First gaming laptop! (Enigma III 540)

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benlev

Member
Hi, I've been looking into buying a (hopefully cheap) laptop to use for online gaming as my current desktop is something that was thrown together for browsing the internet on and doesn't like doing more than a few things at once. I want a laptop for its portability, another desktop is out of the question although I know i could get more for my money buying one.

I've come up with a spec, but I'm not 100% sure of it's viability to do what I want it to:

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Matte HD LED Widescreen (1366x768)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i3 Dual Core Mobile Processor i3-2330M (2.20GHz) 3MB

Memory (RAM)
4GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (1 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
GIGABIT LAN & KILLER™ 1102 WIRELESS GAMING 802.11N NETWORK CARD

Battery
Enigma III Series 6 Cell Lithium Ion Battery (5,100/5,200 mAh)

Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)

Office Software
FREE Microsoft® Office Starter 2010 (Limited functionality Word & Excel)

Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE

Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)

Insurance
1 Month Free Laptop Insurance inc. Accidental Damage & Theft

Price: £555.00 including VAT and delivery.

I'm hoping someone will be nice enough to give me a second opinion on this spec before I go ahead and order it, in case I've added in something I don't need or missed something I do; or if there's an upgrade I could make that would be worth it.

I would be using it for web browsing, watching videos (possibly DVDs) and playing the new Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO.

The requirements for playing this game are listed as:

Processor:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core 4000+ or better
Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0GHz or better
Operating System:
Windows XP or later

RAM:

Windows XP: 1.5GB RAM
Windows Vista and Windows 7: 2GB RAM

Note: PCs using a built-in graphical chipset are recommended to have 2GB of RAM.

Star Wars: The Old Republic requires a video card that has a minimum of 256MB of on-board RAM as well as support for Shader 3.0 or better. Examples include:

ATI X1800 or better
nVidia 7800 or better
Intel 4100 Integrated Graphics or better

DVD-ROM drive – 8x speed or better (required for installation from physical editions only) Internet connection required to play.
Click to expand...

I'm fairly confident I've covered this, but It'd be great if I could get another opinion just to be sure :)

Any advice would be appreciated, thanks!
 
Last edited:
Music Guy123

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
I'd probably up the processor, yours is currently quite low, it will mean that your laptop will last longer. For Ram, choosing one stick is slightly slower but it will mean that you can upgrade it later which is an advantage. Also, you might want to upgrade the screen resolution and I am not really sure the upgrade of the wifi card is necessary but that is it, you have a pretty decent laptop there. I am sure you will enjoy it!!!
 
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benlev

Member
Thanks for the advice :)
If i add in an i5-2430M it brings the price up to £591, and ideally I'd like to keep the price under £600 so that's fine. I did indeed choose the single stick so that I can upgrade in the future, it seemed like a good idea and worked out to be £1 less. I'm not sure about the screen though, I had a look around regarding it and I like the sound of the matte finish, but is 1366x768 that bad? My current desktop is apparently 1280x1024 and I have no issue with it, is that remotely comparable to the laptop's screen?
 
Music Guy123

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
sounds better, I doubt you will need the wifi card, you will need someone else's opinion but I doubt it will be necessary. Also, if you can, i'd try and go for a quad core, they are much faster but it will add a little more. However, it is your choice!!! It sounds like you have a pretty decent laptop anyway.
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
your processor was fine, as it has hyperthreading, meaning that its much more powerful than it looks, the i3 will be fine in my opinion

also drop the wireless card thingy, it has wireless built in and there are definitely some mixed reviews about the killer one
 
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benlev

Member
Ok I dropped the wifi card (sorry Music Guy I completely missed that when you said it the first time!). Is the turbo boost that the i5 provides not worth the extra money then? And also, with the loss of the wifi card I would have enough to grab 8gb of RAM instead of 4gb - is that worth doing? Thanks for your responses so far :)
 
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Wozza63

Biblical Poster
yeh its probably worth getting 8GB, if you can afford the upgrade to the i5 then get it, but the i3 will still perform great with hyperthreading
 
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benlev

Member
Thankyou very much for your help! I'll be getting this spec:

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Matte HD LED Widescreen (1366x768)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0

This comes to £585, within my budget, which is great!
Thankyou very much for all your help guys, very glad I decided to ask on here before ordering :)
 
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benlev

Member
I did have a look at the Optimus II and Vortex II (15.6" versions) but my budget is only £600 so I can't afford them. Also, as the graphics requirements for the game I want to play on it, Star Wars: The Old Republic, seem fairly low I figured the 540m would be fine. I've been playing World of Warcraft on my current desktop for ages, that's on lowest settings and fps rarely reaches double digits, so I'm fine with less than perfect graphics - although ideally I'd like them to be a bit better than what I currently have!
 
Music Guy123

Music Guy123

Prolific Poster
Don't worry bout missing my comment, pleased you could upgrade the processor and ram. Sorry Wozza for not realising they incorporated hyper threading!!! Looks like you have a decent laptop there, enjoy it, I am sure you won't be dissapointed!!!
 
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benlev

Member
Yeah I did look into it Wozza but 600 was already my stretched budget - originally I only wanted to spend 500! I'm happy with what I'll be getting though so it's fine :) Thankyou both very much for your help, I'm gonna be ordering it now!!!
 
PCS

PCS

Administrator
Staff member
Personally, I would recommend the full HD screen. The cost difference is minimal and when gaming/using the laptop indorrs glossy is by far the best choice.
 
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benlev

Member
That does sound good as I don't really intend to take it outside. With that in mind, and with the earlier revisions, it seems to me that this spec is my best bet:

Chassis & Display
Enigma III 540: 15.6" Glossy FHD LED (1920x1080) (Special Offer)

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i5 Dual Core Mobile Processor i5-2430M (2.40GHz) 3MB

Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG 1333MHz SODIMM DDR3 MEMORY (2 x 4GB)

Graphics Card
nVIDIA® GeForce® GT 540M - 2GB DDR3 Video RAM - DirectX® 11

Memory - Hard Disk
320GB WD SCORPIO BLACK WD3200BEKT, SATA 3 Gb/s, 16MB CACHE (7200 rpm)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x SATA DVD±R/RW/Dual Layer (+ 24x CD-RW)

Sound Card
Intel 2 Channel High Definition Audio + MIC/Headphone Jack

Bluetooth & Wireless
ENIGMA GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS 802.11N + BLUETOOTH 3.0

Price: £627.00 including VAT and delivery.

It's a little more than I wanted to spend, but I think you've all made good recommendations and it'll be worth it!
Could I please get a final opinion of the spec as a whole before I go ahead and order?
Thanks for all the help!
 
Matelot

Matelot

Member
Wozza365 said:
also drop the wireless card thingy, it has wireless built in and there are definitely some mixed reviews about the killer one
Click to expand...

It may not be material for your requirements but I must speak up in defence of the Killer 1102. I have specified two Enigma IIIs recently, a 520 in September and a 540 this month, and had to select the Killer 1102 because it was the only 5 GHz wireless adapter offered by PCS for these machines. The Optimus models offer the option of an Intel 5 GHz adapter but, for whatever reason, the Enigma doesn't. However, having seen it in action I can wholeheartedly recommend it and (for what it's worth) in my opinion it outperforms the Intel 6300 installed in my old ThinkPad - at least in my house with my router!

If you don't need 5 GHz connectivity and £20 - £25 matters, particularly as you've breached your budget, then don't bother. If you do need to connect at 5 GHz then you have no choice - unless you want to use a dongle which will probably cost as much, if not more.
 
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