Looking to buy this laptop

[Kryte]

Hey and sorry if it's been posted before - I've not found anything.

I've recently found myself adoring Sony products, and now I am leaning towards owning this laptop

http://www.sonystyle.com.my/ProductL...el=VPCCW26FG/R

Should the link appear unavailable, here's it's specs:

Sony VPCCW26FG/R

• Intel® Core™ i5-520M Processor 2.40 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 2.93 GHz
• Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium (64-bit)
• 14" wide (WXGA++: 1600 x 900) VAIO Display, LED Backlight
• NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with CUDA™ Technology
• Entertainment usability: 16:9 aspect ratio screen & HDMIoutput connector

Computer is to be used primarily for WoW (I don't play anything else) and entertainment purposes (audio, video mixing, Photoshop etc)
Since I am fairly bad when it comes to computer's inner parts and what-not and I've never ever played WoW with fps beyond 30 even on the lowest settings (yeah yeah, I know), I'd figured I'd best ask here whether this particular piece of art is suitable for WoW adventures throughout what little is left of WotLK and Cata onwards. And if it is, what kind of fps and overall performance can I anticipate?

##Update##
I've purchased the said laptop and using it for a week now. It smoothly runs 60fps with all settings on highest (shadows off) rarely dropping to 30fps(heavy aoe). I am very much satisfied with this product.

[nwo]

That's a pretty solid mid-range build. It should handle WoW without any problems. You should expect to get 30 fps in raids. The graphics card is not really that high end, but the CPU is decent, so you will probably have to play on medium-high settings instead of ultra/highest.

[Kryte]

Okay cheers

[proken]

That's a pretty solid mid-range build. It should handle WoW without any problems. You should expect to get 30 fps in raids. The graphics card is not really that high end, but the CPU is decent, so you will probably have to play on medium-high settings instead of ultra/highest.

you'll get a shit load more. GT 330M nvidia graphics, i5 processor, 4 gigs ram, this is over kill for wow, expect 60+ frames pretty much running on ultra mode with all your addons, and during a 25 man. mines crappier than this and i get 35+ on ultra mode with all my addons and crap.

i would actually recommend you check this out before you buy that expensive one same shit, WAY cheaper
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+L...0g60&cp=1&lp=1
its the better version of what i got cause i bought mine a month before this one came out.

[nwo]

you'll get a shit load more. GT 330M nvidia graphics, i5 processor, 4 gigs ram, this is over kill for wow, expect 60+ frames pretty much running on ultra mode with all your addons, and during a 25 man. mines crappier than this and i get 35+ on ultra mode with all my addons and crap.

i would actually recommend you check this out before you buy that expensive one same shit, WAY cheaper
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+L...0g60&cp=1&lp=1
its the better version of what i got cause i bought mine a month before this one came out.

Yep, you could get upwards of 60+ fps, but it depends on a lot of things. 30-35 fps is the bare minimum I would expect to get with the laptop linked in the OP.

The laptop you tried to link cannot be found But, if the OP prefers a certain brand and look then there is no reason why not to go with it, unless budget is the biggest factor, which doesn't seem to be the case.

[Wries]

Vaio > rest

Yep.

Though in my opinion you should go for the Vaio E-series with Radeon HD 5650 (not all of them have that though). It's not a huge upgrade from the 330M, but it's DirectX 11 compliant and can be overclocked by a decent amount.

[bengaltd]

Vaio > rest
Yep.
Though in my opinion you should go for the Vaio E-series with Radeon HD 5650 (not all of them have that though). It's not a huge upgrade from the 330M, but it's DirectX 11 compliant and can be overclocked by a decent amount.

Hi I am also looking to buy a laptop relatively soon, I want it for college and to be able to play WoW legit (currently get 2-6 fps in 25 mans on my p.o.s.). I am looking at the Vaio E Series as suggested and I have a question:

Is the i5-520m processor worth the extra $100 instead of the i3-330m processor? The i5 is 2.4GHz and the i3 is 2.13Ghz.

Also do I want 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 that comes with it standard or is 6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 a good upgrade and worth $150?

Thanks!!

[vesseblah]

Is the i5-520m processor worth the extra $100 instead of the i3-330m processor? The i5 is 2.4GHz and the i3 is 2.13Ghz.

Also do I want 4GB (4GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 that comes with it standard or is 6GB (4GBx1 + 2GBx1) DDR3-SDRAM-1066 a good upgrade and worth $150?

CPU upgrade there will give nice boost to WoW, but both should be playable. That RAM 'upgrade' is huge rip-off. Installing RAM is very easy on laptops, and you can get another 4GB from store at that $150. Besides, it's very unlikely you'll ever see any practical difference between 4 and 6 gigs of RAM as long as that laptop is in active use.

