Which laptop is better with emulating and playing?

[BlackCitadel]

Changed Q to Dolphin emulation, see end of thread...

Hello,
Which laptop between these two is better with emulating PS2 and playing PC games such as GTA IV?

HP or Dell?

HP:
HP_zps707d11b6.jpg

Dell:
Dell_zps5f21b1b2.jpg

[Zorlon]

Stats say there are as good as each other what graphics chip sets do these use

HP has tons more Ram that is a bonus but not a requirement
HP also has a better CPU

So far the HP is the winner here

To be honest you are better looking at the Windows Experience Index in more detail you should be able to tell what one is better

I can't promise PS2 emulation is going to be perfect on either though, depends on the games and the graphics chip sets, there are still games that can't be played or will have issues

Both have rather low end CPU's for PS2 emulation

[BlackCitadel]

This is the graphic chip for HP
1_zps25e76046.jpg

And this is the graphic for Dell, it's also AMD.
Dell_zps5f21b1b2.jpg

Do you recommend me the Dell? Will it still perform good with newest PC games and PS2 emulation?
I want to buy the Dell because it's much cheaper than the HP.

[Zorlon]

The Dell has a very very poor Graphics chip set and very little will run at any sort of good speed and will lack features needed by some emulators such as OpenGL2 shader support (It will be no good for PS2 emulation), but the Graphics chip set the HP has is a nice one, this will be the reason for the price difference though

If you compare DELL Vs HP with the exact same stats there will be very little to pick between the two price wise

even the HP that is far better than the Dell will struggle with a lot of PS2 games

[BlackCitadel]

What do you mean by that?
You mean even though the HP is better than Dell, the HP will still struggle with a lot of PS2 games?
Also I am sorry, this is the right picture for the Dell graphics.
2Dell_zps52a9d329.jpg

[Zorlon]

What do you mean by that?
You mean even though the HP is better than Dell, the HP will still struggle with a lot of PS2 games?
Also I am sorry, this is the right picture for the Dell graphics.
2Dell_zps52a9d329.jpg

as in PS2 emulation for the more demanding games needs a fast CPU closer for 4 to 5 GHz dual core or higher, 2.40 Ghz is just not fast enough, a lot of games should at least run and tweeks might be able to get a few games running ok but do not expect games to just work

[BlackCitadel]

OK what about decent PC games like GTA IV, will the Dell perform well with such games with the 2 GB graphics?

[SOLDIERSeeD]

This is a very, very, very easy decision actually. The HP laptop outperforms Dell clearly.
It has one of the best mobile CPU (an i7 4700 MQ with 2,4 Ghz which can Turbo Boost to up to 3,4 Ghz on one core and around 3,2 Ghz on two cores). It has also the currently fastest CPU microarchitecture: the Haswell chip series which are around 10 % faster than an Ivy Bridge CPU with the same clock speed. The Dell one also has a dedicated NIVIDIA GPU which can boost performance on 3D games substantially. Intel's onboard graphics are a little weak, but the newer ones (e.g. Intel HD 4600) are actually fast enough to render most PS2/GameCube/Wii games on native resolution without slowdown. The NVIDIA GPU has great OpenGL support (in contrast to AMD GPUs that often provides buggy OpenGL drivers but are a bit faster for PC gaming) and depend on the model, can display higher resolution (up to 3x native) for less GPU hungry games like FFX, RE 4 or KH.
And let me correct Zorlon about the system requirements for PS2 emulation: you don't need beefy high end CPUs clocking at 4-5 Ghz to be able to play most PS2 games via PCSX2. There are of course some poorly coded games like SoTc or very demanding games like Zone of the Enders. But my experience shows that even these games can be get to work with much lower clocked CPUs.
When it comes to emulating last gen consoles (PS2/GameCube/Wii) on laptop, keep these things in mind:

