How can I improve my computer for gaming?

[Surfing_Pikachu]

So, for Christmas I got my first Windows computer, a Dell Inspiron n5010. Now, I wasn't expecting to do too much gaming on it, but I didn't know it would be this bad. It can only barely play Shadowrun at lowest settings, and that's a 4 year old game! So, is there anything I can do to make it run better? I download Game Booster, which makes a pretty good improvement, but not enough. And overclocking it is out of the question being that it is a laptop and will likely burst into flames if I can even get it to work. If I need to buy some parts for it, what parts do I need?

 

[SkittyOnWailord]

If I need to buy some parts for it, what parts do I need?

For the most part laptops can't have upgrades and are stuck with what they come with. The only real thing you can change in them without masive "surgery" is the RAM And with the N5010 already having 6GB DDR3, there isn't really any reason to upgrade that.

 

[BuizelPidgeot]

Buy a stationary pc, then spend 8000$ Upgrading it

 

[Locke Yggdrasill]

Buy a desktop.

 

[Surfing_Pikachu]

For the most part laptops can't have upgrades and are stuck with what they come with. The only real thing you can change in them without masive "surgery" is the RAM And with the N5010 already having 6GB DDR3, there isn't really any reason to upgrade that.

Is this "surgery" really that difficult? Because buying a new computer is pretty much out of the question.

 

[RedStarWarrior]

Is this "surgery" really that difficult? Because buying a new computer is pretty much out of the question.

It's inadvisable if you aren't terribly familiar with working on laptops. I would look at getting some sort of cooling tray to set the laptop on, though. Some laptops will get remarkably slower as they heat up. Else, you can also look to make sure you have the most updated drivers for the hardware...

 

[chuboy]

Is this "surgery" really that difficult? Because buying a new computer is pretty much out of the question.

Yes, it really is. Essentially every part of your laptop that you would upgrade to increase performance is soldered onto the motherboard or at the very least inaccessible without dismantling the casing. FWIW, you are better off buying a desktop computer to do the job. They are honestly not expensive anymore, if you have stuff like keyboards and monitors already around the house.

AMD make really good value for money CPUs. They don't win gold for outright performance but they wipe out Intel chips in the same price range.

The next most important/expensive thing you will need is a graphics card. Again, for a four-year-old game anything you can buy new will do.

Motherboard varies in price but if you're not overclocking and you don't need features like eSATA, inbuilt wireless, HDMI and SPDIF output then a cheap board will do fine. And RAM is reasonably priced.

Unless you want a rig that will top the charts, you can do a lot with a few hundred dollars.

 

[SkittyOnWailord]

Is this "surgery" really that difficult? Because buying a new computer is pretty much out of the question.

Of coarse surgery isn't an official term, I just used it because it seemed the most appropriate. To upgrade a standard laptop would require being able to re-solder all of the parts back together after replacing them. Now I've bult my desktop from the ground up except for putting in the motherboard, but I would have almost no idea what to do with a laptop. It's not really something that most PC experts would even try.

 

[GetOutOfBox]

Of coarse surgery isn't an official term, I just used it because it seemed the most appropriate. To upgrade a standard laptop would require being able to re-solder all of the parts back together after replacing them. Now I've bult my desktop from the ground up except for putting in the motherboard, but I would have almost no idea what to do with a laptop. It's not really something that most PC experts would even try.

You can't just de-solder an integrated CPU and slap another one on in it's place, for physical reasons, and because the chipset is specifically designed for the original CPU, in most laptops. Laptops with integrated CPU's are designed in such a fashion that just the task of un-soldering the CPU, resoldering another back in place is so daunting, few would attempt it. Because of this, no effort is made to make the chipset cross-compatible with other CPU's.

There have been cases with Intel, where CPU's are made that use the same socket as older CPU's, but they require a new chipset (hence defeating the purpose of backwards compatibility, *sigh*), specifically the first few Core 2 CPU's that used the LGA775 socket. So even if you could find another CPU with the same physical architecture, it's practically guaranteed the chipset would not be compatible.

Back to the OP's question, there's not much you can do. The only component that can (usually) easily be upgraded in laptops, is the RAM, which you already have a sufficient amount of. Depending on the RAM's bandwidth and timings, replacing the modules with faster ones may yield a decent speed increase, but not much.

The lucky thing is that your laptop does not have an integrated intel chipset (*shudder*). It has an ATI 5470 Mobile, which means you may be able to upgrade the video card, if it's not integrated into the motherboard. Check your laptops manual for details, if it doesn't mention upgrading/maintenance, look it up on Dell's website. If you do attempt to upgrade it, make sure you purchase a mobile edition video card, not a standard desktop version.

