upgrading my laptop

[water dog]

okay this is one for all you computer flippin nerds out there that know what they are doing when it comes to computers (i don't). im wanting to refit my laptop to upgrade it to fit these specs



i want these specs, but a little better if that parts would be cheap or if the next step up isn't much more expensive.

this is what my current computer is:
http://reviews.cnet.com/laptops/asus-g50...96181.html

so what should i get? is my laptop even able to be upgraded? these are probably retarded questions but i also have a few more at to throw at you that may or may not be equally as ignorant :- )

my laptop case/shell/whatever you wanna call it is all shipped and broken and parts are missing or have melted off and the hinges are loose/broken ETC. its basically in shit shape. also one of my keys are completely broke (my f10 key). is it possible at all to buy a brand new laptop case and still have all my hardware and screen fit inside of it? like, i just want the plastic shell parts, no electronics or anything, just the basic outer shell. would i have to get an exact manufacturer copy or could i get somehting custom?

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oh yeah and this is relevant to gaming because im upgrading ti for games :- )

[water dog]

edit: upon further review, i already meet all of these requirements p. much so new question: what parts could be upgraded cheaply (100-200$) with noticeable difference? one thing i want more of is RAM, what would you recommend? or do i have enough as it is? how would i go about upgrading the performance of my computer in any way without upgrading any parts? basically what are some tips and tricks to get more out of the pc?

edit 2: i have 4 gigs of ram and after some searching i find that my laptop can go up to 8 ram. would this even make a noticeable difference? playing a high end MMO (ffxiv to be exact) what would be the best thing to upgrade to get the best bang for my buck? how important is it to have a top tier graphics cards over a middle-high tier graphics card? what is more important to upgrade on my specific build, RAM or graphics card? or maybe somehting completely different.

i only have all of the questions because FFXIV is coming out in 3 FUCKING MONTHS!!! and i figure i might as well just play the pc version instead of the ps3 version which comes out march 2011 (i cant wait that long). i played alpha ffxiv and the game was very sluggish (lots of skipping, low framerate) and i couldn't play prerendered cutscenes. what could i do to fix these problems (like, what upgrades would help fix those problems most)

[Alpha Six]

get windows 7, you won't be sorry


as for everything else-- idk if you have a video card or not, but if you do, then you could PROBABLY get away with just adding more RAM as long as it's not a shit video card

[water dog]

i have a NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GS which is a step up (i believe) formt he required card so more RAM would prob be my best bet if your right. also i forgot all about CPUs. does that affect gaming at all?

[Alpha Six]

i think it makes a bigger impact than most people realize, since my desktop has fairly decent specs except for the CPU and yet most of my games play like SHIT unless i drop the graphics levels

[Vipershark]

GENERALLY SPEAKING, laptop upgrades beyond hdd size, battery size, and ram capacity are impossible, infeasible, and/or costly.

My honest recommendation is that if you want gaming, just buy a desktop with those specs and it'll be cheaper and more effective than trying to stuff all that into your laptop. (Plus it'll last longer and be more easily upgradable!!!!!!!!!!)

If you really want to stick to laptops though, I suppose buying a new case for it is possible, but as I said, dealing with laptop hardware is a pain in the ass because of all the stuff they have to fit into such a small space. Even just changing the shell and nothing else will be an assload of work, and honestly, just buying yourself a brand new laptop would be much easier.

[water dog]

welllll i could 2 gigs more ram and a better CPU for ~300-400$ instead of buying a brand new, high end laptop ($1000+)

would that make a notable difference?

edit: and i checked, theyll both fit in my laptop ;o

[Vipershark]

Yeah, if your cpu is that much more powerful.

What are you upgrading from/to?

Either way, laptop upgrades are still a fuckload of work as I said. On most laptops you have to dismantle the entire computer and remove the mobo to do that.

[Alpha Six]

yeah, and getting someone else to do it will be fairly costly. desktops aren't that expensive nowadays, you can snag one that surpasses those specs for like $400-500 and all you'd need is a video card (even though some PCs actually come with fairly decent ones).

[DadNier]

be sure to be using a 64-bit operating system if you have more than 4 gigs of ram or else you literally wasted your money

[water dog]

yeah, and getting someone else to do it will be fairly costly. desktops aren't that expensive nowadays, you can snag one that surpasses those specs for like $400-500 and all you'd need is a video card (even though some PCs actually come with fairly decent ones).

would they be better than the specs on the laptop i currently have?? i could just take the card out of my laptop (it has a very decent card in it already)

also yeah im usincg vista 64bit ^-^;

[Vipershark]

yeah, and getting someone else to do it will be fairly costly. desktops aren't that expensive nowadays, you can snag one that surpasses those specs for like $400-500 and all you'd need is a video card (even though some PCs actually come with fairly decent ones).

This.

Not to mention that (again, generally speaking) gaming laptops have incredibly shitty battery life (even when not playing games) and run really hot.
You'll have to leave your laptop plugged in all the time, so since it won't be moving much there's really no reason NOT to get a desktop.

Not to mention that desktops last longer and are easier to upgrade.

[water dog]

ok so i took your advice and decided to go with a desktop

if i got default/minimum everything on this would it still be legit?

[Vipershark]

Yeah. Those are about the specs of my current gaming rig (will be upgrading soon) and it runs games great.
I suppose it can't run all games (smoothly) at full detail, but it can definitely run everything smoothly at medium to medium-high detail.

If you don't really care about picture-perfect graphics 100% of the time, it's perfect for what you're going for.

[water dog]

ok ty vs and tyvon for all your help. im getting that mage thing :- )