Gaming laptop compared to desktop

Now I know that nothing beats a desktop for gaming, but I'll be moving around quite a bit and I'm thinking of buying a gaming laptop. These are the specs of my current desktop:

Intel Core2Duo E6600
4 GB RAM DDR2
ATI Radeon HD4870 1 GB

I've had this desktop for almost 3 years and it can still handle most new games on medium-high settings with stable framerate.

The games I'm looking to play are BF3, MW3, Arkham City, RAGE, etc. mostly upcoming games and I would like to buy a gaming laptop which can handle those aforementioned games and most games coming next year on at least medium-high settings. I'm sure my current desktop will be able to handle them easily on medium settings.

I'm thinking of getting a laptop with these specs:

Intel Core i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache, up to 2.90 GHz)
nVidia GeForce GT 555M (1GB GDDR5)
8 GB DDR3

These specs seem considerably better than my current desktop but from what I understand it's nowhere near as powerful as its desktop equivalent. So my question is: if I get a laptop with those specs, compared to my desktop, what kind of performance should I expect? Better than my desktop? Same as my desktop? Worse than my desktop? Thanks in advance.

Now I know that nothing beats a desktop for gaming, but I'll be moving around quite a bit and I'm thinking of buying a gaming laptop. These are the specs of my current desktop:

Intel Core2Duo E6600
4 GB RAM DDR2
ATI Radeon HD4870 1 GB

I've had this desktop for almost 3 years and it can still handle most new games on medium-high settings with stable framerate.

The games I'm looking to play are BF3, MW3, Arkham City, RAGE, etc. mostly upcoming games and I would like to buy a gaming laptop which can handle those aforementioned games and most games coming next year on at least medium-high settings. I'm sure my current desktop will be able to handle them easily on medium settings.

I'm thinking of getting a laptop with these specs:

Intel Core i7-2630QM (2.0 GHz, 6 MB L3 Cache, up to 2.90 GHz)
nVidia GeForce GT 555M (1GB GDDR5)
8 GB DDR3

These specs seem considerably better than my current desktop but from what I understand it's nowhere near as powerful as its desktop equivalent. So my question is: if I get a laptop with those specs, compared to my desktop, what kind of performance should I expect? Better than my desktop? Same as my desktop? Worse than my desktop? Thanks in advance.

ChotaZorro

A bit worse than your desktop. The GT 555m is a little weak, but at lower resolutions you'll be ok with it. If I was you I would buy this from Sager: http://www.sagernotebook.com/index.php?page=product_customed&model_name=NP8170 Get at least the GTX 560m with it and it'll run more or less anything you throw at it pretty well.

Thanks for the reply. Is there a huge performance difference in GT 555m and GTX 560m? Also what's the AMD equivalent for GTX 560m? So suppose I get a laptop with GTX 560m and the rest of the specs same as the laptop specs I listed above, would I be able to play BF3/MW3 smoothly on medium settings?

Thanks for the reply. Is there a huge performance difference in GT 555m and GTX 560m? Also what's the AMD equivalent for GTX 560m? So suppose I get a laptop with GTX 560m and the rest of the specs same as the laptop specs I listed above, would I be able to play BF3/MW3 smoothly on medium settings?

ChotaZorro

i have a laptop with a 560m, about equiv performance to a 4850. ocs nice

You may want a gtx 580m, equiv to a 560ti

6990m is a bit faster and cheaper. It is an underclocked 6870.

[QUOTE="ChotaZorro"]

Thanks for the reply. Is there a huge performance difference in GT 555m and GTX 560m? Also what's the AMD equivalent for GTX 560m? So suppose I get a laptop with GTX 560m and the rest of the specs same as the laptop specs I listed above, would I be able to play BF3/MW3 smoothly on medium settings?

hitman6actual

i have a laptop with a 560m, about equiv performance to a 4850. ocs nice

You may want a gtx 580m, equiv to a 560ti

6990m is a bit faster and cheaper. It is an underclocked 6870.

JigglyWiggly_

Yes, and yes. The 6990m is better than 580m, yes to 560ti.JigglyWiggly_

[QUOTE="JigglyWiggly_"]Yes, and yes. The 6990m is better than 580m, yes to 560ti.ChotaZorro

my friend got one of thoes Sagers with the 6990 in it, plays the BF3 beta on ultra/high with 30fps min, and it only gets faster from there. great card.

my friend got one of thoes Sagers with the 6990 in it, plays the BF3 beta on ultra/high with 30fps min, and it only gets faster from there. great card.

theshadowhunter

[QUOTE="theshadowhunter"]

my friend got one of thoes Sagers with the 6990 in it, plays the BF3 beta on ultra/high with 30fps min, and it only gets faster from there. great card.

ChotaZorro

[QUOTE="ChotaZorro"][QUOTE="theshadowhunter"]

my friend got one of thoes Sagers with the 6990 in it, plays the BF3 beta on ultra/high with 30fps min, and it only gets faster from there. great card.

theshadowhunter