Regardless, laptops are generally bad choices for gaming, as the design priority is portability, not performance. Your money would be much better used to save up and buy a PC, which are generally pretty upgradable, as long as you don't buy an already outdated motherboard. Don't waste your money getting stuck with a motherboard that's already years old, it should be at the very least, compatible with last generation CPU's (i.e for intel mobo's: Core 2, AMD is still producing backwards compatible CPU's that work on AM2+ boards, so you'd be hard pressed to not be compatible with the latest CPU's)

For a budget computer, AMD CPU/motherboard's are the best way to go. Their performance is pretty close to that of Intel CPU's, but way, way cheaper. Even though I can afford a Core i7, I've been a loyal customer for AMD for years, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to afford my first custom build. The best thing about them is the fact they do their best to make their products backwards compatible with older motherboards. AM3 CPU's are compatible with AM2+ boards, as long as the board's BIOS supports it (which just means a BIOS update if it doesn't). Intel has a nasty habit of producing a new socket for nearly every single new line of CPU's.

 

[SkittyOnWailord]

You can't just de-solder an integrated CPU and slap another one on in it's place, for physical reasons, and because the chipset is specifically designed for the original CPU, in most laptops. Laptops with integrated CPU's are designed in such a fashion that just the task of un-soldering the CPU, resoldering another back in place is so daunting, few would attempt it. Because of this, no effort is made to make the chipset cross-compatible with other CPU's.

I was more referring to getting a new CPU, motherboard and GPU and then soldering them back together, pretty much only reusing the RAM, case and maybe the PSU. Sure it would probably cost as much as a new laptop, and it would be very impractable, but it can be done. Which is why I said "It's not really something that most PC experts would even try".

 

[Maylu Sakurai]

You can't just de-solder an integrated CPU and slap another one on in it's place, for physical reasons, and because the chipset is specifically designed for the original CPU, in most laptops. Laptops with integrated CPU's are designed in such a fashion that just the task of un-soldering the CPU, resoldering another back in place is so daunting, few would attempt it. Because of this, no effort is made to make the chipset cross-compatible with other CPU's.

There have been cases with Intel, where CPU's are made that use the same socket as older CPU's, but they require a new chipset (hence defeating the purpose of backwards compatibility, *sigh*), specifically the first few Core 2 CPU's that used the LGA775 socket. So even if you could find another CPU with the same physical architecture, it's practically guaranteed the chipset would not be compatible.

Back to the OP's question, there's not much you can do. The only component that can (usually) easily be upgraded in laptops, is the RAM, which you already have a sufficient amount of. Depending on the RAM's bandwidth and timings, replacing the modules with faster ones may yield a decent speed increase, but not much.

The lucky thing is that your laptop does not have an integrated intel chipset (*shudder*). It has an ATI 5470 Mobile, which means you may be able to upgrade the video card, if it's not integrated into the motherboard. Check your laptops manual for details, if it doesn't mention upgrading/maintenance, look it up on Dell's website. If you do attempt to upgrade it, make sure you purchase a mobile edition video card, not a standard desktop version.

Regardless, laptops are generally bad choices for gaming, as the design priority is portability, not performance. Your money would be much better used to save up and buy a PC, which are generally pretty upgradable, as long as you don't buy an already outdated motherboard. Don't waste your money getting stuck with a motherboard that's already years old, it should be at the very least, compatible with last generation CPU's (i.e for intel mobo's: Core 2, AMD is still producing backwards compatible CPU's that work on AM2+ boards, so you'd be hard pressed to not be compatible with the latest CPU's)

For a budget computer, AMD CPU/motherboard's are the best way to go. Their performance is pretty close to that of Intel CPU's, but way, way cheaper. Even though I can afford a Core i7, I've been a loyal customer for AMD for years, if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have been able to afford my first custom build. The best thing about them is the fact they do their best to make their products backwards compatible with older motherboards. AM3 CPU's are compatible with AM2+ boards, as long as the board's BIOS supports it (which just means a BIOS update if it doesn't). Intel has a nasty habit of producing a new socket for nearly every single new line of CPU's.

well that isnt entirely true my emachines desktop has a lga775 with a intel pentium D and it will accept other intel ones like celeron d pentium 4 and core 2 duo (with a 800 or 1066 system bus)

 

[GetOutOfBox]

I was more referring to getting a new CPU, motherboard and GPU and then soldering them back together, pretty much only reusing the RAM, case and maybe the PSU. Sure it would probably cost as much as a new laptop, and it would be very impractable, but it can be done. Which is why I said "It's not really something that most PC experts would even try".

In the end, you'd probably end up building a new computer (pretty much the only part guaranteed to work would be the RAM, since it's one of the few laptop components that always follows a standard arachitecture, whereas the mobo/CPU/GPU are often in-house designed and specific to the laptops model), so I agree, it's not practical.

I've never been a fan of laptops for this reason. They usually suck for gaming (if you have an integrated Intel GPU, regardless of what model it is, it will suck. Not only do they lack dedicated video RAM, steal CPU cycles, but they often have poor OpenGL support, which many indie games use), overheat, and have shitty screens. They're portable, but if you're on a budget, not worth the cash. Might as well put it towards a PC.

If you're looking for a gaming rig, DO NOT go for a Mac. I'm not saying this because of a personal grudge I have against Mac's (I wouldn't ever buy one, but I don't "hate" them), but because they're difficult to upgrade, require "Mac edition" components (other than RAM/Hard drives), and are much more expensive to upgrade than PC's. Macs are great for older/less technically inclined people, or for some specialty purposes, but they just don't measure up for gaming like PC's do, especially in terms of budget vs performance.