Need advice for gaming notebook

[cloudstrifeVII]

I am currently looking for a cheap gaming laptop. It would be mainly used to play LOL and Starcraft II. I don't necessary need something super compact, as long as it's easier to transport than a full desktop tower + screen, because I often go to LAN parties. From what I have seen, new gaming laptop aren't cheap. I recently found a used one on Ebay, so I am wondering if it's worth it or if you have any other suggestions. Here is the link so you can check out the specs : http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Dell-XPS-M1730-17-Gaming-Notebook-128GB-SSD-/171000325787?pt=Laptops_Nov05&hash=item27d069e69b. It seems all I would need to do is to replace the video card. There is a 8800 GTX SLI on Ebay for less than $200, so I am thinking that for less than $500 I could get a decent gaming notebook, do you think it's a good idea ? I have never installed a video card in a notebook before but I know how to install one in a desktop so I'm guessing it should not be that difficult. Any advices ? Thank you !

[Mindovermaster Moderator]

90% of laptops have integrated video. Only the high grade have switchable graphics.

Condition: For parts or not working: An item that does not function as intended and is not fully operational. This includes items that

I would not reccommend doing this.

[Arceles]

Gaming notebook at 500... that's quite difficult, nonetheless the AMD APUs offer really good performance for the price.

[The Evil Overlord]

I would say clevo d9t for that sort of money, but it's ancient old,

in it's defence, it will run windows 7, and can have a graphics upgrade (or at least mine did because I did it)

Played WoW cataclysm on it, ran fine for 28 fps on a 1680x1050 resolution until it died, (bought from ebay, it was listed as faulty) but I didn't pay much for it.

Great, Now I miss it all over again :(

[cloudstrifeVII]

Someone (on another forum) linked an Acer notebook with a 7670m : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215663&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_sp=&AID=10440897&PID=3332167&SID=u00000687. But I've googled that video card and on a website it says it''s barely playable on High setting and not on Ultra. Here is the link to the benchmarks : http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-Radeon-HD-7670M.69483.0.html. On the other hand, I've seen videos of people playing SC2 at Ultra on the M1730 with the 8800m GTX SLI on the 17" monitor at a resolution of 1920x1200. Am I looking at this correctly or are those benchmarks not reliable ?