Entry level gaming laptop - Fix Dell Vostro 3500 or buy new laptop?

BenEadir

Hi all,

My young lad is into first person online game playing, game modding and is learning coding in coder dojo etc. He currently has my old Dell Vostro i5 4GB with Nvidia GeForce 310M graphics card which I upgraded from Win 7 to to Win 8 before giving it to him. The upgrade went fine but there isn't a Win 8 compatible driver for the Nvidia GeForce 310M as it is used in the Vostro so I had to re-install the old Win 7 driver which seems to be working ok.

Although the device runs games like Minecraft ok and it plays multi media files no problem there are some games which stutter and don't play very well so I'm thinking of either taking back the laptop and giving it to a friend who won't be using graphic intensive apps/games and getting an entry level gaming laptop for my young lad who's birthday is coming up but my preference, if possible, would be to somehow 'fix' the Vostro so that it plays the graphic intensive games.

I'm thinking of two possible ways to 'fix' the Vostro:-

1. Revert to Win 7!!!
2. Get the Nvidia GeForce 310M taken out and upgraded to something Win 8 compatible which will run modern games.

Are either of the proposed fix's viable? If not can someone give me a steer on where/how to get my hands on a suitable entry level gaming laptop?

Cheers,

Ben

Torqay

You can revert to Windows 7 all right but you can't replace the GPU. Bottom line, this laptop will never play "graphic intensive games". The GT 310M was an entry-level graphics card, not made for gaming.

You better get him a new machine with a mid-range GPU, a GT 650M for example. Maybe configure your own at PC Specialist.

BenEadir

Thanks Torqay,

Is there no way another graphics card could somehow be installed or does the physical architecture/build of the Vostro 3500 prevent such an option?

Gaming laptops look like they start at €650 which is off the chart budget wise for this lad right now. Maybe in a few years when he's earning his own €'s but it's not an option now that's for sure.

Ben

BostonB

You can't upgrade the graphics card of the majority of laptops.

Theres no such thing as budget gaming laptop.

If you want a cheap gaming machine build a desktop. Or stick to a console.

BenEadir

Thanks BostonB, I guess he'll just have to wait a couple of years and save a few quid as he really wants a laptop he can play games on!!

Ben

BostonB

You can buy a ok priced laptop that has lower end graphics card. It will play a lot lower end things. But not the high end stuff. But you'd need to know your tech stuff about low end graphics cards and how games run. It comes down to what specifically you want to play and what framerate you'd be happy with. Look up mid range laptops with HD4000 and/or AMD Trinity or Nivida GT630/650 gfx cards. Then look at the benchmarks with games you want to play. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMD_Fusion#.22Trinity.22_.2832nm.29

Alternatively just buy a console for 250 and everything will work and no learning any of that stuff.

BenEadir

Thanks BostonB,

He plays games like Minecraft and some 1st person shooters without problems but the one which kills the laptop (it consistently powers off suddenly after +/- 5 minutes of play) is Far Cry 3. I guess that's beyond the capabilities of the machine.

Cheers,

Ben

Torqay

BenThere wrote: »

Far Cry 3. I guess that's beyond the capabilities of the machine.

By a country mile...