Gaming Buying a new computer - are the specifications fine?

[EpicJungle]

Hello!

I am in need of a new laptop and am wondering if the following is high quality, since I am a complete noob at computers.
I am planning to buy a Dell Inspiron 15.6" Laptop, for $599.

Here are the full specifications.

Here are some important specifications:

Spoiler

Processor Type: Intel Core i3-2310M
Processor Cores: 2
Processor Speed: 2.1 GHz
Processor Cache: 3 MB
Hard Drive Speed (Revolutions Per Minute): 5400 RPM
RAM Size: 6 GB
RAM Type: DDR3
RAM Speed: 1333 MHz
RAM Slots: 2
Optical Drive: 8X Dual Layer DVD+/-R Drive
Battery Cells: 6

What am I planning to do with this?
Internet, watch movies, work/school stuff, view pictures, online chat...
I won't do much gaming.


Thank you for your help guys!

 

[Originality]

Sounds perfect for you. It even has a 7 hour battery life. Enjoy.
Edit: @dingoo......... What phenom II X4?

 

[Dingoo-fan 32]

Very good!

I will buy the phenon ii x4

 

[MegaV2]

Pretty bad/expensive in my opinion, you could try buying a cheaper one since you won't be using for gaming.

 

[FireEmblemGuy]

It's a good computer, but 6GB of RAM is entirely too much for movies and web browsing. If you're not doing any gaming, a 4GB machine might be a better buy.

 

[EpicJungle]

Thanks guys, but lets just say I started to do some gaming - will the laptop be worth the price?

 

[Bently]

Thanks guys, but lets just say I started to do some gaming - will the laptop be worth the price?

Light gaming, yes. Otherwise, no.


EDIT: Light as in games that don't require high-end graphics cards or processor.

 

[Originality]

It'll use Intel HD 3000 integrated graphics. Intel graphics has a history of sucking, but this one will be good enough to play games like TF2, Borderlands, L4D2 and probably SC2. It can play BC2 at low graphics, which is pretty much the limit.

It may struggle with games from smaller companies that arent able to optimise their games for integrated graphics.

 

[Yeau]

Dell displays are one of the best, so if you work with graphics, Dell is a great choice. Also, I like Dell's design very much -- all their devices look very stylish. What concerns other aspects, I don't know for sure. For me it's a bit too expensive, I have a Samsung laptop, but I have never heard any complaints from people who own Dell laptops.

 

[Chhotu uttam]

I guess I've got nothing left to say

And tell us your Seagate experience

EDIT: You can save for GPU if you want your PC to play new games

 

[FireGrey]

That will last you very long.
You can even play games at high speed if you wanted

 

[CCNaru]

Integrated graphics will run choppy WoW (10-20fps) at best

why get a laptop?

 

[Saken]

That will last you very long.
You can even play games at high speed if you wanted

I don't know if this guy is trolling, but you will barely be able to play anything (maybe a flash game or two) with integrated graphics like that.. it isn't even partly dedicated, it is fully integrated meaning it will eat up on your CPU when running anything that requires anything graphical. All in all, you end up with much less than 2.1Ghz for ea core (2 cores, so 4.2Ghz in total) to play around with. In fact, a CPU computes graphics a lot less efficiently than a graphics card and it will severely impact your performance.

I got suckered in to buying a laptop with an integrated graphics card when i was a noob with these things, which was also partly dedicated, but mostly integrated. The laptop did itself in after around 1 year.

So, have fun with minesweeper on that, it's probably all you'll be able to do. (a bit of an exaggeration, but i hope you understand my point)

 

[Originality]

Saken, your entire post is largely inaccurate, misguided, ignorant, or a combination of the above.

Within the die of the CPU, the integrated graphics are actually separate. They may share some resources (L3 cache IIRC, along with the RAM) but otherwise it's pretty much the same as having a third separate core in the CPU that's built for a different role (and the IGP itself has 12 execution units, which are like extra cores for graphics). Whether the IGP is active or not, the CPU will run at the same speed. Whilst it's true that the CPU computes graphics worse than a GPU (ref: emulation), when playing games the CPU will not actually be computing any of the graphics, so performance in games is unaffected by that.

Only being able to play minesweeper may have been somewhat true for Intel IGPs prior to Intel GMA 4500HD, but this laptop has Intel HD 3000 graphics, which are 4 series beyond that. It's supposed to be able to play Crysis and Battlefield: Bad Company 2. That's a lot more than minesweeper.

 

[Mazor]

The 5400 RPM harddrive scales horribly with the rest of the specs.

I mean sure, it's a laptop, but that harddrive really doesn't do the machine justice.

 

[Originality]

In think you're mistaken about what the rpm does to laptop drive performance. Drives have come a long way in the last 10 years, at least in that they tend to have fairly similar performance within certain ranges. Eco/green drives tend to be the cheapest, with lower power consumption and performance, but it still works well enough to boot the OS off of. Mid-ranged drives try to push performance whilst keeping costs down in order to provide great value. High performance drives cost more, but the difference is makes shows when Windows boots up - it shaves quite a few seconds from the boot time.

The spin speed for laptops is almost always 5400 rpm to keep power consumption down and make a laptop battery last longer. Contrary to popular belief, a 7200 rpm drive isn't actually faster. Sequential read speeds may be slghitly faster, but generally it's the header and the platter density that determines performance.

 

[Mazor]

Actually, I don't believe it's the "5400" part but much more the "RPM" part being there that makes it scale horribly with the rest.

Having a random optical drive instead of an SSD seems like a waste with those specs.

 

[jceggbert5]

If you get a Dell, get the three-year next-day on-site accidental warranty. It is sooo worth it.

laptop breaks, you call it in, they're at your door with parts and a repairman the next morning or the day after.

 

[Originality]

Having a random optical drive instead of an SSD seems like a waste with those specs.

Rawr that irks me! The average person does not need a SSD! An SSD can half the boot time of Windows and make programs snappy and make games load fast, but the cost of SSDs make their value to most consumers terrible.

In addition, optical (disc) drives currently refer to one if four commercially available types of media: CD, DVD, HD-DVD and Bluray. What you meant to say was mechanical (hard disk) drive. Also, a mechanical drive is good enough for everybody that has more sense than money.

 

[brand13]

This scam has been going on for years with no end in sight.

How they sell anything is beyond me.

Search google for : dell won't recognize charger