500GB 7200 RPM SATA Hard Drive
1 Year Basic Service Plan (Warranty)
I would upgrade the warranty if I were you.
15.6 in HD WLED TL (1366x768) with Skype-Certified 2.0MP HD Webcam

If you want to upgrade, go for it but I'm just trying to make it as non pricy as possible.
I'll give you my input about my dell laptop though.
So far it has ran pretty good the XPS M1530 8600m gt 2.0ghz dual core processor got it in 08.
In of 2010 the motherboard failed due to too much heat I'm guessing because I didn't clean my fans like a good computer user should but I do now. Anyways, they fixed it I had to pay because my warranty was up that's why I'm suggesting a longer length warranty.
Besides that it has been fantastic and I am wanting to upgrade it is kinda old now.

EDIT: remember, customize it to your liking and price. :]

[Tomokei]

I'm graduating college in a week. Got a laptop in my first year and picked up WoW during my second. Things were....okay...... on my laptop. Had to play at the lowest settings, and even then my framerate was bad. Though technology has improved, I feel like the system requirements of Cataclysm more than make up for that if you consider the fact that most general-purpose laptops have onboard this and that and blah blah.

My roommate (destroyer of laptops) picked up a pretty darn expensive laptop in our second year after dropping his first laptop off his bunk bed. He subsequently bought a smaller laptop for school uses, and even though his older laptop is set up pretty much only to run WoW, his settings aren't where he'd like them.


If this fits in with your plans for college (I don't know what you plan on majoring in, which affects how much machine you need for class purposes), I strongly suggest buying a cheap laptop for school and building a cheap desktop for WoW. Personally, my laptop only needs to run MS Office and Chrome. As for the desktop, you don't need the best parts. Or even the wave of parts before that. "Top of the line" changes faster than WoW releases content patches. Along that same line of thinking, consider how much 4.0 BoEs will to cost in 4.3 compared to what 4.3 BoEs will. It's a similar situation in the real world.

Do some looking. Find the minimum system requirements for Cataclysm, and aim for that. Obviously buy a bit higher if your budget allows. And keep in mind the best part about a desktop is you can upgrade individual parts as needed, and as your income allows.


**edit** PvP has significantly higher system requirements than PvE. You can adjust for a sub-optimal system in PvE by knowing the strategies. Not so in PvP, which is always a unique experience.

[iSythe]

If you think you can squeeze your budget out to being $1k. A better way to go about everything imo, would be to spend like $700 on a desktop and then buy an average netbook for uni/college.
I'm at uni now, i bought a laptop when i started. I had all the intentions to take it with me, take notes on it and all that stuff, but because of the weight and size i just couldn't be fucked. It was too much effort. The laptop only lasted me 2 years for gaming as well. I now have an awesome desktop to play games on and i intend to buy a netbook if i want something to type up all my uni shit on while i'm at uni.

[ShamStuffa]

Kulthor
That does look really nice though, I mean that ideally is what I was looking for. I was planning to pick the laptop up at this computer shop close by to me but this does look tempting, Id have to work something out with my parents in having to order it online though, but it could work.

I do like your thinking though Tomokei and iSythe though. I mean I could probably get a cheap desktop that run wow fine, and a cheap laptop, Idk to me i just feel like having two computers at college would be kind of rediculous, but if it would work out alright, i would be fine with it

[ispano]

Kulthor
That does look really nice though, I mean that ideally is what I was looking for. I was planning to pick the laptop up at this computer shop close by to me but this does look tempting, Id have to work something out with my parents in having to order it online though, but it could work.

I do like your thinking though Tomokei and iSythe though. I mean I could probably get a cheap desktop that run wow fine, and a cheap laptop, Idk to me i just feel like having two computers at college would be kind of rediculous, but if it would work out alright, i would be fine with it

My response: Only two computers? That's not enough!

[gooseuk]

I would imagine to play it at a level were its flawless in every situation ie pvp,heroics,raids etc. It would need to be really good. Laptops arent ideal for games really and very expensive. As people have said here get a pc for games and notebook for school work etc.

[Kulthor]

Kulthor
That does look really nice though, I mean that ideally is what I was looking for. I was planning to pick the laptop up at this computer shop close by to me but this does look tempting, Id have to work something out with my parents in having to order it online though, but it could work.

I do like your thinking though Tomokei and iSythe though. I mean I could probably get a cheap desktop that run wow fine, and a cheap laptop, Idk to me i just feel like having two computers at college would be kind of rediculous, but if it would work out alright, i would be fine with it

Glad to help! ^_^

[Maruka]

5400 rpm hd is crap

[Musta Kyy]

My laptop is similiar to what you are planning
i3 330M
4gb
5470 HD
And Im getting 30+ fps on okay settings (shadows on fair, ground clutter on fair, everything else high/ultra) at org / 10man raids, but it goes down to 20 fps at 25mans.
And it cost me 699 euros about half a year ago, but you are going to see some serious lag with that integrated graphics card.. You should spend a little more (for better gpu) and look for better deals.
Oh and btw, I bought my laptop so I could use it at uni and never have used it for that purpose :P So if that is the case you should just get a desktop you can get amazing one with 600-700.