1. Intel CPUs are usually way faster than AMD CPUs due to their overall much better single threaded performance. As emulators rely on raw CPU power, this is quite vital.
2. Intel CPUs with an -U affixed to their brand name (like the one in the Dell Laptop you mentioned) are Ultra-low voltage Laptops made for low energy consumption and low heat production. Meaning they are no good for emulation, at all. Their base clock speed is horrible, they overheat way more quickly and are generally designed for lightweight applications and to last a long time on batteries ---> avoid those if you desire a laptop for high-performance tasks.
3. Do not just look at the base clock speed, but pay close attention to the CPU model: this is crucial. I can't stress this enough: a desktop with a Pentium Dual Core at 3 Ghz will be easily outperformed by an i7 Sandybridge laptop clocking at 2,2 GHz. And by outperfomed, I mean blown out of the water. The fastest chips currently on the mobile segments are i5/i7 Haswell CPUs; they are denoted with a four digit model number beginning with a 4 (e.g. i5 4200M or i7 4700 MQ). The overall speed ranking of Intel CPUs are as follows: Haswell (4xxx)>Ivy Bridge (3xxx)> Sandy Bridge (2xxx).
So get yourself an i5/i7 haswell laptop! Actually the HP has one of the best mobile CPUs in existance (as already mentioned).
4. Remember that i5/i7 CPUs feature Intel's Turbo Boost Technology: it's like a temporary overclock which will increase the clock frequency substantially when additional power is required. For example, an i5 4200M will overclock to 3 Ghz while performing CPU demanding tasks like PS2 emulation: this will be more than enough to play 80 % of PS2/Wii games fluently.
5. Watch out for overheating! Emulating PS2 will put heavy stress on your CPU, moreso than any other applications. This means that your CPU temperature will sometimes get into dangerously high levels. Try to find information about the laptops's cooling system: if it's bad, it cannot cope with the high CPU and GPU temperatures for an extended time period, which will lead to CPU throttling. Beware of overheating, especially if you live in warmer countries, as prolonged exposition to heat will greatly reduce your laptop's life span.

Puuh, that was long, but I hope I could help you gain insight on this subject. I have experience with emulation on Laptops and my current Laptop (i5 4200M 2,5 Ghz, 8 GB RAM and NVIDIA Geforce 740m) can run almost any PS2 and Wii games I throw at it with full speed (FF series, Xenoblade, The Last Story, MGS 2+3, Zeldakyward Sword etc.) as long as I don't go overboard with the resolution.

tldr; buy the HP one. It is clearly much better than Dell's low-energy consumption laptop).

[BlackCitadel]

What I want is that I want to afford a cheaper laptop. I decided to work for 2 months to afford the Dell's laptop while the HP one will need working for about 3 months.
The Dell's price is 306 KWD (Kuwaiti Dinar) while the HP's price is 414 KWD.

Now, let's just forget about PS2 emulation if it is said that emulating PS2 will burn the dell.
How about playing Windows (PC) games on the dell one? Games such as Sims 3, GTA IV, will playing PC games also overheat the dell?

From what you said, I understand that the Dell I mentioned is not designed to to play even the PC games and it is low-energy consumption and will eventually burn!!!

[Zorlon]

Just wait the Dell will only be a big let down mostly due to the poor graphics chip set, it's not going to be able to run any modern games at any sort of good speed, it should be able emulate PSX fine though if your in that much of rush, just don't try and use OpenGL2 as it just will not work


GTA IV min

Minimum:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo 1.8Ghz, AMD Athlon X2 64 2.4Ghz
Memory: 1.5GB

Free Hard Drive Space: 16GB

Video Card: 256MB NVidia 7900 / 256MB ATI X1900

DirectX 9 compatible Stereo Sound Card

You would have the CPU no problem, the problem is the Graphics chip set that is not strong enough

Recommended:

Processor: Intel Core 2 Quad 2.4Ghz, AMD Phenom X3 2.1Ghz
Memory: 2GB (Windows XP) 2.5GB (Windows Vista)

Free Hard Drive Space: 18GB

Video Card: 512MB NVIDIA 8600 / 512MB ATI 3870

DirectX 9 compatible Surround Sound Card

Again not even close to being good enough, all to do with the graphics chip set

Min for Sims 3

128 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 2.0 (NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 or above / ATI Radeon 9500 or above / Intel GMA 3-series or above)

Again the graphics chip set will let you down

[BlackCitadel]

How will it let me down!!!!?? when it's 2GB AMD graphics chip??

[Zorlon]

Funny the Dell one said it was an Intel HD so what are you talking about and the HP was an Nvidia???

Are you just making this up as you go, this is the first time AMD graphics have been mentioned

Also laptops with AMD/ATI Graphics chip sets tend to also use AMD processors that neither has they are both Intel

[BlackCitadel]

I discovered another thing that may prevent me from buying the Dell.
Look at the CPU
I discovered that it's i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.40 GHz

What does this exactly mean? 1.80GHz 2.40 GHz, Which speed is the dell cpu exactly? 1.80 or 2.40?

Dell_zps5f21b1b2.jpg

[SOLDIERSeeD]

I discovered another thing that may prevent me from buying the Dell.
Look at the CPU
I discovered that it's i7-4500U CPU @ 1.80GHz 2.40 GHz

What does this exactly mean? 1.80GHz 2.40 GHz, Which speed is the dell cpu exactly? 1.80 or 2.40?

Dell_zps5f21b1b2.jpg

1,8 Ghz is the base clock speed, whereas 2,4 GHz is the max clock speed reachable via Turbo Boost on one core.

[BlackCitadel]

So 1.8 is not good?