[Kryte]

Yep, you could get upwards of 60+ fps, but it depends on a lot of things. 30-35 fps is the bare minimum I would expect to get with the laptop linked in the OP.

The laptop you tried to link cannot be found But, if the OP prefers a certain brand and look then there is no reason why not to go with it, unless budget is the biggest factor, which doesn't seem to be the case.

Yes, I am fond of Sony Vaio and Asus, with utter respect towards design and quality of the former and cheap price an longetivity of the latter. I am relieved to hear that it can run WoW smoothly (this game was released 7 years ago, I had high hopes I could run it on high resolution and settings with a $13 hundred worth laptop).

I used to have 4fps in Illidari Council room back in TBC and about 2 in Deathwhisper chamber - 30+ fps (druid loosing 1.5k efficient HPS to disc priest, sigh -.-) would be heavenly awesome for me.

[Kryte]

Vaio > rest

Yep.

Though in my opinion you should go for the Vaio E-series with Radeon HD 5650 (not all of them have that though). It's not a huge upgrade from the 330M, but it's DirectX 11 compliant and can be overclocked by a decent amount.

Yeah, VAIO E is a natural successor of the CW - the only thing different (and the one I dislike) - looks.

I've been offered a RAM boost from 4gb to 8gb. Question is: does it benefit WoW? (and is that benefit worth $150USD?)

[Deleted]

4 GB DDR3 SDRAM *2 (upgradeable up to 8 GB*3)
500 GB*4 (Serial ATA, 5400 rpm)
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 330M GPU with CUDA™ Technology

Weakest components, id upgrade those 3 for an awesome system, but thats mid range, a decent fps on wow.

[bengaltd]

Another question about the Vaio E series, it comes standard with Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD but for $50 more I could get ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470 GPU (512MB VRAM), this is worth it yes if I want to play WoW with nice settings?

[vesseblah]

Another question about the Vaio E series, it comes standard with Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD but for $50 more I could get ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470 GPU (512MB VRAM), this is worth it yes if I want to play WoW with nice settings?

Intel's GMA-HD is not a gaming GPU, and will not run WoW at full effects. 5470 is much better choice and definitely worth the $50 difference. It's not top of the line either, but probably 10x faster for 3d games.

[nwo]

Another question about the Vaio E series, it comes standard with Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator HD but for $50 more I could get ATI Mobility Radeon™ HD 5470 GPU (512MB VRAM), this is worth it yes if I want to play WoW with nice settings?

Yes, that is definitely well worth the $50. You definitely want to upgrade from the intel onboard graphics if you intend to do any sort of gaming.

[Deleted]

Yes, that is definitely well worth the $50. You definitely want to upgrade from the intel onboard graphics if you intend to do any sort of gaming.

this.

[Wries]

To give my opinion about a few questions asked in here since I last visited.

i3 330m works excellent for WoW. How future-proof it will be I can't tell but as it is now it laughs in the face of 25 mans. It doesn't feature turbo boost but it does feature hyper threading, which has proven to be nice. Doing work in after effects on it and render times doesn't feel too crappy (though my desktop dore2quad beats it). I'm sure the i5 is even nicer but not a necessity for wow at the moment.

As for the graphics card. Intel GMA HD is of course out of the question, until pigs fly basically. The 5470 is also kinda crappy to be honest. I know sonystyle only offers those two alternatives in the U.S. but I've also heard that electronic stores got some pre-built models that, like my model, features the Radeon 5650 (which is much better). I believe J&R have those, though I don't live in the U.S. so don't take my word for it.

As for design. It's a matter of taste but the E-series 15 inch model features a numpad, which I personally appriceate a lot.

One bad thing about the vaio is that sony opts-out from the Ati Catalyst driver updates. Latest official driver they let through was the one with Catalyst 10.2.. which isn't performing well with the latest patch of wow. You can still get the latest drivers by googling some and get the "unrestricted" vaio-compatible drivers though.

[nwo]

i3 is definitely not a budget CPU by any means. Don't let the number (3) fool you, this CPU can definitely keep up with the i5 in terms of gaming performance. From the benchmarks I have seen, the gaming performance between these 2 CPUs is very minimal and completely unnoticeable.

A 5470 is a very budget graphics card. In this case, the numbers are very deceitful. This card barely outperforms the good old ancient x800XT. With that said, I would avoid getting a gaming laptop with this graphics card unless you're on a very low budget. This card can still handle games just fine, but you have to be prepared to play them at low/lowest settings and don't expect to get great fps. This card is quite a bit faster than my 8400m gs and I am able to play WoW fine for the most part, but I'm just a casual player.