If i were you, i would take apart the machine and clean it, since this is a normal symptom of a cooling system clogged with dust.
If you don't do that, you might be at risk of loosing your machine due to overheating.

Congrats on the desktop, since 'laptop' and 'gaming' don't really mix.... x)

I saw laptop gaming and honestly I laughed. It's just something that sounds stupid doesn't matter if it is possible. I hope the pc works out for you but spending a little extra on a graphics card might be a good idea!

Laptop gaming is more a case of "how much are you willing to spend" really - desktop gaming if you don't have to be gaming on the move is better in almost every way:

- much cheaper
- better screens possible
- better keyboards possible
- more comfortable to use (am I the only one who doesn't like typing on a laptop for long?)
- waaaay more choices of hardware possible
- generally much faster - especially hard drive wise
- easier to upgrade and a lot cheaper too
- no custom drivers = bliss
- not filled with tons of shovelware if you avoid the pre-built PCs of well known brands
- less heating problems
etc. etc. etc.

Laptop gaming is fun if you're on the move a lot and like to move around the house but honestly, PC gaming isn't console gaming - I have a powerful gaming laptop as well and barely use it because, frankly, I don't really have the need to move around that much.

You're not alone when it comes to typing on a keyboard. It pains me to type on that thing for so long, never mind gaming on it.

Watch this video. Its for the A8-3850 and mine is A8-3820 but close enough especially if Turbo Core activates. Very impressive results.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxlQLzOCxEc

Laptops are probably generally quieter (decibel-wise) than desktops, but I would rather listen to the low hum and thrum of my desktop than the high-pitched whine of my old laptop, especially considering that headphones are better at drowning out low sounds than high ones. My desktop consumes way more power and generates more heat than the old Pavilion, but it's not so bad because the heat is produced a good two feet away from my hands rather than directly underneath them. Joy is a pretty subjective thing anyway, and to me a laptop could never provide the joy of a desktop.

Also, you don't have to chuck away the whole computer if something goes wrong, anywhere from natural hardware failure to the cat knocking your beer on the keyboard.

Here is some more videos.

This is the integrated graphics on the new micro tower i just ordered.

Radeon HD 6550D integrated graphics (very impressive)


Batman Arkham City

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yz-m5pihZOE


Skyrim

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTJINibqTvE


Battlefield 3

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xzKngkz3ggk

Crysis 2

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UTE5CndQoSk

this is pretty awesome , the integrated cards putting up a great fight to the low end cards , will be interesting to see how this develops

Depends on the laptop. E.g. ASUS G75VW doesn't seem to have either of the issues that your laptop does, but then it has gotten lots of praise for its efficient yet quiet cooling solution. ASUS just released G75VX with a bit faster graphics chip, I don't know if it has the same virtues, but I presume so.

On the other hand, certain cheapo big 17" eMachines laptop I've occasionally used (they probably sell those in Lidl, I presume), it definitely had the issues you mentioned, ie. it could be quite loud, and the keyboard did indeed become quite warm upon touch on heavy load. So, it depends on the laptop.

I think that is more comparable to knocking your beer on top of the monitor, or motherboard. Luckily I've never had that happen, but then if you really want, you can use an external USB keyboard also with the laptop, to throw beer on it. :)

Many parts in modern laptops are nowadays FRUs (field-replaceable units), e.g. if the fan, keyboard or screen fails, you can google for the HW maintenance manual how to change them, and order a replacement part. I've done that too. So it isn't like that you always have to replace (or fix) the whole laptop, if one component inside fails.

That said, of course laptops in general are not as modular, ie. you usually can't replace the graphics chip etc.

Don't forget though that you can connect monitors and USB keyboards to laptops too.

The chiclet-style keyboards in most laptops are quite awful for serious writing... but I've actually noticed that for gaming I feel they are quite fine. I don't do any better with the FPS WASD controls with an external keyboard, than with a chiclet-keyboard. But it is the typing that can get annoying on the chiclet keyboards.

On the other hand, the laptop keyboards on many Lenovo Thinkpads, some Dells I've used etc. are great. I don't really miss the "real" keyboard with them at all, even when writing these long essays to GOG forums, like right now. :)

Let's face it, you are more likely to spill a drink on your keyboard than the monitor or motherboard. In a laptop's case, this could be fairly catastrophic. Using an external keyboard makes fairly little sense to me, and I couldn't fit one on my desk anyway if I already had a laptop taking up space. Not a very deep desk, this.

Okay, this was fairly new to me. I've seen spare fans and such, but not screens. Not that I've had reason to look for them, mind you. I've disassembled a few laptops over the years, though, and it was nightmarish every single time. No idea whether modern laptops have fewer and more obviously located screws and such, though.

To me, this sounds unnecessarily expensive and rather retarded. I've seen some people plug screens and keyboards to their laptops and basically use the laptop as a slim desktop and I've never understood why they did that. I can sort of understand this kind of behaviour if you like the superior ergonomics of a desktop but need a laptop during lectures or something, but these people didn't. They might as well have bought a desktop to begin with.

True, but then modern laptops are nowadays usually designed with failsafe systems that some drink spilled on the keyboard does not go to motherboard, but goes past. Of course if it gets soaking wet... anyway, considering how long I've been using laptops and desktops, I don't recall ever spilling my drinks on them. I guess I am a careful kind of guy, taking backups and all.

Anyways, when I think about the cases when something on my PCs has gotten broken, the desktop has been just as unusable as a laptop would, until I got a replacement part. For example, my desktop PSU died so I couldn't use the computer until I got the replacement PSU. Or, I've had my USB ports getting broken both on my desktop and one of my laptops. In both the workaround was the same: for the desktop I bought an extra PCI card with extra USB ports, while for the laptop I bought an ExpressCard with extra USB ports. (ok, not all laptops have expansion bays...)

If my laptop keyboard got broken... I guess I'd use an external USB keyboard with it, until I got the replacement part (laptop keyboard).

If you are happy with the laptop keyboard and are using the laptop screen, I guess not. But if you are e.g. using an external monitor or the laptop is connected to HDTV, heck yes.

Well, it isn't like the laptop keyboards or screens are soldered to the laptop motherboard or anything. :) For example when the screen on my Compaq work laptop broke a long time ago, the maintenance guy came in, took the replacement screen from the plastic, opened the system a bit, and replaced the screen. I think it took a few minutes for him, but I guess he had done it several times.

Always a good idea to google for the HW maintenance manual for your specific laptop, but I'd say replacing the fan for a T400 is not that much harder than what I had to do to replace the PSU on my desktop.


At least at our work the employer hasn't bought us desktops for like a decade, even if you wanted one (I didn't, because I need the mobility also at my work, sometimes going to meetings and sometimes to the HW lab, oh and sometimes doing the work from home instead).

Depending what kind of laptop keyboard you have (chiclet? Ewww...) and how small the screen is, using an external keyboard and monitor can make a lot of sense if you need to read and type a lot. I do that too occasionally because the monitor at my work is much bigger than my T400 screen (=higher resolution, and easier on the eyes), and then there are those freaks with multiple monitor setups.

I don't see connecting an external keyboard or monitor to a laptop anymore retarded than connecting an USB mouse to one. Sure laptops have touchpads, but why should I be restricted into using only them if I don't want, and feel mice are superior pointing devices for serious use?

(Writing this from an ancient (2005) Dell Latitude D610 I borrowed from work today, in order to install Mint Linux 14 on it. Using its own screen and keyboard, but an external USB mouse. The D610 keyboard is great, feels just as good as the ThinkPad T-series keyboards I like so much.)

This is pretty model-specific, though. I disassembled a big HP the other day and there was literally no other way to replace the fan than remove pretty much everything else first because parts overlapped each other a lot; it was like that endurance race piece from Top Gear where they had to remove the entire front of a BMW to access its fuel pump. I think there were about ten screws left in the laptop when I was done with it. I know some desktop cases are pretty cramped, but replacing the PSU for the tiniest of desktops would still have been less arduous than the fan of the HP. On a happier note, the experience taught me why servicing a laptop is so hideously expensive.